Where Am I?

Today is the first day since mid-December when the arrival houseguests hasn't been imminent. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. There is no rush to replace the sheets on the guest bed, or mop the floor. Nevertheless, I've been darting from one activity to another, addressing things that have been neglected for a long time. I made an appointment to see an eye doctor. I cleaned out and organized the master bedroom closet. I called my hair dresser to schedule an appointment. I have been working on the mounds of backed-up laundry. I am continuing on the task of completely purging the children's toys, so far resulting in more than a dozen jam-packed garbage bags. I have trying to figure out who to donate all the toys to.

It has been a great couple of months, but a bit of a blur too. In response to a recent posting about our most recent guests, who left just yesterday morning, my brother wondered at my neglecting to blog about his visit with his family which was a recent as two weeks ago. An "anonymous" reader furthermore commented that perhaps these beloved family members never actually made it here, otherwise I surely would have featured them in my blog. True, true.

Visitors are wonderful, but having had so many lately, I realize something about having guests: I am unable to function normally when there's a party going on. The excitement of guests paralyzes me from doing anything "normal." I hover and fawn and fuss and cook, and find myself unable to break away for more than a potty break at a time. So, things like writing and reading and housework suffer terribly.

Anyhow, I apologize to the guests of winter (my in-laws, my mom, and my brother and his family), who generously gave me a great deal of blog-ammo that I was unable to utilize.

But, thankfully, my one-year-old nephew John Wesley leaves enough of an impression that even two weeks after his departure I can still remember him being here. It wasn't a dream - I'm sure of it.

Several days after returning home from a long weekend up here in Anchorage, John Wesley started to walk. My brother Doug put video of the event on their website mere moments after it occured and it was almost as if we were there. We rejoiced for him.

As happy as I am for JW and his prowess, I am a bit grieved that his first steps weren't taken at my house. Before his arrival, it had been my secretest hope that being around his four older cousins would inspire John to take the plunge towards perambulation.

We worked hard at convincing John that being bipedal is way more fun than crawling. To prove it, we took him sledding, we strolled around downtown Anchorage, and we went to the Arctic Oasis inside play gym on Elmendorf AFB. Walking is a great asset in all these activities, as he could surely witness, but John is a baby with dignity, and so he ultimately saw fit to take his first steps in the privacy of his own home. He probably figured that any stumbling and falling in Anchorage would have been recorded over and over on his parents' and uncle's cameras. His cousins, while trying to encourage him, would not have hesitated to laugh if John wiped out.

I am so thankful for Doug and Kathleen and their frequent visits up to see us. This one was visit number four, and between seeing each other and their diligence in putting almost every moment of John's life on their website, the distance and separation isn't quite so accute. Thanks, guys. We'll see you in about 11 days.

Yes, we're going down to Seattle. In a grand finale of a very busy winter season, we are heading down south for two weeks. While snow still covers the ground during Spring Break in Alaska, we are going to find some green grass and flowers. We are all looking forward to seeing family and friends, and am praying for health while we are there.