Time Away

Hi.

I know. It's been a while, huh.

Here, allow me to distract you with this adorable side-eye from my kid:


Esscuse me? Where you been, guuurl?

So the job transition is consuming a lot of my time, obviously. I was away for a week and now I'm settling into the new role, new office, and new (much longer and more soul-sucking) commute. It's a lot. I haven't had a chance to browse any of my regular blogs, nevermind actually update my own.

Being away earlier this month was :gasp: not as bad as I expected. The build up was much worse than the trip itself. I nearly gave myself a panic attack the night before. The kind of anxiety when you can't feel your hands and one of them contorts into a claw? Maybe my sister's the only one who would understand the claw thing. Anyway, it was rough.

But then I got there. And I was like, "Okay, I'm here. For 5 days. Let's do this and then go home." I dove head first into the trainings (yawn) and networking events (ugh) and team dinners (meh) like my life depended on it. I was so distracted I didn't have time to dwell on how much I missed home.

I'd talk to Des on speaker phone every morning and get frequent updates from Tony. Apparently Des was a superstar all week, not a tear or tantrum in sight. Ahem. God bless my husband for knowing exactly what to keep secret.


This is me on the window sill of my hotel room, all, "Ok. So. What do I do now?" Solo traveler extraordinaire, I am not.

I should have taken a picture of the hotel bed. Holy ess, it was like a cloud in heaven and the comforter was like a hug from angels. That bed made the whole thing worth it.

There were even moments of the trip when I actually had... :looks around:... fun. SHH! Don't tell.

Like when we had a lovely low key dinner here:

Prior to which I attempted a field goal, threw footballs through tires, and generally one-upped the alpha males as I tend do in these type situations. It happens sometimes. Ask Tony.

Then there was that one night when I hung out with this guy:


You don't need details. But it was basically a flashback to my early 20's. A fabulous, hilarious horror show. Unfortunately I'm actually in my early 30's and I don't bounce back as easily from mechanical bulls. Ow.

So that trip is over. I have another coming up in November. And potentially more work travel in the future for both me and Tony. So please pardon me as we all get settled into this new life. I will not abandon this blog entirely, but udpates may come in spurts. Time is of the essence these days. And the precious free moments I get are usually spent like this:


He's a great lap cuddler. And god did I miss him.

The Cape

Although we haven't been able to take a real vacation this summer due to work schedules and that little trip we took in May, we were able to get away for a long weekend to the Cape. My sister and her family graciously invited us down to their rental house and we eagerly accepted.





















My mom and more of our family were also renting a house in the area.

We relaxed on the beach, took walks, breathed the clean ocean air, ate amazing food, and spent time with the people we love most. We couldn't ask for a better time.

We also stopped to see the legendary Mr. Wagner, the man who found my rings on the beach 3 years ago (a story I hold close to my heart and will share some day soon). He and his wife are so lovely. We got to share our new story of finding a ring, which they were amazed by. Mr. Wagner even buffed Tony's ring for him. We said we wanted to leave the little nicks in the fine metal for nostalgia, but there's no way we could deny Mr. W when he offered. And what a perfect way to come full circle in our ring sagas.

He and his beautiful wife made us promise we'd visit again. Since we're already planning our Cape vacation for next year, that shouldn't be a problem. I don't think I can go another summer without taking a week off. We will be back next year for certain.

What Des Learned on Vacation v.3

Trucks. Are. AWESOME.

He calls them "Dus." Dus is a general term for truck, car, golfcart, lawn mower, etc. Our gas grill has wheels and he calls it "Dus." So... He knows what he means though. And we do too.

On St. John our neighbors down the road were doing some construction on their house. There was a yellow digger truck in the yard, and the fervor with which he pointed and yelled "DUS!" at this thing as we went by each day... It was like Santa was driving it.



We walked down to watch it in action. The driver beeped and pointed the bucket at Des. If there is anyone better than Santa, it's that guy.

There's a beach called Maho Bay. It's always been a favorite of ours, but this trip it was a particular hit. Mostly because the street is RIGHTTHERE. You park next to the beach and unload. When you have a shitload of crap including 4 beach chairs, bags of toys, 4 towels and a Neat Sheet, a cooler full of food and drinks, etc., close proximity to your landing spot is a good thing. Also, being so close to the road, little boys who love a good "dus" can watch them drive by all day long.



