Lee, thanks for the update. I'll have to go soon (a possible new-roommate is coming to check out the apartment), and I know exactly how I'll feel. A friend gave birth a few years ago - she went in to the hospital on Friday, and by the time shabbat was supposed to start, I knew that she's giving birth *right now* but couldn't call and find out, because of shabbat, so I had to wait until the evening of the following day in order to really know what's going on. This is what I believe will happen tonight, with the Zahecubaby. However, that birth ended up with a beautiful, healthy, lovely girl, so I think I'm willing to make that sacrifice (I can't believe how I keep making all this about meMeME).

Nilly, I have to tell you that during her labor JZ felt insanely itchy wishing she could see the Buffista response to her labor. "Why don't you just sneak home and print out a couple hundred pages of Natter for me?" she suggested.

She also said, "I don't know when Nilly will find out, but I know she'll pray for me and the baby. And God wouldn't say 'No' to Nilly."

Nilly, I have to tell you that during her labor JZ felt insanely itchy wishing she could see the Buffista response to her labor. "Why don't you just sneak home and print out a couple hundred pages of Natter for me?" she suggested.

You totally should print it out before you go back, because man, we were like tiny children trapped in the back of a car on a long road trip to Disneyland or some other crap simile you can fill in for yourself.

So good to see you posting, Hec! Please give all our best to JZ and little Matilda.

I don't know when Nilly will find out

Well, this is when I found out!

I had to run all sort of university bureaucratic errands this morning, payment and enrollment and such, and I just skipped the whole finishing-them part, as simple as that. I couldn't get myself to go through each of them, one at a time, waiting in lines upon lines and running around. I just had to rush to the computer and finally find out what exactly happened and when and how everybody is feeling.

Last night was too busy to go back to the computer and check what's going on (um, we have a new roommate and she seems really nice, for example), but waiting until the afternoon today was too much to ask from my five-years-old self, especially since I knew that the information was right there and it was me who didn't get to it yet, like the jar of cookies on the high shelf and I'm standing on tiptoe and just a centimeter (that's less than an inch!) short to get it, my fingers are brushing it from the outside but I still can't make it move and the cookies are just inside right there and everybody can get there and I can imagine exactly what they taste like but until I eat them I can't really know for real what they feel like in my mouth. Um, anyway. Now I want a cookie. No, wait, I mean, reading posts.

So, I was even catching up! I always want to and wish I could and regret clicking the "Last" link at the top of the thread, but I so rarely get to really actually do it. But this morning, I mean, I was just smiling in front of the computer like it just jumped at me and hugged me and told me the best news ever (which, in a way, it did - I can't think of better news than the coming to the world of a healthy new little person), nearly jumping up and down myself in my seat (the comparisons to little kids on their way to Disneyland are not out of place, you know, and not just because they're too short to get to cookies jars).

I just had to have in front of me something that would at least reciprocate what was going on inside of me, you know? So I scrolled back and read all the well-wishes and the squeeing and the hooraying and it made it a bit easier to think that I can't just cook you guys some stuff and send it to your place for the first hectic days or stuff like that or even count the days before it's OK to call or even to visit (why, yes, I did manage to make this all a meMeME thing, who else is surprised?).

but I know she'll pray for me and the baby

Oh, but of course. Every day, ever since I knew for the first time that she had to be in bed rest, and even more during Rosh Hashana (because, well, lots more prayers are all around in these couple of days, and for the whole year) and this morning, as well, when I knew things must be set already, because she has a whole recovery process to go through, and, well, Matilda has a whole start-of-life thing to begin seriously, now that she's soon going to be over a single day old.

I'm so touched that I was somewhere in JZ's thoughts throughout all this. Wow.

Take that, stupid ocean-between-continents!

Aaaaaand in other who-cares-about-this-whole-ocean-thing birthday news, only not actually birth-is-today-on-this-very-24-hours news, according to the Buffista Calendar, today is Nicole's birthday. Happy birthday, Nicole! With lots of wishes for a great day and a wonderful year!

Happy birthday Nicole!

Is it okay if I stab out my ears with my hospital id? because that would be better than trying to decifer the words on this tape. Seriously: how can you take seven minutes to get through a one-page letter, and only speed up when you get to the medical terms? That is not helpful and I don't understand!

Um, I guess the medical terms are the only words he or she really knows well and feels confident on.

Hospital IDs aren't really useful for stabbing ears anyway, I suggest a knitting needle. ::nods::

It would just be like 5x easier if they would think about what they're saying and actually sound out the words so that "enterology" doesn't come out "entymgy," which sounds more like the syntax for Ent-speak. I mean, if *I* ruled the world...

Gronk. Up half the night coughing.

And now I have to find nice clothes to wear for the next few days to distract from the suit-wearing of yesterday.

Hi Nilly! Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Nicole!!!

Hi Nilly!! Happy New Year!

So, does anyone else think that 6:30 am is a wee bit early to be hurling verbal abuse at random pedestrians from your vehicle, even if said abuser is most likely a total asshat?