Pbenjay's Blog

BEFORE

BETWEEN

Well we finally did it- Chiara promised me the next time I was here, we would get Finley’s ears pierced.  Chiara had tried when Finley was 4 months old but her lobes were just too small, because she is such a little peanut. This afternoon we took Finny and her friend, Lilly to the doctor’s office to get their ears pierced.  I thought I was prepared for some crying BUT I wasn’t really prepared for how much Finley would panic, cry and scream.  Chiara held her arms tightly and I had to hold her head which she was vigorously shaking as the nurse attempted to do the second ear.  And then our worst nightmare was realized – Finny had moved and second ear’s hole was too high and too far back and we both knew it would have to go….and then the choice to take out the earring, let the hole close up and bring her back in a few weeks OR bite the bullet and let the nurse make a third hole.  I mean she was already there and she was was already pretty upset and by this time Lilly was screaming bloody murder. Bribes of blow pops and ice cream fell on deaf ears! JP Licks just couldn’t take away the hurt.  It hurt us more than Finley but Chiara decided to try for a third hole.  OMG Finley was SO NOT HAPPY – She knew what was coming and wanted none of it. WOW am I glad this deed is done.  I thought we could have used a drink but really they have laws about bringing babies into bars in Boston so I guess it’s pink ice cream for Finny and peanut butter non fat yogurt for me and Mom.

Finny!!!

Out of the house by 9:30 this morning to catch an 11:00 train to Boston. Why am I taking the train?  Because at 10:30 last night, Bolt Bus sent me an email telling me that the service from NYC to Boston was cancelled. That’s just Great!! I needed to buy a train ticket but my computer was under siege by an insidious trojan known as XP Antispyware!! While my friend Paul walked and talked me thru an extensive cleaning process – it took a couple of hours,  Chiara and her friend Kerry went on the Amtrak web site and found a ticket for me.  So now my $19.50 bus ticket was going to be a $92 train ticket 😦

Now why am I leaving at 9:30 to get to Penn Station for an 11:00 train?  WELL Peter thinks, (Here I must insert how lucky and blessed I am to have a husband who would never let me leave for Boston without accompanying me to the train station) we better not take any chances because half the City has gone into panic emergency mode due to yesterday’s snow storm – which by the way got non stop coverage from 3:00 to through evening news. And why do I know exactly when the news coverage and storm reporting began monopolizing the networks? Because this ad nauseum reporting pre-empted Dr. Phil and Judge Judy!!!!!

So we arrive  at Penn Station at 10:14 and I quickly dispatch Peter to find a Starbucks because as we know, a day without a grande Americano is day not going to go well.

The train is DELAYED – no indication as to how long.  We stood around for an hour and endured the interminable recording announcing; “New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor and Empire trains were delayed and in some cases would be cancelled.” OK OK, DELAYED is better than cancelled!! After much weight shifting from knee to knee they announced the train’s imminent arrival and in fact it was in the terminal and going to switch engines. Yippee!  The train was mobbed due to earlier cancellations and I was lucky to get a seat (in the quiet car).  From leaving the house at 9:30, it was 4:15 when I arrived in Boston.  Oh I can’t wait to finally see Finny.