Finally!
Posted at 6:00 AM on March 22, 2010
by Dale Connelly
(25 Comments)
After so much bleating and head butting and a wait that felt endless, we finally have what we were promised.
Baby goats.
Barb in Blackhoof along with husband Steve and friend Janet helped as Alba delivered three doelings last Friday, Crema, Luna and Rosa. Congratulations to all involved. More photos are online at Steve and Barb's blog, Out to Pasture.
Oh, and a couple of other highly anticipated deals came to fruition over the weekend as well, having to do with reform of our health care system and care of the Twins' bottom line and pennant chances by retaining All-Star catcher Joe Mauer.
Regardless of how you feel about these long-awaited developments, there is a certain relief in knowing there is finally some kind of resolution.
It reminds me of the way the hours stretched when we were waiting to hear if the offer had been accepted when we were buying our first house, and the way the weeks dragged by while waiting to hear if a much hoped-for college scholarship was going to come through. Suspense can be draining.
It also calls to mind a few lines from The Roches song "Mr. Sellack".
Waiting tables ain't so bad.
Since I've seen you last,
I've waited for some things
that you would not believe
to come true.
What was your most improbable or excruciating wait?
Comments (25)
the current wait is always the hardest for me. Dodger is due wednesday but looking like anytime soon would be a huge relief for her. we're out there every hour, but Alba waited until i went in for a quick break at 5:30 friday afternoon. she was unstressed when i left her. i had a Summit EPA and was out 25 minutes later to discover three little heads bobbing around. all are doing well. Grandma Dream is right next door looking unimpressed. thanks for the announcement, Dale!
Good Morning to All of You Waiters,
I guess hospital waiting rooms is where I have done my most memorable waiting. Fortunately, when my daughters were born I was allowed to be with my wife. However, I have had long waits on two occaisions when my wife and my father were taken into the operating room without me. Both of these situations came out okay, but the waiting wasn't fun.
Our first child, Molly, was due September 3. I began sweating bullets by mid-August, although I knew first babies might more normally arrive late than early.
And then it was the 10th, and no baby. The days became heavy. Then it was the 17th and no baby. I was a mass of jumpy nerves. And then we blew past the 21st. Three weeks late!
We were listening to a special broadcast of Beethoven's 9th on public radio on the 23rd. When the tenor belted out the line, "Oh Freunde, nicht diese tone!" things began to happen.
It felt like the first nine months had been half of the pregnancy, easily balanced by the last three weeks. But you don't hold grudges when you are holding your first baby girl.
I'll jump in later to pass along some fascinating information about the WalMart intercom incident. Right now we want to talk about excruciating waits!
i am numb to waiting and anticipating. it is waht i do. i sell stuff and the wait is always the challange and the payoff. or the bodyslam. it is a roller coaster of choice.
i did enjoy watching my girls waiting recently to see if they made the cut on the traveling baseball (fastpitch softball actually) team. the tryouts were sunday morning a couple of weeks ago and they had 17 girls for 13 slots.. because of the way the birthdays work out my girls are in the same age group as far as the league is concerned , for the first time in 3rd and 5th grade,. there is a substantial difference in ability level and the little one knew she wasn't as good as the other kids who had been doing this for a while so she was on pins and needles. they made the kids wait for almost a week before they announced the results. the lillte on did not make it and it made her angry and she wanted to quit the sport. the bigger one made it and was so relieved that the powers above accepted her it was fun to see and would have been great if not for the tears from the little one.
life is one foot in front of the other, for my daughters, for the twins for obama and the dems,and barb how is dodger doing this hour and then next hour....it keeps it interesting.
i am anticipating the guest bloggers coming up and i'll bet dale is anticipating vacation for spring 2010. life is good.
Here is a link to Barb & Steve's blog:
http://meadowwild.blogspot.com/
Many photos there.
The wait that stamped itself on my mind was actually the four minutes that it took Apollo 13 to come out of the blackout period when they were returning to earth. I remember it clearly... my dad had stayed home from work and we kids got to stay home from school. It was a long, tense morning. Unfortunately I also clearly remember the agonizing minutes when we saw the streaks of what had been the shuttle Columbia, but before any of the broadcasters actually said anything. (My dad adored the space program so I got hooked as well.)
Barb... the goatlings/doelings are adorable. I love the little sweaters! We may have to have new goat pins to celebrate!
Waiting for the "paper work problem" to be fixed so my son could travel from Korea. His adoption went smoothly and was delayed by the State Department on the day he was supposed to travel.
Those 10 days lasted forever.
As is the case with many mothers, I suspect, my most excruciating waits were those when I was awaiting the births of my children.
Good morning, all!
Greetings! My most excruciating wait -- and believe me it was excruciating -- was the birth of my first son. Three days in labor (which also means no sleep).
I had two midwives attending a home birth (the next two were done in a hospital setting). We did belly dancing, acupuncture, a hot bath, anything to try and get the labor going more effectively. Luckily, the next two boys were born much more quickly. Of course, the end result was well worth it.
