Love is born tonight

Here we are. Christmas Eve. The last advent door opened and chocolate eaten. Presents wrapped and hiding behind locked doors until little eyelids get heavy enough to stay shut a few hours. The fridge is packed with delicious foods waiting to be sautéed, roasted, and served on pretty platters. All the waiting ends tonight.

This year I have a church gig as a pianist. I've patiently waited to pull out the Christmas carols and hymns (can I just say we need more good advent music!?). Finally tonight I can share so many treasures we only get to hear a few weeks each year.

Tonight at the family service, I sang an arrangement of Some Children See Him, which was written by my mom. I had asked her to write it for me around the time I was pregnant with Maia. When I tried to sing it through the first time, I couldn't finish because of the lump in my throat and tears brimming in my eyes. My extended family laughed along with me at "those pregnancy hormones." And yet, here I am 6 years later, still barely able to make it through.

The lyrics and setting resonate strongly with me.

I hesitate to share the recording I made yesterday. It's not perfect and this type-A lady likes things to be perfect. But, a colleague of mine once said "perfection is not ours to have" (yeah, I'll just let you think about that for a minute... it should be cross stitched on a pillow!) and it's a really beautiful arrangement of a song that I think speaks truth.

(Ruby was my recording engineer for this one)




Some children see Him lily white, the baby Jesus born this night,
Some children see Him lily white, with tresses soft and fair.
Some children seen Him bronzed and brown, the Lord of Heaven to earth come down;
Some children see Him bronzed and brown, with dark and heavy hair.

Some children see Him almond-eyed, this Savior whom we kneel beside,
Some children see Him almond-eyed, with skin of yellow hue.
Some children see Him dark as they, sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray
Some children seen Him dark as they,
And, ah! they love Him too!

The children in each diff'rent place 
Will see the baby Jesus' face like theirs, 
But bright with heav'nly grace,
And filled with holy light.
O lay aside each earthly thing,
And with thy heart as offering,
Come worship now the Infant King,
'Tis love that's born tonight.

And there it is. Love.

I've got issues with the church and religion.

But love? That's something I can unequivocally get behind. What other reason is there to be kind, or put one foot in front of the other, or be selfless, but love? How wonderful, that tonight especially, we get to celebrate the birth of love with songs and candles and cookies and family.

Into my Facebook feed tonight came this "How can one hear this story of the beginning of our salvation and not be reduced to tears? Deo gratias...."

I too am reduced to tears at the extravagance and largeness of love. The hope that it brings. The purpose it provides.

Merry Christmas dear friends. May love touch your heart this season.

All the swears

Have any of you been listening to the Podcast Serial? I am hooked.

I don't think Adnan did it, but I do think he's somehow involved.

In my experience I've found that things are rarely black and white, life is colored with shades of gray.

As I tell yesterday's story, keep in mind that I went on a Serial binge earlier this week...

I was pulling out of the garage to take the girls to school and I caught this out of the corner of my eye:

What does that look like to you?

To me, it looks like "bitch" scribbled out.

I was in a fog throughout the car line. Maybe I saw it wrong. Was it in blue or pink chalk? Why didn't I see it when I brought in the recycling bin earlier that morning? Did Aleks see it when he took the bins out before work? How am I going to handle this?

The Backstory:

Maia is now going to public school and rides the bus two days a week. One of the best things about public school, in my opinion, is we are now much more connected to our community and neighbors. When Maia rides the bus to school, there are only 3 other kids on the bus, who are also in her class. Coming home is a different story. She's smooshed in there with kids from all grades, including our neighbor, who is a second grader, who I'll call Evelyn.

A few months ago Maia discovered that she could trot across the street, ring Evelyn's doorbell, and have an instant playdate. No waiting for a mom to set it up, no driving to get there. Also, she gets to experience relative independence since Aleks and I have felt comfortable staying inside while they play. We usually keep the playdates short, only 20 minutes or so, since the time between school and dinner is short and the sun sets early now.

There is another second grader in our neighborhood, whom I'll call Hannah, who is best friends with Evelyn and we often see all four girls playing together outside when the weather is nice.

On Saturday the girls had a pretty epic playdate. I cleaned both cars and the weather was gorgeous so they got to play for several hours. During that time they had a picnic in our playhouse, rode scooters, and played soccer. They also did some pretty magnificent chalk art all over Evelyn's driveway. The art consisted of portraits of each girl with long, curly hair. There are a few stray, half finished portraits in our driveway, but I think they must have moved on to a different game before they were completed.

