pretty little maids, all rolling around.
One year ago: I think about Hard Rain.
Three years ago: We see CopLand and hang around with Darin's grandparents.
Last night I left the very last Mystery Writing class (sniff) and walked out into a crowd of very well-dressed adults. You don't expect to see well-dressed adults at Universal CityWalk. You see a lot of adults, usually in t-shirts and shorts, and a lot a lot a lot of kids. I'm always surprised by the number of babies at CityWalk at 10pm, when I'm getting out of class, and quite a few young children, running through the dancing waters of the ground fountain, shrieking when the water bursts out at them.
A lot of starchy white folk in good outfits? No.
Then I ran across the sign that read "Welcome Florida Democratic Delegation."
Oh. Okay then.
(Hasn't Al Gore been nominated yet? It seems like the Democratic Convention has been going on forever. I did turn on NPR long enough to hear about how well the LAPD has been handling the convention, which is to say, about as well as can be suspected. Or, to put it another way, not too fucking well. I sometimes wonder if anyone has a clue down at the LAPD HQ -- "We have a national reputation for being corrupt and brutal. The Democratic Convention's coming to town. How should we handle this? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?")
The mystery class is going to form a writer's group, which I think is just great, and not only because it will give me an excuse to get out of the house. I like the class and I find getting feedback very helpful, not only for improving my material but for creating it. If I have deadlines, I make sure I get my stuff done.
Thursdays are always the packed days at Mommy and Me yoga. (I don't go to the Monday class any more, I guess I can't be sure, but Thursdays always had more.) Today, there were 8 mommy-and-baby pairs.
Three of the babies were named Sophia.
So much for having a slightly unusual name. I always wanted to name my kids something slightly off-beat, because I was always one of at least two Dianes in a class.
I don't know when this happened, but there's been a fundamental shift in Sophia's energy level recently. Upwards. There is no more Diane-does-something-with-Sophia-in-her-arms-and-Sophia-puts-up-with-it. No. Mommy is here to pay attention to She Who Must Be Obeyed at all times, and Sophia will whine something awful if Mommy doesn't.
It's exhausting.
Remember when I felt guilty for hiring Dora to come in to help me out some during the week, because Sophia wasn't that difficult to deal with?
Not any more. Now there must be constant stimulation. She is a wide-awake, ready-to-go little girl.
We're taking a lot more walks, where Sophia can meet people and study them. (And they love looking at her. Everyone mentions her big eyes.) I thank God for the exersaucer (which I call "the UFO"), but that's not working as well as it was, because Sophia knows the UFO and, frankly, she's ready for something new.
I think it's time to pull out the big guns.
I think it's time to start Gymboree.
Yes, yes, it's true: I'm a suburban mom. I've found myself thinking of late, Gee, I'd really like a minivan. I happily spend hours with other moms from yoga, talking about what we're going through our babies and looking for advice.
I don't think I've turned brain-dead, although it is tough with PowerPuff Baby to find the time to do anything not baby-related. I have the evenings, mostly. Darin and I sit together and we talk about our day. We have very, very different days, despite being a few meters from one another all day.
So far I think we're doing okay, but I can really understand why couples can run aground during this period. It's really tough. As Darin has said on occasion -- I'd say "joked" but it's not a joke, not really -- "Do we have anything to talk about except Sophia?" It's tough enough to find a huge range of new things to talk about 8 years into a relationship. It's real tough when the day-to-day experience of one of the partners in a relationship is severely circumscribed.
And not because I don't have access to input other than the baby, but because the baby is simply number one with me all the time. I can read a book (and have read several), but I can't get engrossed in them the way I once could, because I always have one ear monitoring the Baby Frequency. Darin is very understanding, but I wouldn't be surprised if he were just a little annoyed that he doesn't get my full attention anymore.
But, as Darin also says, we're always looking for new projects to work on together, and we've got a real doozy for the next couple of years.
In the forum:
Forget spoilers -- what annoys you in movies? Know of a movie that can't translate to screen?
The answer to yesterday's question: Governor Marc Racicot declared the entire state of Montana a disaster area because of the 86 wildland fires burning, covering 1 million acres of land.
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Copyright 2000 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@nobody-knows-anything.com