The Bubblah

It is 3:30 PM on March 23, 2008. I have been sitting here since 6:45 AM. Pretty sunny outside. As far as New England early “Spring” days are concerned, there is not much to complain about today. Looking out the window, I can see Fenway Park in the distance. This will be a point of “contention” for quite some time.

I am at the hospital with my wife, awaiting the arrival of our first child. The only sound in the room is that of the fetal monitor. It’s very quiet and calm right now as we wait to see what happens next, and believe me, we understand that we have no idea. Within the next zero to, well, who knows, hours, we will finally learn whether we have a son or a daughter. The nurse (of which we’ve had 3 so far today) thinks girl, I think boy. My wife thinks boy 1 minute, girl the next. My grandfather thinks boy. My mother thinks boy now, but girl before. My sister has no idea. Everyone has different opinions. None of them based on science.

I come from a pretty large family. Either today or tomorrow, a baby will born with the last name Brand. This will be the first time in 27 years that this has happened in my family. Apparently, my uncle Jeff is the closest-without-going-over winner of the pool. Of course, nobody told us.

So we’ll see what happens…I am sure of two things: We are in for a wild adventure and we can’t wait.

Three things: My wife just had a contraction…

Today, I had to stop by the new house on my way to work to pick up granite counter top samples. On the adjacent street, there was some road construction going on and a police officer helping with traffic flow.

After I stopped at the house, I was coming back down the adjacent road, on the phone (wishing a friend a happy birthday)…bluetooth hands free…both hands on the wheel. I get up to where the police officer is…he walks over to my window…knocks on the window…and then the following happens…

“Are you on the phone?”

[ Is it illegal to use a cell phone in a car? I’m using hands-free. I’ve got both hands on the wheel ]

“Yes”

[ Ignores answer ]

“How do you like this car?”

[ Umm… ]

“I love it. Smooth like a regular car, ‘tough’ like an SUV.”

[ Line of cars forming behind me. Birthday friend talking in my ear…”What’s going on over there” ]

“Great. I was thinking of getting one. Was gonna go for the 45 but I think that’s too pricey so I’ll probably go with this one.”

[ Is this really happening? ]

“Well, you definitely should. Have a great day.”

“You too, thanks.”

So that happened…

The following is an IM exchange between my sister and I about Velvet the cat:

Me: Velvet took a dump!
Sister: mazel tov

Danyael and I have been talking about going to London in the fall. Neither of us have been in a long time and one of her client’s is in a show over there plus it would nice to just get away.

Earlier this week, Danyael told me that for my birthday (which is in August) she is going to take care of the London trip. Now, I immediately argue that its too much and not necessary but she insists. Certainly a very nice gift.

Last night, Danyael said to me, “Matt, for your birthday, would you like the London trip or would you rather we got a new Washer and Dryer?” Ok, the first thing to note here is that the set we currently have works fine. We both had a good laugh about this one…

My response, “Whichever you want, but I was thinking, for your birthday, would you rather me get you a spa-day once a month for a year or a new XBox 360?”