Birth Day

This month there was a birthday.  A real birth day.  One where Jen gives birth to a baby boy, Theodore Edward Jones, on February 1.  Congratulations. There's some wondering about his name – will it be Ted or Teddy. We've already seen Theo.  Or Theodore? Sounds wonderful any which way.

I used to say that the world stops for a new baby, but out in Illinois, nothing stops Auden, who appeared in a play shortly after her little brother's birth. 

Speaking of pregnancy, how many of you can claim that you were serenaded by Rihanna on your birthday?  Privately, I may add. Yes, Rihanna sang on my birthday, just to me. And 130 million other people, but I had the distinct impression that she was singing just for me. If only I recognized any of her songs. 

Still, it was a super birthday. Charlie and Annie were here with Josh and his friend, Rodrigo, a political scientist from Mexico who is spending the semester at UMass. We went for a long walk, took long naps, had a long, never-ending meal, and watched a long game.  And we had a nice Zoom-in with folks from Brazil to Oakland to DC. 

On that call, we heard about Margaret's case of shingles. I remember weekly letters from the distant past where Pop mentioned his bout and how painful it was. I remember it so well, that I have had three different vaccine shots.  Well, they don't give the vaccine to people under 50, and Margaret got it.  And she can confirm how painful and uncomfortable it is.  And it lasts for way too long.

When I mentioned to David that she had shingles, his first response was, "She's too young."  He's right, but apparently this vestige of chicken pox can come out in times of stress. And Margaret has her fair share of that in her new job. She, by the way, was involved in the recent release of Nicaraguan political prisoners to the U.S., and was on hand when they arrived in DC.

From the Pop's Weekly Letter archives is this note from 1993 – "We talked to Margaret, and we learned that what she wanted for her birthday was snow and 'scabs'. It seems that Joseph, Margaret and Annie all have chicken pox, and they are all anxious for the scabs to appear, signaling the end of the darned thing." (01-11-93)

So, the moral is – watch out for stress.  And see if you can get the vaccine before 50.

On the health front, Timmy had an operation, on his neck, to clear a carotid artery, something that might run in the family as Johnny had that done a few years ago. And, down in Florida, Marilyn is training for a mother-daughter marathon. You go! 

Winter has been kind to us, at least as far as snow shoveling. We have not gone skiing yet, but Charlie and Annie were so desperate we went on a 90 minute search of Pittsfield for snow.  We finally found a little in a nearby park, and for 45 minutes of trudging through slush and across fallen pine branches, we did manage about 30 yards of nice skiing.  It looks like that may not be the case out in upstate New York and Everett and Donald have found plenty for sledding.

Looking ahead, we have some one-year birthdays on the horizon – Luisa and Kiernan are fast approaching that day. Luisa is pulling herself up to standing position, and there was a great shot of Kiernan holding on to a dog leash, ready for his walk.  Joe and Leonor will be heading to Rio for Carnevale and Sankar will be in the Recife area, where he says they have already started.

Right here, we can't wait for Lent to start. It's past time to cut back. I saw in the newspaper that Super Bowl Sunday is replacing Thanksgiving as a family get-together, but I see Super Bowl as an opportunity to eat all those things you don't eat the rest of the year. In this house, that means Fritos. We went through two bags here.  There is some debate whether Fritos are vegan.  Annie says they may be accidental vegan food. If that's the case I might go on an accidently began diet, along with Oreos, she says. 

And on that note, love from up here.