Slumber Party Weekend

Tonya at the hospital, ordering off of room service!

Karen, me, Cherice

Cherice, Mom, Karen

Karen chilling out on the air mattress!

I am now truly gigantic at 35 1/2 weeks!

I'm finally home and winding down from what can only be defined as The Slumber Party Weekend. My mom and five girlfriends from across the country--representing Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Georgia, and Minnesota--flew in for the weekend to attend a baby shower thrown for me by my mother-in-law and dear friend, Judy. A wonderful time was had by all, from the first arrival on Thursday afternoon to the last lunch today. I don't think we've ever hosted so many overnight guests in our home at one time, and we had air mattresses and pillows strewn from one end of the loft to the other.

Thursday and Friday were actually a lot more mellow than expected since my mom flew in a bit earlier than everyone else to hang out, and then several people had flight delays on Friday. Unfortunately, friend Mindi from Nashville did not make it because of the stomach flu and friend Cherice missed her flight (I totally empathize with oversleeping and missing a flight, and this has become our hallmark with each other...from NYC to Montreal!). But the upside was that I did not have to make the trek to Midway for airport pick-up, so Mom and I did what any normal women would do and went shopping at Nordstrom. Things became very lively by Friday evening when Cherice, Karen, Tonya, and Joe joined us for dinner at Marigold restaurant in Uptown for some killer Indian food. Perhaps the funniest moment of Slumber Party Weekend was when sweet Tonya, from Osakis, Minnesota, asked our server what she could eat in an Indian restaurant since she "didn't like curry." Our friendly server spent considerable time explaining that Indian food actually does not typically contain the spice curry, but any of the dishes with sauces are called "curry"--similar to the British calling a variety of desserts "pudding." It was a good education, but we all cracked up when Tonya, somewhat befuddedly, made the comment, "I should know this...my son is Indian." It's important to point out that Tonya's son is Native American Indian, so we're still not quite sure what that had to do with it...I guess you had to be there to see the facial expressions, but it cracked us up!

Saturday dawned too soon for most of us, but after refueling with delicious coffee beverages from Brothers K, we were ready to hit the road for the main event of the weekend--my second baby shower. The shower was held at Joe's parent's club, north of the city, and was absolutely beautiful and elegant. About 26 family members, family friends, and girlfriends gathered for games, luncheon, and the opening of extremely useful baby gifts. Joe and I feel so blessed to have been so completely "showered" with love and wisdom by so many at not one, but two showers! Thanks, everyone! I will post additional photos of just the shower this week.

You may be asking yourself what my dear husband was doing during the shower, and the honest answer is that I thought he was at work. I came to find out later in the day that he never made it to work on Saturday for a very good reason. He took the El to work that day and once on, the car between South Blvd. and Howard St. broke down (no electricity) and was stuck on the tracks for almost an hour--so frustrating since he was only a few blocks from our home. There were only two other people in his car, but one of them was evidently an avid pot-smoker and within minutes the car reeked. Joe could not switch cars or get any ventilation since the electricity was out, and after many interminable minutes of inhaling the strong odor of cannibis (like my cool '70's reference?), threw up on the floor of the train car--no bag, no nothing. I guess he showed that guy! Which scent would you rather inhale? My poor husband stumbled out of the car an hour later and went home and slept the rest of the day! You've gotta watch that second-hand smoke.

Sadly, the day ended just as auspiciously when friend Tonya started feeling unwell due to a problem arising with her pacemaker and some heart problems, and after a call to her doctor in Minnesota, he ordered her to the emergency room at our local hospital for monitoring. We were so bummed for her when the doctor decided she needed to stay overnight for observation, but she is such a trooper that she took it all in stride and had the nurses laughing within an hour of being admitted (refer back to my story about the Indian food and you will see what an upbeat and funny person she is). We went to visit Tonya on Sunday morning and found out she would not be released until later that day, so I took the rest of the ladies downtown Chicago for a little shopping and an airport drop-off. It was great to pick her up that evening and spend some time hanging out, eating Thai food and ice cream, and enjoying the company of a great group of women.

I dropped off most of the women at the airport this afternoon and, after a great Slumber Party Weekend, am ready to tuck myself and Baby McG into bed...goodnight, everyone!