Our Short Taste of Freedom

For Thanksgiving weekend Josh, Aviva, and I had our short taste of freedom. i.e. Silver Spring.

Our excitement for this vacation weekend knew no bounds. Aviva was completely packed approximately 5 days prior to our departure. I actually had to remove her undershirts and socks from the suitcase in order to dress her at home the days before we left. I practically brought every article of clothing that I still fit into so that I would have multiple options of outfits to wear. I feel like such a shlub around the house at home - why not bring a million choices of clothes for my vacation when seeing my family and friends? And yes, I did leave Josh a small corner of the suitcase.

Josh was beyond excited as well. The night before we left he told himself he was going to start his vacation early and not study. He just sat on the couch with his eyes half-closed murmuring "I just want to go out and play some poker."

Ok A. we don't have a whole lot of money to spare and B. knowing our friends, you'll probably get to play some in Silver Spring.

Josh had slept for 2 hours over the past 48 before we left for SS due to two back-to-back exams. I can tell when Josh stays up the whole night (which unfortunately is not an uncommon occurrence). First of all, with my ninth-month insomnia predicament (inability to get comfortable in ANY position) I find myself gazing at the clock at all hours of the night. 1:15...3:45....4:50.... numbers I don't like to associate with the night time, only the afternoon time. And sure enough - no Josh to be found. Then I hear the rustling of papers and crumbling of food bags. Yup, Josh is raiding the lazy susan for "healthy snacks" at 4:00 AM (which I have yet to master on the shopping list) and shuffling his papers all over the coffee table. Sure enough, on schedule, he stumbles into the bedroom at 6:30 to take a shower mumbling under his breath that he is going to fail the exam and that sleep is overrated and for the weak. Hmm... I beg to differ. As a mother knows, large quantities of sleep may not always be possible, but it sure as heck is not overrated! When Josh stays up the whole night, he'll usually fetch Aviva from her 13 hour slumber after he hasn't slept a wink. When I come out, I find the family room a wreck with papers all over, pillows and food everywhere, and our chenille throw on the floor (which distinctively smells like Josh since he must cloak himself with all possible warmth due to the pregnant lady's thermostat altering antics). But sure enough, he picks himself up and takes that test making us all proud. And I get over the fact that he forgot to shut the lazy susan..... most of the time.

Well that was pretty much the scene right before we left. So again, you can imagine our excitement.

The day finally came! We shut the exploding suitcases, eagerly loaded the car, shut our MANUAL garage, and ditched our one-horse town!!

Maybe I should call it the one-gate town, since the airport is approximately the size of the Southfield Public Library in Detroit. When approaching the terminal, instead of seeing signs that read "Departures" or "Arrivals" there is ONE sign that says "Loading Dock" because you do both in the same place!! Yup, that's right - our airport sounds like a construction site.

When we checked in, the lady behind the counter printed up our boarding passes and inquisitively asked me, "Oh, when are you due?" That triggered panic on my part. The first thing I sputtered out was, "I have a note from my Dr.!!! I am fine to travel! I'm not due for another 6 weeks!" (that's a lie... I'm due in four weeks... and will probably have the baby early... so we're really looking at 2 weeks... but wtvr.) She just blinked and stared at me and said, "Oh. I was just curious."

Oops. Snapping at the check-in lady. Not starting on a good foot...

But then she proceeded to tell me horror stories of when she traveled pregnant and threw up all over everyone around her on the plane. TOO MICH INFORMATION. Besides, I hate when people share their horror stories. Ok, I don't feel so bad for snapping anymore.

Aviva was a hit. She ran through the entire airport (not such a large feat), played in the play area, which I have to admit was very cute, and was all-around pretty terrific through out the flights. Of course, we brought Josh's computer and let Aviva watch a few DVDs, which fully entertained her when she was not pulling EVERY item out of the service flap in front of the chairs including emergency information, vomit bags, and air mall shopping magazines. (Remember Aviva's "HELLOOOO IN THEREEEEE!!!" antic her Daddy taught her for Imma's tummy? Well, she proceeded to do that into the vomit bag. Everyone got a kick out of that one.)

The trip was even more exciting because my mother and sisters met us during our 3 hour lay-over in the Detroit airport. I was so beyond thrilled to see them... but they did bring... me.... PIZZA. FROM JERUSALEM PIZZA!!! Yes - I mean real, authentic pizza (not just homemade dough and tomato sauce pizza). It was such a beautiful moment. I think the best part was when Shevy asked if she could have one slice and embarrassingly, but whole-heatedly, I said absolutely not. We had a great time playing, eating, and talking, until we unfortunately had to trudge back through security (the torturous death of us all) and make our way to our flight to Baltimore.

We finally made it!!! Aviva's Bubby and Zaidy were beyond thrilled to see her!! It was a trip six months in the making! No words can describe the love and attention Aviva got through out the whole weekend! She received a new Elmo Live from her grandparents and great grandparents and was thrilled to see the abundance of toys Bubby brought down from her from storage. It was a virtual playroom! It was as if we never left... and I can't forget the uncles and aunt (singular) that gave Aviva so much TLC through out the weekend! It was all wonderful!

Of course - Josh and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. I told myself that I was not going to pressure Josh for any major social obligations or big trips. We were going to relax. We were going to SLEEP. We were going to be laid back. And we pretty much were. I ventured out to visit some friends on my own - and Josh caught up on the rested he needed (translation: 75 games of game cube mario baseball with his 14 year old brother - but hey, I'm not complaining. He doesn't get to do it year round... thank the Lord above.) And I did make Josh live up to ONE social obligation - visiting some of our friends at the Warwick Saturday night. We had a great time seeing everyone, ate pizza and played scategories just like old times. As usual, Josh was the hit of the night - asking Jeremy Goodman if he was "tickly" and having his wife claim that Tamir Goodman "flies". (sorry y'all... you had to be there.)

Oh, I forgot to mention - I was privy to watching a "Rocky" movie marathon with the Rosenbloom men. After yelling at the boys for a half hour that I don't want such profanity on while Aviva is roaming the house, I actually sat down and watched some of the movie. And crazy enough... I actually enjoyed it.

We were so sad to leave. We really value our friends so much and we miss them dearly. We hope they don't go anywhere and wait for us to return some day!! And I'm sure you can imagine, the family was pretty depressed as well. We all concluded that we can't go a full six months without seeing each other again. We stressfully packed up our 500 bags and trudged off to the airport once again.

After a relatively uneventful trip (minus the snow in Detroit, 3 gate changes, and 15 minute stand-still to watch the Giants/Redskins game on the big screen) we made it home only to welcome 5 inches of snow, a car covered in white, and our house that we left at 64 degrees (HEAVEN!!!!!)

Our short taste of freedom was much needed and much enjoyed. I can't lie that it doesn't feel good to be back in my own home -- manual garage and all. We're here for a purpose - and we're actually getting used to it.

We're looking forward to more tastes of freedom to come.