Awaiting the New Arrival

Most of today was a pretty typical spring Sunday. I made Whole Wheat-Oatmeal Pancakes spread with berry jam this morning for breakfast while listening to Beatles records. (The Beatles show was covering 1964 - I prefer their later music.) I tried calling Mom about a half-hour before work, but I didn't get her. Left a message, and headed out. It was still cool, windy, and partly cloudy, and my ride was still a bit choppy.

Work was fairly quiet for a Sunday. Between a big Phillies game (they eventually lost to the Marlins, though the Flyers beat the New Jersey Devils in their playoff game) and people taking advantage of the decent weather (we were supposed to have rain all weekend), I guess people decided they'd rather be elsewhere. Fine by me. There were no major problems, we had tons of help, and I was getting off at the same time as another cashier, had no relief, and still had no trouble leaving. I grabbed honey, fruit spread, good natural peanut butter (Acme's Wild Harvest organic brand is tasty), and soy sauce (on sale for a $1), and headed home.

I tried calling Mom again when I got in. I got not only her, but the entire Cape May County side of the family. Dad picked up, and I heard Keefe, my sister Anny, and her son Skylar in the background. Apparently, my sister Rose - the one I went shopping with yesterday who bought my comforter for my birthday - went into labor at 5AM this morning. Her boyfriend Craig got her to Cooper River Hospital in Camden, one of the best hospitals in an area filled with excellent ones, shortly after. She called Anny even as I talked to Mom on the family's line. I let Mom go to talk to Rose a few minutes later.

(And yes, at press time, Rose is fine and has not had her child yet. More on that as it develops.)

I called Dad right after to tell him about Rose and that I intend to do my laundry on Tuesday morning. Yes, he knew - he and Jodie found out from Craig on Facebook this morning.

After that excitement, I didn't really feel like doing much else. I baked brownies, crocheted, and listened to my two new cast albums. Ironically, both were well-done musical biographies. Gypsy is about 30s burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, though the real main character is her pushy mother Rose, played in the original cast by Ethel Merman in her defining role. George M! is 1968 take on the life of George M. Cohan, including more of his real life (such as his marriages and his involvement in the 1919 Actor's Equity strike on the side of the producer) than the 1942 version could or would. Joel Gray still isn't quite right for Cohan, but he and Bernadette Peters (as his younger sister) have a great deal of fun with the classic material.

The Dress Circle was a bit quieter. They did their second show revolving around Disney songs performed by jazz, cabaret, and Broadway singers. In addition to obvious choices like Barbara Cook's lovely "The Second Star to the Right" and the classic Peggy Lee "He's a Tramp" from Lady and the Tramp, they dug up a few oddities. A lot of my friends who get a kick out of the Looney Tunes-esque humor of The Emperor's New Groove would appreciate the inclusion of Eartha Kitt's "Snuff Out the Light." I liked the surprisingly good country versions of two favorites, Faith Hill's "Part of Your World" and Josh Grayson's adorable "When I See An Elephant Fly" (which I actually enjoyed much better with the twang!).