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| It was too nice a piano to leave sitting dormant. |
Most people travel to Catalina to relax. There is no such thing as relaxing anywhere one might travel with the group accompanying me.
Today was a nice day in that Baby Camille reached a milestone weight of 5 pounds (we had a nice celebretory breakfast) and because Baby Andrew did not reject me as a result of my having I left him in the care of others for a few days.
It was also a very good day because once we got through the morning routine, Baby Andrew and I took a nap. Someone must have gotten him up after a reasonable interval -- I have no memory of him trying to wake me up -- but no one disturbed me. I woke up some time after 9:00 p.m. The dinner dishes had been done, the babies had been put to bed -- or Camille had been temporarily put to bed, anyway. It's never long before she'll be up and eating again.
Someone had saved dinner for me, which was New York strip steak, salad, twice-baked potatoes, garlic bread, grapes, and sherbet. I ate about one-quarter of what was on my plates. The rest will make excellent snacks and side meals for me. I love it when I have a home or restaurant meal (particularly a home meal; home meals that are well-prepared agree with my gastric system much more than do restaurant meals, which contain ingredients to which my body is not accustomed) that I really like that's far to much for me to comsume, and I'm set for the next three days or so.
We did most of what there was to do on Catalina, including parasalining (twice!), jet skiiing, sailing, going out in a small motor boat, driving all over the island in golf carts, miniature golfing on what has to be the second-lousiest putt-putt golf course in the U.S. (the worst, I'm pretty sure, is in Watonga, Oklahoma), humoring the kid entertainment performing nightly on the pavillion (we applauded excessively, asked for their autographs, and did all the things that make little middle-school-aged kids feel great about theselves; their parents were most pleased with us, and we weren't even drunk!), hung out in hotel rooms, and took over the vacant piano bar in the hotel one night. Because of the tips, we went home with almost as much cash as we brought. I didn't have my violin with me as I had no clue that there would be any use for it, but someone had left one behind the bar which the bar tender allowed me to use. it may have increased our tips a bit. I didn't do the obnoxious behavior of approaching tables and serenading them unsolicited, but if they summoned me over, I played what they wanted. Timmy and Matthew are both more or less good enough to follow along on piano, and both have reasonably good singing voices, as does Meredith. We were only in there for two nights, but still pocketed well over five hundred dollars in tips.
Catalina isn't really known for its outstanding hotels, but Uncle Jerry did the best he could for us. We were in probably what was the nicest hotel on the island. Many of the "hotels" there are rustic old houses which, while charming in their own ways, aren't terribly comfortable. Some, for example, don't have air conditioning. On Catalina, it's nice to have access to air conditioning about two-and-one-half months out of the year. We needed it this time and were fortunate to be in one of the few hotels that has AC in every room.
It was a nice little diversion. While I was prepared to have spent my summer doing nothing but baby-related tasks, the break was nice, and it was nice to spend time with friends close to my own age. Baby Andrew will probably be my friend for the rest of my life, but at this point there's a limit in the quality of companionship he is able to offer.
I leave in twenty-one days to return to school. I'm neither dreading nor eagerly anticipating it. I think, or at least I hope, that I'll get excited about it once i'm there. Once the competitive juices begin to flow, I suspect I'll remember why it was that I chose medical school.
Sounds like you had a great time!
ReplyDeleteWe did! I'm so glad we went.
DeleteIt sounds like you had a great time in Catalina. You said "Baby Andrew will probably be my friend for the rest of my life, but at this point there's a limit in the quality of companionship he is able to offer." You are helping to shape his personality. He will appreciate you for the rest of his life (subconscious mind), even if he cannot remember it.
ReplyDeleteI have a medical/legal question for you. There are ads in college papers where a couple will pay $30,000 for the egg of a woman with certain qualifications. If the couple buys the egg and it is implanted in the wife and she has the child, who is the biological mother of the baby? Is it the wife or the college woman that sold her egg?
Also if you want to see a great movie on video, watch Delivery Man with Vince Vaughan. For a couple of years he visits a sperm bank weekly and makes some extra money. His sperm is so good that they give it to over 500 women and he ends up with over 500 kids that are around 20 years old, Then over 100 of them sue the sperm bank to learn who their father is.
He starts to visit them and become friends with them without revealing who he is and also helps them. At one point he is following a son and does not try to contact him since he saw him kissing a man. He follows him into a meeting room with over 100 people in it.
He sits down in the meeting and then sees a flyer. All of the people in the room are his children who want to know who their father is. So he stands up and looks around. The MC asked what he wants to say since he is standing up. He says that even though they do not know their father, they should remember that they are all brothers and sisters.
They did not realize that and appreciated that he said this. Then they were interested in knowing each other and have an event at a lake for all of his children. Also his girlfriend is going to have a baby. So does he choose to reveal who he is and let hundreds of his children meet his baby?
Laws pertaining to legality of even selling eggs vary from state to state. In some states you can justify it as compensating the woman for her time and medical expenses, since legally, body parts cannot be sold.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of who is the mother . . . It's a tough one. Either can be construed to be considered the mother, though strictly biologically biologically, science would say the egg donor is the biological mother.
It's all a matter of contracts. It works both ways. Sometimes a woman is hired to provide gestational services for another woman's egg. Sometimes an egg is donated, and the woman who is to ultimately keep the baby is the one who carries the child to term and gives birth to the other woman's egg. Sometimes a woman provides both the egg and the gestation and birthing, through the donation of the other woman's husband's sperm. (In that particular case, the insemination must be accomplished artificially. If the insemination is achieved through intercourse, in all states (I believe) the contract is null and void, and, in the event of a dispute, custody is handled as though any other man and woman produced a child out of wedlock.
In all cases of donated egg, or donated womb, an ironclad contract is essential. If the contract is drawn up correctly with all i's dotted and t's crossed and all the terms are followed to the letter, the contract will prevail.
Still, the donor of the egg is considered the biological mother, although we now it's not really that simple and the nurture that occurs in the gestational period also contributes to a lesser degree to the child who eventually results. In terms of mitochondrial DNA, however, it comes from the egg, and from the donor of that egg.
Thanks, Alexis!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you had an enjoyable time on your trip. Especially since you will be returning to school shortly.
ReplyDeleteI just finished my summer semester. I am sad that it's over, but I will be returning to classes in about 2 weeks anyway for the fall semester. I had another attempted J tube placement last Monday. This time we tried an NJ tube to gain a better angle. The hospital was a complete mess that day. They should not have discharged me. When I got home, I flushed my tube with warm water, as per the instructions. This led to me vomiting up the tube. There was nothing I could do about it because every time I tried to talk, I would gag/vomit more. It was all looped up in my esophagus. Arthur called the emergency number and after having the damn thing for about 5 hours, we had to pull it out. I was so upset. So, at this point I really don't know what we are doing next. He's talked with my surgeon about possible bowel surgery, but with school approaching there is no way Mattei will be able to get me in before August 24, and I am going to probably need more than a week to recover. At this point, I don't even know if I want to go through with this anymore.
So, there's a bit of an update on that situation.
That has to be so frustrating. it's a bit scary as well. i wish they had a better plan in place.
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