Evelyn is only two years older than Maia, but wow, there is a lot of life experience that happens between kindergarten and second grade. One time Evelyn couldn't play because she was grounded. Apparently she had said a swear word on the bus. At lunch on the day of the epic playdate, Maia asked me at one point what "this means" and proceeded with much difficulty to lift her middle finger and hold it there. I immediately asked "who showed you that?" "Evelyn." I decided to be honest with my five year old. 

I said, "What does it mean? Well, I'll tell you, but it's the most awful thing you could ever say to anyone and it would break my heart if you ever said it." Both my girls nodded with wide eyes and vowed never to break my heart. I said, "Are you ready? It means fuck you."

Yup, I totally dropped the f-bomb in front of my kids. Since they have no idea what that means or have any context for a cuss word like that, they weren't too impressed. I suppose I could have been more specific with a definition for fuck, but their attention shifted pretty quickly.

Coincidentally, around that same time Maia asked Aleks what fuck meant and that Tyler had told her at school. Now, that sounds like something Tyler would do, but it could also be that she was repeating what I said and was testing out the waters with Aleks. Funnily enough he said the same thing I did, that it's a terrible word and that it would break his heart if she ever used it.

Maia likes to know things. She likes to collect all the facts and then thinks things through and is really happy when they all make sense. If they don't makes sense, she figures out a way to connect all the dots. I suggested to Aleks that maybe we should just tell Maia all the bad words and then she'll know them and can stop collecting them and that will be that. Then I started to list all the bad words I could think of and by the time I got about 3 in, I realized I could never say some of those things to my kids. Even scientifically.

With all this outside influence raining down on my children, I would think that I'd be pretty stressed out and anxious. In actuality, I'm not really worried. I know my girls are getting love and good attention at home. More importantly, I feel like they know what they can talk to us about things without getting a crazy, negative reaction. I try really hard as a parent not to qualify things for them. For example, Maia asked if sexy was a bad word. She said that Evelyn had told her it was. If little girls use it to say that's how they want to look, then we as adults qualify that word as being bad. But, if you just look at the word itself, without context, it just means sexually attractive, which is not a terrible thing. Of course, I didn't say all that to Maia. I just said "No, not really."

Anyway, back to the scene of the crime.

The Evidence:

1. The first thing to note is that it's written in chalk. All the girls were playing with chalk on Saturday, it could be any one of them. But why didn't I see it until yesterday? When I left for work I didn't see Evelyn waiting for the bus like she usually does. Maybe she stayed home from school and then wrote it while we were out running errands. I decided to see if she got off the bus after school. She did.

2. It's also important to see that it's written in lowercase letters. That automatically rules out Ruby. Maia is learning her lowercase letters this year, so it could be her. However, a correctly facing lowercase "b" is not consistent for most kindergarteners... still I won't rule her out just yet.

When I called Aleks immediately after I discovered the graffiti, he asked if I had talked to Maia about it. Maybe she did write it. Good point.

When the girls got home from school, I let them watch TV and just as I get them situated, the doorbell rang. It was Evelyn wanting to know if the girls could play. I told her they were busy and that maybe they could play in a bit. Before she left I asked, "Hey Evelyn, did you write that word in front of our house that's scratched out? Bitch?" She looks at me all wide eyed and shakes her head no. "Glad to hear it" I say and then wave goodbye.

A little bit later I ask the girls if they want to take Isabelle for a walk around the block and that we can ask Evelyn if she wants to come. As we're getting ready to leave, I ask Maia, did you write that word in blue in front of our house? Now, I don't actually say the word like I did to Evelyn, and maybe that's a mistake, showing my bias, but hey, I'm human. At least I haven't accused anyone yet, right?

(Actually I took a break from writing to make pizza dough and after seeing my obvious bias written in black and white, I feel pretty guilty. I said a word to another child that I wouldn't say to my own child. I would like to emphasize that the tone in which I questioned Evelyn was very friendly. I could have been asking if she had taken the bus home. But still. Obviously I'm still growing as a human too.)

Maia scooters down to the word to check it out and says no, it was Evelyn. I ask how she knows that and Maia says she knows Evelyn's handwriting. That it was either Evelyn or Ruby because the "writing is kind of crazy."

