Little Black Mumu

(I added a lot to yesterday's post, "Rissisim")

Thursday was great. My work group was back in full force. We went to visit Vaska, the adopted stray cat of Matam and found him in fine form with a clean coat of fur.

After work I took the train down to Tel Aviv to teach a makeup class of Word for Technical Writers.

"You know you can teach sitting down," Adi reminded me, worried I'd get overtired.

"I know," I said. I didn't think I would since this was a practical class and I what I like best is to walk around showing people how to do stuff on their computers. But happily the Barco was all set up nicely so I could sit and demonstrate. I was happy to sit. And happy to teach. It was a nice, small group and I had a good time.

After class ended I shed my "pregnant professional" outfit of blue Oxford and black pants and donned a new Old Navy maternity dress. It was so easy to slip on that it gave me a thought that made me giggle.

It's a mumu I thought. But a little black mumu.

A great buy at $26, it is a more forgiving version of a form-fitting dress I own. In fact it is so forgiving that it caused Carla and Graham some disappointment.

"You don't even look pregnant," they chimed when we met for dinner. I was pleased and disappointed, simultaneously.

We went to a new, untested place with nice decor that Graham's friend had described as "a little bit granola". It turned out to be a little bit BAD. But my lemonade was good for me and Cholent, fresh, lemony, and not sweet just the way we like it. And the company was great. It was sort of fun that we were all there without sig. others and could talk about relationships, the good old days, and gay sex.

I left most of my over-cooked penne, under-cooked garlic meal on my plate, focusing only on the sun-dried tomatoes and leaving lots of room for ice cream. We bought a pint of B&J at the supermarket and went back to Gloria's place to eat it. Carla and I were crashing there since Graham is babysitting a pissy dog. It turned out we crashed there alone since Gloria had to rush out to help a friend in need. Alas, she left before explaining how to work the AC. Either that or it was just broken. Either way, we were left to swelter in the Tel Aviv soup with just a fan.

The cool shower I took did not offer much comfort since the showerhead expelled more water from the leaks on its sides than it did from the holes designed for that purpose. Still we managed to reach a reasonable temperature before crashing out on Gloria's double bed, leaving her favorite couch should she stumble in later.

Two hours later I woke up sweltering. I thought we were going to die. Literally. I opened another window and the bedroom door. I took another squirty shower and drank lots of cold water. I returned to bed naked with wet hair, several degrees cooler. But I became terrified that Cholent had gotten over-cooked. I tried to calm myself with rational thoughts. Women in India have babies without air conditioning. Lots of babies. Cholent gave a comforting little flutter. Somehow I fell asleep.

I had a lovely dream about Cholent. Somehow she was born now, at 5 months of pregnancy but she was OK. She was formless and tiny, smaller than a loaf of bread and just as light. She was born in the middle of the night and somehow that meant I had to give birth alone, without even being able to have Adi there. And after a day and a half I suddenly thought, "OH no! She has to eat" and put her to my breast for the first time. Despite having a formless body wrapped in a white blanket, she put her little head at the proper angle and latched onto my nipple perfectly. To my amazement it didn't hurt a bit. After that I kept forgetting where I put her. She was so small, after all!

Despite what sound like alarming elements in this dream I woke up happy. Overall it was a good dream.