apologies to those who wondered whether i took IVIG treatments and then went off to die somewhere. you know the quote about my demise being a bit premature.
in truth, i was off in NJ. (i realize that for some of you, that might be the same as going off and dying.) for me, a dyed-in-the-wool jersey girl, going to NJ means going home, even if i haven’t actually lived there since 1989. (in fact, in four years, i will have lived here the same amount of time as i lived in NJ. but you’ll never, ever see me calling myself a virginian. nevah. not that there’s anything wrong with it, of course.)
it’s going to a place where people drink cawfee, get decent pizza, and even sometimes go down the shore. since BS abandoned me (okay, okay, take away the divorce papers, BS! — he didn’t really abandon me, he went to see his folks and then go to a poker tournament in AC, followed by a 10 hour train ordeal (he was on a train behind this one) that made him never want to travel trains again in this life or any other), my dear friend from college and the kids and i hung out on saturday and then drove up through a monsoon (and no, i am not making that up) on sunday to get to my folks’ house. (exit 8, for those of you who mind that stuff.)
we had a great visit on monday at my brother the doctor‘s (BTD) house, where we saw my aunt, my cousin steph and her family, and steph’s mom and dad. (and don’t forget my middle brother, who probably should be knighted one day.) steph and i went to college together, so it was pretty funny that we are cousins who turned out to be friends (a concept that still stymies BC a little.) BC ended up getting along really wonderfully with steph’s oldest daughter, who is a year younger than she.
BC also got nipped by my BTD’s psychotic little rat dog (a dog, i would add, that hates my BTD) when she tried to step over him to get out of his way. on the bright side, if you’re going to get bitten by a dog, follow BC’s three solid steps:
1) know the dog that bites you really, really well — well enough to know it isn’t rabid. [check.]
2) get bitten in a house where a doctor is present. [check.]
and finally,
3) get bitten in a house where a veterinarian is present. (AKA steph’s husband.) [check.]
my BTD cleaned and dressed the wound once BC was done swimming; he felt that the pool was going to clean the thing pretty effectively. and steph’s husband pronounced sparky (that would be the aforementioned psychotic little rat dog, and i do say that with affection) to have “a dominance problem.” and so it went.
on tuesday, my aunt and middle brother helped me take the two kids to liberty science center. i started to cry as we approached jersey city on the turnpike — after all, it was the first time i had seen the NYC skyline up close since 1997. i knew exactly what was missing, and i felt that pain right in my gut. but i’m a mom, and i have to buck up unless i want to start answering pesky questions like: “mama, why would anyone want to fly a plane into a building? will someone fly a plane i’m on into a building?” and so on. so i did.
i’d never been to the center, which recently reopened after a renovation. some of the exhibits weren’t finished, so we all got a break on admission costs; however, too bad for us, as about 4,000 (no exaggeration) kids from the five boroughs were visiting on “camp day.” billions of kids from harlem, brownsville, and the like were enjoying the day. i have no problem with kids from any camps visiting; i just wish the influx hadn’t been on the day we were there. but they were. you had to see BC walking down the steps, asking politely kids to please excuse her so that she could pass, only to be ignored a few times. finally, she stuck out her elbow and moved people out of the way. there’s a part of you as a parent that feels horror at such moments (especially since they were kids from a tough place and could have easily beat the crap out of her suburban ass), and yet also a little piece of you that feels proud that your kid is a toughie. but you hide that latter bit because you know it’s not socially acceptable to have your tiny little kid pushing her way through a crowd. [note to self: BC has a career in being an advance person or security for a band.]
btw, liberty science center has a great little room for the 2-6 year old set, where they have hands-on stuff for them to do. but while their exhibits are pretty neat, i found that a lot of them required a lot of reading. without a tour guide or a docent, it is a tough place for a kid to sustain interest unless you have one really super-excited parent. which i was not. once again, a big shout out to my aunt and my hopefully-one-day-beknighted middle brother (who took the day off for this experience, awesome uncle that he is.)
note to liberty science center folks, if you’re out there: if you plan on having thousands of children from camps there, consider closing the center to the public for that day. i have to tell you, i don’t think i’ll be back again if i think the place is going to be overrun. i’m a parent, and i understand that children have field trips. but perhaps you can manage how many classes/camps come at one time so that the other folks who are there don’t feel overrun and overwhelmed. lunchtime was absolutely unreal in your cafe.
we had fun visiting my inlaws and nieces the next day, and we had a little outlet shopping action with grandma the next. we reintroduced grandpa to pad thai and drove grandma crazy (but in a good way, i think.) and i caught BC’s cold. my aforementioned brother (did i mention he ought to be knighted?) took friday and drove us in my car down to the train station at BWI so that i didn’t have to drive most of the way since i felt so awful. (then he took the train back. what a guy.)
so we’re back. i’m sick as a dog. the house is a disaster. but we’re home.
yay, us.
