something(s) new

Is it really Thursday already? It seems as if this week has gone by in a long, slow blur of reading, sleeping, watching movies (thanks to our new subscription to Netflix!) and seeing friends for lunch — all the while punctuated by constant skin scratching. Tuesday night, I took an extra-strength antihistamine prescribed by the doctor, which not only made me sleep relatively soundly through the night but also made me groggy throughout the day yesterday. Powerful stuff, and it felt good to sleep, although I didn't take another one last night. I managed to sleep OK last night on Benadryl. Maybe I'm getting used to the itching. Or maybe I'm slowly drifting into insanity ...

Tuesday we got our new refrigerator delivered; I must say, between this and the new dishwasher we bought last month, it feels good to have 21st-century appliances. By no means is the new one anything fancy or top-of-the-line: It doesn't have an icemaker or a water dispenser, for instance. (Our plumbing isn't set up for that.) But it is about six cubic feet larger than our last fridge — and very energy-efficient, enough to have earned itself an Energy Star rating (which I guess means it exceeds Canada's efficiency standards). Apparently, refrigerators are one of the biggest energy users in a home, so we are hoping to see a big difference on our gas and electric bill in the coming months. The old fridge used to rumble and growl so loudly we could hear it from the bedroom. And lately, it had taken to making a rather alarming dripping sound, which we were told was Freon running amok in its tubes. It's probably a good thing we put it out to pasture.

Here's the old one ...


And the new one ...


What else is new? Oh — the new dress I bought last week at Target. Brown and stretchy, it is so much more comfortable on my itchy legs than pants and so much looser on my "waist" than shorts that I have been wearing it every day since last Saturday and may wear it to the hospital, no joke. I can dress it up; I can dress it down. Here I am wearing it to a wedding we attended on Saturday.


And what a completely joyful wedding it was! I met the bride (a former coworker) eight years ago, shortly after her 35-year marriage fell apart due to her cheating husband (who later obtained an annulment — how does that happen?). She went through some very dark years — and grew so much, fully coming into her own, it seemed — before she met the dear, wonderful man who is now her husband. They were introduced by a pair of 80-something nuns who are known for their matchmaking abilities — and who stood as witnesses at the wedding. I was moved to tears as I listened to the couple take their vows in the presence of their nine collective children, extended families, and many friends. (The church was packed.) I know that the bride probably never imagined that she'd ever stand before the altar again in her lifetime reciting those holy words, yet there she stood, glowing like a girl and speaking those vows with the conviction of a woman who knows she has made a good choice. I was, and am, so very happy for her, and for her lucky groom.

Here's one more new thing I ordered online this week: The Kecci Shanghai II Mommybag (in blackberry), a diaper bag that fills the gap between my small, sporty day-tripper from Lands' End and the larger, all-day backpack that's manly enough for Steve to use. It's bigger; it converts from a shoulder-strap-style to backpack ... and it's pretty! I can't wait for it to arrive!

But what I really, really can't wait for is to meet the Lemmondrop at last! I am so unbelievably excited to meet this new baby! It is so hard to believe that it could be within the week! Yippee!!!