Babywait 2013 - My Awesome Friends - and how I'm feeling loved

So, I'm still in LA, waiting for Shelby to have her baby.  There's not much more to be done here, on the legal end.  She and Ebony go back to court on Thursday to accept the deals the DA offered them, then they send them off to prison.  Shelby was hoping to go to this program called Fire Camp - it's for prisoners to clean up the rubble from all of the wild fires in California.  But their web site states that they don't take people convicted of violent crimes, so she probably is not a candidate for Fire Camp.

I guess it's possible that Ebony could serve his time in the detention center since it'll only be about 13 months.  I guess it's up to the courts and prisons.  Word has it that Ebony is not keen to signing guardianship papers to me and Mike, either.  That's gonna be a huge fucking headache if it's true.  We'll fight it, of course, but if he gets out and comes and gets the kids, after we've provided them with a stable life for over a year, it'll be heartbreaking and it's possible we won't know how to reach him and whatnot.  That's really depressing and I don't want to write about that right now.

What I do want to write about is my awesome friends.  First of all, my friend Angela.  If it weren't for her, I would not have a place to stay here in LA.  When I contacted her and told her the deal, I asked if I could stay with her for a week or so, before Shelby's due date.  She said of course, instantly. Then, after talking to Shelby and realizing that I needed to be here for the dependency hearing for Ellie, on October 31st, I asked her if there might be a vacant studio in her complex that her landlady (Nancy) might rent me for a month.  Staying with someone for a week is one thing, but a month is something completely different and I didn't want to put her out.  So she did some asking around and come to find out, a neighbor of hers (Adora) has a boyfriend (Jimmy) who actually rents a studio in the building but he works in Florida and was going to be gone during that time and said I could stay for free!  Amazing, right?

It's nothing fancy, just a little studio apartment with a bed, kitchen and bathroom.  I spent about $40 at the 99Cent store buying two plates, tow glasses, silverware, a skillet, etc...  I would fill up my skillet with water each morning, heat it to boil and drink instant coffee.  Angela lent two folding lounge chairs so I'd have something to sit on.  It met my needs perfectly.  Then Angela told me she was going back to Atlanta for a couple months and I could move upstairs to her one-bedroom.  It has a couch, chair, TV, kitchen and microwave and coffee maker, and bed.  Woot!  Plus the timing was perfect because Jimmy was coming back from Florida.

                             (btw - that's all of my crap all over the place - Angela keeps a tidy crib)

So, I've been kickin' it in Angela's place for a couple days now - which is awesome - getting caught up on Walking Dead and other shows.  I love Angela's little apartment - it's in North Hollywood, which is a good location and pretty convenient to lots of things.  Problem is, I don't really like LA and I'm not that motivated to visit lots of things.  I'm pretty much ready to get the baby and go back home.  But, I digress.  Back to my awesome friends.

I was also able to meet up with my friends Kasia and Tal.  They are film makers I originally met in Atlanta but then they moved to NYC and got big shot jobs and Kasia is a recurring alien on Star Trek and has been scary chicks in big shot movies and an assistant to big shot directors, as has Tal and now they live in LA and they are way too cool for school.  Anyways, I got to meet up with them last week after the video conference with Shelby and just hang and they listened to me whine and still texted me days after hanging out.  I didn't scare them off.  They were so supportive and great listeners and we were able to share wonderful stories about a mutual Atlanta friend, Daniel Burnley, who recently died, unexpectedly.  But we met at this really nice place (with awesome food and pricing) and then got our pictures taken in their cool photo booth.  How cool is that? That was some much needed fun!

