Where Did We Leave Off?

Yes, we left you hanging. What have we been doing all this time? Well, it hasn't all been laziness on our part. There have been a few...distractions.




J had his wisdom teeth removed. He took it like a man, though he acknowledged the surgery gave him renewed respect for the pain J was about to experience in a few months' time (more on that experience in the next post).

 The Riouxs also hosted Thanksgiving and J prepared his first turkey. They bought a free-ranged bird that weighed 22 lbs and cost more than their hydro bill. J used a dry-brine recipe and took pride in each step. He also took a lot of advice from well-meaning family members that may have had a little trouble keeping out of the kitchen. Everyone ate well that night and well into the next week.

The rest of the month was devoted to Halloween and all its fanciful gore and glory. E did his own make-up to dress as a zombie for an early costume party. He also busted out some pretty original undead moves.

The season has so much to offer and the Riouxs took advantage of as much as they could, all the while wondering when they'd need to make use of that hospital bag that lay in patient readiness. They navigated the corn maze at Galey's farm, picked field-fresh pumpkins and carved gruesome, gleeful Jack-o'-lantern faces. J stitched together a spider costume for E to wear door-to-door and his dad taught him to sing "Halloween apples" like they do in the prairies. J stayed home to hand out candy to a handful of trick-or-treaters. The boys arrived home with a sack full of loot, which E piled high on the livingroom floor and basked in the sugary glow.

J did not expect to be pregnant passed Halloween. Time slowed to a standstill as she waited and those around her waited and the baby still didn't come. She began to feel she was living in a surreal sort of constant repeat, like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. She began to measure time by pleasant distractions: Ethan's craft and splash class, a family hike up Bear Hill, yet another visit to the midwife, then the acupuncturist. She learned a birth song and sang it in the bath every night: I am an open bamboo / Open up and let my babe come through.

She waited and she kept you all waiting.