Vaca Day One

It felt wonderful to wake up yesterday morning to a clean house and no schedule! We had planned to visit family during this week "off," so we set our ducks in a row, packed up, made sure the house was in shape for the people looking after it, and set out almost exactly according to our itinerary. It felt great!

Honestly, I had a major attitude problem by the time we got to Oxford. I was on edge, as if something about the day just wasn't right. On the other hand, everything was going perfectly, so there were no complaints in my books. Still, my attitude was just waiting to be set off.

The stage was set for my Tim's encounter with several women whose old age would have nothing to do with the story, unless one chooses to think they were age-impaired instead of downright rude. Sorry, let me fill you in.

Natasha needed a snack and I needed a "potty break," so we stopped in Oxford. I got cash at the Irving, walked over to the Tim's, and lined up behind about five people after my break. After several minutes I was next in line. I felt nervous because these two women who appeared to have been retired for at least fifteen years were slowly edging my direction, as if they had been in line the whole time. The gentleman in front of me ordered and stood to the side. Woman #1 stepped in front of me, approached the counter, and began to order. Of course her order was long and complicated, but I reminded myself that I had been the long, complicated order before. I took a breath, told myself it was fine for Natasha and the baby to sit in the car, that our vacation would not be hindered just because I had already been in line 20 minutes.

About that time Woman #2 stepped in front of me hastily, adding her order to Woman #1's order. The girl at the cash added the new order, adjusting the total, and obtaining the people's food. Honestly, I wasn't the most mature person in the world because I said, "I promise you that I'm standing here, even if you can't see me." The guy behind me laughed, but I knew it should have stayed in. Fortunately, these women were as deaf as they were blind, so the comment dropped to the ground unheard.

Woman #1 came back to the girl with a change to her order, which got a "You've got to be kidding me!" from me. At least this was under my breath. Again, our vacation is fine. Just fine.

As the two women stepped aside, allowing me to approach the counter, a woman two people behind me said, "Oh, can you add to your order? I'll pay you back!" Then another, "Oh, me too. Add this." The two women stepped back, added things to their order again, and I began to see that there was no hope for me ever to reach the counter. I was caught in a rude, deaf, blind old lady club that was determined never to allow me to order a yogurt and bagel. Or at least that's what I told myself as I muttered, "Frig this!" and stormed out.

We chose to go through the drive-thru, which was, thankfully, efficient. I learned a moral, though. Confucius say, "Man who drink Just Us! Guatemala blend with wife at home should not make Tim's coffee the next thing to cross man's lips." Whoa.

Anyway, let me just say at this point that EVERYTHING IS FINE. As far as we can tell, EVERYONE IS FINE. Repeat it with me: "Everything is fine. Everyone is fine." Great.

Now, the rain picked up once we left Oxford. Going through the Tantramar Marsh was insane! We were going between 70 and 80 (km/hr, for my American friends) with traffic the entire way. The rain let up, so we sped up. Then it picked up again, so we slowed back down. It was dangerous driving, but we felt like we were in a protective bubble or something strange. That's a good thing because near Memramcook we hydroplaned, lost control, struck a 5-ton truck, and lost the front end of our car.

Oddly enough, we did not feel much an impact at all. Everything in the car felt slow, calm, and okay. In fact, we had no idea what happened to the outside because there was no damage to the inside of the car that we could see. The baby woke up, but she didn't cry, she showed no signs of pain, but she stared at us with sleepy eyes, as if to say, "Did something happen?" Natasha felt no jarring, no pain (other than what she already felt from being five months pregnant with fibro symptoms), no anything. By a miracle, I'm sure, we got control of the car, pointed it straight, and parked it on the left shoulder of the Trans-Canada. We just sat there, 1000 things going through my mind. I double-checked that we were all fine, and I got out in the pouring rain to go meet the driver of the truck who was on the other side of the road, far ahead.

A Sears repair man happened to be going by and happened to let me use his cell, so I called my in-laws so they could come get us. An ambulance happened to be three vehicles back and saw everything unfold, so he pulled over with the Sears repair man and asked about our conditions. The truck driver was walking around, saying he felt little more than a sore leg that he told the paramedic did not need immediate care. I felt nothing at all, and the paramedic seemed unconcerned when he asked Natasha questions about her, Roya, and the baby. The RCMP happened to come quickly, took our information, and waited with us for the tow truck they called. Another tow truck happened to drive by, asking if we wanted a tow. Since this wasn't whom the RCMP called, we sent him along. Apparently he was just concerned because he saw all the parts everywhere on the road.

