Time + Travel

March 12th, 2007
11:40 am - 3 years and still going strong
We had a nice time celebrating our anniversary this past weekend. My friend came over to watch Eitan on Saturday night, so that we could go dancing. We went to this place we were at 2 years ago (same group, different location) and it was fun to dance completely uninhibited because no one knew us. It was funny because we forgot a lot of what we learned 3 years ago at ballroom dance lessons. This one couple was trying to teach us how to do this cha-cha at one point. The DJ was weird and didn't have any of the songs I requested, but he'd play these crazy songs like a fast dance version of "Memory" from Cats. They had free cake there, which was nice. It had a cream cheese frosting and strawberry filling. There was one couple that danced really well and it was hard not to watch them. It made me think that if we had time to practice and go dancing more, we'd be that good. Oh well!

Sunday, we went to a classical concert at our temple. One of the congregants is a really good pianist and he played some songs on his own and some as duets with another pianist. Then another congregant (also someone I grew up with from my old temple and became friends with again over the last year or so) is a professional violinist. The combination of the piano and violin was beautiful and the acoustics in the sanctuary were perfect for the show. It's funny...the violinist's parents were at our wedding, but he wasn't because we hadn't been in touch with him and I didn't see him until after I had Eitan. However, if we had been close with him before we got married, I would have asked him to play for our ceremony. I know he's played at weddings before.

After the show, we went to Maggiano's for dinner. It only cost us the price of the tip because we had some gift certificates, thanks to "Will" and one of DH's colleagues. The food was great! We tried these zucchini frittes. I used to not like zucchini until later in my pregnancy, but I'm glad I do now (cooked only, not raw). They were really good. The funniest thing was that the really good dancers from Saturday night were at the table next to us. What a small world?!?

After dinner, we went to Barnes and Noble to see what books are new. Not too many really interested me. The ones I want, I already have on reserve at the library. I didn't really see anything else that I wanted to reserve though. Maybe some more of my favorite authors will put out books this summer. A friend of mine told me to read the "Traveling Pants" series and said that they're not just for teens. I loved "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" as a movie, so maybe I'll look into that sometime. I'm still in this Jodi Picoult mood and am not done with "Harvesting the Heart" yet. Eitan's speech therapist loaned me a book about the Holocaust called "The Seamstress". It looks interesting and she said she really liked it. We have similar tastes in books.

On that topic...during the show I was thinking of "Mr. Holland's Opus" because they were playing Beethoven and he was talking about how Beethoven cut off the legs of his piano to hear the vibration of the keys, in order to compose music. I remember that he started talking about it after realizing his son was deaf. It made me think of how I feel a connection to Beethoven now that Eitan is hearing impaired. Oddly enough, "Mr. Holland's Opus" was one of the movies we watched shortly after Eitan was born. How little we knew back then. I am very thankful that he is not completely deaf and can hear music and understand it. He has better rhythm than I do. :) Then I was thinking of how Holland was an appropriate last name for the character. This is because of a passage I read somewhere about how having a child with a disability is like ending up in Holland when you were supposed to go to France and planned everything in regards to France. However, it's not a bad thing, just different. I think about the people I never would have met if Eitan could hear normally. These are very kind-hearted people, such as his speech therapist, that I feel very fortunate to know now. In the grand scheme of things, his hearing impairment is not awful, compared to what some people have to contend with in their lives. Many people have survived with even less hearing than he has and have made good lives for themselves. Marlee Matlin is a good example of this. I'm very thankful that he is learning how to listen and speak now. It will only help him learn more quickly in the future. I'm glad we don't take his hearing for granted and that we have a bond with him from working on speech development. I'm thankful for every utterance he makes, whether it's a giggle or an actual word. I wouldn't have given it as much thought, other than he said a first word, if he heard perfectly. Eitan is a blessing to us and I can't imagine him as anything different than how he is.

Now I'm all verklempt, so I'll be heading off....

Follow up:
I found this post interesting for several reasons:
1. I was recently accepted by Empowering Parents as a parent blogger. I'm not going to be paid for my posts, but it's a great opportunity to expand upon my writing. The post that got me this "position" was about Holland. I actually said Italy was the other country. I'm sure the other country doesn't matter as much as the point being made. When it shows up on the site, I'll be sure to let everyone know!

2. Since I started Chick Lit Central, I've been contacting authors about doing giveaways through the related blog. Some authors have offered me copies of their books for my own reading pleasure, as a thank you for the publicity. I think it's extremely nice and I appreciate each offer. There's a PR agency that will soon be supplying me with some books to review. I've also won books through other Facebook pages and blogs. I haven't had to buy a book in a while, as a result. :) I'm just impressed with how nice and accessible authors are and how excited they are to do giveaways for their books. Running this group is a lot of fun and we're now reaching 500 members. A friend even told me I was the Perez Hilton of chick lit. I've been savoring that comment!

Also, I have the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series now. I haven't read the books yet, but another friend has also recommended them and she and I have similar tastes in books.

3. I haven't heard from my violinist friend since sometime in 2007. It annoys me because he was a good friend to both my husband and myself. We all would spend hours talking (along with another mutual friend). I know he wasn't the greatest about staying in contact to begin with, but we're friends on Facebook so I don't get why he can't send a friendly message to say hi and share what is new with him. I can only do so much from my end to maintain friendships. On the upside, he did introduce us to Bailey's ice cream from Haagen Dazs.

4. We haven't gone out dancing other than at a wedding in 2008. It would be nice to do again sometime.

5. I started liking asparagus toward the end of my second pregnancy, and shortly after that I started liking cauliflower. I still like (cooked) zucchini.