Monday 9 February 2009

Plans and Parties

It's been a busy couple of weeks. From last Thursday, we've been battling snow and ice. It got so bad that the country pretty much ran out of grit to cover even the main roads - forget about windy country roads like ours. It was pandemonium - people couldn't get to work, people got into accidents, Pedro got stranded. He even had to miss two days of work because he simply couldn't get there. It was crazy - and I come from northern Minnesota, the land of lots of snow, and lots of ice. Today, the ice began to melt and things started to feel a little normal. Now, as I type this, the snow is falling again in fast, wet gobs that threaten to derail everything again tomorrow. Some areas are predicted to get another 15cm. By Wednesday, at least, we are supposed to receive truckloads of grit brought in from Spain to replenish our stores.

Before all this went down, we managed to get a bit further with our house-hunting by narrowing our focus onto another house. We are waiting to hear back from the landlord when we can move in. After what happened with Italy, you won't catch me holding my breath for anything.

On Saturday, Isabella and I attended the 1st birthday party of little William. His mother, Anna, and I live just at opposite ends of the village. We were pregnant together and randomly were "set up" by our health visitor/midwife. We hit it off right away and spent the remainder of our pregnancies commiserating, going to baby groups, and walking up and down the village trying to move things along. She was due one week after me, so imagine my surprise when I walked past her house one evening as she was coming home from the hospital, post-partum. She held up her hands and shouted, "I've done it!" I was approaching my due date and was extremely envious that she had beaten me to the punch. But I guess babies come when they're ready, or your body is ready, and not a day sooner.

So now it's time for Isabella's first birthday. It's set for next Sunday and I have been excited about it for months now. To me, it's just such a big deal. A very first birthday for my very first child. And based on her reaction to Will's party, I think she'll have a blast.

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