Natasha hadn't seen the outside of the vehicle yet. She apparently thought it was strange that so much fuss was made because, again, everything seemed fine inside the car. The tow truck came, told us to clean out the car because he doesn't think we'll see our Corolla again ( I LOVE MY COROLLA!!!!), and sent us on our way with my in-laws. The whole thing was very surreal.

Props to Wawanesa because we had a rental in less than four hours from our hydroplaning incident. The woman working on our claim has been wonderful so far, and we are grateful for the individuals and company we're working with.

Props, too, to a triage nurse in the emergency room at Moncton Hospital. We didn't feel anything, and Natasha showed no signs of injury, but we thought it was best to have her checked out, mostly because of the baby. We saw the triage nurse, registered, and waited - for FOUR HOURS!!!!!! And...WE NEVER GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!! We spoke with the triage nurse again after four hours, and she told us it was no better for the baby for Natasha to pull an all-nighter waiting to see a doctor than for her to see if there was any latent pain this morning and come back if necessary. It was a terribly long four hours, but I finished another book, and the nurse reassured us that Natasha is most likely fine, that the baby is almost definitely fine, especially because she keeps feeling it kick and move around.

So, day one is down. Natasha's major comment of the day: Why are we Erskines? Why can't anything normal ever happen to us? Good question. Let's just hope that if I write about day two it will be boring and short.

Position I Heard About

This is a strange post coming from me, but I know several people who are trained specifically for Christian school education. If that's you and you're looking for a next step, I just came across this posting:

The Cape Breton Christian School is seeking to hire several full time teachers for positions starting in the fall 2009. Ideal candidates are committed Christians (Protestant or Catholic) with a passion for teaching and appropriate experience. This new private school launch will use a multi grade format and an engaging, Christian curriculum (visit: www.capebretonchristianschool.org to find out more). Applicants should send a cover letter, resume and reference list by July 1st to the CBCS Teacher Search Committee at graceyouth@ns.aliantzinc.ca or 22 MacDonald Cr., Sydney Mines, NS B1V 3L9

Yvette

Yesterday was a day I will not soon forget. The morning was bright and hopeful, the office-time was productive, we had good family time, and I got over 80% of our lawn mowed on one tank of gas. (The only downside was the way I kept thinking about our carbon footprint as I mowed down the would-be hay field that now looks like our backyard again.) It was one of those days that just felt right.

Though not near as thoughtful as my Larry King musings from last Thursday, I knew I would blog about Yvette in the middle of our conversation - part of what contributed to an overall fantastic day. Yvette is a woman I met at Suckling and Chase. It is rumored that Suckling and Chase is the oldest florist in North America still in their original location. If everyone gets treated the way Yvette treats us, I can see why that is.

Yesterday Natasha had one of those days when she just needed cheering up. Flowers can help, but it was one of those days when a quick trip to Superstore's flower section just wouldn't cut it. Yesterday required class, attention to detail, and something extra-special. I asked for Yvette as soon as someone answered at Suckling and Chase because she has served us so well before. She came on the phone, I asked her what cheery flowers they had in stock, and she told me. What struck me was that, despite being almost a year since I last bought flowers from Suckling and Chase and despite that I gave no name, she saw no face, etc., Yvette said, "Actually, I think your wife really likes those yellow roses with the red-orange tips, doesn't she?" How did she remember that? How did she remember Natasha so well? How did she know it was us? Because she knew exactly what would make my wife's day, I ordered the flowers on the spot.

Honestly, I can count the good services experiences I've had in Truro on one hand. It says something about a person and a company when three of those experiences have now been with Yvette from Suckling and Chase on Prince St. Cheers to Yvette!

Disappointed in Larry King

It does not bother me when people have questions for God. God is big enough to be able to handle that. I am often disappointed, though, when otherwise intelligent people think poorly about God. I have enjoyed Larry King for many reasons throughout my life. (Most of my conservative Christian friends, relatives, and colleagues just disowned me.) I like that he is a radio pioneer, that he brought democracy into political conversation through national call-ins, and that he doesn't accept things without thinking them through. Larry King and I often disagree, but even disagreement doesn't disappoint me.

