The Calm before the Storm

In the wise words of Boyz II Men, it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday. Well, this weekend was a bit of a farewell for us. It was one last get-away before our daughter comes to change our lives forever. And just as B2M said, it was hard to say good-bye...

The site of our get-away was the Fairmont Sonoma. In truth, if we were looking for an authentic way to say goodbye to our days as a twosome, we shouldn't have stayed in such a nice place. After all, our cross-country trip of 2006 was a tour of Super 8s. When we went to Big Sur shortly before we got engaged in 2007, we stayed at Econo Lodge. The Fairmont took us up several notches. There was a beautiful Spa, bowls of fruit for us everywhere, fluffy robes, etc.

On Saturday morning, Elizabeth got a massage. This was a pretty big deal since neither of us ever get massages. She'd been looking forward to it like a kid dreaming of Christmas - especially if the kid starts dreaming of Christmas 3 or 4 months early. Fortunately, she informed me later, the massage lived up to expectations. While she was getting a massage, I hit the road with my bike. I had found what looked to be good ride online, and took off from Sonoma, east toward Napa. I then proceeded north on Dry Creek Road, which winds through the countryside next to a very dry creek (sadly, no irony). A pleasant, easy ride turned nasty quickly. Over 1500 of the roughly 3000 feet of climbing came in a 2-3 mile stretch that was some of the steepest climbing I'd ever done. On the downward descent (12% grade), my hands got so tired from braking I could barely hang on.

We spent the afternoon kicking back by the pool and reading books about how to change diapers or what to do when your baby won't sleep. The reading material was quite a change from my normal nerdy business-type reading, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a nice change. I have recently realized that I'm only 7 weeks away from being a dad, and I should probably learn something about it!

On Sunday, we took a short drive through Sonoma, north past some vineyards (as per picture at left, tasting was sadly not an option). The weekend was a bit nostalgic for me, as I realized that the Californial wine country has been the site of several important events for Elizabeth and I. We first visited the area with several business school friends in 2006, on a trip organized by our good friends Billy and Zack. We've since visited the area with both sets of parents. When we got engaged in 2007, we took a hot air balloon ride in Napa. So, it seemed fitting that we'd close the chapter on our days as non-parents walking through Chateau St. Jean, the winery that produced the wine that was served at our wedding. There have been two of us for five wonderful years. I can't wait to see what the future holds for three of us!

The scene of the crime...

For any really big, high-stress event, it's a good idea to check out the location first. Today, we toured the hospital where our little girl with breathe her first breaths. Let's just say it was all a bit overwhelming.

Roaming the halls of the enormous hospital, I felt a bit like the Hickory Hoosiers touring the stadium prior to their state finals -- in over my head!

With his players overwhelmed by the size of the stadium, coach Dale has his players measure the distance to to the foul line. "15 feet." Strap puts Ollie on his shoulders to measure the distance to the rim. "10 feet." By confirming these measurements are the same as their gym at home, coach reassures his players that everything's going to be okay.

No measurements of the hospital were similar to our apartment (in fact, the bathroom in the lobby was actually about the size of our living room). However, I still got to thinking that maybe the birth of our daughter will be like the awesome finale of Hoosiers. After all, the triumph of Hickory over the South Bend Central Bears was a bit of a miracle. So's any baby being born. In Hoosiers, the whole town of Hickory, the fans in the stadium (not to mention Shooter, a crazed recovering alcoholic jumping on a hospital bed) all experience total elation at the victory of the Huskers. Similarly, our child will be welcomed and celebrated by ecstatic family and friends (though probably no recovering alcoholics jumping on hospital beds).

Well, one thing that is pretty cool is that we can bring in whatever music we want for the delivery room. So maybe we'll have to play the inspirational Hoosiers soundtrack.