Now THAT was fun

Well folks, I made it back safe and sound from Montana . . . and now life resumes in Hawaii.

Here on the home front, things went pretty well this past week, especially considering the condition that I left the kids in a week ago. Charley was coughing, congested, and managed to get an ear infection. Meanwhile, Zander was only a day or two behind with the coughing and congestion, which he did not handle well. Charley is one of those kids that becomes lethargic and quiet when she is sick, fairly easy to deal with I would say. Zander, on the other hand, becomes demanding, fickle, and crabby, and is very difficult to deal with . . . so that wasn't fun for Brian. And, as it turns out, Charley managed to catch a bug in her ear equivalent to the "Superbug" (MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, i.e., resistant to nearly all antibiotics), which can only be treated with one type of antibiotic. The healing process has been slow and a check at the doctor today revealed that she will probably be on the drops for another week or so. Keep your fingers crossed. Zander's cold seems to be getting better, although his mood does not . . . I think we are entering the terrible two's a bit early. For example, 90% of his vocabulary the past couple weeks has been "no." Oh, how I love this phase.

So, Brian did an awesome job while I was gone, particularly in a few notable ways. First, Zander seems to have a new found affinity for his daddy, which is more than fine with me. Now Zander splits his time between the two of us,whining at our ankles, so that is a nice break for me. Second, both kids are now back to sleeping through the night, and even better, they are generally sleeping until 7:00 a.m. Before I left, Charley was waking up frequently in the night, presumably with bad dreams, and Zander was starting to wake up early, sometimes as early as 5:45 a.m. But, while I was gone, their good sleeping habits seemed to have returned. I don't know what Brian did, but it worked. Third, Brian did all the kids' laundry while I was gone, and kept the house pretty stinkin' clean. I will definitely hire him again next year to watch the kids. :)

I don't know where to even start regarding my trip, other than to say that it was exactly what I needed. On Friday when I arrived in Missoula, Montana, I was greeted by cold crisp air that was warmed by a sunny blue sky, although the temperature was still in the 30's. It was beautiful to see snow everywhere, and I quickly remembered that I actually DO miss Montana winters . . . well, some of it anyway. Andrea picked me up at the airport, where I had a quick chance to meet her handsome new baby son, Maxsen. We then drove north 120 miles to Whitefish, where my parents live. We spent the weekend visiting with my family, Andrea's dad, and my girlfriend Shawna who drove all the way from Idaho to see me. Saturday was a perfect day, part of which was spent in downtown Whitefish, sipping warm coffee and window shopping in this perfect winter resort town. I then had a nice dinner and visit with Shawna at a restaurant in Whitefish, with absolutely NO KIDS. It was the best.

On Sunday we headed back to Missoula, and once again I had a nice evening browsing my absolute favorite store in the whole world (once again KID FREE), Target. I know, it might not sound like much, but can you believe that there is no Target in Hawaii? How crazy is that? I've been going through Target withdrawals for nine months now. My only saving grace is that Target is FINALLY coming to Hawaii in 2009 . . . thank God for answering my prayers. So, we then spent Monday morning at Andrea's hair salon, where she saved me from a very bad hair do (thanks Andrea for once again rescuing me from chronic bad hair). Later that day we met up with Amber, another longtime girlfriend, and her two babies, Ace and Maverick, and we proceeded to spend the rest of the week eating, catching up, but best of all, laughing. I don't remember the last time that I spent THAT much time laughing. Amber is the comedian, Andrea is the blonde (oh, come on Andrea, you know I love you), and I'm the smart aleck, so together we are quite the show. Andrea's husband Seth was a very accommodating host, cooking for all of us and helping us keep all the kids in check all week. I had the most amazing time, and I don't even quite know how to express how glad I am that so many efforts were made by everyone to make this trip happen.The laughter and friendship was invigorating.

I feel like I've had a big breath of fresh air pumped into my lungs, and now I'm ready to go again. I feel like I have a million stories to share, yet maybe they are the kind of stories where "you just had to be there." For now, all I can say is that my friends are the most amazing friends ever, their children are absolutely precious, and I never knew I could love anyone's children nearly as much as I love my own . . . but I can . . . because they are the children of my absolute best friends in the entire world. Thank you to everyone, many of whom came long distances, who made this such a wonderful visit. Thank you for your time, your love, your smiles, and your friendship. You are all the best!

P.S. Pictures are on their way . . . I forgot to take my camera, so as soon as I get some pictures from everyone, I will throw a few of them on here, because I know there are some good ones in there, right girls? :)