I've known for a long time that Larry King claims to be agnostic: he claims no belief in God. I feel disappointed because today on (my favorite) Q with (another favorite) Jian Ghomeshi, Larry King was questioned about his claim to agnosticism. Jian was surprised about it, which I was not. Larry surprised me because he mentioned that he had never found satisfactory answers from people of faith and deduced, as a result, that there must be no God. He continued to cite several examples of people who gave him dissatisfactory answers, including evangelicalism's hero Billy Graham. He said that no person of faith, including Billy Graham, had been able to answer satisfactorily about atrocities like the Holocaust and the 9/11 attacks, so he assumed his conclusion was correct.

I will not write much on Billy Graham's answer, since Larry only paraphrased it (though if the paraphrase accurately represented Billy, then I was disappointed). However, let me say that someone as intelligent as Larry King should be able to make a couple of intelligent distincitions. First, there is a difference between God and people. It is illogical to hold God responsible for problems that humans create. Problems like the Holocaust and the 9/11 attacks were not begun by God. They were begun by people. Fighting that takes place between churches and faiths did not begin with God; it began with people. Even interpretations of the Bible that seem so short-sighted and one-sided did not begin with God. Most of what we hear about the Bible is still human interpretation, hence the examples we can point to of spiritual abuse in the name of the Bible or God (like excusing slavery in the 1800s).

That paragraph barely addresses the real issue there, but what I find least logical in Larry's questioning of God is that he doesn't believe in God. If one does not believe in God, why does one suddenly bring God into conversations about the Holocaust and 9/11? If Larry is really an agnostic, why is he holding God hostage for human atrocities? If he doesn't believe God exists, why does he blame God so much? Why does he tell God, "My disbelief is Your own fault!" Who is he talking to with questions like that? Someone who doesn't exist?

C'mon, Larry, you're much smarter than that.

Multi-Tasker

Men are not natural multi-taskers, so I hear. I began to agree with that statement until recently. I've often called myself a multi-tasker, but I've always assumed that my capacity to do that had more to do with my upbringing. I enjoyed my childhood, but there is no question that organization, obedience, and achieving tasks were all big deals in our home. I like being active, so being active and fulfilling my requirements at home required multi-tasking. I continued multi-tasking through college. Since then I've gradually decreased my tasks and, therefore, became less a multi-tasker. Now, with eight weeks until my semester ends, I find myself almost constantly multi-tasking. I don't think it's really a great thing, either. Even when I don't have to, I find myself doing many things at once. Sometimes I've even found myself thinking about three or more things at a time, even in my "down" time or personal time. Am I becoming a chronic multi-tasker?

LE

Brier (E. Pauline Johnson)

Because, dear Christ, your tender, wounded arm
Bends back the brier that edges life's long way
That no hurt comes to heart, to soul no harm,
I do not feel the thorns so much to-day.

Because I never knew your care to tire,
Your hand to weary guiding me aright,
Because you walk before and crush the brier,
It does not pierce my feet so much to-night.

Because so often you have hearkened to
My selfish prayers, I ask but one thing now,
That these harsh hands of mine add not unto
The crown of thorns upon your bleeding brow.

Nothing Original for Today

There is nothing original in a post mentioning President Obama today. I can't help but post anyway because I can't shake the thoughts and inner pondering I'm sorting through. It seems to me that, for better or for worse, we're all learning a significant lesson today. Will we, the Church in North America, see it? Will we be so concerned that he is unlike us that we'll dismiss this God moment, or will we ponder the significance of what is unfolding before our eyes? Will the southeast US (and some Canadians I know who would do well there) be able to support this leader and see how God might use this man, or will their own agendas cloud their perspective? What about my agenda? Do I really get it? I'm not sure, but I am excited. What a unique day!

LE

Survival Mode

I am rarely intimidated. Even when I feel intimidated I am not easily bent out of shape. Today feels a little bit different to me, though. Today I am intimidated.

When I look at my life in the next fifteen weeks I see Intimidation personified in my mind. It stands before me in my mind's eye wearing a black suit, a white shirt, and a black tie. Its shoes are shiny and reflective. Of course I notice the shoes because I can't look Intimidation in the eye. If I did, I would be horrified. Eyes, a window to the soul, would simply be dark spaces an the otherwise expressionless face of soul-less intimidation. So, there I stand, staring at the shoes, watching my reflection stare back at me. I've tried looking up, but Intimidation blocks the way, so I can't see past it very well. So, I look back in the shoes.

