wisdom from sonna

Last night I had the following conversation with my 3-year-old niece, Sonna (in this picture she is sitting on top of her sister, Mara.)

B: So did you have fun in the paddle boat?
S: Yes. You don't even have to wear a seatbelt in a paddle boat. But you do in cars.
B: That's true. And you don't wear a seatbelt on a train, but you do on an airplane.
S: (thoughtful pause) And you don't have to wear a seatbelt on a rainbow.
B: Did you just say rainbow? Like up in the sky?
S: Yes. You just look at them, but you don't have to wear your seatbelt.

more preggers surprises

#4) I am surprised at how complicated the months and weeks of my pregnancy are.
I don't get it. I am currently in week 23, but month 6. How does that work out? The math of a four week-month doesn't add up. I know when this baby is expected but I still don't get how weeks and months work.

#5) I was surprised that it took a while for us to get pregnant.
I can't complain...it didn't take us forever. But I was genuinely surprised to read (while we were trying) that the average woman in her 20's trying to get pregnant will usually take a year before she finds two lines on her pee stick. A whole year. And this is the average amount. It is still hard for me to believe this when it seems like plenty of young girls can get pregnant accidentally. And it just doesn't seem right that I know so many friends who are trying desperately for the same result.

When I took the pregnancy tests I couldn't believe how hard I was willing for a second line to show up. I thought of my announcement post during one of these unsuccessful tests, thinking it was so, so crazy how badly I wanted to see two lines show up.

#6) I didn't get weepy emotional.
I keep waiting for this to happen. It still might. But so far, my emotions are less weepy and sad as they are short fused and annoyed. My inability to find my patience at moments makes me think that this is how my irrational emotions have played out. I had just assumed I would cry a lot.

#7) How much Rory would want to be a part of this whole thing.
Rory came up to me just a few days ago and said, "I can't wait for the baby to come. I really want it to come now." And I replied that he could wait and that we would not want the baby to come right now. And he commented, "Well I know that, but it's just not fair that you get to have the baby with you all day long. I just want it out so I can spend that much time with our baby too."

He will stop dead in his tracks if I tell him the baby is moving. He can't get enough.

my 2nd of July parade...

Last week my counselors shined. They were so creative all week long. I was left with a really hard decision of who should get the gift card for the most creative programming idea. In the end, I sort of played it safe and rewarded the entire staff with a 2nd of July parade for which I purchased $25 worth of parade candy.

I told my staff to think of all of the 2nd of July parades they had ever, ever attended. And then I asked them to rank them from best to worst and to please put the parade we were about to experience at the very top of your 2nd of July parade list.

We all went outside, I made them sing "You're a grand old flag" and then five decorated golf carts came through the crowd throwing candy at everyone. And then they circled back for one more chance to throw their candy at their friends.

It was silly, fun, and a pretty decent camp parade. I suppose this was a nod to Mt. Carmel's parades and Flathead's parades. It felt necessary and was a great kick off to our extended weekend off.

our weekend in St. Louis

Rory and I spent the holiday weekend in St. Louis, visiting my Uncle Mark and Aunt Jane. We also got to spend a whole day with my cousins Yang Yang, Nancy and baby Zoe. We ate non-stop on this trip and shared lots and lots of really good conversations. The kind of conversations that even while you're having them you're thinking, this is a good conversation. :)

On Sunday Yang Yang took us out for Dim Sum and it was a feast. Chinese appetizers just kept coming to our table and it was fantastic. I like this style of eating...it is very social.

We went out on Friday night too, and when Rory opened his fortune cookie he was informed:

We are now calling our baby, "short stranger."

The whole weekend made for a great vacation. The time in the car with Rory was especially sweet...we travel well together and seem to have some of our most meaningful conversations while flying down the open road. (or as was the case yesterday, not so open road, but rather filled with frantic americans all trying to get home after the holiday weekend. We'll probably avoid travel on the 5th of July from here on out...)

Happy 4th of July weekend!

Rory's mom sent this picture to me back in November and I've been hanging onto it ever since for this day. Sorry it's not any bigger, but if you look closer, this is all people. It's astounding to me. The picture was taken in 1918 with 18,000 men at Camp Dodge in Iowa.

I remember when I studied abroad in India, I was so nervous about what India would be like, and how I'd relate to that country. But on the airplane ride there I sat next to a tiny woman who was kind in her smile and persistant in her desire to communicate, even though we didn't share a single word of the same language. She was sweet and sort of changed my outlook as we landed in her homeland. After that airplane ride I could relax because I realized that I would get to know India, one person at a time. India became less of a place for me, and much more a people.

I love this picture, then, because it's the best representative of our country. We the people. And especially this picture showing many, many men and women who chose to defend our liberty and fight for our independence. One person at a time decides to take pride in our homeland and many more decide to fight for our freedoms. We are a blessed people.

So happy 4th of July everybody! I hope you're celebrating with some great people today.