Wednesday, August 19, 2009

first ultrasound tomorrow

And I'm so stressed, I'm having trouble breathing. Luckily, the plan is for me to be distracted by dinner tonight with some second cousins who are unexpectedly in town and who I haven't seen or spoken to in something like 15 years.

I certainly know what I won't be talking about. But I'd very much welcome any suggestions for topics of conversation. Because otherwise, I'm going to have to fall back on the traditional "hot enough for you" and "it's not the heat, it's the humidity."

29 comments:

Grad3 said...

There are always taboo topics (at least in our house) like politics and religion. A good fight or agreement could keep you nicely distracted :)

Favorite local restaurants? Movies?

Sorry, I am terrible with small talk!

Crossing fingers for the u/s...

Amelie said...

Good luck for tomorrow!

Dinner... do they do anything you're interested in as well, be it work-wise or otherwise? What about Gray's travel destinations? They could be "exotic yet safe" topics...

Julia said...

There's always the current political climate. Though, depending on your relative stances regarding it, the topic may turn into just another round of "hot enough for you?" :)

Are you cooking? Favorite summer recipes are a good thing to talk about. Or maybe fall ones-- looking ahead and all that.

Depending on where they are from, there may be things to ask about. Local lore, fun things to do while there, in case, you know, you might want to repay the visit at some point.

Also books. New and old. Childhood favorites or new discoveries.

And, though I know you are not much into toys, there's always new gadgets.

Will this do?

areyoukiddingme said...

Food! No one ever talks about food during dinner - just when you're not eating. Try something different.

15 years can lead to lots of "What have you been up to?" and "Remember when..." not to mention "What brings you here?"

Anonymous said...

Family skeletons that have come out of the closet and can be laughed about? Perhaps not. What about swiss chard? Your CSA? What about Carla Bruni as the first lady of France and whether she brings class or not? Ok, maybe I should stop now. Good luck! Not thinking right along with you.
allypally

Aunt Becky said...

Facebook quizzes? Writing odes of poetry to your friend Aunt Becky?

Magpie said...

Solving the health insurance morass?

Wordgirl said...

My personal topic of late has been the bizarre things that come out of the 'town hall meetings' -- case-in-point -- the woman who confronted Barney Frank with a picture of Obama with a hitler mustache...Frank's reply was perfect.

Of course, politics is the third rail...but still...

Good luck -- in all ways!


Pam

Bluebird said...

I hate small talk and I'm not any good at it!

Lame as this sounds, I must confess to using our CSA as a spring board on more than one occassion. I'll mention that we're doing it, oh and you'll never guess what we got last week and I found this new recipe, and blah blah blah. . .

Eh, not exciting, but at least it's safe.

Keep breathing. We'll all be thinking of you tomorrow.

The Nanny said...

This may be terribly lame, but what if you brought a game? (Hey, I rhymed). Apples to Apples (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apples_to_Apples) is a good conversation starter and keeper.

I hope tomorrow goes fabulously.

Alexicographer said...

Ooh, I was going to suggest swiss chard, but I see others beat me to it.

Melissia said...

I have no idea, as I have the same sort of problem soon. I am attending a wedding on Saturday with husband and all of his marathon buddies. I am not a runner and do not talk running. I only pray that there are nonrunners there as well, otherwise I will be unable to speak the language, which happens all the time at those functions!
Best of luck tomorrow, I will be thinking of you both.

Aurelia said...

Health care? Your trips to Paris?

How cute the baby is? What the baby does? (This one can carry me on and on forever....)

Emily said...

Swiss Chard recipes seems safe. Of course, you could pepper them with questions about the last 15 years and do most of the listening...that seems safe, too.

erica said...

You could just tell tall tales about *your* last 15 years and see how long it takes them to catch on...

Best of luck tomorrow. I hope everything looks really, really good.

Lori Lavender Luz said...

How 'bout them Red Sox?

Anonymous said...

I hope it goes great tomorrow

Lindsay said...

Fingers crossed for the ultrasound. I'm sure all will be well. Small talk? Not my speciality...

k@lakly said...

By now the dinner is over, hope it was the perfect distraction and even more hope for great news tomorrow:)

flutter said...

blessings to you

Clare said...

old dead relatives, odd, unpopular, unusual relatives, misunderstood or relatively unknown family secrets, heirlooms or inheritance forsaken, and either the family black sheep or bad seed.

It will be riveting.

Betty M said...

Hoping the scan goes well today and that you had plenty to talk about yesterday.

Jacinta said...

More wine?
Favourite TV shows? Things we remember from being kids?
More wine?

leanne said...

thinking of you today...

christina(apronstrings) said...

ewww, scary! scary! I hope by now you already know that everything went fine. I haven't read my blogs in a couple of days.

It may be too late-but people love to talk about abortion, the death penalty and of course health care. Hee hee.

Amanda said...

(((HUGS))) and cant wait to hear how everything goes!!!

calliope said...

thinking of you!!!!!!!

hope dinner was smooth & easy.

Emily said...

It's today! Thinking of you!

Furrow said...

Ooohh. Has it happened yet? I'll be hitting refresh a lot for the rest of the afternoon.