Everything's Coming Up Rosie *

On this hot, sticky, muggy and humid summer-in-October day, I strapped the girls into their stroller and took them to B&N to buy Rosie O’Donnell’s new book and have it signed by her. I was prepared to bail out at any moment. The girls tend to fuss or cry when their stroller stops moving (or goes into an elevator). And then there might be diaper issues of spit up issues or rain issues. Anyway, the LOVED waiting on line. Absolutely loved it. To think I try so hard to entertain when them when what they really want is…to wait on line (I grew up on Long Island…we say on line). They smiled at strangers and laughed and played with the toys I have clipped to the side of their seats. They ate and napped and observed and all was going swimmingly until the last 15 minutes, when both decided they needed to be held rightnoworelse.

There was a kindness-of-strangers moment when a security guard came up to us while we were waiting outside on line and said “Come with me.” At first my heart dropped and I shuffled through the last hour to try to remember if I did anything wrong/illegal. But he assured me all was well and told me to follow him. I did, once again showing my gullibility. I’ll follow anyone with an earpiece or a clipboard. He brought me inside to where the signing was going to be and told me he didn’t like seeing babies outside in the grime and drizzly rain. So so nice. He also brought in people in wheelchairs and on crutches.

So we ended up first in line. First! I felt bad, since there were die-hards who were probably waiting on line for days, but what can you do. We were up front in the line anyway. But first!

You could tell when Rosie came into the signing area because there were thousands of flashes from the photographers there. I was trying to figure out how I was going to push the stroller while carrying Maddie and the books and the bottles and the burp cloth and all that when Rosie came over and asked the babies’ names and how old they were. Then she asked if she could hold Maddie. She took Maddie and there was another round of flashes from the photographers. I tried to get a picture of her holding Maddie and the result was not so good. Not one of my better picture-taking moments. But look how cute Maddie is! She stared at Rosie and I think it may be because she kinda looks like Nicole. Same coloring/hair. Then again, Maddie is going through a stage where I think she thinks everyone is her mother.

In my previous pre-babies life, I interviewed celebrities here and there and some of them were so pretentious. In that previous life, I went to a publishing party that Rosie was at (during her Rosie O’Donnell show days) and she was with a cluster of people and seemed so distant, for lack of a better word. I can’t wait to read this new book, and her take on fame and its trappings. This time, seeing her, Rosie just seems like a genuinely nice person; down-to-earth. And you can tell she really cares about the charities/causes she supports. And we see eye-to-eye politically. And we both share an obsession with Barbra Streisand. Anyone who loves Barbra is ok in my book.

It’s October. It is supposed to be chilly. I should be in a sweater and maybe a scarf at night. I should be able to wear my new boots. I should be eating more caramel apples. I should be pulling out my turtlenecks. Instead, I am pre-cooling the bedroom at night and taking yet another cooking hiatus.

Is it wrong that I am sitting here blogging while Maddie plays in her exer-saucer and watching a tivo'd Dancing with The Stars? Does that make me a bad mom?'

Pictured above is Maddie and Rosie. Under that is Maddie in her exer-saucer thingy, which she loves. And below that is a picture of Miss Avery, all 15-plus pounds of her!

* Sorry for the bad pun.