a very happy weekend

This is possibly the only Monday of the year that I eagerly anticipate (unless I'm going on vacation on a Monday. I would be excited about that, too)...the one that indicates that I survived another Mother's Day and that the world can go back to the regular, average amount of reminding me how amazing mothers and kids are. Whew.

To be honest, yesterday was better than anticipated. It was also way more awful than anticipated, but not in a way that had anything to do with MD. It was better-than-anticipated because I was so truly overwhelmed with the kindness of people all throughout the week and on Sunday-- cards, notes, texts-- just reminders to me (and other IF friends of mine) that people were thinking of and praying for me...it was so wonderful. It gets hard to be bitter when people are being wonderful-- so KNOCK IT OFF, FOLKS- BITTERNESS IS MY 'THING.' Okay, just kidding. Never stop being awesome. So in that sense, I felt incredibly loved and cared for over the weekend, despite my empty uterus and nursery. We'll call that a win.

What was not a win was the fact that my period arrived yesterday and with it a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day of Endo Awareness. I literally got out of my bed maybe 4 times the whole day (for a total of maybe 30 minutes, with 25 of that being spent on the couch). Therefore I spent the day in a drugged haze, curled up with a heating pad and my sweet dog and husband who took care of my every need and whim (such as when I suddenly realized the only thing I could possibly eat were tiny chocolate donuts). I took the opportunity of being stuck in bed all day to read a book I'd picked up at a yard sale a few months ago, Running with Scissors. Gotta say-- totally hated it. Read it cover to cover...hated it. People who compared it to the memoirs of David Sedaris...HAVE YOU EVER READ DAVID SEDARIS?? Then please don't insult him like that. This book was disturbing and grotesque, and while the author is probably a humorous person (and had a wry and humorous writing style), there was nothing funny about it. I just felt sorry for the guy and can't comprehend how everything in the book could possibly be true and no one ended up in prison. At any rate, now I'm stuck figuring out what to do with the book. I don't want to keep it. But I can't stand the thought of donating it to Goodwill because that would mean that someone else might possibly end up reading it, and I wouldn't want to inflict that on an unsuspecting person. Any ideas?

So that was yesterday-- a terrible book to top off my terrible pain. I slept terribly last night (despite drugs that should make that impossible) but here I am, ready for another week of work.

BUT! Lest you think my whole weekend was a bummer...let me inform you: It was not. Friday afternoon started off with getting to go visit Mollyanne and her brand-spankin'-new baby Emery in the hospital!

...And I'm not sure why that picture is so blurry, but oh well. Mollyanne was doing well, Emery was super cute and itty-bitty, and it was a great start to the weekend. Most notably, Emery has hair EXACTLY LIKE MINE. I mean, same color, straightness, everything. This leads me to suspect that Mollyanne stole some of my DNA and Emery is partially mine. So that's pretty awesome. Also, as Mollyanne pointed out, this will make it even easier for me to be Emery's hair (and fashion) muse (which Mollyanne had been planning on even while Emery was in utero)...so, things are off to a great start there!

On Saturday I met up with two of my lifelong besties, Elizabeth and Laura, for lunch in Lawrenceville (a town halfway between all of our homes).

To prove how awesome and long-term our friendship truly is, I would like you to enjoy the following photo-of-photos. Elizabeth found these yesterday when she was visiting her parents. Amazing. Simply amazing.

Yes, that would be the three of us in our awesome band portraits from high school. Try not to be jealous of how cool we were. 

Now you can appreciate how far we've come. Sadly, we did not take our flutes and French horns to lunch, but we did at least spend a few minutes talking about the good ol' days in band, so that's gotta count for something.

We went to Local Republic, a freakin' awesome restaurant in downtown Lawrenceville. It was SO good. I seriously wanted Matt to take me back a few hours later for dinner that night (but he wouldn't). But I'll be back soon for sure. I wanted to eat everything on the (limited, seasonally changed, locally grown-brewed-and-sourced) menu.

We did a little downtown walking and shopping, then grabbed froyo before heading back to our respective towns. It was a fabulous afternoon-- there's something so wonderful and comforting about hanging out with people who've known you since preschool.

So all in all, it was a great weekend. I even got in a few tough workouts! Oh, and we finally saw Silver Linings Playbook on Friday-- it was SO good!! This is going to be a great week, too- my very first niece (and first baby of any sort in my family) will be born on Wednesday!! So that means that next weekend will be full of all sorts of baby love and I will get to be a proud auntie again. I hope this baby looks like me, too. I have high hopes, since my brother and I looked very much alike as kids. So keep your fingers crossed for THAT very important thing...ya know, in addition to hoping she's born safely and healthily and all that, too, I guess. Whatev. You gotta have priorities.