Syracuse- “Transfer Day”- Wednesday, May 29, 2019

      This is a more unusual post for the blog because I’m not going to actually post it for a few months, if at all, but I’m in the habit of blogging while I’m away, so it feels like I should continue to now.

     Julie’s “project” has been occupying a lot of her time for the past months.  She wants to try, one last time, to have a baby.  This time, she will try the in-vitro method, with eggs she got from someone else.  She has been dieting and taking medicine for a while now, and has been getting shots for hormones for the last week or so.  The fertilized egg was waiting for us in Syracuse, so that’s where we are now.

     We had just finished a long Memorial Day weekend, and we went back to school on Tuesday, yesterday.  After school, we went home and had pizza with Anna (Emma was taking a nap), we finished packing, and we started our drive.  We weren’t in any hurry to get here, so we stopped at the Del Lago casino for a bit.  Julie asked the doorman where the smoke-free area was and he said, pointing, “There, there, there, there, there…” It turns out the entire place is smoke-free.  Julie played slots for a short time.  She won $1.94 (and lost $30) but she got it out of her system for a while.  We had a leisurely drive to Syracuse after that and settled in for the evening.

     Today we got up and had a hotel breakfast before making our way to where the “transfer” was to take place.  It was a peaceful place, with a bullfrog croaking in the pond outside, and relaxing music inside.  In addition to the fertility clinic, there is a “wellness spa” there.  Julie was taken inside and Scott sat in the waiting room, grading some school papers.

**** [This space saved for Julie, in case she wants to add something about her experience.] ***

     When she was done Julie texted a picture of the embryo to Anna and Emma.  She hadn’t gotten any Valium, so she wasn’t feeling any effects that we were expecting.  Still, her directions for today were to take it easy and rest, so we returned to the hotel room with that in mind.  Julie wanted to order some pizza, so we had Papa John’s delivered for a big lunch.  She then settled in to try to get some sleep and some rest.

     Meanwhile, Scott wanted to take a walk.  He found a comic book store was nearby, and since it was Wednesday, there were two new issues that he could pick up.  From our hotel it is a short walk to Clinton Square.  He took some pictures and video of the impressive Civil War monument there which is dedicated to soldiers from Onondaga County.  He took some time to admire the square itself and the cool old buildings around it.  He discovered a sign that showed that the fountain in the middle of the square was actually in the spot of the Erie Canal, and a cool photo showed the canal and the very same buildings and monument that he had been looking at.  He found the “Jerry Escape” monument, to an incident that happened in 1851 when Syracuse citizens helped an escaped slave evade recapture.  It was part of the “Freedom Trail” of Underground Railroad and abolition sites, and Scott saw several of them this afternoon.  When he arrived at Cloud City Comics, a handmade sign said that it wasn’t going to be open for another two hours because of a family emergency, so Scott went across the street and had a quiet time drinking a beer in the old building that houses the Syracuse Suds Factory.  It seemed too long until the started back towards the hotel and enjoyed getting a little lost while he explored.

     When he arrived back at the hotel, Julie was getting antsy and wanted to go out too.  It was close enough to dinnertime that she suggested we go out.  She picked Dinosaur Barbecue because she had heard several people recommend it highly.  We drove there, though it wasn’t far away, so Julie wouldn’t overdo it.  On the way, we stopped at the comic shop, which was finally open, so Scott could finally get those two books.  At dinner we each got a sampler plate of pulled pork, ribs, and brisket.  They were ok, but we weren’t raving about them.

     After dinner, Scott had to give Julie one of her daily injections.  He had never done that before, and he might not ever again.  He got really squigged out by it, and had to do it twice, but he didn’t pass out and got the job done.

     After a nap, Scott noticed that the Erie Canal Museum was very nearby when we came back.  He had been there once before when he went to the music symposium that was held for teachers a few years ago.  It’s on Erie Boulevard, which used to be the Erie Canal itself.  He knew that it was in the “Weighlock Building,” and you could see a replica boat in the lock that they originally used to weigh their cargo with.  He didn’t think the museum was open, but he took a stroll down to see that anyway, especially since he had just covered the Erie Canal with his 7^th graders and accompanied them to Canalside, Buffalo, on a field trip.  He was surprised to see people in the museum and a band playing in the courtyard.  It was “History Happy Hour” and the museum had special hours tonight, though it would only be open for 20 more minutes.  It did give him a little chance to stroll quickly through the exhibits and enjoy some of the folksy-bluesy music from the “Bog Brothers.”