Another adventurewe had while my family visited was going to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, R.I. It was a small, but nice, zoo. As I have mentioned before, we are not pet people. So besides our neighbor’s cat, our turkey neighbors and birds- Caleb hasn’t really seen many animals. (What he needs is for Uncle Brent and Aunt Andrea to move out here and bring his turtle cousin Zooga, then he'd be set!) ... (OH NO, I just said "set"... New England is creeping up on me!)
His favorite animals were thegiraffes (tall and lanky, hmm, I wonder why he favored those) and a little spotted turtle that swam in a tank.
The West African Crowned Cranewas probably the most curious creature encounter for Caleb. Not only could this bird twist its neck to look at you up-side-down, he had more “hair” then Caleb.
Jealous, much?
And of course, Caleb loved the foliage. People always laugh when I tell them that Caleb has a flower arrangement in his room.He loves flowers, they make him happy. In fact, what gave me the idea to put an arrangement in his room came early on when he was a baby and the only thing that would make him stop crying during Sunday meetings was looking at the flowers in the foyer.
During my parents’ stay in Massachusetts we ventured to New York City for three days. We parked the car in Scarsdale, at a chapel, and took the train into the city.
Surprisingly, after six-or-so years Michael was still completely in his element; knowing streets, sites, and subways, I felt quite confident in my husband.
While visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Mike was pretty jaded. I guess I would be too if I rode the ferry every Tuesday for six months. Something I didn’t know before meeting Mike (now that I think of it, how else would I know about this?) is that missionaries do service at Ellis Island. They work on scanning and entering information, preservation-sort-of-stuff. I have always thought that was neat. Since Michael has told me that, I have reflected on how much his mission prepared him for our marriage and the preservation of our family.
Although he had “been there, done that” I know it was different for him this time visiting because Caleb was there. And he was able to see a blessing that was a direct result for serving a mission honorably: {our family}.
It was my first time visiting New York City, and honestly I couldn’t have asked for better company or a better tour guide. I love my husband.
More pictures of what we have done the past month will trickle onto to the blog. I promise there will be appearances....
a blog post about, well, not what you think (or maybe it is)
I have a box in my closet. No, this is not a proverbial skeleton or other nonsense. It’s a literal box, attached to so much right now.
I liken it to my wedding dress. How I use to try it on nearly every day after it was purchased. I covet this box, or rather, its contents.
It rests on the top shelf. I carry it down in embraced fingertips (I often wonder what it would be like to be of average or extraordinary height… everything is always fingertips away for me- story of my life, really). O, how I would sit with the box waiting, wanting, contemplating to slice the adhesive peel that held it together, but I didn’t.
Because
somewhere in my head an idea has taken root. If the box was to be open, floodgates would become undone and a lot of grief would ensue. Frankly,Pandora has nothing on me.
It’s bad juju, mojo, luck- whatever. Even writing this post has been delayed by this psyche embeddedment (no, it's not a word but oh well- I plead jabberwocky insanity), and falls under this “bad” category.
But at twelve weeks. I can no longer restrain myself.
My size eight jeans can no longer restrain me.
Thank you to those who have been in on it from the beginning,
to those who have journeyed this road before me, to those who have helped me without knowing,
to a kind lab worker who can find my small veins with ease every time,
to my optimistic husband—a companion to converse with about sad things on a long road,
and to my son who has kept me busy and reassured.
To those I have deceived, flat-out lied to, withheld details from—
I am sorry, but I knew you would understand. : )
PS Be assured that "New Hampshire" is not the baby's name. It just shares the same initials as the state.
