Dollar Mountain

Sometimes I forget how beautiful it is here.  I get lost in the awesomeness of Maine and forget about these mountains. We're in Sun Valley with Ferris' family. Last night after I showered away a fabulous day but just before dinner, I walked to the top of the hill.  The sunset above Dollar Mountain was spectacular.

Americana

It feels weird to post such a straight forward picture of us all posed and smiling and oozing Americana. I cringe a little, but then I realize that, in fact, what you see is what you get, and what you're getting is pretty damn cute so...there you have it. We're Americana. Uhhum, I just vomited in my mouth a smidge.

Plus, it turns out I have really great hair in New Orleans.

I want to pause for a second and talk about the oil spill and how, for a few short days, I spent some time with people who are most affected by it. Thing is, you would have never known it.  It reminded me very much of the time I spent in South Africa. Although the circumstances are entirely different, the people exuded a similar sense of community, a similar sense of strength in their togetherness.  No one was depressed, at least outwardly, and no one seemed to be interested in self-pity.  Instead, I saw people eating delicious traditional food saying, "We better eat it up while we still can."All of this fortitude in the face of negligent billion dollar companies who couldn't give a shit about them.

I don't mean to lesson the significance of their experience, and I don't think they did either. It's unfair of me to think I have any idea what they might be going through. That said, I was deeply impressed by their resilience and ability to rise and rise again. It's a culture of celebration, one which seemed to understand the importance of community.

Traveling with our brood is an enormous pain in the ass, but I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.  Watching Eva experience the world for the first time is a total kick.  Soon, Miles will get to experience the same stuff, but for now his universe consists of to two large orbs located on my chest.

Brownie never saw it coming

I returned from my brother's wedding in Utah late Saturday evening. It was an absolutely fabulous wedding (BTWs, my toast was off the hook), but as I walked up the sidewalk to my front door it took all my strength not to drop to my knees to kiss the red and yellow leaves that had fallen at my door step while I was away. The air was crisp with fall, the quintessential Halloween feeling peeking around the corner, and my house...oh, you guys...my house. More and more each time I return from a trip, I get a strange and comforting feeling that this will be my home for a very long time. Perhaps a very, very long time. The magic of those gorgeous protective mountains in the west will always hold a place in my heart, but Maine has become my home. The ocean has become my sanctuary.

I flew through Chicago on my way to Portland, however, it seems my luggage had a different itinerary and somehow found itself in PIA. Where is PIA, you ask? I had the same question. At 11pm, swollen from travel, exhausted beyond belief, I waddled up to the baggage desk and politely informed the baggage dude about my plight. Right next to me stood an overly animated and thoroughly pissed off queen shouting and rolling his eyes and wanting very much to bash some heads together. When the baggage dude informed me that my luggage was in Peoria, the whole situation catapulted into another stratosphere of bizarro and I burst into uncontrollable laughter. Friggin' Peoria? My eyes started watering, my already super-stretched abdominal muscles started to ache, and I laughed...I heaved...I shook with cackles as the queen and the baggage dude stared at me like I was out of my mind. Yes, you turds, I'm totally and completely out of my mind.

But I'd rather be laughing than crying, so count yourselves lucky.

I'm going to post some of my favorite pics from the wedding tomorrow. Until then, I'll leave you with a very special video. This is what happens when you leave a pregnant woman and a plate of brownies unattended.

Brownie Never Saw It Coming from Stephanie on Vimeo.

Dreaming of Squirrel Island

Squirrel Island is one of the magical places that makes living in Maine absolutely irresistible for us. Our dear friends have been going there for more years than you can count on all fingers and toes. Our last trip was several years ago as Ferris and I were well into our desperate attempt to get pregnant with Eva. It was an overcast, lazy weekend which all the pictures reflect. We drank a lot of coffee, stayed up late, slept in, and read books for hours wrapped up in the hammock overlooking the ocean. It was one of our last luscious, childless vacations.

This trip was different, and I can't help but notice how the pictures reflect that change. The weather was bright, 'energetic' children abound, and me feeling more pregnant than I would have liked. I had trouble playing outside in the sun for extended periods of time, drinking gallons of water but never feeling hydrated. Eva had a fever for the first two days and had lots of trouble sleeping. The magic of Squirrel was still ever-present. Spending days with our buddies was a treat beyond words, but our ability to wallow in all of it just wasn't going to happen in the same way. In a billion different ways, Eva and the little peanut swimming in my belly have changed our lives forever.

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The incontinence of growing pains

Hey, folks. Greetings from Pocasmello, land of the free and home of the brave. The heartland, if you will. Saturday morning, we boarded a plane in Boston and flew our cute little tushes westward. Truthfully, we've only been in Pocasmello for a very short time.

Most of our time has been spent in Salt Lake City with Ferris' family, and then Ferris and I stole away for a decadent 36 hours in Sun Valley. Note in the iPhone pic below, I'm desperately trying to snap a lovers moment while Ferris is glued to the Monday night pre-season football game...per the usual.

Yesterday morning, we found ourselves lazily wondering through our favorite local bookstore, Iconoclast, when I ran smack into this...

No kidding, I almost wet my pants in a completely pregnancy-unrelated way. An aside: Whenever Ferris and I see something on TV featuring the family with 18 biological children, the first and only thing Ferris says is, "There's not one chance that poor woman can hold her pee." Listen, I'm on number two and have already felt some of those effects. SOME, I said. I can't even imagine.

Anyhooters, with the strong prospect of losing my job in two months, I've been searching inward and looking back on the New Year's Intentions I made earlier this year...specifically Part Three. There's so much up in the air...so many unknowns that may not resolve themselves for some time. Until they do, I'm holding onto my belly and trying my best to see this uncertainty as an opportunity to grow. Grow in which direction? Only time will tell.