Thursday, June 21, 2007

Awkward

I experienced a very awkward moment yesterday. On my way home from work, I stopped at my local fabric/yarn shop to pick up a few balls of yarn for a friend so that I could knit her new baby a little sweater. To set the stage, yesterday I was wearing a tunic top (which I have loved until recent events described here) similar to the one pictured below. Not this shirt exactly, but close enough - slightly high waisted, flowy material, and oh so comfortable!

I get up to the register, the woman working rings me out and as she hands me my package, points to my stomach area and asks "So when is the happy day?" My first thought was "What the hell is she talking about?" AND then after I realized what she was referring to, I started stuttering and eventually managed to choke out the words "Oh, I'm not pregnant!" as I frantically tried to smooth the front of my shirt so she could see that the air bubble there was indeed NOT my stomach. We both stood there uncomfortably for a few seconds while she then began stuttering in response "Oh, I'm so sorry - it must have been the shirt..." and both of our faces started turning several shades of red.

In all honesty I think she felt worse than I did because it was so obvious how embarassed she was, so I awkwardly snatched up my package and made my way out the door. I immediately called my husband for reassurance that no I do not look pregnant and no I do not have a huge gut. Then we went out to dinner and I got carded when I ordered my raspberry mojito which slightly offset the earlier trauma of the day. And to be fair to the woman at the store I was buying baby yarn and I do know those tunic type tops have the tendency to billow out sometimes giving the aura of pregnancy, but STILL - WHO THE HELL ASKS THAT unless they are absolutely certain??

Another friend had a similar thing happen to her - only the woman that did it to her actually reached out and felt my friend's stomach when she asked. Another very awkward moment as my friend was not pregnant either. And I also have to say I usually have a pretty accurate body perception of myself and although I am not super skinny, I'm not what you would call overweight either - I try to eat right, I jog a few times a week, all in all I'm pretty healthy. However when I woke up at 6:00 am to go jogging this morning, all I heard in my head over and over again was "So, when is the happy day?" WHY DON'T PEOPLE THINK BEFORE THEY SPEAK? Note to self: Never. wearing. that. shirt. again.

On to book talk...I just finished The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde and thought it was a pretty good read. A quick read told from different points of view of each family member - the abortionist doctor herself, her husband, her daughter, and the detective investigating the case before the killer is finally revealed. Kind of predictable, but still enjoyable.

Now I'm reading A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read. This is a good summer read. It takes place in Syracuse, NY among the working class while a former debutante of NY's wealthy Long Island set investigates a 20 year old double murder that her favorite cousin may have been involved in. I really like Read's characters - there's some grit to them which keeps it interesting.

And of course after going to the library last night with the intention of only returning books and renewing existing ones I had checked out, I came home with 7 new ones. I just can't seem to help myself :)

Next up - The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery, The Dead Father's Club by Matt Haig, and The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer and Susan Dworkin.

And this lovely picture that makes me smile. Wild roses growing in our yard. We have rose bushes we planted ourselves, but I think I like these wild ones even better with their deep color and heavenly fragrance!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Rise and Shine

I'm currently sitting at work alternating between drinking mass quantities of hot tea, ginger ale, and water, and putting my head down on my desk every 20 minutes. I woke up this morning with the dreaded summertime cold. I hate having colds or being sick in any way, shape or form, just like everyone else does, but to have a nasty cold during the hot weather of summer seems so unnatural. My throat is on fire and my ears keep popping leaving me fearful of tomorrow morning (when the cold will have spread into my chest and head as they always do) while I chant to myself "I will not be sick, I will not be sick." It's always a tug of war with my conscience as I debate whether or not to throw in the towel, go home early, and take half a sick day, or try to tough it out for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately, toughing it out seems to be the plan of action today as I have an afternoon meeting I can't really miss. Not that I will actually be of any use to anyone in that meeting as I sit there in a cold-medicated haze.

Enough complaining. Done.

Rise and Shine: A NovelI'm reading Anna Quindlen's Rise and Shine at the moment and am thoroughly enjoying it. I've taken this one out of the library on three separate occasions only having to return it before I actually got a chance to read it. I'm glad I've finally managed to crack it open. So far, it's the story of 2 sisters living very different lives in NYC while keeping a very close sisterly bond intact. The unexpected happens when the older sister (Meghan) essentially snaps while on air hosting the nation's most popular morning news show. Compounded with Meghan's husband of 22 years leaving her, it's Bridget's (the younger sister) turn to take on the big sisterly role as she tries to keep the family together. I've never read anything else by Anna Quindlen, but am finding that I really like her writing style. Anyone recommend any of her other novels in particular that I should read next?

Need to go pop another zinc lozenge and drink the third gallon (exaggerating here) of water for the day before my meeting. So miserable now...so, so miserable. I needed to get that last complaint in before I signed off ;)