A Quick Note

Dear Friends—
I’ll dash off a quick note before Meg gets back.
The Fruit Flies
Despite not having any fruit lying about, fruit flies have been tracking my every move. Whenever I remain sedentary for more than thirty seconds, one flies lazily back and forth in my field of vision, eventually settling on my computer monitor. I just made a grab for one, and it had the indignity to die on the monitor. I scraped it off and went to wash my hand. Now I’m back and another fly is trying to get my attention.
Another smoosh. Another hand washing. Time to spray DDT.
The Plague
My parents were set to drive from Colorado to visit Meg and me this weekend. My mom called me on Thursday and announced that she had a shingles outbreak, diagnosed with the help of Dr. Google. Shingles is bad for fetal development, with the risk of birth defects, so no visit will come forthwith from said parents. During the telephone call, all I could think was, “But I washed my car and everything!”
The Pinetop
Meg and I are going with her parents for the weekend to their house in Pinetop. I’ve packed my shaver, insulin, robe, etc. and am prepared to spend a long weekend snowed in at the cabin in the woods. Maybe I’ll see snow—although I don’t get as excited about snow as others in Tucson do.
The Bump
“How’s Meg doing?” my mom asked on the telephone.
“She’s good. She gets a little nauseous, but nothing too bad. And fatigue. She’s starting to get a bit of a baby bump.”
“Bump, hah,” Mom scoffed. “I’m not sure where that started, everyone calling it a ‘bump.’ Maybe People magazine?”
“Uh…” I said. I wasn’t sure how to respond. “Well, she’s starting to show, and it’s really cute.”
And she is starting to show. It’s adorable. Her pants aren’t fitting like they used to, and she’s started to wear a belly band. “I’m going to call it a cumberbund,” I told her this morning.
“It’s cummerbund,” Meg said. “There’s not a second b.”
“Cummerbund. I’m going to add that to my favorite words list.”
The Favorite Words List
Other recent additions, besides cummerbund, are as follows:
·         Hornswoggle
·         Mustachioed
·         Jowls
·         Rump
·         Jolly
 
The Burgers
Burgers will be arriving shortly, delivered by my lovely wife. I must prepare for them. I am working with the assumption that they will be delicious.
Farewell,
Oliver