The Queen's Rambles

We had a totally crazy day at Chez Possum. Most of it was excellent, but some of it was really scary.

Secret Agent Josephine was hosting a bigger blogger meet-up in Alexandria and I knew I had to go! It is not often you get to meet such a long term blogging buddy, so I was up for anything.

My original plan was to ditch Mike and Erik, but after looking at directions and realizing they included the dreaded “get on 395 from the George Washington Parkway,” a maneuver I have never successfully completed after five years of living here, I decided I needed a navigator. Looking at Google maps, I could see there was a playground a block away from the coffee shop, so off we went as a family!

Of course we got lost. You can’t drive here without getting lost.

I successfully got on 395, though it took a whole lot of really foul language. Maybe that DVD player with headphones isn’t such a curse after all.

But then? I had approximately five seconds to cross six lanes of traffic for an immediate left exit. We missed that exit.

I was moaning and grumbling and possibly, just maybe, screaming my head off, when a fast movement to the left caught my eye. A motorcyclist ran into the left median, flew ass over heels through two lanes of traffic while his bike skidded over four lanes of traffic. Suddenly my cursing was more of the “Oh my god oh my god oh my god” variety. Somehow everyone around managed to stop and no one ran him over, but it was still the scariest thing I’ve ever seen while driving. People immediately jumped out of their cars, cell phones against their ears. We were probably four cars back and by the time we got up that far people were already with him, holding his head still. I thought for sure we were going to see a dead body and I was freaking out, but when we drove by he was moving his head and I didn’t see any blood.

I only felt slightly guilty that we didn’t stop to help. At least seven other cars were stopped and a lot of military looking guys (we were right next to the Pentagon) were running to the scene. I thought the best thing we could do to help was get the heck out of the way. If you’re the praying sort, I know of a guy who could use some serious prayers. By the time we had turned around to try our exit again there were already emergency workers on the scene so maybe he has a shot.

After getting lost several more times, we finally arrived at our destination at the same moment as SAJ and Bethany. They had their two kids and Bethany’s husband, so we grabbed seats in the toy nook and enjoyed some dessert while we waited for the rest of the people to show up. Once I find out the links of the other people, I’ll have to post them. In the end there were only two other bloggers and their families, but it was a nice size for a meet-up. We all ended up walking down to the little playground because the kids were pretty restless. I felt bad for one of the ladies, Christine, because she had an active toddler that took most of her attention. It is so nice to have a four year old. You can just sit and watch without much active participation.

I’m really mad that my rechargeable batteries don’t seem to be charging. Brenda has had that problem before and thinks my charger is probably shot. I thought I was all prepared to take pictures this time, but apparently not. Boo! Brenda and Bethany both love taking pictures, so you can check their blogs if you want to see all of us. They are probably the only pregnancy pics that exist of me! Maybe I should have Mike take a few belly shots for this baby’s book. That would require purchasing actual batteries, but I need to do that anyway. I’ve been very remiss at showing off the handmade goodness that blog readers have sent for baby Elsa. Bad me! I shall do that soon.

One of the kids brought a bubble wand that Erik was fascinated with. The girl wasn’t too interested in it and her mom said Erik could have it. You’d think the kid scored a million bucks. He’s currently sleeping with it. It’s his sword, at least until he hits me with it and I have a conniption. I suppose every boy needs a sword and it’s not as pokey as a stick. Thank you, Shanee!

I do think this was my last outing until after the baby is born. I’ve not had much swelling, but today my feet are the size of watermelon and my legs are hurting. I even caved and bought man sandals at Target on the way home. I HATE HATE HATE wearing men’s shoes. All my tennis shoes are from the men’s department, but I still hate it. I want to be feminine. I want purple. Or teal. Or blue! Gray and black. Puke. Yuck. I wants pretty, my precious.

My feet, however, are not made for cute, girly shoes. I suppose I should count myself lucky that I made it to 35 weeks without a dire need for huge man shoes. I probably could have found something acceptable online, but it was a lot cheaper and more convenient to grab man sandals at Target. I suppose one must sacrifice form for function at some stage. I’m already wearing disgusting maternity clothes, so why not add manly shoes to the mix?

At least I have a good excuse to just sit in my chair and groan. Mike has been working his tushie off all day (in addition to escorting me through two states!). He totally rearranged the craft/guest room. I am amazed. I had no idea we were using the space in such an inefficient manner. It looks quite a big bigger and is a lot more functional now.

Tomorrow, I get to be embarrassed while my neighbor comes in and cleans my house. It is going to be so good to have the place deep cleaned! I am worried because we have so much crap that doesn’t have a home and I’m not going to know what to tell her to do with it, but if she can just vacuum, dust, wipe down all my baseboards and wainscoting, and do my bathrooms this place will be a million times better. I’m looking around here feeling like a slobbish pig. I know I’m not a great housekeeper, but at least most of the time my house is just cluttered, not disgusting.