Funny, though, how the picture changes as I stare. The longer I stare into the shiny shoes, the clearer things become. I am almost resigned to entering survival mode when I notice something bright behind me. It is the reminder of Hope. I am not alone in facing Intimidation. Natasha is there. Roya is there. My close friends are there. So is my church family. There are even a few people there that I'm surprised to see. It doesn't matter how big Intimidation looks, I can't shake this feeling that Hope is here. I'm surrounded by people - and by Hope. No matter how scary Intimidation can be, I remember that the One who is in me is much greater than Intimidation. "Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world."

Take that, Intimidation. Take that, survival mode.

LE

No Internet?

I used to make fun of people who didn't have the Internet at home. I thought, "That sort of person still exists? It's insanity!"

Then our home computer crashed. Actually, it died. There is no hope for resurrection either. We lost our capacity to get online at home, so our personal time online has taken a nosedive. You didn't notice? Well, you can believe me.

What this means is that we're now a satellite-free, cable-free, Internet-free, newspaper-free home. Yes, we live under a rock. If it weren't for CBC radio, I'm not sure I'd remember what day it is!

LE

Irony

I haven't had a good irony in awhile. It's a shame really. I finally got one today.

Background info: The forecast for today called for cloudy skies, 40% chance of rain, possibly snow in higher terrain, highs 5-7.

I woke up this morning, prepared to go to the Valley. I thought, "You shouldn't go." I ignored it.

As I prepared to go I thought, "Pack an overnight bag." I ignored it.

I drove to the Valley in the rain with a little snow mix, but only in higher areas like...the airport?...Windsor?.... Oh well, I ignored it.

I sat through one class very happily. I sat through another and looked outside after it was all over. I was no longer happy.

It looked like a snowstorm, but I wouldn't believe it. Even when I walked outside in it, I didn't believe it. Even when I left town, got on the 101 and drove as far as I could before stopping and crashing at the home of a generous couple who gave me their card in case this ever happened. It was the only phone number I had on me, and I'm glad for it! The radio said there were three inches of snow on the highway in Mt. Uniacke, traffic was backed up from Halifax to Wolfville, and it wasn't supposed to stop for a bit. Then they said, "Turn around if you can. Some of these people don't have winter tires on."

The irony: My winter tire appointment is tomorrow morning so I have them on before the big storm that's coming this weekend.

Clumsy Best Man Ruins Wedding

Okay, this is hysterical!!

Trauma in the kitchen.

Well, I survived a week without without my husband... barely!

Lynn was away for an intensive course at Acadia Div College. I kept our studio going, intensively cleaned the house, did some wood staining out on our back deck, and of course, looked after our little one :) I was so proud of everything I had accomplished, and was finishing up the kitchen on Thursday night... I decided to let vinager soak in the sink, since we have the white sinks that stain all the time (I am not a fan! - and vinager doesn't work by the way). I poured in the vinager, locked up, turned off all the lights, and went to bed.

I awoke Friday morning excited about my day. My cousin was coming to visit, I was hopefully going to finish my staining, and later that evening Lynn would arrive home!!! Carrying the baby downstairs to the kitchen, I put her in her high chair, went over to the counter putting water on for tea, turned to my right towards the sink and.............. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There, floating in my sink, was A DEAD MOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot begin to describe the horror that overtook my body! I jerked away from the counter, my head swimming with the realization of what I had just the seen, and the even more daunting realization that no husband of mine would come to the rescue. I and only I would dispose of this mouse! The clock was ticking, because my company arrived at 9:00 am.

I was laughing and almost crying due to the shock and trauma of these realizations. I grabbed the phone almost without thinking and called my Dad! It was 7:30 am, but thankfully they were awake. I said, "Come here quick, Dad, I need you!!!" :) Of course he lives two hours away and couldn't come to my rescue, but I felt better just asking. "What do I do???" I was regaining my composure as my Dad, Mom, and two brothers eventually made their way onto the call, all of us laughing at the situation I was in. I thanked Dad for his advise and told Mom I'd let her know how it goes :)

I couldn't resist, but also tried calling Lynn where he was staying in the Valley. I did reach him, after all, and told him to high-tale is hiney back home this instant :) Of course that was a joke as well and we laughed together, too. Lynn thought it was tremendously funny that I was left without a husband for this obvious "husband job" that had manifested itself.

