Husband Hall of Fame

Inducted this weekend: The Good Doctor.

Awarded for: Above and Beyond Husbandly Duties

Special Merit Earned for: Accomplishing major feat while keeping pregnant wife completely in the dark

Dude planned a SURPRISE baby shower by hijacking my phone in the early morning hours and emailing my friend and colleague Liza 7 times for additional contacts. That's what happens when the cell phone charger is on your husband's side of the bed.

He'd been telling me for a week we were going to Maggiano's for a lunch date with some of his friends. I wasn't super jazzed because for some reason I loved Maggiano's the first 2 times I went there, then I had a mediocre pasta and decided I never wanted to go back. Ever. Plus, some of his friends are really boring. So it was going to be a wifely duty to hang out and make small talk and hope that the calamari and seafood linguini put me in a good carbo coma for the afternoon. 37 week pregnant women have small wishes. 

I urged him to ask his friends to meet at Yard House instead. We recently had an NBC Investigative Unit team dinner there and it was a really good experience. The team investigated at least 12 of their 120 beers on tap. I am the type of person who will eat toasted crumpets with ricotta cheese every day for breakfast for 2 years so when I find something I like, I exhaust it. I went to the Yard House after my team dinner for lunch with a friend and I thought we should introduce The Good Doctor's friends to it since it was basically next door to Maggiano's and I would at least enjoy the food if not the conversation. I'm kidding. I love his friends. They are all so...nice. Again, not kidding.  I know, I'm not getting a Wife Hall of Fame ceremony any time soon.

Anyway, he's telling me he thinks they already made reservations and it's kid friendly and they really like that place, so I sigh and say, "Fine. But I hate that place. I'm never going there again." Totally overdramatic and actually, it's really not a bad place. I just wasn't feeling it.

So Saturday comes, we're on the way there, and he says, "Hey, I changed it, we're going to Yard House."

By then I'd actually mentally prepared for the pasta so I was like, "Oh. OK. I was planning to just get the seafood pasta. I'm not in the mood for Yard House." 

He was like, Can you be any more annoying, WOMAN? "Oh, well, that's where we are meeting because I thought you'd like it better." You crazy pregnant lady.

Hey, getting into the Husband Hall of Fame requires a lot of sacrifice. Not many men have this kind of dedication, patience, and wherewithal. Or raw sexual charisma.

So we get there, and right before I walk in, I get a VIP phone call pertaining to a nightmare ID theft situation we are going through. I want to just head in and finish the conversation but he wants to wait outside until I'm off the phone. We get inside a few minutes later, park the stroller, and walk toward a table. 

The first thing I see: his Aunt Tina's curly brown hair. I'm like, "Hey, your aunt Tina is here!" Then I see his his grandma and I'm like, "Wow--they're in the South Bay today!" Not totally unusual because Tina has a house down here. Then I see some of my friends and finally all my synapses fire together and I realize...they're here for a party! For me! And it's because of my husband!

I look at him like, "Are you serious right now?" in a tone totally from Shit Girls Say and I start tearing up like a crybaby. 

It was just so unexpected, so not discussed or authorized, and a complete, utter surprise. He pulled it off and I had zero idea. Even with the two random times I picked up his phone when my mom was calling and she sounded all flustered and weird mumbling about how she needed Brian to help her with her "um uh phone but nevermind, I'll call back later."

It really meant so much to me to have my girlfriends and family come out for a lunch to celebrate our impending arrival. And I didn't even have to play a single baby shower game or have people guess the circumference of my belly.

The fact The Good Doctor put this party together in a week and a day makes me think procrastination is preferable when it comes to things like this. Just BAM--we're having a shindig, can you come?

Take note husbands: works pretty well and can earn you a spot in the Husband Hall of Fame. And it's forever. Like when you've been elected president. They can never take that away from you.

