Checked Back In At RIC

Blogging from the carpeted floor of Gate B10 at Richmond International Airport in Virginia. Not still here since the last post, rather here again after a fun few days at my mom & step-dad's "River House" on the Rappahanock in the Northern Neck...

...a peninsula nestled between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers and spilling into the Chesapeake Bay. Our first tourist in 1608, Captain John Smith, referred to it "as a place heaven and earth never agreed better to frame man's habitation." George Washington simply called it "the Garden of Virginia."

Favorite moments:

- canoeing with my brother David on the lagoon

- playing bridge with my brother Paul and my son Jason

- seeing little white jellyfish quietly floating in the water

- getting a grueling thigh workout with my nephew Mark in the paddleboat (that is tough work)

- chilled seedless green grapes eaten on the beach in the very hot & humid sunshine after a salty swim with my mom and brother and son

- getting manicure & pedicure with my mom, my niece Jessica, and my daughter Emily (thank you again, Mom! What a fun treat! I am typing away with my "Spellbound" pink nails)

- playing Cancellation Hearts, O'Hell/O'Well (also known as Up & Down the River), Scattergories, Spoons (various versions, with spoons, cups, cards, and tongues), Nerts, Password, a variation of Big Wind Blows (thank you group-games.com!), mafia, bridge, and other stuff, I'm sure. Oh yeah, for the first time ever, we tried Cancellation O'Hell. Pretty interesting, kind of unwieldy.

- Being driven to and from the airport by my mom, who loves me no matter what and practically shows me the kind of love God has - she's His hands and feet to so many

My brothers are pretty cool; my oldest brother thinks really fast and comes up with interesting comments and questions. He checked on my flight online for me to see if it was on time. My "middle" brother (i.e. he's in the middle) fixed my suitcase wheel (along with my nephew), which had a rock stuck in it, and loaded my suitcases in the car. They both stood on the front step to see me off as my mom drove me to the airport. I feel blessed to know them. Looking forward to seeing you guys again soon somewhere.

Last night unfortunately we had an accident in the kitchen involving a super-sharp knife in the cloudy dishwater...but no doctors or hospitals were required, and the seven healthy people pitched in to take care of the patient, and now my brother David's finger is healing nicely, with his daughter's bandaids, his sister's disinfectant gel, his brother's good First Aid advice remembered from Boy Scout days, his son's strong shoulder, his niece and nephew's gopher service, his mother's quick action and calm spirit, and various people's prayers. Notice you can infer from this that David had been washing the dishes. Good man. Furthermore, our brother Paul then took over and washed the second half of the dishes. Another good man. It was neat to see everyone pull together and how much everyone cares for each other.

Aside: Have you noticed, those of you born in the early 70's, that all of a sudden the U.S. is playing on the radio & in restaurants and airports ALL the MUSICAL POP HITS you listened to when you were in your teens? Stuff they played at school dances and on the Top 40 radio shows? Stuff that was going into your ears as you were figuring out who you were and how to start being more adult-like? It's pretty fun and interesting to explore the feelings the songs bring up. I am just so glad (all the time) that I am no longer "on the market" but rather have been claimed by my sweet husband, and given a permanent home and job as his helpmate. No more wondering if anyone will want me, if there's someone out there who would like me enough to ask me to be his forever.

That's a nice segue to the fact that I am very excited that the two flights scheduled for today are intended to reunite me with my husband after a week apart. He's flying from SFO to LHR while the kids and I fly from RIC via IAD to LHR, arriving within 15 minutes of each other. We'll see how that works out in practice, but it's a neat plan, anyway.

Another cool thing is that on our way out of London Heathrow a month ago, the kids and I registered with the IRIS program, so that hopefully upon our return to the UK we can get through the immigration screening way faster. They just scan our eyes and we walk through. It's supposed to take 20 seconds, and hopefully be a much shorter line than the regular passport checks. I'll let you know how we like it.

What a lovely summer vacation it's been. A week in Charlottesville, VA, a week in Colorado, a week in California, and this past week in White Stone, Virginia. We're making up for having spent the past two summers doing international moves and waiting for visas or learning a language. The kids are very pleased they have another week and a half of rest before starting up school again. I always hated it if we arrived home the day before school started, when I was growing up.

Well, about to board...