All these phone calls were for the purpose of stalling more than anything else. Pour Roya was eating her cereal looking at me like, "Why are you going crazy, Mom?" I put on Lynn's big work gloves and searched the house for an appropriate tool. I was not going to go anywhere near that creature with my actual hand! I found nothing that satisfied my picture until I came across a cleaning bucket... I instantly received a genius idea...

Without hardly looking at the sink, I turned on the water so the level would rise slightly. I then dipped the bucket into the right sink and scooped the mouse in. I had papertowel ready to capture the drips and carried the bucket right outside to the compost. I lifted the lid and dumped saying bye-bye to pour little moussy.

I went back to the kitchen, greeted by a curious Roya, and disinfected our whole kitchen. I sat down at the table, quite proud of myself, putting the picture of the floating carcus out of my head, and continued feeding the baby her breakfast.

Wow! What a woman I am!! :)

Natasha

Another Goodie

Hungry for something border-line naughty? You'll love the dessert we made yesterday!

LE

Can't Resist

I know some of you have seen this on Facebook, but I can't resist posting this picture of Roya. We were hanging out at Nana and Grampy's house on Thanksgiving after Natasha left for the States. We were playing with a ball together, and Roya was getting quite expressive about her fun. I pulled out the camera and got lucky with this shot. Isn't she amazing?!



Also, don't forget to check out our new favorite soup.

LE

Hungry?

Are you hungry? Check this out.

LE

Robbie Update 2 / Lynn Update

Robbie update 2:

Well, the doctors seem unwilling to take the risk of trusting Robbie's healing... They recommend going ahead and putting the plates in anyway. My mom is facing a very difficult decision because putting the plates in means less mobility in the future, and potential weakness to the 4 & 5 vertebraes, which are higher up and more dangerous than where the original fracture was. However, fosaking the doctors advice and trusting the healing theoritecially has the potential to leave Robbie with life-time injury...

Please pray for wisdom and guidance in making this decision!!

Lynn Update:

An incredible thing has swept in suddenly and drastically altered our schedule for this fall and spring. Lynn began his Masters degree several years ago through Asbury's virtual campus (online). He completed all the required credit hours except those which have to be completed ON Asbury's campus in Kentucky. The plan was that after I finished my internship, Lynn was going to finish his degree... However!!! God radically picked us up out of everything we knew and dropped us here :) He has made every provision and given every confirmation that we are in His will. All needs have been met and details worked out... except for the dilemma of how to finish Lynn's degree. (This is also a matter of honoring our church for their expectation that Lynn is working toward ordination, which requires an M Div. But we simply cannot afford traveling down to Asbury for modular courses for the next five years trying to finish up that way!!!)

Long story short... We've been talking with Acadia Divinity College since it's nearby (~1hr30min commute), but not getting anywhere and unsure whether or not that's the direction the Lord was leading. ADC has been in the midst of leadership transitions, etc so things were not looking good... Out of no where however, we received a call confirming that Lynn was accepted (classes had already started!!!), they had worked out a plan for Lynn to finish all his requirements within 1 year, and offered him a scholarship covering almost all of our tuition fees!!! So within two days, Lynn became a full-time student and is commuting down to the Valley for the remainder of his M Div requirements, assuming all goes well, to graduate the end of this year!!!

This is going to be an intense year, but we are so relieved to have this weight lifted off our shoulders and the confirmation that God is still in control, leading and guiding us as we honor Him. Praise His Name!!

Natasha

Robbie Update

Well, Tuesday came and went, and the doctors are "intrigued" :)

They took and X-ray, which unfortunately doesn't show a whole lot of detail, so a CT scan is scheduled for next week. The doctor said, it seems as though the dislocation (it was a fracture and disclocation) of the vertabrae may have somehow, maybe, slipped back into place...

They tested Robbie's motor skills, and there was no pain and perfect function in all areas of tested mobility. This is very unusual to the doctors since patients always have a lot of pain, cannot move, and end up needing surgery.

