The good and the bad

We have returned from our trip. It was relaxing, fun and great to reconnect, even with some folks from high school that generally always intimidated me.

The Good
Seeing my family, celebrating my birthday with them for a change, seeing my older sister 38 days from giving birth to baby number two, seeing my younger sister who serendipitously was in Dallas after all, taking a trip to Pecos with my mother, seeing family in Pecos and checking that everyone was doing well, the excitement that life in the small oil towns now that life is finally perking up, visiting the sand hills of Monahans with Mom even if we couldn't go sledding on the sand, seeing the meteor site in Odessa, getting my picture taken in front of a pump jack, eating lunch at the double-wide Pecos Valley Country Club, renting a PT Cruiser in Odessa since my mom has always wanted to drive one, watching Andy catch his first fish with his uncle Mark, giving a baby scrapbook to my sister, going to the Dallas World Aquarium and seeing the sea otters eat, visiting the Dallas County Club and watching that Andy is loving the water after years of being afraid, watching Andy swim with my dad, visiting my grandparents graves in Pecos with my mother and Oak Hill in Dallas with my dad, watching Andy play with his cousin Megan, seeing my pediatrician who gave good advice on the ear tubes question, leaving Andy with my sister overnight so Bjorn and I could go out without a deadline other than our own fatigue, seeing high school classmates, all the awesome thunderstorms that I love to track and watch, the great birthday presents including clothes, a GPS, books and Dots candy.

The Bad
Arriving in Dallas with poison ivy and then developing heat rash (I am oh-so-sexy), mosquito bites, lack of sleep due to Andy waking up scared in a new location, the crowds at the aquarium, my mom having her wallet stolen at Northpark, losing a bag coming back, the Texas heat, running into high school classmates, wasting $18 and 2 1/2 hours of my life on Spider Man 3.

All in all, a great trip. It is going to be hard to go back to work on Monday.

And we're off

We're headed out of town tomorrow to see my family in Dallas and visit a cousin in Pecos. It will be nice to see everyone, fingers crossed it isn't too hot yet. In order to properly pack, I think we've done four loads of laundry in the past two days. It turns out we have a stunning amount of clothing - although never exactly what I want to wear on any given day. Figures.

Andy is so excited about the plane. I've been telling him for the past few days that we're going on a plane Saturday. We then go through the days and then get to Saturday when we're on a plane. He keeps talking about it. It's precious.

Also precious is his ability to remember songs. The last few days he's been singing "No more monkeys jumping on the bed." Today he started singing "Twinkle twinkle little star." Pretty darn cute. I just wish I could remember all the words.

So in my absence next week, here are some good reads to tide you over until my thrilling updates return. All these bloggers update very regularly to keep you busy.

• Coffee Betsy - The adventures of Betsy and her son, Jack, and occasionally her husband. They just fled Virginia for the quad cities of Illinois and Iowa. She tells a good yarn.
• DC Blogs - A compilation of what the local bloggers are talking about.
• DCist - This site seems to have the buzz on what's happening in the D.C. area (although primarily the city) with a sarcastic slant. It's a great place to pick up local news that is interesting, but not necessarily local news/Washington Post material.
• Renaissance Man Trapped in a Cubicle - The tales of an office drone by day, super dad, author and band rocker by night.
• So Close - Tertia is an infertility survivor and mother of twins. Her stories of motherhood resonate and the tales of life in South Africa are fascinating.
• Sundry Morning - A woman with a cranky toddler with a wicked sense of humor who is adding on to her house.

Enjoy! See you in a week.