Category Archives: de rebus familiaribus

(Thirty) Nine and a Half Weeks (Pregnant)

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39 weeks pregnant

We’ve been alternating massage and acupuncture hoping to bring on labor. But no success so far. As the old adage goes, babies come when they’re ready.

Other than that, no news to report.

Click here for Tracie P’s update on her blog.

In other news…

cutest little girl ever

Georgia P is cuter than ever.

Her nanna and baw baw (paw paw) are staying with us, giving me a hand with household chores and allowing me to get some rest as we gear up for Parzen family expansion.

We’re so lucky to have them and we all have so much fun together.

Georgia P had fun with her baw baw at the splash pad yesterday afternoon and she really loved wearing his hat (above)!

Prosecco Colfondo for the pregnant lady!

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watching tv with mommy

Most experts agree that there is no incontrovertible fact behind the many theories regarding “labor-inducing foods” and other tricks.

But they also agree that, at 39 weeks pregnant (like us; actually 39+), most mothers-to-be would do just about anything to induce labor.

We’ve been doing it all (I won’t go into the details). But Baby P 2013 still isn’t ready.

prosecco col fondo sediment

Last night, when I asked Tracie P if she’d like to drink the fondo of a Prosecco Colfondo (the lees and other sediment of the bottle-fermented, undisgorged sparkling wine), the answer was: at this point, it couldn’t hurt.

Back in April, when I met with Luigi Gregoletto (the oldest continuous producer of Prosecco Colfondo), he told me that in the “olden days,” people would drink the fondo as a tonic. It helps with digestion, he told me.

bele casel prosecco

So last night over dinner, I decanted a bottle of Bele Casel Prosecco Colfòndo (my friend and client Luca Ferraro writes the designation with an accent grave) and decanted it.

You can see the clear wine in the photo directly above and the cloudy sediment in the photo above that.

As of this morning, we still haven’t gone into labor. But we’re not giving up hope that today will be the day.

The only incontrovertible fact is that it ain’t over ’til the fat pregnant lady sings!

Thanks to everyone for all the emails and tweets of support. We’re almost there…

Splash pad! Texas summer living (Baby P 2013 update)

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splash pad austin

Not much news to report here at Camp Parzen other than the not-so-breaking news that we are very very pregnant and ready for Baby P 2013 to arrive.

Her due date is July 15 (next Monday) and so far, the many predictions that she would come early have not panned out.

At this point, especially with temperatures reaching the mid to high 90s every day, Tracie P needs to spend as much time as she can off her feet.

I’ve been doing all the shopping, cooking, and cleaning and Georgia P and I get out as much as we can.

Yesterday, we made our first visit to an Austin “splash pad,” an invention so ingenious that I’d like to kiss the person who thought it up.

In essence, it’s a playground with colorful fountains and it’s so much better than a pool (especially for a toddler like Georgia P). The water is reclaimed after ever cycle (assuaging its environmental impact), there is no danger of drowning, and the fountains create just enough cool air to keep it pleasant on the sidelines for the parents watching over their kids.

Georgia P LOVED IT!

Al pomodoro please: red, white & Nebbiolo for the 4th

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pasta al pomodoro

Mommy and daddy had hotdogs and burgers with all the trimmings for a quiet Fourth of July celebration at home as we continued to wait for the big day to arrive.

We’re now nine days away from Baby P 2013’s expected due date.

Georgia P came nine days early. So mutatis mutandis… Our bags are packed and ready to go.

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harsh times for disenfranchised women but good tortillas in Texas capital

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herdez salsa

Those crazy-assed Texan republicans have nearly prevailed in delivering some of the the most restrictive reproductive policies in the U.S. And when they’re done, they will have closed all but a handful of Planned Parenthood clinics through out the state (one of the richest in the U.S., home to its fourth-largest city, and the fastest growing in the nation). The few remaining will nearly all be in major urban centers. As a result, financially challenged families living in rural areas will have virtually no access to affordable women’s health services. And services in the big cities will be more limited.

But it’s hard to find a bad tortilla in this town, capital of the Lone Star State.

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Happy days, sad days…

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mommy makes everything better

As our pregnancy “comes to term” and we finish preparing for the arrival of Baby P 2013 (any day now), I can’t help but feel a little bit sad about how Georgia P’s life is going to change.

She has no idea that our cozy little family of three is about to become a family of four.

She is such a sweet little girl, always ready to share a smile, a laugh, a kiss, and a hug. And I know she’s going to be a wonderful big sister (the two girls will be nineteen months apart in age).

But I also know it’s going to be hard for her at first, as she gets accustomed to the new and different rhythms that a newborn brings to a household.

We’re all ready for the baby to get here and it’s a very special and happy time for us. But I can’t help but feel a little pang knowing that Georgia P will have to settle into a new life where she’s not always the center of everyone’s attention…

Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing our family’s joy.

Gov. Perry stay out of my daughter’s vagina: Pasolinian thoughts on the abortion debate

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sweetest daughter

Above: Georgia P and I let mommy sleep in these days. Our new baby will be here any day now and so mommy needs all the rest she can get. Part of our morning fun (after breakfast) is self-portraits. Georgia P has no idea that a battle over women’s rights is being played out just 10 minutes down the street from our house in Austin, Texas.

Some will remember that twentieth-century Italian critical theorist and leftist Pier Paolo Pasolini took a stand against abortion. He saw abortion as one of the ugliest corollaries of the sexual revolution of the 1960s (when he was highly active as an essayist, poet, and filmmaker). I believe that he was right. But I also believe that a rational application of abortion does greater good for our society than its unbridled restriction.

This morning on the Twitter and the Facebook, I wrote, “Rick Perry, stay out of my daughter’s vagina.”

To that, my aunt Dianne — Tracie P’s biological aunt, whom I love because of our relation and because of the fact that she’s a really fun and warm lady — commented as follows:

How about those daughters that are murdered before even being given a chance at life? They are not banning abortion just not after 20 weeks. Why the outrage?

Here’s what I wrote back:

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any day now (Parzen family expansion update)

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any day now

Any day now…

Georgia P arrived nine days before her “official” due date.

Baby P 2013’s due date is July 15 but the doctor says second-time mothers generally deliver early.

So mutatis mutandis, Parzen family expansion could happen any day now.

Little Georgia P doesn’t know how our lives are about to change and we’re really enjoying these last few days as a family of three. She’s such a sweet girl and she sure knows how to make her daddy melt with her smile…

cutest little girl ever

Why I went to Italy & why I still go back (thank you Sir Roy)

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roy strong italy

Above: Sir Roy Strong was the person who suggested I go to Italy and study Italian (image via the London Evening Standard).

Samantha’s heart-wrenching post this morning, “In the name of the father,” got me thinking of my own fatherless teenage years and a man who played a very important — however brief — role in my life, Sir Roy Strong.

People often ask me why I’ve devoted my life to the study of Italian language, history, and culture (before enogastronomy, I spent nearly more than ten years studying Italian prosody, narrative, and cinema, and lived and worked in Italy for most of that time).

The answer is Sir Roy.

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