So, Robbie started high school yesterday, with a collar on (like a brace, but a soft faom-like material that frames his neck up to his chin and down onto his chest). Yay!!! The doctors are still investigating the situation, and are not releasing him with a clean bill of health until they see the CT scan next week, where they can view the vertebrae in better detail.

SO all is well, and God is good :)
Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!

Robbie

I have no idea how people started hearing about Robbie's accident, but here's the skinny :).

Well, being Robbie, (my adorably handsome, ridiculously talented, and endearingly clueless 14 year old brother), he was playing with friends at a pool trying to do some sort of "shallow" dive. Obviously, he didn't know what he was doing because instead, he went straight for the bottom!! He smashed his head into the bottom of the pool so hard he chipped a tooth and fractured a vertebrae in his neck, the sixth or seventh down I think. It was awful. He was in bed in the hospital, unable to move and wearing a neck brace. He's about to start his first year of high school and he's an allstar athlete (particularly hockey and football). The doctor gave Mom three options to choose from, all of which were terrible. God has been speaking to Mom, however, very intentionally about healing for some time now. She left Robbie to pray and ask God for guidance. She was simply not okay with any of the options given by the doctor!! She turned around and there was Robbie!! He had gotten out of bed and taken off his neck brace!! Mom rushed him back to bed, but he said, "Mom the pain stopped. I really think I'm healed." The doctor came back and Mom told him what happened. The doctor must have checked him over because he sent him home for the weekend. He scheduled another X-ray for Tues to be sure.

At this point, he's not doing anything until after the x-ray tomorrow. In the meantime, though, he seems to be radically healed!!! He can move and is not in pain. Just the fact that he's home without a neck brace on is evidence of something, since a fractured vertebrae requires intensive care, no movement, a neck brace for sure, and immediate treatment. I'll never know why God has his hand on our family as He does. Robbie has big dreams and God seems to be protecting Him for what He has in store down the road :) Isn't it wonderful to know that God loves us enough to redeem us even from our silly, careless mistakes?? We've all done those!! That's why he could say to the cripple, "What is easier to say, 'your sins are forgiven' or 'get up and walk'?"

Praise the Lord! I'll update after tomorrow's x-ray.
Natasha

Stranded in Boston.

Lynn, Roya, and I have been in the Boston Logan Airport for almost 16 hours. We still have few more hours to go... 3 hrs and 15 min to be more exact.

Lynn is very good at planning trips. Using wise judgment, he scheduled lots of time in between our connector flights for passing through customs. HOWEVER, customs doesn't happen until the end of our trip when we fly into Halifax... So, we had several hours to kill in this nice but otherwise unexciting airport terminal. No big deal.

Then our flight was delayed... and delayed... and delayed... After many hours of waiting, with an exhausted and over-stimulated baby who wouldn't sleep, Lynn went to check the situation with our flight one more time... He came back distraught that it had been delayed another hour, and no sooner had he gotten that bad news out of his mouth than the loud speaker announced what we feared the most... our flight was CANCELLED!!!

The situation was this: no money, little to eat, a crying baby, already late at night, weather somewhere (but unseen) was interrupting flight schedules, new flight not until noon the next day, stranded in the Boston airport.

We picked up our luggage and called my parents toll free number. They agreed to lend us some money for a hotel and cab. HOWEVER, there was a huge lineup at the hotel information station and person after person left dejected as their were NO HOTEL ROOMS AVAILABLE IN ALL OF BOSTON!! Lynn worked diligently at seeking out the one room that had to be available somewhere in Boston, while I nursed and played with the baby. Sure enough, a room available... HOWEVER, the cheapest rate for the night was $425.00!!! That was a no go... needles to say.

At this point, I was thinking, "Other families are in much greater need right now. We're fine. We'll just camp out somewhere in the airport and have a fun little family adventure." The kind man at the information desk recommended the second floor of terminal B as the most comfortable place to sleep, so off we went.

Thankfully we had our luggage, so we were able to lay out a beach blanket, use towels for ourselves, and blankets for the baby. We chose a spot that seemed dark and quiet at the time... Eventually we got the baby to sleep and laid on either side of her to drift into peaceful sleep ourselves...

NONE TO BE HAD!!! The later it got, the colder and louder it got! The lights never dimmed, the loudspeaker never stopped, and the influx of people never diminished. It seemed as though people were yelling right on top of us while we slept fitfully and we soon realized we had chosen a spot (there were not many options) right beside the complementary internet station! By then, it was too late to move because it would wake the baby.

