fixed address

the telegrams keep pouring in

Thanks for the good wishes! Here's a salivating one from Auntie Cathie:

Hello All, Congrats to all of you! I can't wait to have another baby in the family and it is so great that you plan to be here for the delivery. If you need a coach, I'm available. I can appreciate your need for your craving for cheese. My craving was ice cream and peanut butter cups. I had Pat going out in snow storms (there were warnings not to drive because the roads were so bad) to Baskin and Robins to get me a pralines and cream sundae with marshmallow toping and topped off with a pile of nuts and a pile of cherries. The ice cream man would see Pat's car and start making the order before he even got into the store. Every day I had to have at least one of these so I could survive. Thankfully, this ended when Jodi was about 4 months old. Keep Well, Hi Ji!

And a masterfully insightful one from Aunt Theresa, the smartest of them all:

Dear Thaba and Phet

Congratulations!!!! I am so pleased for you. I guessed when I saw the pictures of you on your trip. The funny thing was that it had little to do with how you looked and more to do with what you were doing.

In the picture of you lying down with Ji at your side, I noticed that you had your left hand on your stomach. It just was a "pregnant woman" thing to do, I guess, because, I took one look and announced to myself (as I was home alone at the time) "Thaba's pregnant."

I kept waiting for the news on "Fixed Address" and read every line carefully to see if you gave some hints periodically. Alas, no hints were forthcoming and I began to wonder if, perhaps, in my dotage, I had become less perceptive. However, as of today, my faith in my own perception has been restored and I couldn't be more delighted for you and your family.

I'm sure everything will go well, Thaba. I am so delighted. Give Ji Hong a huge hug and kiss from me. God bless.

Theresa Dwyer
Wife, mother, grandmother extraordinaire

And one more from Elizabeth, who has clearly inherited her mother's keen sense of secret-info-finding:

Well a big 'ol CONGRATULATIONS from London. Now I can tell you my mom had me scrutinizing every picture of you on your vacation in Phuket, and there weren't many of you. Then I had to got to Ashley's blog and check out her pictures (she had more with you in them). She had it figured out and I was the one saying come on mom can't a girl lie down with her hand resting on her belly without everyone jumping to conclusions! But I must say that even I had a suspicion after reading Ashley's blog (yes I feel like a total voyeur but you just hadn't been posting much while she was there, then just as I got roped into her life she takes off to India.....) Ashley had mention that you had taught Sloane "where's the baby", now you could have been holding her in front of a mirror but in my mind that was the clincher! Again Congrats!! Enjoy this wonderful time!!! Elizabeth and Fam

For the record, it was really, really hard not to go on about how wretched I was feeling, which is why I wasn't posting much. That, plus the fact that I couldn't actually work up the energy to sit at the computer because it was so much easier to just stay in bed and weep. When I was pregnant with Ji but hadn't told my Mum I was pregnant yet, I sent her several emails explaining how I was feeling sick, which had the very unfortunate effect of making her think that I had dengue again and just didn't want to tell her. She got increasingly worried and anxious and when I finally told her I was pregnant she was like, thank GOD you're not dying! So, this time I decided to try and be sneaky and not mention how rotten I felt at all. Which had the unfortunate consequence of me not really being able to talk about anything.

Ah well, it's all out in the open now! [Number Two-4-March-2006]