Make a Wish

Celebrating Petal's first year

Foul weather New Englander

Hurricane Irene is currently barreling down on both our Chesapeake home and our New England home. I've weathered (pun intended) two hurricanes in New England - I spent Hurricane Gloria in 1985 huddled under a blanket with my cat, and in 1991 my sleepover camp on Cape Cod was evacuated to a local elementary school to keep us safe from Hurricane Bob.

We are going ahead with our weekend agenda with only slight modifications for the storm, which my mom remains convinced will go out to sea. Jack is currently aboard a trusty Southwest flight, and we still plan to hold a slightly early birthday brunch honoring Miss Petal. The only guests who have bowed out so far are the NYC-metro area cousins, who cited traffic concerns. We were planning on driving back on Sunday but it seems much more prudent to wait until Monday. Nearly this same scenario played out during the holidays last year, when Jack's Sunday afternoon flight back to Maryland was cancelled by a snow storm and he had to take an unexpected day off of work.

Last year around this time, Hurricane Earl was on weather-watcher's radar (again, pun intended.) I kept a close eye on the storm because I was nearly full term in my pregnancy with Petal and I was sure that the drop in barometric pressure would send me into labor. I even committed to sticking Petal with the middle name Earlene if the storm had anything to do with her birth (for the record, it had nothing to do with her birth and she has a lovely, non-weather inspired middle name.)

And now I'm off to go retrieve the hubby. Be glad you don't have to drive me with, as I will probably butcher my way through Bob Dylan's Hurricane most of the way to the airport.

Oceans in between us

As I write this, Shakira and Mr. Shakira are en route to the airport to catch their flight back to Madrid. Petal is down for a nap and I am here by my lonesome. Shakira has lived in Spain off and on since 2007, taking the official steps to make her residency there permanent this year. Anyone who knows me knows how important she is to me, and having her on the other side of the Atlantic is very very hard for me. It's not just that she lives approximately a million miles away. It's that her daily life takes place in a different culture. Her job is different, her friends are different, her holidays are different, her life is just plain different than anything I can relate to. I'm not as brave as she is and the lack of familiarity can really overwhelm me.

I know many families have it a lot worse, and most of the time I try to have a little more grace when describing the situation. But today my baby sister left and I'll be lucky if I see her at Christmas. So today I'm going to pout and wish things were different.

Lazy

So I've kind of been avoiding my blog, mostly because I haven't felt like figuring out how to get the header off the post I deleted down. No big scandal, I just over-shared a bit about Jack's occupation so it had to come down. I have a really really big mouth, so I tend to specifically ask if I am allowed to share news once someone shares it with me. I still owe Bridge an apology over a misunderstanding over the announcement of her pregnancy a few years ago, I thought I had gotten the go-ahead to post it on my photoblog but I think I made a faux pas.

ANYWAY, we've been summering our little hearts out over here. Lots of beach trips, Petal's first trips to the Cape and to the aquarium, campfires and s'mores, soaking up family time, greeting every passing dog and making tons of new friends. I've been enjoying being able to get out in the evenings, spending QT with my ladies and making memories while crooning power ballads.

As summer winds to a close, I find myself fantasizing about cute toddler sized sweaters, halloween costumes and piles of leaves. It's easy to immerse oneself in the beach culture of summer, but I want to embrace each coming season with the same level of enthusiasm.