Last week, I met up with a longtime Atlanta friend, Jenna.  She and her hubby (and baby Rio) moved out here a couple of years ago.  She still visits Atlanta and we try to catch up when she does, but it'd been over a year since I last saw her.  Since then, she's had another baby, Luc (French spelling and pronunciation, as her husband is from French).  Jenna actually read my blog and reached out to me and wanted to help in some way.  So we met for lunch. It was so great seeing her.  She's so pretty and always has a smile on her face.  I love looking at her.  Anyway, girl crush aside, she gave me four bags of baby and big-boy clothes (for Ellie, since Rio and he are around the same age) and shipped a box of toys to Monroe.  Mike called to tell me that they arrived today.  How awesome is that?!  Look at all this stuff!  The Kaloo is a French thing and it's supposed to be for good luck.  I'll definitely take that because I need all of the good luck I can get right now.  Isn't it adorable?  You pull it down and it plays music as it scrunches back up.

Then, my friend, Tiffany, who is a self-denying artist, designed two door plaques for Ellie and Emma's doors.  She texted me photos of them the other day, because I couldn't wait to see them and I pressured her into sending me photos of them.  I LOVE them!  They are unique!  Ellie and Emma are two special little kids, with lots of love they don't even know about!

I also cannot leave out some other very special friends as well.  First, Gabe and Trin.  Gabe, my business partner, and I have worked together since 2006.  We've seen the worst and best sides of each other and through it all, we continue to work together - something works right there.  We are actually horrible work partners because we fight like brother and sister, yet our projects turn out great.  It's just getting through the process that's the hard part.  And Trin, she's had to share him with me all these years, which I know has been difficult so she gets the most kudos - altho I do hope I have provided her with some relief and respite at times.  Gabe is quite a handful.  ;)  (But I wouldn't trade him for the world.)  Anywho.....back to their awesomeness....  They gave me a travel system: a stroller that has a baby carrier that snaps into a car seat and the stroller and another base for another (namely Mike's) car for the carrier, in case one person has the kid the morning and the other person has the kid in the evening - you don't have to move the car seat, just the carrier.  That's pure genius - sure didn't have that when I was raising Shane and Shelby.  They also gave us a bouncer and toys for Ellie, since Gustav and Ellie are the same age, and an alphabet sponge mat thingy.

And, Mary Jane, Jay's mom also gave me a bunch of toys for Ellie, since her three grandsons are older than Ellie and have outgrown some of their toys, like to big Legos, Linkin Logs and a chalkboard and stuff like that.  She even gave up an old toy, that Jay claims to have played with (he didn't mention how long ago, so could just be a few years ago) - one of those dogs with moving feet as you pull the leash.

I swear, I don't know how I would make it through all this without my friends.  Jay came out for a visit this past weekend.  That's a completely different blog, but I am grateful that he did.  I needed some time with him and to think about other things and have fun with him. We did a bunch of the touristy things but also just chilled, which was good.  I did get him to try on the baby Bjorn - hee hee.

I am one lucky person and I don't know what I've done to deserve such wonderful people in my life, but I'm so glad I have them.  Now, it's just back to Babywait (see what I did there? You get it? Like Watergate? Bwahhahahaha - okay, cornball, I know).  Shelby just called me and said she has been having cramps but she went to the doctor yesterday and she's not had any contractions, nor is she dilated.  However, since her visit, she's been spotting, so hopefully the doctor gave Emma a little tap to let her know that it's okay to go ahead and come on out.  People are waiting on her - especially me.  I'm ready to get her and go home.  I still have a condo to move out of and into Monroe.  I sure hope she's strong, because I'm gonna need some help moving.

I did go out today and get a couple things at BabiesRUs for Emma.  I got her a cute, "coming home from the hospital outfit," some shoes (how cute are these?!), more diapers and instant formula for the plane.  She better hurry up and get here before I max out Mike's BabiesRUs card. Tomorrow, I plan on shipping a couple boxes to Monroe so I don't have to deal with all this stuff and a baby while trying to maneuver my way around the airport with a newborn.

PS:  I thought the cute Zebra dress for her coming home from the hospital is completely perfect - with it's little prison stripes.  Hey, I gotta take the humor where I can find it, right?  She will be adorable.  Now, c'mon Shelby, do some jumping jacks already!