Visit to the Shore

This past week, I've had the pleasure of spending time in Salisbury, MD with my husband's family. Corey and I made the 4 hour trek for the July 4th weekend, and since I have my first baby shower here on Saturday the 13th, I thought I'd let Corey go back to Richmond while I stayed the week to get in some q.t. 1-on-1 with the in-laws.

Nancy and Andy have been nothing but hospitable. I've enjoyed some wonderful home-cooked meals, trips to the beach, powerwalks with Nancy, cheering on the O's with Andy and watching the circus of dogs play around the house. All-in-all, it's been a very relaxing week and I can't thank them enough for all they've done to make me feel right at home.

One thing I've noticed about the Benjamins, just from palling around and running errands with them, is that they are quite the celebs in their hometown. We can't go anywhere without seeing someone they know and having a chat. Everyone is super nice-- the neighbors we've passed while walking the pooches, the folks manning the desk at the gym and even the girl behind the MAC counter at Macy's--and all have been very solicitous of me. The most amusing run-in this week, however, was with the girls at the deli counter at Giant.

We were cruising the aisles for a few things for dinners and lunches, and after giving a wave to the butcher who called out to Nancy from behind the counter, we stopped at the cold cut case to put in our order. Judy, Teresa and Marsha all came right over to say hi and fulfill our request.

Judy got busy slicing the cheese for the burgers we were going to have, which left Marsha and Teresa up front to chat with us.

"This must be the grandbaby-on-the-way we keep hearing so much about," says Marsha, as she nods at my belly and smiles at Nancy.

"Yep, she'll be here soon, " I reply.

"When are you due?"

"The official due date is September 1st. I can't believe it's less than 2 months away! "

"Girl, you look good. You all baby! And way out in front. But you won't have a problem losing that weight neither, un-uh. (The other girls nod). When I was pregnant, I had it everywhere," she tells me, as she straightens both her arms to her sides to indicate how big she was. "I was so big! And you're having a girl, right?"

"Yep, it's a girl!"

"Yeah, you can tell, cuz it's low. Look how low she's carrying, Terry. How low can you go!" Marsha sings with a smile, revealing a rather large gap in her two front teeth.

Marsha gets to slicing our bbq chicken and Teresa says, "You're going to have a pretty baby because you're so pretty."

"You're so sweet," I say. What a compliment!

Our ziplocks were ready so we waved good-bye and proceeded to check-out.

What is it about me and grocery stores lately? I've been having the best time. Hopefully, Nancy and I will have missed an item on the list so I can go back and get another ego-boost from the deli girls. There sure is something to be said for small-town living.