The four of us, plus Isabelle, head around the block. Pretty soon Hannah joins us. Since I've got all suspected parties with me, I can't help but take advantage of this opportunity.

"Hannah, did you write the letters on our driveway?" She looks puzzled for a minute and then says "oh, no that was Evelyn."

I look at Evelyn and she immediately says "no I didn't!" I said, "I'm going to need to talk to one of your parents."

Evelyn and Hannah ride their scooter and bike back to Evelyn's house as quickly as they can. They ride into the garage, all but run into the house, and close the garage door.

The Verdict:

It's obvious to me that Evelyn did it.

The Sentence:

From the moment I saw the word bitch written on my driveway and suspected Evelyn, I had been trying to figure out how I was going to handle it.

What was obvious to me is that any seven year old who is having a consistent problem with being inappropriate is probably lacking some kind of emotional nurturing. 

As a voice teacher, it is my job to figure out how to get people to change. And through my teaching thus far I've learned that nobody likes to be yelled at or shamed. Feeling humiliated or chastised rarely leads to change.

Honestly, I don't really care if Evelyn has a potty mouth. Swearing is fun. I enjoy it. It adds spice and punctuation to a thought. However, I'm 33, not 7. And I don't swear in front of kids. Maia and Ruby love Evelyn. There are some boundaries that need to be established.

I put the girls in front of the TV again and told them I was going to check the mail.

I crossed the street with my heart pounding and knocked on Evelyn's door. Her dad was sitting on the couch in a darkened living room watching tv while her twin sisters, who are Ruby's age, were playing together. I asked if I could speak to Evelyn and Hannah. Almost immediately the girls appeared and came out onto the porch. They started to close the door, but I kept it open with my hand.

I started by telling the girls that Maia and Ruby really liked them and that I did too. That my girls love playing with them. I said that my girls are much younger than they are. Ruby is just as old as Evelyn's twin sisters and Maia is just 5 years old. I said that it had started becoming apparent that Maia was learning things that were not appropriate for her age, like how to flip someone off. I said that I really wanted to to be able to trust that when the girls all played together that appropriate and kind words were being used. Could they please be sure that this happened? I reiterated that I thought they were good kids and that I hoped they could all play in a way that was appropriate.

At some point during my speech, Evelyn's dad had come to the door. As I was leaving I overheard him say, "Isn't this what we've been talking about?!" I left feeling really sad and empty. So many gray areas.

Thankfully, Maia and Ruby are blissfully unaware of any conflict or sense of discontent. It would be so easy to snatch my kiddos back under my wing and keep them away from all the swear words and people who are hurting and potential danger. But, in the long run, what a disservice that would be to my children. How I hope instead to teach them compassion and love and forgiveness.

There's been lots of talk in our house about being kind and loving. Maia told me the other day she loves, but doesn't like Tyler. She also told me she loves everyone in the world. Ruby told me she loves me the most.

Life is complicated. People are complicated. It's those complications that make life interesting. 

And let's all just try to do our best.

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. It's all the food and family and warm fuzzies without the expectations and marketing. This holiday I'm particularly thankful for the little things that add up to a big, extraordinarily wonderful life.

Homemade place cards with 4 year old handwriting.

Puppies who find just the perfect spot to sun bathe.

5 year olds who wear makeup and let you know they want "turquoise on the right eye and pink on the left."

Husbands who know how and like to cook.

Little helpers in the kitchen and passing on the tradition of holiday roll making.

Pre-dinner music.

Delicious food. And I'm just going to say it. I'm grateful for carbs.

This group of goobers. My people who make life colorful, interesting, and full of purpose.

As we went around the table, I jotted down what my family is thankful for:

Aleks: Family, an amazing wife, a job that he enjoys, friends, and health

Maia: God, Jesus, family, Isabelle, and "I hope the bird who died is... I hope they have a new one, the family that lost it"

Ruby: The bird who is dead, my microphone

(The girls found a dead baby bird outside yesterday. It made a pretty big impression.)

David: All of his granddaughters, children, people who helped make his granddaughters, sisters, and a mother and father whole cared for him.

From all of us here in Kansas to you, Happy Thanksgiving!

It's that time of year again

Family photos.

There's nothing like the turning of the leaves, frosty mornings, and pumpkin spice everything to remind you that Christmas card season is right around the corner. Which means, you've got to get your rear in gear and get the annual family picture taken.

