Happy Halloween!

Circle of Life

Faithful Reverie in Maine readers may remember this post, from way back in April, just a few weeks after I left New York for Maine. Who knew the last line of the second paragraph would be so prescient?

I left New York and moved to Maine because I wanted a change. In leaving New York, I felt I was moving towards something, not away from something. And now I know what that something is.

In August, Nick, the man I'd met just six weeks before leaving New York in March, moved up to Maine to be with me. And on the very day we moved into our lovely apartment, we discovered that I was pregnant. Am pregnant.

I'm pregnant! Our baby is due in late April.

My first reaction to this was sheer, unfettered joy, the likes of which I've never felt before. My second, and more lingering reaction, was one of fear and trepidation, nausea and uncertainty. I knew Nick loved me, and was committed to me, and I him, but we hadn't even known each other for a year. And though we had discussed having children in the near future, neither of us thought it would happen so quickly. So the first month of being pregnant, of living with a man for the first time, of helping him adjust to a new way of life even as I was still grappling with my own return to my New England roots, was hard. Not as hard as it could have been, but still, there was a lot of uncertainty, nervousness, fear--not to mention that sheer physical exhaustion and constant queasiness had overtaken my life.

But now, a week or so into my second trimester, with all signs indicating that the baby is healthy, and my own body returning to a feeling of normalcy, I'm starting to get really, really excited about having this baby. I've wanted kids for as long as I can remember--more than I've wanted anything else, really. I just wanted to make sure I did a lot of other things first. And I have: I've lived in other countries, I earned a master's degree, I've lived in the greatest city in the world, and I've dated enough men to know that I've finally found what I need in a partner.

I'm more than ready to take the focus of my life off of me.

April seems a long way off, until I remember that I only have six months left in my life of not being a parent. It's both terrifying and thrilling. Sometimes I wonder why I waited so long.

All Thumbs on Deck!

I hope everyone's Sunday was as enjoyable as Thumbelina's.



That's Wiley. You can tell by his "shark" eyes.

Up on Blocks

There were times in New York--when stocking up at Trader Joe's, or longing for an Ikea run, or waiting for the train at midnight in the middle of January--that I really wished I had a car. Now that I do have a car, those days of taking trains everywhere seem almost quaint. Like old-fashioned, convivial times, when my exasperation with a long, inconvenient wait could be tacitly shared with my fellow commuters. Because the reality of owning a car means spending $40 or so a week on gas, cleaning out the accumulated water bottles and dirty coffee cups on a regular basis, washing the windows, and getting it fixed.

Currently, my old Volvo is up on a gurney somewhere awaiting more than a month's salary worth of repairs. More like a month and a half. There's no one to roll eyes at now, no subway conductor to silently curse then forget all about the minute I'm finally home in my cozy, warm apartment. I'll be thinking about this ride for several months now, as I slowly, slowly pay off the loan I've had to take out to pay off Alan at the Volvo shop to fix my car. Those $24 weekly metro cards that let you make as many stops as you want, from Queens to Staten Island, from the Lower East Side to East Harlem, seem like a relic from a more carefree time.

Interior shots!

Thumbs in repose, before the grand re-design.

A dining nook with a view.

Some groovy artwork...A seating area. But where is Thumbs now?

Trapped in the coffee table! Better than this kind of bondage, perhaps:

That's Wiley, back in Brooklyn, before he even knew what a lobster was.
And then there are those who refuse to be contained.

Views of the outside

On a recent misty morning.

N and R around the East End

Me and Ting Tong in front of our house.
Nick and I on a walk sometime in August.
And from a walk a few days ago. It didn't really get this cold until today. This photo was taken in the bow of an old war ship that's set up in the Eastern Prom park.