#473

Weekend Round-Up

Hmmm...well this weekend started out funny. I finished class around 1 PM on Friday, and then spent my afternoon moping. Not sure when my lack of motivation to do anything turned into a lower mood, but it felt like I was moving through a vat of glue. Things brightened when Anat invited me out to hang with her, her fiance, Romeo, Claire, and Claire's boyfriend. All in all a super fun night, if snowy.



I lost most of Saturday to a migraine. I had no idea how supremely uncomfortable it was to be both nauseous and hungry at the same time. I rallied for a 4 PM meeting with my business school/entrepreneurship group, and found my headache slowly lifting at 6 PM. Meeting adjourned at 8 PM, and it was Chipotle for dinner with Romeo and then a showing of "Date Night." I give it 3.5 band-aids out of 5. It was quite good, and very funny. But an intelligent funny.



On Sunday, Romeo, Ben, and I drove through the sunshine to the Corning Museum of Glass. Each one of us remarked in turn at how it was one of the best museums we had ever visited. It traced the history of glass arts from cavemen to modern day, included all sorts of fun demonstrations (including glass-blowing and glass breaking), and had a hall full of exhibits relating to glass and science. Of course the men enjoyed this part the most whereas I was itching to visit the gift shop. I'll pretend to whisper here and say that I enjoyed the science part, too, and was surprised to learn something. Given that my aunt is a stained glass artist, it was amazing how much of my life made sense after visiting the museum.

Home by 6:30 to watch bad tv all night then off to bed.



Yesterday was also Ava's 4th birthday, so if y'all will permit me to brag about my niece for a sec. Okay, thanks. I remember my brother called me at 6:15 in the morning to say, "Yo, it's a little girl." And then I waited all day before 2:30 rolled around and I could visit. (Everyone had decided to give the new family a few hours by themselves to get used to each other before visiting.) The walk from Columbus Circle to the hospital was literally the longest 10 minutes of my life...longer even than the run-up to Match Day. And then, there she was, in all of her Ava-ness.

So I called her from the museum yesterday to wish her "Happy Birthday," and all I get is an "I have to go potty" before she hung up the phone. Her dad's in the background going "Hey, next month when Aunt Anna moves to NYC, you can go to the movies with her." I offer that she can come for a sleep-over. So Noah adds, "Or you can sleep-over at her house." Ava responds, "Why would I do that?" Thanks, kid.

And one more...Ava's been wanting a bike for her birthday, so my brother decided to trick her a little. He hid the bike in the hallway outside of his apartment. To get Ava outside to find the bike, he tells her to put on her new shoes to show Lorelei, her neighbor-friend upstairs. Ava runs outside and spots the bike.

Ava: Oh wow, that bike looks just like the one I wanted. Noah: Really? Ava: Yeah. Noah: Who do you think it's for? Ava: I don't know...It must be Lorelei's. Noah: Really? Ava: Yeah. Noah: Could it be for anyone else? Ava: I don't know. Who could it be for? Noah: How about you? Is it your birthday? Ava: Oh yeah, but it's probably for Lorelei. Noah: No, it's yours. Ava: Really? Is this my "big present?" I got a lot of little presents inside, but now I get a big present outside. This is the biggest surprise of my whole life!

And that's why she's special. At 4 years old and 0 days, she's already analyzing her life enough to know what the "big presents" are and that she's never had a bigger surprise.

Happy belated birthday, kid. Here's to many more.