I last wrote during a 1:00 AM packing break on Saturday morning. It is only Tuesday and yet I just made a list of things I need to write about an it’s about a mile long! So much has happened the past few days it’s making my head spin. But here it is the middle of the afternoon and I’m showered, relaxing with my feet up, watching bluebirds out the window, and blogging like the chaos is over because mostly…it is.
I will try to organize my posts in some fashion going forward, but for now, here’s a funny story that I honestly cannot fit into the timeline whatsoever. It happened…sometime…
We’ve been eating a lot of mismatched meals lately—anything we could pull out of the cupboards or freezer was up for grabs breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
One day, Andrew pulled out a box of fortune cookies that we’d had in our cupboard since our Chinese New Year celebration at the beginning of the year. Everyone was very excited to read their fortunes.
Benjamin’s fortune was, “You will soon be involved in many gatherings and parties.”
“That’s true!” Andrew said. “Everyone is so excited to see you when we get to Utah.”
Rachel’s fortune was, “A pleasant surprise is in store for you tonight.”
“That’s true!” Andrew said. I can’t remember his reasoning, but there are many pleasant surprises in store for her in the future, I’m sure.
Andrew’s fortune was, “Now is a good time to call a loved one at a distance from you.”
“That’s true!” he said and mentioned something about needing to call his parents to work out some detail or other about the move.
“Wow,” Miriam said. “These fortunes are very fortuney today. Let’s see what mine says.”
She snapped open her cookie, pulled out the slip of paper inside and balked at it.
“What does it say?” we prompted her.
“Uh-uh,” she refused.
“Oh, come on,” we urged.
“No way,” she said.
“Everyone else read theirs,” we said.
“Fine,” she said, blushing madly. “It says, ‘Someone is interested in you. Keep your eyes open.’ Maybe they aren’t all very fortuney…”
I don’t know. I opened one for myself the following morning, to the great shock of my children (but seriously, kids, those puppies have only 4 grams of carbs; just saying) and it said: “Treat yourself to a special time this coming weekend.”
It’s not the weekend yet, but I do have several child-free days coming up before my flight (which is also child-free; my first child-free flight for at least 10 years). I hardly know what I’ll do with myself but I’m sure I’ll fill the time. I have a few things to do at the house tomorrow and a doctor appointment and so forth, but mostly I’m looking forward to resting up a bit after the wild couple of days (weeks? months?) we’ve had.
Honestly, though, I can’t tell if my treat is the time away from my children or if the treat is when we’ll all be together again.
I didn’t cry until I had to say goodbye to Zoë. We’ve never been apart and I’m worried about how she will handle the separation (and how everyone else will handle her handling of the separation). It will be good for her, in a way, I guess, to learn that she can function without me, but I think it will be hard on everyone for a while.
Even then, I’m not sure if I was only crying because I was saying goodby to Zoë or if it was because she was the last of the kids I said goodbye to. I have worries about them all.
How many times will Benjamin throw up?
Will anyone else catch whatever he’s got?
How many hours will Zoë spend screaming?
Will Rachel and Miriam be the helpers they promised to be?
At least I can keep tabs on their progress—when they aren’t texting me, that is. Rachel surprised me by sending me a text message (she can chat with me online, but we don’t have a “plan” for her old, old iPhone so if she’s not connected to the internet, she can’t). Apparently grandpa “got internet,” whatever that means. So now that they’ve picked him up from the airport they, too, “have internet.”
Right now they’re in Winston-Salem at a Waffle House (that’s my best guess).
And, yes, soon after I typed that, Andrew sent me a picture of everyone at Waffle House (potentially forthcoming) so...am I good fortune teller or what?
I will try to organize my posts in some fashion going forward, but for now, here’s a funny story that I honestly cannot fit into the timeline whatsoever. It happened…sometime…
We’ve been eating a lot of mismatched meals lately—anything we could pull out of the cupboards or freezer was up for grabs breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
One day, Andrew pulled out a box of fortune cookies that we’d had in our cupboard since our Chinese New Year celebration at the beginning of the year. Everyone was very excited to read their fortunes.
Benjamin’s fortune was, “You will soon be involved in many gatherings and parties.”
“That’s true!” Andrew said. “Everyone is so excited to see you when we get to Utah.”
Rachel’s fortune was, “A pleasant surprise is in store for you tonight.”
“That’s true!” Andrew said. I can’t remember his reasoning, but there are many pleasant surprises in store for her in the future, I’m sure.
Andrew’s fortune was, “Now is a good time to call a loved one at a distance from you.”
“That’s true!” he said and mentioned something about needing to call his parents to work out some detail or other about the move.
“Wow,” Miriam said. “These fortunes are very fortuney today. Let’s see what mine says.”
She snapped open her cookie, pulled out the slip of paper inside and balked at it.
“What does it say?” we prompted her.
“Uh-uh,” she refused.
“Oh, come on,” we urged.
“No way,” she said.
“Everyone else read theirs,” we said.
“Fine,” she said, blushing madly. “It says, ‘Someone is interested in you. Keep your eyes open.’ Maybe they aren’t all very fortuney…”
I don’t know. I opened one for myself the following morning, to the great shock of my children (but seriously, kids, those puppies have only 4 grams of carbs; just saying) and it said: “Treat yourself to a special time this coming weekend.”
It’s not the weekend yet, but I do have several child-free days coming up before my flight (which is also child-free; my first child-free flight for at least 10 years). I hardly know what I’ll do with myself but I’m sure I’ll fill the time. I have a few things to do at the house tomorrow and a doctor appointment and so forth, but mostly I’m looking forward to resting up a bit after the wild couple of days (weeks? months?) we’ve had.
Honestly, though, I can’t tell if my treat is the time away from my children or if the treat is when we’ll all be together again.
I didn’t cry until I had to say goodbye to Zoë. We’ve never been apart and I’m worried about how she will handle the separation (and how everyone else will handle her handling of the separation). It will be good for her, in a way, I guess, to learn that she can function without me, but I think it will be hard on everyone for a while.
Even then, I’m not sure if I was only crying because I was saying goodby to Zoë or if it was because she was the last of the kids I said goodbye to. I have worries about them all.
How many times will Benjamin throw up?
Will anyone else catch whatever he’s got?
How many hours will Zoë spend screaming?
Will Rachel and Miriam be the helpers they promised to be?
At least I can keep tabs on their progress—when they aren’t texting me, that is. Rachel surprised me by sending me a text message (she can chat with me online, but we don’t have a “plan” for her old, old iPhone so if she’s not connected to the internet, she can’t). Apparently grandpa “got internet,” whatever that means. So now that they’ve picked him up from the airport they, too, “have internet.”
Right now they’re in Winston-Salem at a Waffle House (that’s my best guess).
And, yes, soon after I typed that, Andrew sent me a picture of everyone at Waffle House (potentially forthcoming) so...am I good fortune teller or what?
Oh grandpa is a "hot spot". Francy. I flew three years ago without kids. I brought nothing on the plane with me, took the middle front seat between two guys, and then chatted with one about his son in Canadian medical school the whole flight. It was uneventful and wonderful.
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