Congrats Barb and Co,! They look darling! I wish I wasn't in Hopkins and on a farm so I can see miracles of life. Waiting doesn't come naturally for a guy with ADD so its hard. I am glad Dale doesn't make us wait too long for songs we request, or the weather or whatever have you. Can we hear some Steve Earle today? I am in that mood!
Like so many have already said - the wait for my daughter was very long (though perhaps not as colorful as Steve's extra three weeks - I only had to wait an extra week - followed by two days of fun, er, labor). Had a couple of excruciating waits sitting by phone and email waiting to hear about a job.Maybe some nights in November (and beyond) waiting to hear about election outcomes...
Beautiful doelings, Barb!
Congratulations Barb, Steve, and Alba. Our son was born way too early, so one of our longest waits involved watching him gain enough weight to take him home from the hospital. Our daughter threatened to be born too early, and that wait involved enduring the long time between 28 and 38 weeks so we knew she would be ok when she was born.
thanks for the song dedication, Dale - and thanks to you all for your good wishes. we are cautiously optimistic about the health of these three little Girls. and that Alba - she is so patient - waiting for three kiddos to get their fill. with only two faucets, it's not an easy thing but she is doing famously.
ok, now i'll be quiet about goats :-)
More seemly unending waits certainly exist, but Hooray for the first daunting step of correcting the healthcare systems issues. If you don't like it just remember that anything that doesn't work or was left out can certainly be fixed down the road a bit. Everyone should be able to afford healthcare in this great country.
Hooray for Joe Mauer too, and the outdoor field!
Hooray for Spring!
Oh man, the little goats are SO CUTE. Congrats, Barb & Steve.
My longest wait was the 2 or 3 minutes (or maybe it was only 30 seconds, but felt like 5 minutes) it took Husband (then Housemate) to respond when I finally got brave enough to tell him I was in love with him. It took him a while to soak it in and then tell me I'd be held a lot...
Dale, doubt if this is in the library, but Ricky Nelson had a song Waitin' in School that really rocks out...
Thanks for the request, Barbara.
I'm sad to say we don't have Ricky Nelson in the library, but I'll try to work in some "Waitin'" songs in a few minutes.
So though this particular wait was neither improbable nor excruciating...our long wait to hear the morning show daily is finally over, thanks to the new HD radio our best friends gave us in exchange for watching their kids for 6 days while they went on a Mexican cruise! OK, they prob got the better end of the deal here...but we're thrilled to be back after 1+ years of morning show-less mornings. BTW -- love the baby goats.
I don't have any 'waiting' stories in particular... I just hate waiting on facts. I want to make decisions... waiting on information before I can make a choice... that is what bugs me.
Yeah, OK, like so many others, there was that kid thing... waiting while my wife was prepped for a C-section... I called our answering machine and talked to myself for a few minutes...
Happy Monday everyone!
Those doelings are every bit as cute as Dale described them, and the "Three Little Maids" song cue had me laughing out loud, imagining them getting all tangled up around Barb as Pooh-Bah, their Lord High Everything Else! (yes, I do love the Mikado-most unreasonably).
I didn't really get to wait for my son (emergency c-section of a preemie), but it was a very long wait to finally get to see him (beyond the nurses flying past with a "here's your baby, we've gotta go!" moment) hours later.
Congrats to all in the Blackhoof maternity ward.
Hi Jane,
It's great to have you tuned in. Thanks for posting a comment on the blog.
And many thanks to your friends (and their kids) for getting an HD radio into your hands.
If they're planning another vacation, I might be able to start a list of people who are willing to trade child care for the new technology.
Dale -- put me on the list for automobile HD! I have two HD radios in the house (bedroom and living room) plus the computer in my studio, but am still RH-less in the car. Poor me.
This is OT, but possibly worth sharing now that so many of us have talked about enduring long waits.
A friend in New Jersey lives within walking distance of the Wal-Mart where the kid got on the PA to say all black people had to leave the store. My friend's son knows the kid who did this.
The kid is stunned at the national firestorm his little prank started. He has nothing against black people and in fact chose them at random. He almost asked all fat women to leave. He just had an impulse to show off in front of his friends.
The fact he chose black people isn't sign of prejudice but rather innocence and stupidity. He isn't a racist; he's a clueless kid who never guessed there could be such tension between the races. He has several black friends and could be fairly described as "post-racial."
The authorities now are bringing charges against a 16-year-old kid. How did they find him? The prank involved a group of several teens. The boys were dumb enough to brag about it on their Facebook pages!
The boy who actually made the PA announcement is not the one the police are charging. The guilty one is 19 and white. The boys were apparently able to get a 16-year-old Asian kid to take the fall, figuring it would be a much lighter sentence for him.
It is good to hear you sounding healthy again, Dale!
Oh, thanks Barb for requesting 3 Little Maids (and Dale for playing it)... We've been trying to sing it at my chorus rehearsals -- it's a joy to hear what it's supposed to sound like!
And does anyone else remember how long the wait was to find out IF you were pregnant (whether you wanted to be or not)?
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