Sitting... waiting...

I hate it. On days like this it sucks to live half a world away from my family, who rejoices in the birth of my new baby niece Julia. I am overjoyed, but a little sadness is mixed in as well, when I think about how they can all sit together to welcome this new human to the family. I so want to be there.

They had to do a c-section, so my brother was the first person to hold his daughter. My brother who was never going to be a father, who, if you asked him how he liked a baby, he'd say, "Well, it's a baby. It's bald and ugly." He held his daughter and was asked by my mom, what she looks like... and he said, "Beautiful." Of course he did. They all do turn around when it's their own, don't they?
I am still in disbelief, and I have yet to wait a few hours to even get to see a few pictures of this new little bundle of joy.

I can't hold back the tears as I'm writing this post. It's truly a miracle. One more month until I get to see her... and until I get to see a transformed brother. I cannot wait.

Happy birthday, baby Julia.

On a cold and rainy October day...

... my kids and I are sitting at the breakfast table together. Ogre has left for a mushroom hunting trip somewhere in Washington. Blue Eyed Boy has turned on the skull and pumpkin lights at the kitchen window, Toothless Fairy is spreading Nutella on her bread, and for the first time this season the fireplace is back on, filling the room with warmth, and casting a lovely orange light on the carpet. It's a truly lovely morning that holds the promise of cozy winter days, that I look forward to now that I had my final summer fix in Jamaica. :)

Today my kids and I will hang out for a while this morning, maybe we'll decorate the house with pumpkins and things, then it's off to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (we are frequent customers who should receive a discount every time we eat there), and then we'll go see "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs", which I have been looking forward to for about a year now.

In the afternoon we'll drop by the mall, go to my favorite tea place and buy a new and fancy Rooibos tea, then enjoy a delicious cup of the new hot brew, maybe reading a book together... or finish my second sock, or tell stories or cuddle up with the little ones.

Make it so, Number One. (Not sure how that just popped into my head.)

When all you want to do is eat and sleep...

... then it's either it's that time of the month, or you are having a hard time switching back from vacation to real life. The latter is true for me. I go to bed too early, I wake up at 4am, I am exhausted by noon, and my ears are bugging me again. Makes me think I should finally take Evonne up on her offer to check them. I mean, what the heck?

And since I'm complaining... could I please not lose my tan already? Sure, I have some tan lines in places that are rather weird. But seriously, I enjoyed the stronger freckles. Not that they ever really disappear, but I like my tan. Yeah, I'm really that shallow. I worry about my flippin' tan. I'm too tired to worry about world peace and universal healthcare. (Have I mentioned that I'm pro-healthcare, and that since I've lived in a country where it works I know that it works? Does that make sense? Will you stop reading me now, because your health insurance works for you and that's all that matters to you, and you don't care about the rest? Oh yikes, I promised I would not write about politics... and here I go. Blame it on the moon. It's not quite full, but full enough.)

Anyway, readers, like it or not, I'm back... more or less... I will read you... sooner or later... and I will comment on your blogs... or not. In the meantime I will try to adjust to real life... you know the one, where I have to be the one to do all the cooking and cleaning and driving and entertaining and teaching and organizing, and someday, after I get back into my routine, hopefully I'll get back to writing and sending queries and make a career as a writer... you know... in about 18 years or so. :)