The baby parade

My friend at work, Stacy, is having a baby girl in a few weeks, and today we had her surprise baby shower!

She really was surprised, too; I'm not sure how we managed to keep this party a secret, this being a company that couldn't keep my law school application quiet.

I made her a blanket (picture to follow), a button frame, and I bought her The Very Hungry Caterpillar, one of the most fun books from my childhood.

This event makes me think about two things:

Number one — I'm leaving the company in a few weeks, and I'll miss my coworkers, even though I'm sure I'll see a lot of them again as I visit and perhaps even do some freelance work.

Also, I'm going to miss a lot of life changes for these people, who I have gotten to know very well over the last two years. But, you can't stay at a job just for your coworkers, because then everyone else leaves and you're the last one to quit. I'm already feeling like that, since over half of the artists have quit since I started.

Number two — baby stuff is getting alarmingly cute. Not just the stuff that I made for Stacy, but the adorable little bibs & bonnets & bikinis that other coworkers bought her impending child. (Mother & Mother-in-Law who are potentially reading this — don't get TOO excited, the other day Dave heard me refer to children as "maggot-infested demon spawn.")

I catch myself thinking all too often, "Oh, I can give that to my little girl someday." OK, first of all, if I have kids, I might end up like my poor Aunt Jan, with two boys and no cute little girls to dress up & have tea parties with in the Party Kitchen.

Speaking of which: Yay Party Kitchen! Can you believe this little bit of my childhood is going on eBay for $5.99? Not MINE of course, some other kid's.

Second of all, I might not have kids at all. So, if I don't have kids, then here are some items up for grabs on my will — interested takers might want to notify me in advance so I can make sure you get the good stuff...

My two Mandy dolls

She-Ra Castle, Dolls, & Horse

Very Hungry Caterpillar Children's Book, Cutlery, & China Set

Wedding veil hand-beaded by Mom

Glass wine decanter & goblets from Venice, Italy

"Bobby the Dog" Golden Book

Early 1900s glass mug of great-grandmother Frieda Guhl

Pink glass Christmas ornament of great-grandmother Charlotte Deremer

Pack of hand-drawn playing cards from AP Seminar

"Watership Down" animation production cel

Alvin, Simon, & Theodore chipmunk plush dolls

Jar Jar Binks life-size cardboard cut-out

Stan the Plant (he may outlive me, who knows)

Wow, I have a thing for beautiful glass and great '80s toys. Anyway, maybe some ankle-biter will get all of it someday. For now, I'll just enjoy it all myself, thank you!