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Dear American Airlines ticket agent who waved me away when I tried to pay for our suitcases that were respectively 2 and 4.5 pounds overweight:

You’re awesome. And I’m sorry that I said, “You too!” when you told me to have a nice flight. I guess you probably get that all day.

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Dear American Airlines:

Would you please re-design your planes so the people who spend a good chunk of money to fly your airline could have maybe an extra couple of inches of legroom? In case you hadn’t noticed, people in this country are getting bigger, not smaller, and the fact that the seats keep getting tinier is really just cruel. All you’d have to do is take out maybe one row of seats to make the extra room. It’s gotten to the point that my husband and I decided that for our next flight, we’re going to have to buy our infant her own seat because there isn’t enough room for her to sit on our laps. It’s insane.

And I know, I know. Doing something radical like allowing there to be less seats on the plane might cut into your profit margins a teensy-tiny bit. But it won’t help you at all when passengers start jumping out of the emergency exit just so they can get rid of the damn charley horse that your stupid cramped seats gave them.

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Dear woman seated in 13F from Dallas to Seattle:

Thanks so much for flying with what appeared to be either the flu, or perhaps a mild case of tuberculosis. Really. My baby girl and I haven’t been nearly sick enough this winter, we really needed to be within close proximity of your germs, in a small metal tube with poor ventilation.

Also, thank you for keeping your seat reclined for the entire flight (even when you got up to go to the restroom!) which essentially pinned my 6′2″ husband in his seat so that he was totally unable to move. I know he appreciated that.

Oh, and I thought your kid was kind of annoying too - it bugged me that he kept looking back between the seats to see if I laughed every time he told his dad a knock-knock joke (and I know he’s young, but the kid needs to work on his delivery, because those jokes sucked). But there was really no need for you to shush him every time he opened his mouth.

Bitch.

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Dear 130 mph headwinds that made our flight a full hour longer than normal:

You suck.

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Dear car service that picked us up from the airport:

I love you. It was so nice to not have to catch the shuttle to the satellite airport parking lots, and then drive 25 miles back home. We’ll call you guys every time we have to go to the airport from now on.

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Dear my back:

I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll buy you a massage soon, but the massage therapist who we like is gone for the holidays. In the meantime, please stop hurting me.

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Guess how Dave and I spent our first night away from the baby? Go on, guess!

We had a lot of fun. We toured a couple of the old antebellum houses, checked out downtown Natchez, ate some great food, stayed in a nice hotel. And oh yeah, the cocktails. It was pretty awesome.

And I only cried about being away from Cate once, so I think I did pretty well. According to my sister, she was an absolute angel the entire time we were gone. She has totally bonded with my sister - Tracy makes a funny face or talks to her, and Cate just cracks up. I think she has already established her Cool Aunt status. I imagine they’re going to be inseparable when Cate is a little bit older.

We got up this morning, toured one more house (for the locals: Longwood, the big unfinished octagonal house that is totally haunted). Dave and I both got carsick on the way home - kind of strange since I was driving, and I don’t usually get motion sickness, but it hit me both on the drive down and on the way back. Blah. So we’ve been all dopey on Dramamine since we got back.

And as much fun as our little getaway trip was, I absolutely could not wait to get home to this little face.

I mean, seriously, can you blame me?

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I hope everybody had a fantastic Christmas. This is going to be quick because we’re about to run out the door.

First, Cate got a haircut for Christmas:

My mom trimmed her bangs, and they’re a little too short because Cate kept jerking her head. She looks sort of like Mia Farrow in “Rosemary’s Baby.” Still, it’s a pretty cute look for her.

The rest of the pictures are here.

Right now we’re about to take my brother to the airport, because he has to get back to Charlotte. I’m bummed he can’t stay the whole week, but you know, people gotta work.

