Something Shiny!

Last Friday, Zack and Nikki’s baby was born. Armed with a full shock of black hair, Max was finally ready to make his grand entrance. There’s a new baby in the family, and we can’t wait to meet him at Christmas. For my part, though, the celebration was tempered with sadness. In the same week that Max was born, a dear friend passed away. I worked with Marty in college, at K-State’s main library. In any given room, she was the first to laugh and the first to smile. She always wanted to help people. One finals week, I woke up and couldn’t open my eyes; they were swollen shut. I couldn’t imagine what had happened and I didn’t know what to do. So I called Marty. Now, in all honesty, she didn’t know what to do either! But she gave me all the suggestions she could and she was a tremendous comfort to this freaked out undergrad. So, as we welcome Max into the world, we say a fond farewell to Marty. She was a spectacular woman with a beautiful soul and a tremendous spirit. She will be sorely missed.

No, still no baby. But I had a meeting with my dissertation committee yesterday afternoon and, I don’t know, the title seemed to fit. (Not that it was bad, you understand– just something that had to be gotten through before my dissertation could be properly… birthed? This metaphor has taken a weird turn.) This was a meeting for which I was eminently prepared and, having turned in the draft near the beginning of June, one which was a long time coming. I won’t say that I was particularly nervous about it, just that I had some trepidation about one committee member in particular who can be a bit of a challenge. In the days leading up to it, I wondered in which hand I should hold the olive branch (and in which hand, the arrows). Ultimately, it went smoothly and it was quite productive. I’ve now got an inordinate number of helpful suggestions that I’ll sift through, using some and discarding others, to make the final product more… final product-y. In the meantime, we continue to await news on Nikki’s baby, who seems to have decided he needs to cook a bit longer before making his grand entrance. (This kid is clearly going to be a handful.)

No, not mine. We’re anxiously awaiting news on John’s youngest brother’s wife, whose due date was Friday and who was, as of last night, 75% effaced. (I say that like I know what it means, but I don’t. I’m content to be ignorant, though, which is a rarity for me.) This baby ride has been very different from the other baby rides for which I’ve been An Anxious Observer (TM). Partly because we’re super close to the parents-to-be, and yet, geographically, we find ourselves helplessly far away. Partly because we were the first to know (weeks before the rest of the families, woot!). Partly because, well, they seem so young. They’re not, of course, that young. They’re five years younger than us. But for a person who still feels too young to have kids… well, you can see where this is going. Ahem. Anyway, for now, we wait. On pins and needles and with bated breath, we wait.