okay, i’m finally back and more or less recovered from my whirlwind trip and i thought you might like to see some pictures of the baby. let’s see how he’s doin’….

oh, he’s gettin’ sleepy. shhhhh….. if we’re quiet, maybe he’ll go to sleep. [softly hums a lullaby]

ok, he’s out now and we can talk for a little bit. what a nice baby. here’s the story of my visit:

i found out the day before i left that he’d started running a fever and had had to go back to the hospital. so, when i arrived, the poor little guy was all hooked up to an i.v. pole and had things beeping around him and his arm was all bound up with tape and a splint, but considering all of that, he was in a pretty good mood. my mom and dad made the drive out to see me and help with the baby’s hospital stay, so i got to see them while i was there too. they weren’t sure why he’d gotten a fever, but after his dad got sick friday night and his mom got sick saturday night, the doctor’s decided that maybe the baby had just … gotten sick. and since he was feeling better, they discharged him monday afternoon (hooray! wonderful birthday present for me– a “wireless” baby! infinitely more portable and easier to cuddle with.) we all had a great day–we went out for some delicious barbeque. the restaurant had some great bluegrass/gospel music on their cd changer! they had so many in their mix that i’m not sure which ones we heard, but there was a version of “hard times” and another of “angel band” that were really nice. if you go to this link and scroll down, you can hear a clip of “hard times” that sounds similar. later, we browsed at a big book fair, then my sister-in-law and her husband (my brother-in-law) who also live in this same town, came over for dinner that night. she brought flowers for me for my birthday from my wonderful husband who had called and asked her to “deliver” flowers for me!

(wasn’t that sweet?) we had yummy pizza and then tried to go out for dessert but by then it was 9:00 (babies are sooooo time consuming!) and most everything was closed. so we had ice cream instead. i went over to my sister-in-law’s to see more recent pictures of my other nephew and we chatted awhile, then she took me back home. i spent the rest of the evening watching tv and then…. it was my turn to get the bug that had passed around the whole family. ugh. oh well. at least i had all day tuesday to recuperate! my sister did a wonderful job of playing nurse to me (and she even had a baby to take care of!) making me a jug of lemonade and kissing me on the forehead and generaly making “tut, tut” noises. but enough about being sick. let’s check back with the baby and see if he’s awake yet.

oh! there he is! isn’t he cute! that reminds me that there were so many other good parts of my visit that i haven’t told you about yet! i got to stay a few nights with one of my very dearest college friends and her family and we had a nice time being together (they’d already all had the stomach bug, thank goodness!). i had come during the perfect week, weather-wise. when i arrived, the branches were all pretty much bare. by the time i’d left, the pear trees were all in full, furious blossom and so were these two beautiful plants:

the temperature was gorgeous! (i regretted the second pair of long pants i’d packed, oh well…) one morning, i was alone in my friend’s house after everyone had gone to work and i went outside to pick a few flowers for a bouquet and later painted my toenails to welcome the return of spring. i went running every morning (except on tuesday after i was so sick). the first morning, i actually ran through a graveyard that’s near my sister’s house. it was actually quite beautiful. several of the old headstones were weathered and moss-covered so that they were unreadable and one of the plots was overrun with tiny blue flowers.

we had delicious pupusa from the salvadoran restaurant in town. dad finally got to show me some episodes of “the closer” (a tv show my parents have recently gotten hooked on) and got me hooked.

then, it was time for me to go home. i was feeling much better than i had the day before. my sister’s generous in-laws drove me 2 hours to the airport (so i wouldn’t have to rent a car or read a map or fight traffic. thank you!!!) and i had a completely problem-free trip back home. my husband met me at the airport with a big hug and took me home where i found out that he had washed the dishes and deep-cleaned my bike for me (it hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned for about 2 years. pretty much ever since i’ve owned it.). what a guy!

so, now i’m home. i’m feeling much better and now that i’ve had a chance to catch up on my blogging, i think i’d better go get caught up with the rest of my life as well.