Saturday, August 11, 2007

Happy Birthday Daughter Numero Dos

Today is my younger daughter's birthday!!!  The one who lives across the pond, as they say. She actually does live across from a pond over there, across the pond.

The nice thing about living there, as opposed to here, is that you get to spend your birthday over there too -- without all the fuss of a long plane ride. Because you're already over there. Know what I mean? Although since you're already there, is it as much fun when you don't have to get there any more?

On the other hand, if you're in London where she is and you want to go to Paris, it's like going to Milwaukee from Chicago. With much better sightseeing. Going to Italy is like a trip to New Jersey, with much better food. Better wine. And a whole lot better shoes. Or, in the case of Venice, better boat rides. Sure, we have boat rides here in Chicago down the Chicago River and on the lake. But we don't have gondoliers. Actually we did have some a couple of summers ago, but that didn't last. Something about floating between fifty story office buildings that takes the romance out of a ride in a gondola.

My daughter and her husband may have planned a trip somewhere, since her birthday is on the weekend. Frankfort is just an hour or so away. In fact, almost all the exotic European cities are just a short commute. She could hit ten different, countries easy. The same distance over here would get me to Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Okay, maybe Canada, too. But, let's face it, Canada is not wine country in France. Although wine country in France is redundant, since the whole country is wine country.

Meanwhile I will spend five hours this morning reliving that memorable day when she was born. From the intern who laughed at me sucking on lollipops while I was doing my Lamaze breathing, to the resident I kicked out of the labor room for cranking the bed down. Happy happy moments. That's the good news about having babies without any anesthesia. The experience has stayed so vivid for me. I can still give you a running commentary on each funfilled hour. 7 pounds 8 ounces. 21 inches long.

What's that I hear? The sound of exasperation?  Mo-o-o-o-o-o-o-m!!!! Please!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Except BP wants to dump waste in the Chicago River...that will be so romantic! They say it is no problem...I'll just wait for the fish to float or them to grow another head and see what Mayor Daly does then!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday!
and bring on the grandchildren, right?

Anonymous said...

My Mom always relives the birth story.  She starts two days before, as she did the year I was born---and reminds me how lovely it all was, and adds "It looked like they laid down railroad tracks" as the finale.  As I cringe, she smiles and says I was worth it.
I'll be listening to the story starting this Friday.  LOL
Happy Birthday to numero dos!  
Anna

Anonymous said...

I delivered a 9lb8 oz one without pain meds....it sucked and hurt
donna In TEXAS