Oh, gosh, can it really have been almost three weeks since I posted last? Tempus really does fugit, I guess, especially when one is up to one’s eyeballs.
We’re just back from Dallas, where we spent a week, ostensibly for me to take a Java class, but secondarily to provide an opportunity to visit with our long neglected north Texas friends. In spite of having done our share to contribute to highway erosion since we moved to San Marcos, we hadn’t gotten back up to Denton, where we lived previously, in that two and a half year span. So, seizing the opportunity to off two avians with a single sedimentary deposit, off we went!
Of course, nothing is simple with the traveling circus that is our family. We had only just gotten settled in at the home of our friends Chad & Lynn Davenport, who went above and beyond the call of duty by opening their home to us for the week, when Liam started displaying worrisome little red spots and complaining that he didn’t feel well. Sure enough, by Tuesday, he had a full-on case of Chicken Pox going. Fortunately, all the Davenport children (excepting the still prenatal one, of course) had already had the Pox, so his infectiousness was less of a concern than was the fact that he woke up every 8 minutes during the night complaining of itching, a problem that seemed only to be remedied by twitching and kicking me as he dropped back off into unconsciousness.
(Side note: We have four children. The Davenports have three ex utero, with one in progress. Add that to the two extra boys that Lynn babysat one day, and you can quickly begin to guess what an entertaining madhouse their home was for the span of our visit.)
In spite of all the chaos that inevitably surrounds our family road trips, we were able to get some good visiting time in with our friends. As I mentioned, the Davenports were kind enough to host us for the week, which afforded a few moments of adult conversation between child-management duties. My friend Greg Pierce signed up for the Java course I was taking, which made it much more enjoyable than it would otherwise have been. We carpooled together, and brought guitars one day for a bit of pickin and grinnin at lunchtime. I got to visit Jason and Aleka Myre, who were in the middle of major home renovation, one night while desperately seeking an Internet connection. And a number of other friends turned up in response to our short-notice “Come play with us at the park before we head out of town” email. Thanks to all of you again for going out of your way to come visit!
Now were back home, catching up on our sleep, and enjoying being able to do that in our own beds and looking forward to the prospect of a couple of months with no long drives planned.