2004-04-25 - 1:18 p.m.
Swirling
So much is swirling around me. Work, work, work this weekend. So much work that I have to miss the March for Women's Lives. I have mixed feelings about it. I feel so gratified that the city has turned into a dykey, feminist, Disneyland. My heart does a little dance to see all of these people engaged and ready to make a statement. But I struggle with the fact that so much needs to be done and should the resources go towards gathering us all together to feel energized and activated or should they go towards voter outreach. I shouldn't think it's a zero-sum game and that the energy people get from this community of activists will carry them through but I still have my doubts.
In completely other news, the Lancasters had their baby. Baby Lancaster is a bouncing baby boy. Oddly enough, like Little Bean, baby Lancaster was born a month early with a bit of jaundice. He's progressing nicely, and if jaundice is any factor in the utter adorableness of Little Bean, JAUNDICE FOR EVERYONE. Kidding. Anyway, it's was really funny the way the whole thing unfolded. Last Sunday, I had a spontaneous dinner with the Lancasters to chill out. The next day, while watching the 7:00 pm Friends rerun, Lady Lancaster's water broke and she began to have contractions. Less than four hours later, after a caesarean, Baby Lancaster came out. The funny thing is that Lord Lancaster left a message for me on my cell phone but I never got it. So I went out of town Thursday, and got home Saturday. Given that mr. Activision is out of town, I called the Lancasters to see if they were available for dinner. I got Lady Lancaster on her cell phone where I found out SHE GAVE BIRTH FIVE DAYS AGO. They were wondering why I never called them back and at one point Lady Lancaster's parents were asking why I hadn't talked with the Lancasters about the new arrival. Yes, baby-crazy Verucaamish, completely missed the boat on his best friend giving birth. What was lovely was that, as soon as I found out, I went to the health food store, got a huge bottle of water and two bottles of freshly squeezed orange juice and hightailed it to the hospital to see the Lancasters. I got all of the liquids because when I visited Beatpoet and Beannie five days after Baby Bean was born, Beannie said that she had to drink water all the time because she was lactating. Thanks Beannie! I also brought the wedding quilt because I would rather have them sleep under the soft quilt than nasty old hospital sheets.
I didn't get to see baby Lancaster but I got a good visit with the parents. It was actually wonderful because I could focus on my friend giving birth as opposed to the baby. People talk so much about how a baby changes you, but I found it reassuring that both Lancasters were so LANCASTER. Having a baby just brought out all of the fun qualities that were already there. I couldn't stop laughing at their attempts to show me the Baby Lancaster's hungry cry. It was immensely gratifying to spend some time with my oldest friends after this big event and hear the story before I met the baby.
So cluster of cells, you did your part. Now I'll do mine. I haven't met you yet, but I love you a lot. How could I not.