I really dread the whole process. Scouting out a location, styling your family, trying to convince the kids to wear the clothes you've picked, getting hair brushed, finding a time that everyone is happy.

And what is it about the camera that turns kids into complete lunatics? They can't just smile nicely?

Does anyone have fun taking family photos? Maybe it'll be less painful when the kids are a bit older.

However, sometimes silliness captures personality pretty perfectly.

And while it's a huge pain in the ass and insecurity rears its ugly head, I know I'll be grateful for these snapshots that documents this time in our lives. Especially since I'm usually behind the camera.

5 years old. Going on 10.

My sassy, sensitive, sweetest little girl.

My people.

I spent a good chunk this afternoon designing our Christmas card. These two didn't make the cut.

Aren't you excited to see the one we picked?!

Also, peace and serenity to you if family photos are still on your to-do list.

Gratitude in the midst of chaos

On Tuesday night I'm presenting a recital of contemporary American music. There has been a long and leisurely road leading to this program, which is something I don't get to experience very often now that I'm a professional. In the midst of work and family and keeping a house running, it's often difficult to carve out time to practice, especially with an accompanist. But, this time was different and it's been a nice change.

Meanwhile my family has been sick. It started over a week ago when Ruby came home with a fever. Soon Maia was sick and two days after that Aleks came home from work shivering and hot to the touch. The girls bounced back after just a few days, but Aleks has been hit hard. I won't go into details regarding their symptoms, it's not pretty.

Needless to say, I've quarantined Aleks to the basement and have been disinfecting all surfaces. I declare, out loud, every day "I will not get sick," have started a religious routine of vitamin C supplements, am drinking fluids non-stop (my poor students have to deal with me running to the restroom every half hour), and am going to bed super early to get as much rest as possible.

Today is Sunday. I am healthy.

This past week has been hard. It's never easy when your partner is incapacitated and you're used to having help. All the triggers are in place. How easy it could be to feel overwhelmed and stressed to the point of breaking.

And yet, I feel oddly calm. At peace and full of gratitude.

I'm not sick.

My program is ready. I know the music intimately. I'm not scrambling to get things into my brain.

There are people who are investing in this concert, which humbles and settles me.

One is my accompanist who is doing a wonderful job. She has a busy life and to her, this could just be one more thing, but I never feel like it's only another job she has to complete.

The second half of my program features a song cycle by Ricky Ian Gordon called Too Few the Mornings Be. It has long been a dream of mine to collaborate with dancers and so I reached out to a member of the dance faculty and she agreed to choreograph for me. This recital comes at a time when the dance department is extremely busy with a guest choreographer in preparation for their dance festival and yet, she has added incredible beauty to my recital.

And the dancers. They are such an inspiration to me. Most are students from my studio and are musical theater majors. Their lives are so full. And yet they are giving up Saturday mornings (!!!) to rehearse and are so professional and enthusiastic and generous. I'm so so grateful to be sharing the stage with people who are excited about making art and enjoy the process of creating.

It's going to be a really unique, special night. And even if I end up sick (which, hell no I'm not), it's been a fulfilling journey to this point. If you're in my neck of the woods, I'd love to see you on Tuesday! (Check out my website for details: www.emilysternfelddunn.com)

Also, I wrote this while sitting in front of some beautiful flowers my mom sent me and a cup of hot coffee. So much happiness can be found in the little things.

Updating the house

As you may have heard, we've had new siding put on our house this fall. It's been a very long process (we're still awaiting the final walk through) and we're so very glad that we went ahead with the project.

This is what our house looked like when we moved in 4 years ago.

This past year, much of the siding was rotting and warping. We decided to redo the entire house and as we did, discovered that there was no paper wrapping between the plywood and siding. Hopefully, this new siding (and Tyvek wrap underneath) will last for 15 years or so.

Here is our house with the new siding and before paint.

With the entire house getting a fresh coat of paint, we wanted to pick out a new color scheme. And of course, that turned out to be very intimidating and a bit nerve racking. I mean, it's not like a pet's name, which you can try out for a few days and then change if it doesn't sound right. But, I think we did ok and I really like the new look.

(It looks kind of yellow here, but it's light gray with dark gray trim and dark blue doors and shutters.)

