Lucy's Journal Entry

Each night in our journal, we respond to the following question:
"What did you experience new, different, or unique?"


This was Lucy's answer:
btw, she's 2 months pregnant -
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Two words. Super King.

I’m pretty sure I left the United States to go grocery shopping tonight. What a crazy, stressful experience.

Claire picked me up a little before 5:30. Our car was packed, 14-month old Hagar did not have a carseat, Najwa AND Addell reprimanded a squirmy Mahmood all the way to the store while trying to give Claire directions in heavy traffic and I’m on the phone trying to leave a message for our director: Stressor #1. Loud store FULL of people who have much smaller bubbles of personal space than I have: Stressor #2. Najwa stopping in the middle of the aisle (blocking the flow of gazillions of people) to give me a quick Arabic lesson: Stressor #3. Najwa expecting me to remember and repeat (perfectly) what she had just taught me in Arabic while gazillions of people are pushing their way through the aisle to get around us: Stressor #4. Hagar begins to get fussy, is grabbing at any produce she can reach amidst my Arabic lessons with gazillions of people all around: Stressor #5. Najwa asks me to entertain Hagar by navigating the cart through gazillions of people: Stressor #6. Najwa gives Hagar some peanuts in attempt to calm her down!!!! I think to myself  “are you serious? This cannot really be happening right now.": Stressor #7 (btw readers, you NEVER give peanuts to small children - they will choke). Sarah chokes on the peanuts: Stressor #8. We arrive at the meat counter. Najwa hands the peanuts to me to feed her daughter while she orders meat at the counter: Stressor #9, 10, and 11! Hagar chokes again and Najwa reprimands me for giving her peanuts that are too big?! Aren’t they all about the same size!!!!!!: Stressor # 11-29. Claire, Addell, Mahmood are headed to checkout and are now waiting on us. Najwa does not hurry any faster. I feel bad because I know they are just standing outside waiting for us: Stressor # 30. We finally checkout (a good 20 minutes later). We go outside and find only Claire and Mahmood. Apparently, Addell had gone back inside to use the restroom. Najwa goes back inside to tell her sister we are ready to go. Claire follows. Mahmood follows. Lucy is left standing outside the grocery store cold, about to throw up, back aching, starting to cramp with a full grocery cart waiting for everyone to get back for about 10 minutes: (stressor #31-117) I feel the baby move for the first time. (remove the last 50 stressors and actually smile to myself, while texting Jack to tell him the fun news.) Load everyone, a week’s worth of groceries PLUS Addell’s groceries back into the car while trying to remain standing and not throw up: (stressor #100) Drive home squished in the backseat with Hagar crying, and Mahmood pushing the buttons on Emet’s toy ENDLESSLY until we arrived back at the apartment: (stressor #100-110) Said goodbye, took the groceries inside, set them on the counter, crashed on the couch. The end.