Des knew how amazing trucks were before our trip. But down there he learned that trucks are awesome... as long as they're not too close.


This was our vantage point from the car ferry back to St. Thomas, as a cement truck backed on to the barge.

And here's video of Des watching a second cement truck back in to park directly next to us. Pay attention to the 22 second mark when he jumps in his seat, the following moment of shock, and then the end when he breaks down into tears.



I think that was a fitting end to the trip.

And yes, this was another goddamn vacation entry. Expect at least one more and then I'll shut my trap and get back to the interesting stuff like baby snot and poop and whatnot.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

What Des Learned on Vacation v.1

I'm still suffering from a major case of Real World Re-entry Depression, so the next few blog updates will likely be St. John/vacation related. You have been warned.

Desmond learned a lot while we were away. It was like we flew down with a baby and came back with a little kid. I always suspected that island was magic, but now I know.

We were able to capture many of his mad skills on the Flip cam. And I just keep watching these dozen or so 30-60 second clips over and over. Here are the first clips in the series of What Des Learned On Vacation.





We have a walker, folks.

I know I posted previously about his first steps. But since then the extent of his walking ventures were 1 or 2 steps, and then crouching down to a crawl because, you guys? That whole center of gravity thing is way more stable down there. And so are toys. They're all just laying there on the floor, might as well just get down there with 'em.

Somewhere between the beach and the villa, we saw a switch flip in his head.

So wait, I can hold 2 toys AND transport them from here to there while remaining at the same level the whole time? And then my Nana will loudly rejoice and shower me with praise?? Yes please!

For real, the kid likes to put on a show. This is a whole new side of him. He sees people psyched he's doing something, and he wants to do it over and over. Simply adorable.

Now we're home and he's walking all over the house and he's already taken a header off the coffee table with a nice little shiner to show for it. Home kinda sucks.

Before We Get Back to Reality....

St. John, USVI 2011:




























The more we return, the more I worship this island. Sharing it with our son and my mom was so much fun. They got it. Desmond was happy and loud, like a fish in water. Throughout the week I found myself overwhelmed with pride and relief (relief in a 'thank god he loves it and we can come back' kind of way) watching Des explore and dive in to so many new experiences. He rolled around in sand, he talked to the birds, he connected with his Nana on a whole new level. It was a beautiful, hilarious, relaxing yet exhausting week.

I'm not ready to be back.

North Carolina

'Memba that time we went there? That was a trillion years ago, huh. It was fun.

Our adventurous flight down brought us to beautiful weather in the charming city of Raleigh. We spent most of our time that weekend in and around the neighborhood of our welcoming hosts, exploring trails and parks and enjoying the company on their patio. It was a lovely time.












Totally embracing Southern culture.

We also went to a kid's museum that was pretty much heaven on earth for little ones. Everywhere we turned there was head-exploding amazingness. Shopping carts and trains and water and trucks! YES PLEASE times a million.




Yes, we're at the train tables again, why you even gotta ask?











Before we headed down, I was most nervous about the flight (already covered in previous entry) and Desmond's sleeping. On our last weekend getaway he barely slept. He'd wake up at 2am, ready to go for the day, and then refuse to nap. That weekend is a blur, we were so exhausted. I was hoping, praying, pleading with the gods of slumber that history did not repeat itself.

We went in with a positive mentality. We would encourage, but not force naps. We would try to stick to his regular bedtime, but be flexible. I'm shocked to say it went much better than expected.

He pushed his bedtime a little later, which was actually kind of nice. He slept through the nights and woke at a reasonable hour. And he took at least one good nap each day. And if/when we let the 2nd one slide, he was not a complete melting mush of tears.

It's all extremely encouraging for future adventures. We're hoping that repeated exposure to different places and spaces will make him better at adapting to new environments.

Who knows, maybe next time he'll be Toddler Zombie Warrior from Hell. But we're just taking it all in stride.

First Airplane Ride

We're home from North Carolina, where we were visiting cousins John, Abbie, and Carly. They moved a year ago and it took us this long to get down there, shame on us. So we finally got to see where they've been living this past year and hang out in their new territory. Dang, we miss those guys up here in New England. But they've made a nice little home in the South.