The previous owners left a bunch of paint cans in the basement, all from 2008. Which means that we are long overdue for an interior facelift as well. Subsequently, I have started the VERY long process of repainting the inside of our house. Over fall break (just a 4 day weekend) I decided to repaint the dining room and our bedroom.

I've never liked the dark red dining room, it alway felt like a bordello and was extremely warm under the chandelier.

The walls were striped with the same color red in glossy and matte paint. I'm sure it took a long time, but meh, not my cup of tea.

Also, the white walls below the chair rail were very dingy and scuffed.

A couple gallons of primer and paint later.

It's a very light tan on the top and a dark blue on the bottom.

We're now on the hunt for some artwork to hang on our bare walls. But I love it. It feels bigger and cleaner and less oppressive.

This was our bedroom the week we moved in.

And here it is half primed. It was at this point that I began to feel as if this whole project was a bad idea. There's nothing like your home being in complete chaos to make you feel overwhelmed.

But, it was totally worth it. Better than a deep clean.

It's a very light gray with blue undertones.

The entire room feels more elegant, lighter, and fresher.

The rest of the house really needs to be updated, but it's such a big job. Hopefully if I just do it bit by bit, I won't get too burned out.

To his credit, Aleks did try to help. He started to tape some molding until I swooped in and encouraged him to just take care of the kids.

I just can't help my perfectionist tendencies. I may have used one of the girls' crafting paintbrushes to touch up here and there...

Kindergarten

We are now 3 months into kindergarten and I am whole heartedly feeling like it is simultaneously the most wonderful and worst thing in the world.

Maia has always been a verbal and precocious little being, but kindergarten has just fueled and intensified her personality. She is like a little sponge, just soaking up all interactions with her friends. Maia comes home with new sayings every day. If we're Facebook friends, you might have read some of the things she has recently said.

Tyler is the most prominent contributor of these new sayings. Namely "dangit" "sexy lady" and the story that his "older brother hit him in the penis once."

At Maia's parent teacher conference we got very positive feedback: Maia is ahead of where she needs to be, follows directions well, and is a leader in the classroom. As a result Mrs. Hays sometimes puts Maia with the kids who are a bit rascally.

Tyler also said to Maia, "Say poop two times. I won't tell."

And that sums up why kindergarten is the worst and the best.

I listen with rapt attention and eager delight to hear what Maia has to tell us. It's the best. So entertaining and interesting. And it's also a little nerve racking. How strong is her moral compass? Today it's "poop" but before I know it there will be temptations to do things that have much more serious consequences.

I asked Maia what she thought she'd be like as a teenager. Maia thought for a moment and then said "natural."

All I can think to do is keep the dialogue open and enjoy the maturity and silliness that comes as Maia steps into each new phase of life.

I'll leave you with this conversation Maia had with Aleks the other day:

"Daddy, I love balls, but not the kind you play with...

...the kind you dance at!"

I mean really, what other kinds of balls are there?!

Busy, busy bees

Lately I've been feeling the enormity of life. All of it's possibilities and responsibilities swirl through my head leaving me simultaneously exhausted and invigorated. And mostly I'm just trying to keep everyone in clean clothes and fed.

We have fall break on Monday and Tuesday and I'm going to paint the dining room and our bedroom.  Yesterday I emptied out the china hutch and started taping. Just that little bit was a nice change from the monotony of work and home life.

Our bordello dining room will soon be no more!

I also have a couple of Anna and Elsa capes I need to make before Halloween, so we'll see how productive I can be this weekend.

Meanwhile, our house is newly sided and is in the process of being painted. We settled on a light gray color with darker gray trim and dark blue for the door and shutters. The painters came two days ago to caulk and apply primer. They put plastic over all our windows and doors, which makes it seem as if it's perpetually foggy outside. A cool front blew in today and I've been dying to open up the house, but we also got rain and now I'm sure we won't have any painters at our house until Tuesday. Do you think I could tear down some of the plastic? The night after they caulked, our house was filled with paint fumes and I kept waking up in the middle of the night worried we were all being poisoned.

Here it is before the primer went on.

