Teensy Update and an Anniversary Story

Not much to report on the adoption front, other than that we received word today that R is dilated 2 cm and claims (keep in mind this will be her third delivery) that she thinks she'll deliver in the next ten days or so and won't stay pregnant until her due date. We'll see. I'm going to do laundry and start packing my suitcase (since we'll be staying across the city for 5-10 days).

I haven't written much (or anything?) about J's job before, but he is an engineer and works for the federal government in the Department of Transportation (DOT). By the way, this makes his e-mail address j*****@dot.gov. Get, it? dot., dot dot? Hahahaha! Sorry. Anyway, his boss called him on Tuesday and told him to get his butt to D.C. on Wednesday morning to help with the "hurricane crisis center" (I don't know if it's really called that; probably not). His colleagues dealt with Gustav, but he is there for Hanna (and Ike?). I HATE it when he's gone on weekends!

Anyway, the point of me writing about this is the eerie similarity to 12 years ago. Twelve years ago today was our first date. (It is also my mother-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday! Love you!) Anyhow, on 9-5-96, Hurricane Fran struck the east coast, where we were at school at the University of Virginia. I remember walking outside to the car after our date, looking at the sky and saying "Huh, the sky looks weird!" To which J responded, "you are such a blonde..." Just kidding. He said, "well, yeah, it's Hurricane Fran." I was a second year student, living in a dorm, not watching TV and obviously not reading the Cavalier Daily faithfully. I had no clue. By the next morning (9-5 was a Thursday that year), classes were canceled and my dorm had no power. Since my room was on an upper floor, we also had no water pressure and I found myself calling up J and asking him if I could take a shower at his house, because he still had power and water.

Can you believe how forward I was? I could lie right now and say that I was desperate for a shower at the time, but the truth is that I was just very good at asking for things. I had actually asked J if I could borrow his car during my first year, before we were dating and before we really even knew each other. He said no, but not immediately. First he tried to put me off by telling me that his car had a standard transmission, but when I countered that I knew how to drive a standard he was forced to just say "no" to me. I think it's the only time he's ever said no to me? Hmmmm...I'll have to get back to you on that one. J, can you think of another time? :) Anyhow, the reason I needed his car was to drive to Atlanta and visit a boyfriend there. I lost the boyfriend, but J was impressed by me...a blonde who knew how to drive a stick shift. Awesome.

Back to my story, I ended up spending a lot of time with J the weekend after Fran hit...you know, since he had electricity and all...and the rest is history. Not to say that a normal second date wouldn't have had the same effect, but he and I generally credit Fran with us bonding as a couple so quickly. I'm sad that he has to sit through Hanna without me.