The Fitzes Come to Town
This weekend we had a nice visit from Grandma and Grandpa Fitz. They arrived on Wednesday night, just hours after Iris's doctor appointment.. We were concerned that she'd be under the weather for a couple of days, but like the appointment itself, Iris seemed to rebound pretty well.
Nanny Carole took the long weekend to drive up to Baltimore and survey the life she left behind by coming to work for us, visiting friends along the way. So for a couple of days, Grandma and Grandpa Fitz took over the daytime watch..
Shots and needles aside, Iris had been demonstrating some poor sleeping habits all week, getting up 2-3 times per night and crying until Mama D went to feed her in addition to having a hard time getting to sleep period. We felt bad for our visitors, since the days were long at work and the evenings were long with Iris; we could hardly find the time to sit down and eat dinner together! By Friday night we were both completely exhausted (for further explaination, see the "Mama D Gets Hired" post) and ready to collapse..
But we made it out to dinner that night, where Iris did fine again. I don't think we've had a bad experience taking her out of the house once yet! And then we came home, watched some of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, and crashed.
Saturday was a much different day. At 6 AM, Mama D woke me up, saying that she thought there were fire trucks outside our house. I got up and walked into Iris's room to find it lit up like an obnoxious Chrismas lawn display, flashing red in the pre-dawn hours. Yep, there were fire trucks! Six of them to be exact.
With our neighbors gone, as they have been for most of the last three months, I decided to go out and make sure it wasn't their house that was getting special attention. It wasn't- instead it was the house next to theirs, the "black eye" of the neighborhood with its six apartments and high, shady resident turn-over.. Flames were licking out of the roof as I walked out into the chilly, rainy air. A half-dozen residents stood outside watching the firemen battle, entering and exiting their homes with axes and shovels in hand and a dozen 4" water hoses leading somewhere now wet.
The guy who lives on the other side of that house, who we only seem to talk to when tragedy strikes the neighborhood, was already out there with a cup of coffee, watching the big show. He motioned me over and invited me inside his house to get a cup, which I just realized I needed now that the initial shock had worn off.. We sat on his front porch, which was like front row seats to the blaze being fought. This picture shows where we sat and what we saw:
Our conversation had a funny tone to it- "Anyone hurt?" "Are they going to have to tear it down finally?"
After a half-hour or so, Mama D and the Fitzes came outside. It was starting to get a little lighter out, and there was an asshole fire chief asking everyone to back up 20 feet without giving any updates to anyone, including the slum-lord owner himself who was now on the scene. Mama D went inside and offered coats to several people who had no access to one, at least one that wasn't soaked and reeking of smoke..
By 10 AM everything had finally settled down. The fire trucks and police cars and one ambulance had cleared out, opening the street to traffic once again. The residents headed out to stay with friends or family and the house, which was already dark brown and ugly to begin with, now looked even darker and uglier. It looked dead!
With that episode behind us, we set about our day, casually drinking more coffee and walking around the neighborhood, despite the fact that the sky never cleared or warmed up. One sunny spot was the fashion show that Iris had, trying on an outfit that she had recieved as a gift from one of the Fitz's neighbors back during our FL visit in December.
We enjoyed the rest of the day together, finally able to relax and catch up. The day ended early, it seemed, and by the time I woke up on Sunday morning, Grandma and Grandpa Fitz were already headed back home.. Thanks for coming, and we're glad you got to spend more time with Iris!
Nanny Carole took the long weekend to drive up to Baltimore and survey the life she left behind by coming to work for us, visiting friends along the way. So for a couple of days, Grandma and Grandpa Fitz took over the daytime watch..
Shots and needles aside, Iris had been demonstrating some poor sleeping habits all week, getting up 2-3 times per night and crying until Mama D went to feed her in addition to having a hard time getting to sleep period. We felt bad for our visitors, since the days were long at work and the evenings were long with Iris; we could hardly find the time to sit down and eat dinner together! By Friday night we were both completely exhausted (for further explaination, see the "Mama D Gets Hired" post) and ready to collapse..
But we made it out to dinner that night, where Iris did fine again. I don't think we've had a bad experience taking her out of the house once yet! And then we came home, watched some of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, and crashed.
Saturday was a much different day. At 6 AM, Mama D woke me up, saying that she thought there were fire trucks outside our house. I got up and walked into Iris's room to find it lit up like an obnoxious Chrismas lawn display, flashing red in the pre-dawn hours. Yep, there were fire trucks! Six of them to be exact.
With our neighbors gone, as they have been for most of the last three months, I decided to go out and make sure it wasn't their house that was getting special attention. It wasn't- instead it was the house next to theirs, the "black eye" of the neighborhood with its six apartments and high, shady resident turn-over.. Flames were licking out of the roof as I walked out into the chilly, rainy air. A half-dozen residents stood outside watching the firemen battle, entering and exiting their homes with axes and shovels in hand and a dozen 4" water hoses leading somewhere now wet.
The guy who lives on the other side of that house, who we only seem to talk to when tragedy strikes the neighborhood, was already out there with a cup of coffee, watching the big show. He motioned me over and invited me inside his house to get a cup, which I just realized I needed now that the initial shock had worn off.. We sat on his front porch, which was like front row seats to the blaze being fought. This picture shows where we sat and what we saw:
Our conversation had a funny tone to it- "Anyone hurt?" "Are they going to have to tear it down finally?"
After a half-hour or so, Mama D and the Fitzes came outside. It was starting to get a little lighter out, and there was an asshole fire chief asking everyone to back up 20 feet without giving any updates to anyone, including the slum-lord owner himself who was now on the scene. Mama D went inside and offered coats to several people who had no access to one, at least one that wasn't soaked and reeking of smoke..
By 10 AM everything had finally settled down. The fire trucks and police cars and one ambulance had cleared out, opening the street to traffic once again. The residents headed out to stay with friends or family and the house, which was already dark brown and ugly to begin with, now looked even darker and uglier. It looked dead!
With that episode behind us, we set about our day, casually drinking more coffee and walking around the neighborhood, despite the fact that the sky never cleared or warmed up. One sunny spot was the fashion show that Iris had, trying on an outfit that she had recieved as a gift from one of the Fitz's neighbors back during our FL visit in December.We enjoyed the rest of the day together, finally able to relax and catch up. The day ended early, it seemed, and by the time I woke up on Sunday morning, Grandma and Grandpa Fitz were already headed back home.. Thanks for coming, and we're glad you got to spend more time with Iris!
posted by naM modnaR at 9:35 AM
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