The Weekend

Today an acquaintance in the cafeteria at work asked me if I was pregnant. I saw the look of horror in her eyes as these words tumbled from her mouth as she simultaneously remembered that it was just under four months ago that I gave birth. In a way I felt bad for her because she quickly realized her faux pas but it was depressing because I still have a roll of fat and skin on my belly from being pregnant.

Friday night was book club and I think we set a new record. I remember only discussing the book for about two minutes. The rest of the time was spent drinking wine and margaritas and discussing the normal girl stuff of kids, husbands, family, and Jeanette’s love life. Saturday morning I took Jack to a birthday party at Toy Town which is a neat little indoor town with a ton of toys and dress up clothes. Jack had two meltdowns: the first was when another boy took the car he wanted, he even though there were three other cars whose differences were only discernable to a 2-year old and the second was when a small piece of his cake landed on the floor and I didn’t let him eat it. Fortunately, the birthday party was for Jack’s day care owner’s son, who is in the 2 year-old room with Jack so most people were familiar with the irrational actions of a 2 year-old.

Saturday afternoon I went to the library to pick up a book I noticed at the bookstore the other night. It’s called “Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me”. The author of the book reviews just about every single skin care product and cosmetic on the market and evaluates them based on their effectiveness according to medical journals and the most recent research. I admit that I am lured into buying beauty products that promise reduction of wrinkles or blemishes or sun spots or post baby loose skin and rolls of fat. After looking up her opinion on all my products, according to the book, I’m getting scammed on about 99% of the products. I guess her point is that not getting wrinkles is more of a result of good genes, lack of sun damage and lack of smoking, or just a great face lift, than it is about moisturizing. The truth hurts.

On Sunday we packed up the kids and picked up our Chinese friend from Malaysia at a nearby hotel to take her to the zoo. The weather was cloudy and nice (yes, cloudy is nice in Phoenix) and we had a really great time. Jack loved the turtles the best I think, which are outside the entrance which made me think we could save money on our zoo membership next year by taking Jack to the zoo to just see the turtles. They have a new carousel and Jack rode it for the first time. He was very serious while riding it but seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. After returning from the zoo, everyone but me took a 2 – 3 hour nap which was nice because I’m in the OCD portion of my Harry Potter book (I can’t put it down so I read at the dinner table, in the bathroom, etc.) What really impresses me about the author of the Harry Potter books is her imagination. Remember when we were kids and we would say things like: let’s pretend that you are a fairy princess and I am the ugly stepsister and… blah blah blah… (see, I can’t even make up an example because I NO LONGER HAVE AN IMAGINATION). I feel like I left my imagination back at my elementary school in the 70’s, never to be seen again. What a beautiful, undervalued thing that all kids have and so many adults have lost.