Yesterday Maia came home from school and said "Erin doesn't like me. She says I talk too much." When I asked how that made her feel, she said "Sad." I told her that not everyone was going to like her and that I thought she was special and a wonderful friend. She seemed to bounce back pretty quickly because the next thing out of her mouth was "How come you guys don't let me play Minecraft? Gracee plays it. Have you heard of it? Do you think it's too hard for me or what? Just tell me." Then, "Let me show you something Tyler taught me. Give me five. Up high. Down low. To the side. To the other side. In the middle. Up high. In space. In your face. HAHAHAHAHA!" And earlier  she was trying out some new words she had learned: "You know what I dangit?" Where did you hear that Maia? "At school, Tyler said it." Aleks said "that Tyler sounds like a bit of a troublemaker." Maia was quick to tell us "no! He's very kind to me. He was only inappropriate once, when he told me to say poop. He's my friend, I like him. He's funny."

Kindergarten is the best. I'm so glad Maia likes to tell us things,

While Maia is opening her arms to the world, running full force, Ruby is more reserved. Taking everything in quietly and feeling so very deeply all that she encounters. There have been a few tears over going to school and some days she needs cuddles and hugs more than others. Ruby is going to be my athletic one. She loves to race ahead of us on her scooter while we are walking Isabelle. She's got incredible upper body strength and an amazing throwing arm.

Lately it feels as if I'm zooming from one place to the next, constantly working. When I'm not in the car or working, I'm at home getting things prepared so that when I am working the house can run smoothly. It was the article floating around Facebook that made me realize I'm not a stay at home mom anymore and that I don't have to try and do it all. Once that lightbulb went off, I understood why I haven't been particularly happy the past few months. And it took some of the pressure off. So now, I'm making sure that there is a bit more leisure time in my life, which does not include playing with my kids or working out, but more reading and painting and projects.

Happy weekend friends.

Chicago 2014 Edition

A week ago Aleks and I were in Chicago having the best weekend together we've had in a long time.
This week has been hectic, and while I'm bone tired, I'm grateful to have the perspective on how wonderful our trip was.

I'd just like to say that this trip wouldn't have been possible without my amazing, generous, patient, intensely helpful mother-in-law, who watched not only our girls for 3 days, but also our puppy, who is not yet house trained. Oh, and we've had workers at our house for 2 weeks putting up new siding. She put up with that as well, including the day they cut through a pipe on accident.

(Also, can we just note that the previous owners did not have the house tyvek wrapped before putting the siding up? These guys have had to replace a ton of rotted plywood. I can't tell you how good it feels to have this done.)

If Nana isn't up for sainthood, I don't know who is!

Did I mention that we had an amazing weekend? Well, we did. It was completely and entirely the best 3 days Aleks and I have spent together in a long time.

Don't let my crappy iPhone pictures distract you from fact that each day was so fabulous it was if there were butterflies fluttering and birds singing while the sun provided perfect lighting for all our adventures.

Due to delays and connections, we almost didn't make it to Chicago the night we had planned. Thankfully, my husband knows his way around a travel app and how to sweet talk the Delta employees. Magically we made it to our hotel just before midnight.

The weather was perfect and the view from our hotel reminded me how much I love city life.

After a late breakfast we walked around a bit and enjoyed being schedule free.

Then we saw some very dear friends and their new baby!

Who happens to look just like his sister. 

And also happens to love me. If love looks like falling asleep in someone's arms.

We got pedicures together and it was a really great idea. Aleks always talks about how much he loves getting pedicures, but we figured out that he hasn't had one since we've been married.

We told the girls we might bring them a gift from the American Girl Store. After being unable to find anything under a thousand dollars, we left empty handed. They got shoes from the Disney store instead. Which were too small for Ruby. So, womp womp.

Anyway, we had reservations at Rick Bayless' Topolobampo, which we were really excited about.

Two years ago we went to Frontera and saw Rick Bayless, himself! This time Rick was in L.A., but it was an amazing dinner.

7 courses with wine tastings for each course. (I didn't get a picture of the first course, which was actually my favorite, a shrimp cerviche.)

I'm still full.
Seriously.

Somehow we managed to make it back to our hotel without bursting at the seams and then met up with some old friends (they're not old, we've just known them for awhile) for drinks. 

And then the next morning we slept in until 9(!) and I believe the last time I did that was eleven years ago.

Then ate some more and browsed a record store before heading to the airport.

We got home after the girls were in bed, but we had a happy reunion the next morning.

I've been kind of a pain to live with this week. Stressed out and almost manic with everything that needs to be done. This guy has been the best. Patient with me and taking my sometimes misplaced urgency in stride. He's up for sainthood too.

I'll be storing up the memories of this weekend for a long time to come.