Tomorrow is when Dave and I get our Christmas gift for each other - we’re leaving Cate with my parents and sister for the night, and we’re going to Natchez to tour the antebellum homes and stay in an old historic hotel. Dave’s never been, and I haven’t been there in years, so I can’t wait. This will also be my first night away from Cate since she was born (she’s 11 months old tomorrow!), and I’m torn between feeling slightly terrified and unbelievably excited. I can’t wait.

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We made it to Mississippi with nary a hiccup in our travel plans. I was expecting major disasters since we were flying on the busiest travel day of the year, but it all turned out fine. Our flights were on time, our luggage wasn’t lost, and Cate got through it with only a minimal amount of fussiness. Overall, I have nothing to complain about.

Except, of course, that it was 70 degrees when we arrived, and what the hell kind of Christmas weather is that, but the temperature dropped today, so I can’t even really gripe too much about that either.

We’re having a lot of fun so far. Last night Cate and I tagged along with my sister and had an impromptu little playdate with our friends Mike & Nicole, and their three girls. (The photos of all the silliness that ensued are here.) They are a riot, we had so much fun with them.

So much else to write about, but I need to go help my mom and sister with the cooking before Cate wakes up from her nap, so that’s it for now.

Oh, and Cate says hi too.

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The thing I mentioned yesterday about my eyes that I thought was just allergies? Yeah. It’s pink eye. I suppose it was inevitable, what with all the snot that’s been flying all over the house for the past couple of weeks. Ugh. So gross.

I managed to get in with Dave’s doctor today, since my doctor is in Bellevue, and I have a rule about not going there during the month of December. The Christmas traffic coming and going from the mall is insane no matter what time of day you go. Also, my doctor’s office pissed me off when I called by insisting that pink eye is just viral and they wouldn’t give me any eye drops for it because all I need to do is wash my hands more frequently and not touch my face. WTF? Has anyone else ever heard of this? Not the part about hand-washing, because I already knew that (and my hands are already chapped from the amount of soap and Purell they’ve been subjected to this winter), but I thought you always got eye drops for pink eye.

Anyway, since my eyes were killing me, and Dave’s doctor’s office is right here in the boonies, and they could see me less than 2 hours after I called them, they won. It was kind of weird because the doctor looked several years younger than me, and I’m not really used to that. But he gave me a sample of the eye drops so I didn’t even need to go to the drug store to get a prescription filled, so what can I say, I’m a big fan of his work. If my doctor’s nurses stay as bitchy as they were today, I may just have to switch primary care doctors.

Later I took Cate to the pediatrician to get her checked one more time before we leave. The doctor said that since her nose is still full of gunk, and this has been going on for almost 2 weeks, he’s giving her one more round of antibiotics. So fun. Also, she’s snoring like a lumberjack when she sleeps (I’m not kidding, you’ve never heard a baby snore like this), so we’re also going to add in some children’s Claritin to see if it’ll thin out some of the stuff in her sinuses. We’re already using a humidifier in her bedroom and those Pediacare plug-in things that put VapoRub steam in the air, so I don’t know what else to do.

I have to admit that I’m getting more and more nervous about the idea of getting on a plane with her on Friday. The pediatrician said that in addition to the Claritin, I can also give her half a teaspoon of Benadryl as needed. I’m interpreting that as permission to drug her before the flight so hopefully she’ll sleep most of the way and the pressure won’t hurt her ears too much. Don’t judge me, if you happen to be on the plane with me on Friday, you’ll most likely be thankful.

P.S. The in-laws left early this morning. It was really nice to have them here, although hopefully we won’t all be suffering from The Plague the next time they visit.

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Yesterday we had sort of an early Christmas celebration with the in-laws, since they’re leaving tomorrow. My mother-in-law made a huge meal for everyone, which was quite yummy even though it was all British food and not at all what I think of as being traditional Christmas fare. There was nary a sweet potato in sight, and I just don’t think you can call it Christmas unless there’s some food item that’s been topped off with marshmallow. Still, it was good and we had fun. And Dave loved it, because it’s all stuff that I have no idea how to cook.

