I hate goodbyes

Caroline, from Church, stopped by Monday to drop off a gift (a photo album and Padre Pio prayer card) and pick up a Padre Pio movie she lent us.  Caroline is a lovely, wonderful person.  After our baby was born, she came up to us one week after we read and gave us a gift certificate to Babies 'R Us.  (We never even spoke to her before!)  I saw her later volunteering at St. Anne's, the church around the corner, and we've talked a couple times since.  She has five kids around my age (in their twenties) and she gave birth naturally to all of them!  We were swapping birthing and nursing stories when she visited, haha.  This was precipitated by Michael trying to nurse on Caroline.  Thank you Michael.  I feel so... interchangeable.

Lisa, the coordinator for the mom group at Kaiser Union City that I've been going to almost every week since Michael was 2 weeks old!  I've seen her almost every week for seven months.  She's seen Michael sprout up.  :-(

With some of my mom group friends on Tuesday:  Maria and James (about11 months), Tasha and Amelia (almost 5 months), and I-forgot-her-name (since I've only seen her at two meetings) and Isaiah (who is only 14 weeks old, but probably bigger than Michael).  Maria even gave me a gift (a mini photo album for my purse and some scrapbooking supplies to get started), which was so ridiculously sweet.  I really enjoyed my weekly mom group meetings and my little stop at the Farmer's Market on the way there -- the routine, yanno?  It's nice to connect with women struggling with (and celebrating!) the same issues.  I've been going to the group long enough to see several "generations" of moms come and go.

Ben and his great boss, Fethi.  Fethi treated us to an Indian buffet-style lunch at Passage to India today.  It was so, so good.  I had like four heaping plates of various Indian dishes that I want to make at home now, except I forgot their names.  (I almost always make curries, but I really liked the other stuff I had today, too!  I tried a yogurt-based Indian dish for the first time!)  One dish I remember the name of is Carrot Halwa, which was a really rocking dessert.  Anyway, Fethi has been really good to Ben and our family and we will miss having him as Ben's boss.