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Back in Business
Please excuse the lack of a post last week; we were just getting home from a trip to Texas and were very busy recovering, etc. Kira and I were off hunting for a place to crash for the next 3-4 years, and Kira’s parents were gracious enough to keep Avey for us for a few days to increase our productivity. In brief, our trip established a few important things: (a) Texas is a hot place, (b) we are both wimps, (c) we love our daughter, and (d) Avey is nearly oblivious (or perhaps “indifferent” would be the more appropriate word) to our existence. Allow me to explain:
A. It was about 103 degrees Fahrenheit the first day of our hunt. Of course, we were in and out of the car all day as well, and the car had to have been a good 10 degrees more as the concept of shaded parking has not yet caught on in the Lone Star State.
B. We were thus quick to establish that we cannot live without central AC wherever we live while residing in said climate.
C. The first hour or so of our separation from her majesty was liberating, but emotions quickly turned into longing when my attempts to tickle Kira’s tummy were met with less giggling and more slapping than the same would reap from Avey. Seriously though, we were both so focused on our task at hand that we were able to ward off the depression of being away from Little Miss Sunshine pretty well. That is, until we called her to check in. Her rating on the adorable scale is a function of our time and distance away from her (for the math geeks, a = t x d), because every word out of her mouth made us homesick.
D. Which brings me to the next item. Avey was polite enough to us on the phone, mostly updating us on the status of her moth jar, and reminding us that the room in which she slept was green, “[her] favorite color!” But the more we called her, the less interested she seemed to be in us. One day we called for the second time and she asked, “Hi Mommy and Daddy! Why are you calling me?” Naturally, we told her it was because we love and miss her. If we could have seen her, I’m sure we’d have seen her rolling her eyes when she responded, “Again?!?” We worried that we would arrive home to pick her up and she’d have moved on from our relationship, but she impressed us very much; we quietly opened the door to the dining room where she was sitting, looking elsewhere. I don’t know if it was staged, but we overheard her ask her grandparents, “When are Mommy and Daddy getting here?” Then she saw us, and it seemed as if she were dreaming for a moment until she realized that we really were there. She smiled widely and then hugged and kissed us for several minutes, giggling all the while. Nice to know we’ve had some impact on her life.
So we’re pretty sure we’ve found a home, but we’re waiting on the application stuff to all go through. We’ll let you know.
In other news, it was Kira’s birthday this week! She chose to spend her special day engaging in a family pastime and source of PTSD for me: water skiing! It was a pleasant day – Kira got in a lot of water time, and I was able to avoid the pain and humiliation by acting out scenes of Muppet Treasure Island over and over with Avey in the designated swimming area while she floated in her little inflatable “boat”. In retrospect, maybe impersonating a fictional frog and pig who are in love should be more embarrassing to me than skipping across the lake on my face at 25 m.p.h. I’ll consider it…
She appreciated all of the phone calls, emails, messages, and tweets. She truly is loved and valued, and we are all lucky to have her in our lives. Avey and I especially would be lost without her. Here’s to several more years to celebrate!