After dinner, we did our gift exchange. (Dave and I haven’t given each other our presents yet, which we’ve said is because we’re going to wait until Christmas Day, but if we’re being honest, it’s because neither of us has bought the other’s present yet. We’re romantic like that.) I got a really beautiful necklace from my mother-in-law and a couple of other things (frame, bookmarker, etc.). Dave got a high-definition DVD player that burns DVD’s, so he’s happy. Cate got a really beautiful snow globe that plays “Frosty the Snowman,” and some toys, although we only let her have one last night. I figure it’s better to space them out and let her enjoy one at a time rather than get overstimulated by too much at once.

Cate’s back at daycare today, to give me a break for a few hours to work and get some stuff done around the house. She’s pretty much totally over her cold, except for the runny nose that just won’t stop. Her mood is 100% improved, she was crawling all over the place laughing her head off last night. I can’t begin to say how thankful I am for that. My plan is to dash her by the pediatrician’s office tomorrow anyway - I know she’s better, but I’d like to have them take a look at her ears before we get on a plane on Friday just to be sure.

(Btw, I’m feeling better too, although I still have a cough that could wake the dead. And my eyes are all red and puffy, but I’m pretty sure it’s just an allergic reaction to something. There’s no gunk, so I don’t think it’s pink eye. But either way, believe me, I am looking and sounding ever so sexy these days.)

Thanks for all the emails and comments about my mom. She’s doing pretty well. She said she’s having a hard time finding the right balance with her painkillers - too much makes her nauseated, not enough leaves her in pain. But otherwise she’s doing really well. She has a follow-up doctor’s appointment today to get stitches out and whatnot. Last time this didn’t bring up any good news, but hopefully today will be better.

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Cate finally seems to be recovering from the worst of this latest cold, but she’s still not back to her normal self. I ended up using baby tylenol suppositories to help with her fever because I couldn’t get her to keep anything down. Her fever finally broke yesterday, so she’s gradually been getting better. Her appetite is still off, but at least she isn’t vomiting everything back up.

I, however, am not so good. My cold seems to have turned into full-on bronchitis. I keep waking myself up at night with coughing fits that feel sort of like spasms in my chest, so that’s pretty miserable. Luckily I have a full course of antibiotics that my doctor gave me when I got sick last month, so I’ve started on those to try to kill this thing off before we leave for Mississippi. I try not to take antibiotics unless I have to (hence the reason I never took the ones I was prescribed last month), but past experience has taught me that when I get bronchitis, it’s always bacterial, not viral. So, time to bring on the drugs.

And I must confess, the absolute worst time to have a cold yourself is when your baby is sick. She wants to have her face buried in my neck all the time, and she wails when I set her down, so trying to figure out a way to free my hands so that I can blow my nose is almost impossible. And no one else can soothe her, she just wants her mama all the time.

Last night I put her in her crib when she was already asleep, but she immediately woke up and started to fuss. For the first time ever, I let her cry herself to sleep in her crib because I just needed a few minutes of her not being on me. I still feel guilty about that, but it took maybe four minutes at the most for her to settle herself back to sleep. And she wasn’t wailing, it was more like pitiful whimpering. So I’m pretty sure I haven’t inflicted any long-lasting damage on her. Still, it sucks.

Thinking of deep psychological trauma, though, I think we might’ve accomplished that when we took her to get her picture taken with Santa last week:

It probably wasn’t worth the money to get that one picture, but you know, it’s her first Christmas, so it seemed like one of those big milestone moments that should be documented. And he was a good Santa, real beard and everything.

Update on my mom: she’s doing really well. She’s home, and sounded totally normal when I talked to her. She’s started cutting her painkillers in half so they won’t make her feel stoned, so if she’s able to do that, it doesn’t seem like she’s in that much pain. So that’s good news there. Can’t wait to get there and give her a hug (a week from tomorrow!).

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