Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

On Saturday, my female friends held a baby shower for my College Roommate. The Gryphon came up that way with me, because the guys were gathering to spend some time together, too. We picked up my College Roommate on the way, to give her a ride up.

She was in great spirits, and we chatted all the way up. She even told me the name they've got planned for their baby, which will be a boy.

We arrived at the home where the shower was being held, and Agent Smith, whose house it is, gave The Gryphon a ride over to The White Rabbit's house, where the guys were gathering.

Most of the guests were already there, bustling about and getting things ready. As soon as I was relieved of my shoes, and my coat, I went into the kitchen to prepare a vegetable tray from the veggies and dip I'd brought. The hostess, Agent Smith's wife (for whom I have not yet come up with a nickname, despite much thinking on the subject), had a very nice tray designed for that purpose.

A few more guests arrived slowly as we prepared things. The Cousin had brought her daughters, and they immediately took me by the hand and demanded I play a card with them. I good-naturedly did, but when they insisted on more, I declined in favor of socializing with the adults.

We had planned the event as a potluck, and there were a lot of great things. My veggie tray, a fruit tray with a delicious yogurt dip, cream of broccoli soup, a fresh salad, spinach puffs, mini sausages, two types of nachos and dip, crackers and cheese, homemade cupcakes and a homemade cake, drinks and cake and ice cream for dessert. I might be missing something, because there was a lot of wonderful stuff.

I tried to be reasonable when filling my plate, mostly filling it up with healthy things like fruit and vegetables. But I did find myself making extra trips to the table, mostly for cheese and of course, to try a homemade cupcake. After awhile, I reigned myself in.

But it helped that I got a lot of compliments from people for the outfit I was wearing and for my progress in my weight loss. I suppose I hadn't seen some of these friends for several months, so they are probably noticing the change more than those who see me more frequently.

Speaking of changes, this was only my second time to this home, and the last time I'd be there, it had been in a state of flux, with a lot of renovations in progress. But most of that is finished, and there are new floors, new kitchen counters and fixtures, a new powder room, freshly done walls, new paint, and new furniture. I was very impressed with the results. It's really a comfy little house now and no longer a "how to" project.

With so many women gathered around, one of them pregnant and one having just given birth, the conversation was definitely not boy friendly. We discussed everything from pregnancy and childbirth to the entire gamut of female sexuality and birth control to some unrelated topics such as ghost stories. Then of course, back to childbirth and raising children.

I was glad there were a couple people there who had already experienced childbirth who could share some wisdom with my College Roommate. She even got to hold the month-old baby, daughter of one of the guests. I joked that not many people get to try out things first on a "practice baby."

When it came time for gift giving, she got a lot of thoughtful gifts. Several came from her baby registry at Babies "R" Us. Others were original ideas, such as baby books and also resource books on parenting. My College Roommate seemed quite pleased.

Then it was time for cake. It was a store-bought cake, chocolate with lots of icing. I love icing. There was ice cream, too, chocolate and vanilla. I had a little of both. Despite my indulgence, I'm happy to report that, having weighed myself today, the baby shower didn't impede my weight loss progress at all.

I got to socialize a little longer before I had to leave. The Gryphon and I were going to see Margaret Cho perform that night at The Tower. My College Roommate knew about this and was going to make other arrangements for getting home. After the hostess found me directions to get to The White Rabbit's from her place, I bid everyone good-bye and set out.

As I pulled up into the parking area outside The White Rabbit's place, I could smell beer. Imagine my surprise when The Gryphon greeted me at the door and I saw an open case of beer on the floor. The guys assured me that hadn't been what I smelled, though, but rather the German social club across the street.

While we girls had been eating cake and chatting happily about childbirth, they'd been eating pizza, drinking beer and playing videogames. Everyone, it seems, had a great afternoon.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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