2001-06-25 - 11:52 p.m.

This will seem so unnatural- but I am respecting the wishes of my husband and writing with an alias for him! It feels really silly to do so....

Westley (aka paranoid husband who fears any blemish on his reputation should his fans read my personal journal entry...) As I started to say, Westley is out of town for the next few days on a business trip. This means I have time to be idle and frivolous and on line! We share and AOl account, which is the logical thing to do-- however since he works on line, and is a workaholic, it is typically not possible for me to access my account before 11pm or midnight at which point I am asleep. I do have a few other free accounts set up- one on bluelight.com, and one on Netzero among others. I can't stand using them as they take FOREVER to get any pages to load and I constantly get horrible connections and get bumped! (Even worse than with AOL!)

With Westley gone I actually did get a bit more studying done than usual-- attributed to the fact that the house is messier than usual. I really do love being a slob when he is not here! I revel in the freedom to leave a dish in the living room-- just until morning when it will irritate me by its being there. I can't really tolerate a messy environment for too long-- but I have to rebel against his OCD tendency which necessitates that our house be as organized as possible. Westley's need for organization is really quite extreme. He was upset the other day because I moved a box of tea to the wrong spot in the cupboard. I dared to stack it on top of another box, rather than NEXT to it as he had placed it when he organized the cupboard a week earlier! He literally became anxious about this and was yelling at me. He thinks I have some problem in my brain that I can never remember where I have taken a thing from -- and never put it back in the same place.

Hmmm..... I should look up some links about OCD one day. I think he really needs to read about that. Maybe he'll recognize that it is not NORMAL to get so upset and anxious when things are not EXACTLY as he has left them.

The thing I find so bizarre though is that his study is as messy as my desk. He also leaves his clothing on our closet floor, and magazines plied up on his nightstand in an overflowing cluttered stack. So these behaviors of "messiness" in himself are not a concern, yet he freaks out if I leave anything cluttering a surface. He seems to not mind HIS clutter-- but is bothered by anyone else's stuff laying around.

Anyway-- I had not intended on dwelling on this issue. My main point was to be that I Love the freedom I have to RELAX and not have to be so organized when Westley is gone for a few days.

I also have to say that I apprechiate and really benefit from the organization he does bring to my daily life! I think I have become a better person in many respects because of him. I think I am more considerate of others' feelings, and more aware of how what I do can affect others.I am certainly on time more often and personally more organized and efficient. I have a greater sense of order in my life. These things are the positives which balance it all....

And likewise, for a sense of balance in my life, it's great to still have this down time to just relax and NOT be efficient and organized! I feel like I am on vacation!

So tonight I enjoyed mindlessly surfing the web. Though the mindless surfing didn't absorb too much time as I got bumped from AOL! I then signed back on and happily ordered a new nursing wardrobe in preparation for our new baby who is due to arrive July 12th. (As if due dates are accurate! We'll see...) Nursing mothers must check out Motherwear.com!!

The two older kids,( hmmm,, I'll give them the ailias of Katerina and Soren--) as I was saying, Katerina and Soren caught a flight to Buffalo on Sat where they will see their Grandmom and Dad. Sat morn we left at 11am, and hit traffic as there was construction on 495 for a while. WE arrived at the airport 16 minutes before the flight was to leave. As K and C and I were running through the airport a man in an airline uniform asked "Where are you heading?" I said "Buffalo/ Southwest"

He said "Slow down- that's where I'm going."

I slowed and asked "Your the pilot?"

He answered "Yes. I'll call ahead and let them know you are coming."

That was very nice of him! Soren had just started to whine and get upset, and I had been encouraging him when we had passed the pilot. I then said "Your doing great! You ran so fast that you are going to be at the plane before the pilot! "

The flight left at 1:35pm. The kids boarded at 1:30pm.

I got a call later that night that they arrived safely- although one bag is missing! There was a blue bag checked with their music books and tapes, and Daniel's tape recorder along with some brand new flash cards I bought for Katerina to use over the summer as she is starting to learn to sight read. I hope it is found! Because they were checked in so fast, I think their Grandmom didn't see the bag long enough to later recognize it if it was sent on the flight. The other possibility is that that bag never made it on the plane and was stuck in Baltimore. Grandmom said she'd call in the claim for the lost bag- and hopefully it will be found. (She had flown into Baltimore to meet us to accompany the kids on the flight)

After seeing the kids off, Westly and the one yr old baby girl and I went to Baltimore's Inner Harbour where we bought tickets at 2:15pm for entry into the aquarium at 5:15pm. I was amazed there was that long of a wait to get in. I also assumed it would be a fantastic place since there was such a wait....

WRONG! The Baltimore aquarium basically has the distinction of being the most horribly designed public space I have ever seen! It was really a rather lame place as far as museums/aquariums go. First of all, they have a "NO Stroller" policy! There was NO WAY we could take the toddling girl in without a stroller! After being exhausted from walking around the harbour killing time before we could get into the aquarium, Westley did not have the energy to be carrying her the whole time! So he honestly was able to tell the woes of his history of back trouble (which really was bothering him again just a few weeks ago),and they made an exception for us, and gave us a handicapped symbol and allowed our stroller in.

Once inside, via the handicapped elevator, we had to go through each floor backwards, against the grain of the flow of people. There were many places the stroller did not fit as the halls were too narrow. The building is designed with escalators which carry people from one level to the next. The whole place is like a winding staircase, although with escalators, which wrop around the perimeter. It is likely that the architect envisioned a grand open space-- but as the lights are off in the aquarium, there is basically this dismal dark wasted space in the center of the building. Its really very ugly!

Anyway- we did enjoy seeing the seahorses there. Unfortunately baby girl was fussy during the Dolphin show and I had to leave with her so she and I missed that! Dad saw it though and he said it was neat and he also taped a bit of it.

Overall we did have a lovely afternoon in Baltimore- despite the disappointment of the lame aquarium. We ate at Wayne's Barbarque which has fantastic ribs and a nice view of the harbour. It was prety there and I enjoyed just being in a city observing all the people.

Time to sleep now! It is strange having the house so very silent! Enough relaxing.. tommorrow I need to study for the Bar exam intensively. Hopefully baby girl will allow me to do so! If not I'll instead play with her.

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