Anchoring While Pregnant

For the dear friends I've moved far away from, the family that doesn't live in our news market, and the viewers who don't get Comcast 186: a short compilation from last week when I filled in for Brent last week on the 7PM newscast. First dress is a Destination Maternity number I got for about 30 bucks and the second is a dress Janelle Wang loaned to me.

The belly: all mine. What's crazy is that all these other women who are pregnant and due before me, or right at the same time, are TOTALLY SMALLER. It's ridiculous. I have a producer who likes to say, "Yep, you're definitely pregnant" every time I walk by. Yes, he's a guy. And then there's the photographer who was so amazed by my belly, because his sister-in-law is also due in February and "She's not even showing at all!" And then there's the friend who is due Valentine's day who said, "I saw you on the news. You ARE a lot bigger than I am and yet our due date is the same week." 

Seriously people, never comment on a pregnant woman's belly size. She will smile and then stick a pin in your voodoo doll later.

Future Emmy and Babius

Seeing Lucas at 18 months old just blew my socks off! The last time I saw this kid, he wasn't quite walking yet, but now he's reverse-brooming a deck!

And double shoveling fall leaves! His parents, Kiet and TuAnh, call him their labrador retriever. I laughed but after hanging out with them for a few hours over a leisurely Korean BBQ lunch at their home, that description was spot on. This kid is just happy go lucky, chillaxed, and so low maintenance. He's always got a sweet, "I'm up for anything" look in his eyes. 

I just couldn't get over the fact this 18 month old BOY was SO low maintenance. He'd walk outside, come back in with a fistful plants, blurt "Green!" and just find something else to interest him. He wasn't clingy, out of control, or whiny. And when his parents told him not to do something, get this, he DIDN'T. I mean, I don't get this kind of compliance with grown adults.

If Babius is a boy--I hope he takes after Lucas. Who doesn't love a labrador retriever? 

Meanwhile, Liv is 5, and she's halfway through pre-Calculus. This kid is a crazy smart cookie. I remember her mom telling me she thought it was the pre-natal vitamins she took--OB Natal One vitamins with fish oil. I took the same ones all the way through with Emmy and I'm on them again with Babius.

The jury's still out on Emmy's IQ but she does give a pretty ferocious hug, especially if you like your toes stepped on just enough to hurt. 

Tofu Photobombing Clara

Our friends brought over their adorable 6 month old a couple weekends ago and she delighted in petting the dogs. Tofu has a love/fear relationship with baby humans. She loves to lick them and see what all the fuss is about but the second they squeal or flail, she freaks and can't deal. Kind of like my parenting style.

Chat Cut Update

So, with the meager votes from my previous post, and anecdotal data I collected from conversations with my friends, I have come to this conclusion: women think it's fine to join your friends in action, men think it's worse than getting the last pick in a Fantasy Football draft.

From Phoebe: "I'm with Vicky. It will just add time by a couple minutes. No. Big. Deal! If that's the biggest issue, then you (not Jeremy, but you in the sence of People) have issues."

From Woz (male): "I'm with "him"... just make everyone happy and let your friend order/pay for all of you."

From DB (male): "I'm going to be candid here. If your friend already knew your order, then hang out and be patient... I agree with your photog."

By the way, Phoebe, I don't ever know why you assumed it was Jeremy. Was it my comment about the "direction impaired photog" that led you to that conclusion? I can not confirm *cough* or deny.

My friend Jenny offered this compromise: she lets the people in line behind her know that she is waiting for friends to show up. That way they feel included and consulted. And it takes the edge off when your buddies roll up because hey, I told you they were coming!

That's really what the world is all about. People just like to be included and consulted. They want to be a part of the conversation. And if you extend that and prepare them, most people will be just fine when your friends join you in line. This only applies of course, to normal people. All bets are off with crazy people. Don't matter how much you include or consult them. They still cray cray. 

And by the way, the line for Sams Chowder Mobile is totally nuts in Redwood City. We went to the stop at Lexus on Stevens Creek in San Jose and the 4 of us were out in 5 minutes. Just a tip.