Weekend Wrap-up

Welcome back me from a much-needed weekend in Oregon--where things actually grow. As always, it was fabulous to see family (and trees) again. Here's how the weekend went.

Friday afternoon: Procrastinated packing as long as possible, which almost caused us to be late for the flight. Luckily, the flight was delayed 45 minutes so we were fine. So we didn't even get to abuse the pre-boarding privilege by arriving later and boarding earlier than everyone. Lame. We then taxied the runway for another 45 minutes, effectively irritating Jella (who was hungry but was waiting to be fed until we took off so that her head wouldn't explode), which causes JellaMama to attempt to rip the head off the co-pilot (she was going to leave the pilot's head attached so that we could still fly). They let her stay on the plane though because she only attempted to take the life of the co-pilot--and because she's really pretty. We finally take off, only to feel as though we were bouncing on the ground 'til we were past the Utah borders. That was, by far, the worst turbulence in all of my days of flying. Now I don't mind turbulence that much, except when we're taking off. Turbulence at a billion feet in the air isn't as bad because there's a lot of feet to fall--which gives the pilot time to turn the plane back on and point up again. But turbulence while taking off makes me a bit nervous--I swear we bounced. Even with all of that, Jella was perfect throughout the flight. We arrive in Portland about an hour late, where we are greeted by my two-and-a-half-year-old-niece-with-a-big-smile-on-her-face (sorry, got a little hyphen happy) and fists pumping wildly at the sight of us ("going cwazy," as she calls it). Made it all worth it.

Golfed Saturday morning with CoopParents and Father in Law, and did pretty well. But you don't care. Upon returning JellaMama and I went to the sealing of a really close friend of hers. There's few things in life that are better than witnessing a sealing between two people who have done it right, you know? The reception was also beautiful, though a bit hoity-toity (read: they served punch) for my tastes. We sat next to the bar (it was in a country club) so that I could see the TV (Oregon Ducks were getting rocked by USC)--JellaMama loves me even with my weaknesses.

Okay, I have come to the realization that this post is becoming as lame as the previous ones, so I'll skip to highlights. The blessing Sunday was great, although I did notice that it was void of blessing her to one day get into Dallas Roberts (interesting... perhaps she will work at Losee Jewelers?). Hanging out with families Friday afternoon and evening was so great--everyone so excited to see Jella.

Perhaps the highlight of the weekend was Sunday night. We were all sitting around Jella, who was laying on the carpet, watching all of the faces she was making. JellaMama was playing the piano beautifully to keep Jella from fussing (which works wonders, by the way), and CoopNiece was randomly pounding keys next to her. After some time, Jella became fussy, at which time CoopNiece quickly bounced off the piano bench, knelt in front of Jella, and, while lightly petting her head, started to quietly sing her "ABC's" to calm her. It even worked! I about cried. It's going to be great for Jella to grow up with cousins so close to her age.

The flight home was fine, except that I've barely slept since--I think since Baby J and her mother are still in Oregon ('til tonight--if you read this today, I miss you) I have temporary insomnia. They get back tonight though, so that'll be good. Then I can at least blame my lack of sleep on the littlun.

So back to the grind it is. It's weekends like that that, though too short, hectic, and somewhat stressful, that help you be in love with life. Even being back at work and school is sweeter. Maybe it was the trees.