I was going to spend today being obscenely lazy, maybe writing a few long rambling blog posts, maybe taking Little Evan down to the Aquarium, maybe getting a Starbucks, maybe lying on the couch eating bonbons – you know, basically living the stay-at-home-mom life my husband THINKS I live every day.

Instead I woke up at 7 am with my heart pounding and dozens of to-do lists racing through my head. The reality of being 10 weeks away from a newborn hit me like a ton of bricks and suddenly the dog hair under the couch and the dishes in the sink seemed like national tragedies instead of just the life I’ve been comfortably living. Oh no, the guest towels haven’t been bleached! The Christmas wrapping paper isn’t organized! The paint cans in the basement aren’t sorted by color!! HOW CAN I BRING A LIFE INTO THAT KIND OF WORLD!?!?!!

My goal for today is to cross enough crazy off my brand new nesting to-do list that I still have time for a Starbucks. And maaaaaybe a quick trip down to the baby store in Mystic that sells UppaBaby strollers.

Because I simply CANNOT have a baby until I have a double stroller. Preferably a ridiculously overpriced one.

While we were in Boston on Sunday I had a stupid encounter with a stupid guy waiting in line for a stupid bathroom at Starbucks that’s been bothering me ever since.

As a pregnant woman, nothing sucks more than needing to pee only to discover a super-long line, except for needing to pee only to discover a super-long line that rude people keep trying to cut into. But as a clearly pregnant woman I don’t think I need to feel guilty about telling a guy to wait his turn when he saunters up to the front of the line and tries the door handle on the bathroom.

Me: Excuse me, there’s a line.
Mr. No-social-skills: I’m looking for the restroom.
Me: This is the line for the restroom. We’re all waiting.
Mr. No-social-skills: I’M. LOOKING. FOR. THE. RESTROOM. OOOOOOH-KAAAAAAY?
Rest of people in line: THIS IS THE LINE. THE END IS OVER THERE.
Mr. No-social-skills: This is ridiculous. Mutter mutter mutter.

He then became the self-appointed bathroom police and took great joy in announcing THIS IS THE LINE to everyone who walked within 20 feet of the door, including the lady wrangling four kids who looked like she might cry. He also kept staring at me and then rolling his eyes if I looked in his direction, which was getting on my last nerve even before this exchange:

Lady with four kids: Wow, this line is really slow.
Mr. No-social-skills (catching my eye): It is! It’s slow! So slow! I think this is all YOUR fault!
Me: *silence*
Mr. No-social-skills: I said it’s your fault! The line is long because you’re pregnant!
Me: …I don’t see how.
Mr. No-social-skills: Ha ha! But it is! I’m making a joke!
Me: I don’t think it’s funny.
Mr. No-social-skills: Jeez, some people have no sense of humor. Why don’t you smile?

Dude, I get it. You’re at the kindly old man stage of your life, where you think being jovial and friendly means you can get away with anything you want in public. And I’m youngish and blond and alone, not to mention I have the audacity to be FEMALE which automatically means I have to be sweet to you in exchange for your witty banter. THOSE ARE THE RULES FOR THE WOMENZ.

Unfortunately, I don’t feel like being polite. I have to PEE. My toddler is over there crying because he can see me but isn’t allowed out of his stroller. I have five people waiting for me, not to mention a coffee that is getting colder by the minute. There’s also a rumor that the toilet in this bathroom is broken (it was) so depending on what the slightly creepy guy in front of me does in there I may not be able to use it at all (It ended up just being the flush handle that was broken, so I pulled the lid off the back and pushed the lever manually – unlike the DOZEN people before me who couldn’t figure that out).

It was just so awkward and uncomfortable and miserable to be trapped there, already physically uncomfortable, only to be dealing with a guy who was trying to make me participate in some sort of social interaction he thought he was entitled to. To be honest, I would rather have a dozen women try to feel my belly than deal with one dude like that. It makes me want to go back to hiding in my living room like a hermit, avoiding social interaction in general just so I don’t have to deal with…PEOPLE. At least for the next 11 weeks.

(Disclaimer: being told to SMILE in public is just about my biggest pet peeve ever, so if your reaction to MY reaction is “Jeeze, take a chill pill hormonal pregnant lady” I’ll understand.)

Nothing can snap  all three of us out of a bad mood funk faster than a weekend full of of fun and food and friends. Gorgeous weather and a kid who was charming and happy despite skipping nap time two days in a row didn’t hurt either.

Saturday morning we all went to E’s hockey game, where Little Evan showed off his team spirit.

Babies Gone Wild! I think he was just enjoying the sunshine.

Then we headed over to the Mystic Seaport for Chowderfest.

CHOWDAH!

We had seafood chowder and lobster chowder and beef brisket sandwich and apple fritters and pumpkin spice gelato. E also enjoyed a very very delicious Pumpkin Head Beer while I cursed myself for ALWAYS being pregnant.

That Seaport membership is the best thing we've bought in years.

On Sunday we drove up to Boston to meet my friend Erin (of the much-mentioned wedding) and her new husband. I always forget Boston’s only 90 minutes away and is a fantastic day trip, even with a baby.

Could this city be any more beautiful? I heart it.

We went up early to visit the Children’s Museum in the morning. I’ve been wanting to go since we moved back to New England 5 years ago, but visiting a children’s museum when you don’t have any children is sort of…creepy.

I've never met a kid who loves making faces so much.

I have amazing memories of Boston from when I was a kid – we lived about an hour outside the city from when I was 10 until I was 15 – and I was glad to see Little Evan enjoyed it as much as I did. He’s still too young for most of the museum but the toddler section was fantastic.

Trains! Tunnels! Hats! Loud noises!!!!!

After a couple of hours of inside fun we met our friends and walked over to the Commons to meet up with another friend (and blog reader!) Kim and her adorable daughter.

The brick building in the top left picture is my dad's old office. Right next door is James Hook Lobsters. Dad would sometimes bring home live lobsters and we'd play with them and name them and pick out which one was "ours"...and then toss them in a pot and eat them for dinner. You can see why I'd make a terrible vegetarian.

This Elliot, Erin's husband, being a good sport while we played a game of "freak out the newlywed by throwing babies at him." He actually did a really great job. It took a lot of effort to not start asking "SO, WHEN ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO HAVE KIDS?"

Of course, I can’t go to Boston without visiting the Gardens and the beloved duck statue:

Make Way for Ducklings! That's the island where Mr. and Mrs. Duck live in the book. The ducks really do live there.

It took at least 30 minutes of waiting for bigger kids (and adults) to get off Mrs. Duck for this picture. I guess I should be glad so many people love classic children's literature, right?

We topped off the afternoon with Little Evan’s first carousel ride.

That top left picture is Evan crying and screaming, not because he's scared of the ride but because the ride is over and he's SAAAAAAD to leave his horsie.

We left Boston around 5:30 and even with traffic made it home about 2 hours later. As we pulled into the driveway, my friend Amy showed up to drop off her delicious homemade pumpkin ice cream. I have really awesome friends.

But the BEST part of the weekend is that even after 2 super busy fun days of running around and going places and seeing friends, E has today off. We’re both in our pajamas and have absolutely no plans to leave the couch for longer than it takes to heat up some mac & cheese and refill Little Evan’s sippy cup. SO AWESOME. Plus I have half a bowl of pumpkin ice cream left.

What did you do this weekend? I hope it was as much fun as ours!

My kid can WHISTLE!!!!

I have owned my iPhone for almost a year, and JUST found out I can upload directly to youtube. am genius.
p.s. Sorry it is portrait. am not videographer.