“Mama, I miss you and I love you nexterday,” Avery said as she kissed first my elbows, then my knees, and finally my shoulders. “Do you mean yesterday or tomorrow?” I asked sweeping her bangs from her eyes. “Just nexterday, mom. I was loving and missing you,” she replied matter of factly after kissing my cheeks. Nexterday is my new favorite day.
Captured moments like familiar freckles on my face, record an afternoon outdoors upon my skin, sustaining me as the faces of my babies sprint, wisps to locks and dimples fade to smooth, left in the wake the sinew of walking legs, the facial hollows of young women. A few weeks ago I had one such moment with Briar. Recalling it now through the triggers in this photo, I am at once broken and whole. Embracing in the splintered shadows of a spinning fan, the scent of scallions from the market hover in the air, a flash of sunlight through carefully chosen wild flowers, a variegated leaf, green, then white, then green, “Stripes,” you say. Your sweaty ringlets, still pressed to your drowsy, post-nap face,…
Just like her mama, messing up sayings and mixing up white knuckling and nail biter as we embarked on our first flight. Boarding passengers shrank from the sight of us…suckers, she was more agreeable than any adult flying the unfriendly skies. Without exception, no less than 1/3 of every airport purchased meals is unworthy of ingestion. Air travel can suck, fixing stuff at the airport can suck way harder. I knew San Francisco was going to be cool, but I had no idea the airport bathroom stalls would look like a Studio 54 flashback. Lost car seats, canceled and missed flights, late bags and general rudeness – Thanks, Southwest. BART had a narcotic effect on Fin. The streets of San Francisco (How could I…
*Title is a play on words, props to the ladies at BabyLegs, Fin caused a sensation in her two pairs! And thank goodness we had them. Twain was right about San Francisco: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” Finley is seriously the best traveling companion ever. She went so far as to save all of her pooping for today. That’s right, no pooping on the plane, but we have chalked 7 messy diapers since waking this morning. My fingers are raw from the wiping. Sorry, off track. We flew to San Francisco on Thursday for the BlogHer Conference, which brought back more memories of being excluded and rare moments of fitting in than I really care to remember.…
Left the hotel before 9am yesterday. Bolted to SFO for an 11 am flight. WRONG. Flight delayed. Rescheduled. Waited with Grandma for 1:30 flight. Necklace stolen. Car seat reclaimed and cumbersome. Wait. Wait. Wait. Flight to Vegas harrowing. “Worry not, they are holding your planes.” YAY! WRONG. Plane left. Amanda and Fin not so much. 5:45pm agent finally talks to me. Off to Baltimore. Thought we were going to die in turbulence over Denver. Arrived here at 2:45 am. No drinking craptastic Starbucks disk coffee. Fly out at “10:55am” today. We shall see. Not holding my breath. I nominate Fin for “Best baby ever to travel the x-country twice in a week.” Will post pics and better words when i don’t feel as though…