This trip was also a chance to get Desmond used to traveling. It's about a 2 hour plane ride to NC, so it's a nice quick trip to get us started, since we have some longer rides in our future. I had no idea how nervous I would be, even for this short get away. Visions of toddler tantrums in a tiny tin can airplane cabin ran through my head. Followed by the inevitable mommy meltdown, where I'd be pulling out my hair and raiding the drink cart for mini bottles of vodka.

I work with people who travel frequently. I hear some of them complain about kids on planes often. And I know I should be all "Eff 'em," but I'm not going to lie... I feared that we would be those people. The ones people would go home and tell their friends about.

"Oh my god, on the flight there was this kid who would NOT. SHUT. UP. Kicking the seat, crying, and the parents just let him do it! I mean, if you're going to take your kid on a plane, learn to control them, fer chrisakes."

Commence nail biting. And not sleeping. And pooping my brains out.

But seriously? I'm learning to just say it... Eff 'em.

Des had a few breakdowns, yes. On take off and landing mostly. The tell-tale grabbing of the ears told me the pressure was getting to him, poor kid. We did all the things they say are supposed to help... drinking out of a bottle (he doesn't take a bottle, so a sippy), sucking on a paci (he doesn't take a paci, so his thumb), eating lollipops (which he flat out rejected, who is this kid?). The only thing that seemed to help was chewing on snacks of Cheerios and dried fruit. But still. He screamed. And I silently apologized to all the passengers around us. And then I quickly stopped caring about anyone around us because my kid was in pain. And all we could do was try our best to help him.

So some people were inconvenienced in 3-5 minute increments a couple times on their flight. Amazing how much worry I put into it, and yet how easy it was to just GET OVER IT.

Oh, and then there was that time in the middle of the flight when he choked on a pretzel, freaked out, freaked US the hell out, and then vomited the contents of his stomach into my hands. So that was exciting!

But I have to say, when all was said and done, it went amazingly well. He was mostly in great spirits, slept for a good chunk, was kept entertained by the DVD player, and happy to sit in my lap. We could not have asked for anything better.




LOVING the aiport. "VROOM VROOM"... constantly. His lips must have been numb from all the vrooming.


Big mush.


Sleeping soundly after Aero-vomit-fest-2011. We were both a little spent.

More pics and updates on NC to come.

Springing Forward

Despite the fact that there were some major flurries yesterday in Massachusetts, the snow is pretty much gone today and we are ready for Spring. Like... really, really ready. I'm wearing a bright yellow sweater. I just need some pom-poms made of daffodils and I'm like a cheerleader for springtime today.

With this time of year comes a very busy schedule for us. Birthdays, holidays, first communions, graduations, weddings, showers, etc. All of the above and so much more is on the calendar.

On that note, to families with busy schedules I would highly recommend Google Calendar. You can share it among other Gmail members, so Tony and I are constantly updating it as things come up. We can both update and view it from work or home or on the road. It has been a godsend. It has also served as the final word in any scheduling snafus between husband and wife. As in, "I have a hair appointment that day, IT'S IN THE CALENDAR." End of conversation.

Ahh marital bliss.

Some of the more exciting plans we have involve traveling. In April we'll be heading down to North Carolina for a long weekend to visit John, Abbie, and Carly Grace. They made the move down South from New England last year and we've been meaning to visit for some time. Now we get to see what all the hype is about! We have a lot of catching up to do with those guys.

And in May... It's back to paradise. St. John, USVI


I know, I know. Every year I say we're going to try some place new, but then I start drinking heavily, growing a beard, and babbling, "We have to go back!"


Sigh... miss LOST. Miss LOST so much.

We wanted to take a real week-long family vacation. And we're jonesing for the beach. Plus with the baby we wanted it to be safe, comfortable, and familiar. So... Basically I don't even know why I researched any other place because I knew we'd be going back to The Island.

This time will be different. Obviously the baby complicates matters. To help with that issue, we invited my mom along. We're super excited to have her and to share our very special place in the world with 2 very special STJ newbies.

And here's the view from our villa:

Swoon.

The countdown is on. Luckily I'll be busy busy busy so I won't be driving myself crazy with anticipation!