Pregnant Pauses

2

October 1, 2012 by themommahen

So I’ve been gone for a while. Absent from here, though there has been a lot going on (isn’t there always?) that I could be documenting. Instead, I’ve been, well, not here.

I remember learning in my high school drama class about pregnant pauses and their impact on the delivery of dramatic lines. Leaving time to allow the audience to just begin to wonder, to formulate, to ruminate, and then, BAM: line. Allowing the suspense to build just long enough between lines to pull the audience to the edge of their seats, anticipating. Waiting…

The 2012 Olympics will always remind me of Chicago. Yes, I know they were actually in London, but we were on our family roadtrip to the Midwest for pretty much the entire Olympics, so my memories of the games will mostly be nestled in my brain with breakfast buffets, fun reunions with friends and family, a beautiful wedding between two special people and too much fast food.

The Husband and I actually shared some drinks with Kerri Walsh-Jennings (before she added the Jennings) at North Ave. Beach in Chicago after the AVP tournament way back in 2004. She was so awesome and real, (that smile is electric is it not?) we’ve never forgotten how cool it was to hang out with her, so we loved watching her and Misty May Treanor go for their third gold, and I found myself close to tears when Kerri (can I call her Kerri since we had beers together?) teared up afterwards at the thought of moving on without Misty, (if I call her Kerri, I can certainly call her Misty, right?) her constant, faithful and loyal teammate for more than a decade. And I found myself wondering what would be next for Kerri – who in the world will she team up with after such a successful run with someone who has become a close friend? Was she really going to retire? Was she going to go for a #3 kid to match her medals? I was wondering, formulating, ruminating…

See the full gallery on Posterous

Actual pics from 2004 AVP tour in Chicago taken with my first-ever digital camera.

And then I saw the news that she was, in fact pregnant, and during the Olympics was actually five weeks along. In her usual good humor and candor, she chalked up her “unreasonable” moodiness during the Olympics to that unknown-at-the-time fact.

I’m guessing my absence has spurred some questions (or maybe just disinterest), but usually in the blogosphere, pregnant pauses just spur readers to move on. After all, the internet abhors a vacuum. For those still here, maybe on the edge of your seat, maybe not, perhaps wondering, formulating, ruminating, anticipating the delivery of my next line, or perhaps just wondering where this rambling post is taking you, I am expecting #4.

About the same point in my pregnancy as Kerri Walsh-Jennings, so I’m sure she and I will be hanging out sharing some NA beer and planning playdates sometime soon. So hey, Kerri, call me. I’m totally available for 2016. I’ll just need a sitter (or two).