After a terrible night of very little sleep, cold, hungry, and irritable, (Lynn unfortunately got the least sleep of all of us) we rose to face the new day. Lynn went to find boiled water for the baby's bottle while I nursed. As I sat there nursing, hair disheveled and lines on my face, an airport employee walked by and said, "How'd you sleep." "Not well," I responded, as though he couldn't already tell... "You need to go down to information," he continued, "and ask them for a portable bed and they'll give you one. Say you have a baby and they'll give you a bed for sure."

I sat there dumbfounded. The very man who suggested this terrible place to sleep on the floor (my positive attitude had long since waned) was the same man who could have offered us a bed!!! And now this employee has the nerve to tell us we could have had a bed now that its morning and apparently, Lynn had seen him walking to and fro since 4:00 am. Lynn in particular was sitting up obviously awake... Why couldn't he have suggested it then???!!!

The day continues as Lynn and I are humorously cranky and continue to wait... I will close this post with a recent quote from my husband: I am going to assault anyone I see who has had a good night sleep. Here come two unsuspecting, well rested travelers...

One for the Books

Tonight was our first date without Roya since she was born. A woman who attends our church offered to give us a break, so she came to our house and sat with Roya. That freed us up for a wonderful date!!! :) !!!

As you can see here,



Natasha met me when I came home dressed in a lovely brown number with cute hair, tasteful make-up, nice jewelry, and wearing my favorite perfume. We wanted to stay close-by, so we set out for the best night in months at the movies!

The things is, when we arrived at the movie theater, the lines were all very long, and we needed plot information. When we finally got to the front of the line, we were directed to another line where a girl with a binder would give us synopses. It turns out that there were only two movies with plots in which we were interested for our date night. The first was sold out until the late show, which would have gotten us home well after midnight. The other sounded great, so we went to the express lane to purchase our tickets. On the sign in front of the movies, it said, "This film is not yet rated." Thankfully, the ticket machine had the rating. It was 18A, which is on the other side of our movie rating boundary. So, we left.

We stood outside the theater, wondering what to do in Truro. There was a show at the Marigold, but it wasn't really our speed for tonight.

So, we drove around town looking for anything that we could do, telling one another we refused to be disappointed. Natasha finally suggested, "Let's go have drinks and dessert somewhere. We're on a date. Let's go ahead and cheat." So we did. What a fun, spontaneous, romantic idea!

We chose between two restaurants in town (both which will remain nameless for the sake of the one we chose) and drove to the spot. It was just after 7:00 p.m. We asked a few questions to the girl who was seating people about desserts. Though she seemed a little distracted and stressed, she did her best to answer the questions. She showed us to a table, but we wanted a booth. The booth where we were seated literally rumbled and vibrated because it was next to the big fan in the kitchen. We moved to the back corner. We noticed about 7:35 p.m. or so that the girl seemed to be the only one there. She was rushing around trying to help everyone, and we had yet to order. She didn't have many answers for us, but she did her best helping everyone. By 8:15 p.m., we still didn't have drinks or our order. The drinks came a few minutes later, and the desserts came after that. Natasha's dessert was pretty good. Mine was a little gummy and not as lemony as I think lemon desserts should be. It tasted old, to be honest. After sitting there for over an hour, having the waitress tell us they had no peppermint tea and end up with Tazo Refresh (a peppermint-based tea), and listening to her interaction with the tables nearby, we began to think this was funny. On a gut feeling, I asked if she was the only one there. It turns out that she was brand-new (hence still learning about products and menu options), was not supposed to work that shift but was the only one available, had been abandoned by an experienced server before the 7:00 p.m. rush, and was, indeed, the only one working (hence her demeanor).

So, what did we do? Well, everything closes early in Truro, and we were dressed up with no place to go. So, we rented a movie, came home to find our daughter beside herself (only five minutes into a tantrum, though) because she couldn't find us in the house and it was her bedtime, and took a picture of ourselves for this blog post. Aren't we pretty?

This date was one big flop - one for the books. Our first romantic evening without having to provide childcare has turned into an evening when we will curl up downstairs in front of our movie, at home, baby asleep, and babysitter at home. If that's not romantic, what is? In fact, I'm going to go now. :) It turns out that we have little to complain about. To the contrary, this date was just about perfect!

LE