Can you see the little bags under my eyes?

Wow ! Pregnancy induced insomnia is NOT joke !  I fall asleep between 10 pm and 12 am and wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 1:30 am without fail.   I can not fall back asleep so I work on pre-production stuff for my upcoming feature film, or I scan the guide on television looking for a movie or Law and Order SVU shows to watch.  About 6 am, I am exhausted and try to go to sleep.

On nights when I can actually sleep, my niece decides to sleep in the den and her spoiled baby boy can be heard screeching throughout the house at 1 am, 3 am and usually 6am.   Because she doesn’t have him on a schedule  (typical teen mom) and he sleeps all over the house instead of in his crib, and the fact that she often holds him while he sleeps, he is not a peaceful sleeper.  I get irritated and go get him, swaddle him, so that his arms are by his side, turn on my heated throw, and put him to sleep.   He then sleeps for 6 -8 hour stretches without whimpering and crying. 

I have started putting the budget and cast wish list for my psychological thriller we will be shooting this spring in Louisiana.   The first pass budget is done and now I am finalizing details and going line by line so that corrections and additions can be made so that it can be submitted to the investors to get the ball rolling. I am excited about this film, as it is one that I wrote.   I intended to star in it, but I have no idea what I will look like after baby girl is born and also I am certain I won’t want to be away from her.  I will have a role in the film, I just won’t take on the lead.  I also want to shadow the director so that I can learn that aspect of the business and direct my next feature.

I am still a bit peeved that my mother’s day brunch was completely ruined.   I took my mom to Ruth’s Chris after church, which I had planned two months ago and reserved a table in the window which overlooks the Washington DC skyline and National Airport.  It is so beautiful a view ! 

After we had been seated for a while and placed our order, the hostess brought in a family with a severely disabled child who was slobbering, extremely disruptive, and who could not close her mouth and her tongue was flapping all over the place.  Instead of putting them in a private dining room or someone other than dead center of the dining room on display to every party seated.   I was surprised that a mother would bring her child, with that level of disability out to a restaurant.   I figured all would be well as long as she doesn’t try to feed her, as I knew that would not be pleasant to have to witness.  So… the mother does feed this girl, after she has slammed several plates and bread basket off the table.  Food and saliva were running down her face as she ate salad.  There was just NO way you could miss them.   I felt bad for the little girl, but I got physically sick, as I am a very visual person and I ended up running to the bathroom upchucking a $65 cowboy ribeye.   My stomach started cramping and I was feeling woosy.   The staff could see that I wasn’t well and asked if they could help so I explained what had happened and the manager apologized and asked if he could move me.  I told him NO ! One, I requested a window seat months ago, two, I am not going back in there and my mom is having my food wrapped to go, and three other people on the dining hall were also upset and commenting on what was happenening.   It wasn’t the child’s fault, it is her mom’s for bringing her to a restaurant knowing that most people would not be okay trying to eat and seeing this child who can not eat normally, be fed.  It was also on management’s to ensure that all parties who are paying $100+ a person for a meal, be able to enjoy it and they could have placed them at the front of the dining room off to the side where they would not have  been on display or have put them in a private dining room.  All parties have rights and no one should be discriminated against, but options could have been exercised to make everyone comfortable.

The manager went around and apologized to everyone seated across the window (7 or 8 tables) and gave all of us a  $25 giftcard to be used later. 

I put myself in that mom’s place and wondered what I would have done… I was raised to be very cultured and dignified and some things are just not acceptable in public.   Had it been me, I would have either fed my child before we went out so that she could enjoy and outing, selected a different venue that didn’t involve food, or requested one of the private dining rooms.   I felt bad that this mother has to attend to a child daily with a disability, but on the other hand, it shows how much love we are capable of. 

For women with healthy children, this really drove home what a true blessing that is and it is not to  be taken forgranted…

In other news, I am looking forward to Friday!  My mom and I are driving to Virginia Beach / Hampton and we are meeting my sister, niece and nephew for the weekend.   My nephew plays for the Nike Olympic Basketball Team (17 yr old division) and they have games this weekend. On Monday, he has a few college tours with their coaches set up.   My nephew already has 13 offers from colleges around the country and is NBA bound !  This kid is 6’9 !