Bad Food

I was sick all night last night. Up at least 5 times with a stomach much like a going out of business sale: Everything must go! By the third time up, I was whimpering, "Matt...Matt," but he was sound asleep. By the fifth time, he did wake for a moment and ask, "Are you still sick???" He sleeps through everything.

I'm gearing up for a loaded plate tomorrow, though.

Happy Thanksgiving!

First Comes Love

Does having another baby mean 100% more work? The toys are already everywhere, so that part is done, but in considering a sibling for Sam, I have a lot to take into account. For instance, Sam is the happiest, most good-natured, great-sleeping baby ever. Number two could only, then, be the most rotten peasant child, constantly nagging me and trying to sell me Chicklets.

Like any other parent who’s had a second child, I worry that I could never love it equally to Sam. Sam is my guy, he’s my sweetie and true love. How could I possibly two-time him?

Then there’s the whole fat thing. I willed myself to get back into my size 4s this time around, but I’m sure after the second kid it would be entirely out of my hands.

And then there’s this little thing called education. Do we want our children going to the best private schools, or do we want to continue traveling at a frenetic pace?

As I sit here waiting for Sam to wake, I laugh at how only two years ago I was considering taking a job in Canada (writing for the You-Know-Who), because Matt was in need of getting his act together. We decided that we couldn’t live without each other; then came Sam, then came the baby carriage, then came marriage. I’ve always been a wee bit backwards.

And maybe, just maybe, don’t push me or buy me any more damn baby rattles, I’ll have another baby.

Job Search

I'm considering getting a job again, although Matt and I both agree that it's best to stay home with Sam as much and as long as possible. His nursery school once a week is good, but when I pick him up the teachers are always holding the "crying kids," a group with whom Sam doesn't associate. They are never reading stories or doing anything remotely educational; I think I may take him in and then watch through the window next time to see what really "goes down" on Toddler Alley.

I took Sam to the library yesterday for storytime, and he was the only kid who didn't want to listen to a story, wanted to run around and touch everything instead. He likes other kids, but he has no time for them. He's independent, not a joiner, on the move, and oh God he sounds just like me. I did discover, however, when chatting with other parents (something I really hate doing), that Sam was at least 5 months younger than most of them...but taller! This one woman's brat kept repeating, "No! No!" and I found out that she was 20-months. At first I thought she had decent diction for an apparent 9-month old (she was tiny), but "No" was all she spoke, and lots of it.

So, I guess I'm looking for a part-time job. Where? Every writer I know is looking for something to write. I was thinking about an interview I once had with Macmillan publishing for an editing position. They brought me in and interrogated me about my writing style and knowledge, kept passing me up and up and up the ladder to talk with more "important" people, kept telling me that getting a job in publishing would be an honor, because everyone is the best and the brightest (uh, maybe in NYC), and when I was sent to meet with the VP on the top floor, I sneaked to the elevator and pushed "send" to the first floor, and walked out to my car. I completely left them hanging and I laughed all the way home. I wonder if that guy is still sitting there waiting to meet me.

No, I cannot join. I can't be threatened into a position. I'm not easily hustled. If I wanted to be a hustler, I'd be a lawyer. ; )

Maybe there's an opening somewhere for a coffee/tea/almond/chocolate taster/photojournalist.

Back from the Bay

Boston was terrific. Beth and I spent a lot of money. Whoops.

We loved the city, and I took many pictures (Beth forgot to pack her camera!), but we kind of hated the people. It reminded me a lot of the people in Charlottesville, who would look at Jeff and ask, "You're from where??" Little did they know exactly where Jeff lived. They assumed everyone in Indiana lived in a pile of sticks.

The men of Boston seemed to like us just fine, but whenever we'd start-up a conversation, the girlfriends or wives would look at their significant others, like, "If you talk to them you will not be touching me for a month!" It was hilarious.

Bad fashion, too, also very reminiscent of UVA. Most women looked like they were wearing pajamas. I tried to take a photo of a guy's bulldog in Beacon Hill, because I wuv bulldogs, and he yelled at me. Seriously. He said, "Do not take a photo of my dog - we're kind of busy here!" His baby was crying in the stroller, and I so wanted to say, "Your dog doesn't look that busy..." I withheld.

The trip was awesome and I have a new travel partner! Matt took Sammy to California. We talked about 7 times a day. : )

Matt said the best thing anyone has ever said to me the other day: Everyone who meets you loves you, Jill, but especially me. My heart skips a beat.

The Bostonians

The Bostonians, a novel by Henry James, is perhaps not an up-to-date account of the city and its people, but I only got around to reading The Turn of the Screw (another, more famous, James novel) in college. I've done a lot of research for this trip; I swear, I could sit around and read the dictionary or any travel book with no intention of going there. But I usually do have an intention. I'm full of intentions. I remember the poetry man calling me from a phone booth in Edinburgh; I thought it was so romantic and told him, "I'm going there soon." I did. I love traveling more than anything.

But in studying Boston, I found that the Indianapolis high school, Crispus Attucks, is named after a young, black sailor who died instantly after being shot by British troops in the Boston Massacre. (I'm embarrassed -- I figured he was an athlete.)

This event, as we know, started a revolution.

I'm sure I sped past the Boston Massacre on my way to Vietnam in my history books, but "massacre" seemed tantamount to "genocide" in my mind: many, many victims. In fact, there were only five men killed in the Boston Massacre, and the British soldiers were--wow, shocking--all acquitted.

So I asked Beth how she feels about cemeteries. We're visiting the Granary Burial Ground, the final resting place of the 5 victims, plus other key Bostonians, such as John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere.

Apparently, I am related to a famous Bostonian too: General John Endecott. In a nutshell, he was a Puritan beyond pure, governor of Massachusetts from 1641-1645, and started a war with the Pequot Indians. I think I'll keep this information to myself while in the area. Being family, I can understand the "starting a war" part, but the conservative, puritan part is a little out of my reach.

I live in a blue state!

It felt amazingly like a new dawn when I woke this morning. I stayed up late watching the results, and Indiana's still weren't in when I finally stopped crying from happiness, turned off CNN and went to bed. I felt ecstatic for black America.

A Republican friend of mine said that he hates handouts, that people should "just work hard" and everything would be ok in their life. It astounds me how some people still don't get it. My own grandfather, with a mere high school education, made a fortune in his lifetime, but this is a new lifetime, very difficult to pull that off anymore.

So if you hate handouts, social services and "freebies," don't ever call the police or fire department, 911. Those are services too.

I cannot wait to step foot on Harvard Yard next week. I want to stand where Obama studied so hard.

The Eve of an Election

I'm calm, although it's staggering how many feuds I've been in with Republican friends. I listen, they rant about Socialism, Communism and Terrorism; I'm quiet, and I say, "Let's talk about something else."

Some of my favorite people are Socialists. : )

I'm looking forward to going to Boston. I'm reading my tour book and circling every place I want to see. I'm embarrassed that I've never been to Boston because if its rich history, but I never really had a reason to go... What a great place to celebrate freedom from George W. Bush, no matter who wins tomorrow.

Boston, Boston. I wake up singing School House Rock songs!

The next place I'll research: Sun Valley, Idaho. I've already bought Sam his ski outfits.