Thirtysomething

Baltimore

We spent a lovely weekend in Baltimore. They've done a ton of work down there and really expanded the waterfront, just since last year. It looks great. I so wish we would do something like that in this city.

Anyway, it was a bit chilly actually, but we had a great time at the Italian Festival. Tons of great food--my pants are a little snugger this morning. We met Ron's sister and her husband, his cousins and his parents in the Inner Harbor and walked over the Little Italy. In addition to eating our faces off, we also played a little bocci and really livened up the bingo area for awhile. Actually, we basically got thrown out of bingo for winning too much. Around dinnertime we walked back to our hotel on the way to Fells Point. Fells Point is a great section of Baltimore with lots of little bars and restuarants. Finally, by midnight and after an ill-advised slice of pizza, I went back to the hotel. While I was in Maryland, I got a series of phone calls from my friends and it's a tie for who left the funniest message. On one hand, Kimberly, nearly forgot my name during her rendition of happy birthday and collapsed into hysterical giggles. On the other hand, Christy and Michelle's version featured Michelle thinking she sings first soprano for the Philadelphia Opera. So, it's really a tie. It was all in all a fun birthday.

The cloud that hung over us however, was Ron's other sister, the one who did not come to Baltimore. Surprisingly, the rest of Ron's family did come with us to the festival, really only because everyone realized that this would be the last opportunity to get away for quite some time. That they left his sister's side while she's hospitalized is virtually unheard of, so I know everyone is anticipating how overwhelming it's going to be once this baby is born. For now, she's still pregant. The goal, for now, is to keep her in the hospital until next week and deliver then. It'll still be six weeks early, and who knows, maybe they'll even be able to keep her pregnant beyond that. She's got her own medical team that is meeting this morning to review all the options. She's in one of the best hospitals she could be in, so there's nothing to do but wait. Once the baby's born, it'll be determined how long they can wait before doing the heart and kidney surgery.

Thank you to those of you who have her in your thoughts. We went to the St. Jude's shrine while in Baltimore. While I don't like that he's the patron saint of hopeless causes, it is he who Ron's mother turned to when his sister was sick as a child. He's become the saint of choice for the family. We got a St. Jude pendant for the baby's crib, or more likely, incubator, and really, I can't think about that without crying.

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 6:08 AM