EAR BARF: MAYBE NOT SO BAD

Tomorrow I'm going to Rhode Island alone for nine days to meet my new nephew; it will be the first time in six years I'll travel without a small human sitting on me and throwing up in my ear. Like most people these days I'm not looking forward to getting half-naked for the sake of security, but besides that I'm looking forward to the trip: I can drink seven beers, if I want to, and pass out over a stupid magazine, I can NOT TALK, I can THINK...

I'm definitely going to miss Joedy, the kids, and the animals--I enjoy serving as a short-order cook, clown, and human trampoline--and that's why I took the video of Lula having a meltdown last night while Malko practiced throwing himself into the bath headfirst while Diablo barked and Lapis meowed his loud, LOUD meow. When I start missing them, I'll figure I'll watch that--I should be fine again right away.

I'm getting back on Lula's second day of school, just in time to pick her up. I'm so glad I'll be able to pick her up--I didn't want to miss her first week. It's strange to think we're heading into fall already; although it's very much still summer here, I know the transition to the school schedule is going to dispel the ice cream-swimming pool-afternoon movie flavor of the days, there'll be homework and other serious first grade stuff, and before we know it the leaves will be changing and we'll actually WANT to wear clothes other than mu-mus and loincloths.

After hunting high and low for a new house and finding the dream rental (the walls were painted different colors! NICE different colors!), Joedy and I came to the somewhat difficult decision (there were some tears) to focus instead on buying a car, since it's been six months that we've been using his brother's (wonderful) Luxury Deluxe Vehicle and it's time to give it back. Putting the house hunt on hold was made easier by rearranging some stuff, namely the "home office," which is now in the living room, a.k.a the play room.

In lots of ways I think we've settled down, or settled into a groove, lately, and I've experienced a degree of calm and subsequent happiness that's very different from what we were going through this time last year, when we were preparing to move to Costa Rica, and in the subsequent months--especially when we came back to the States, when lots of big, important things were up in the air. I've mentioned before that I appreciate stability more than I used to, and that's never more clear than after (it was not clear during) Joedy and I make decisions to--for example--forgo moving into a really bitchin' house because, well, it's not the right time.

I know summer's not over yet--I see lots of ice cream in Lula's near future--but as I'm leaving tomorrow and coming back during the school year I feel like some things are ending. That's ok with me, but it's possible that tomorrow, while nodding off over my fifth beer, I'll be thinking about the three people I left behind and all the fun we've been having; it's possible that maybe I'll even wish one of them was sitting on my lap and throwing up in my ear...