A Mommy Story

Sigh.

Yesterday at this time I was walking along the beach in Virginia, soaking up the warm sunshine, feeling the cool breeze wrap around me, and dipping my feet in the fucking cold chipper Atlantic ocean without a care in my head.

Today? Not 24 hours later, I’m back in Ohio, sitting in my windowless office on a cold and rainy day, staring at my computer as I return e-mails and phone calls from students, attempting to stay awake with only one small can of Diet Coke.

Aaron’s stage combat workshop finished at 6pm last night, which is when we started on the drive for home. We knew it was going to be a long drive, although we didn’t plan on the periods of heavy rain that we had to pass through in the mountains. Nothing like flying down a 7% grade on the side of a mountain in the pouring rain to scare the hell out of you and keep you awake.

(Oh, and I would like to thank Coca-Cola, the makers of Vault. This blessed drink is a large part of the reason we made it home without stopping to nap.)

Luckily the drive was uneventful. Thanks to my good eyesight, even the opossum we encountered in Road Kill Alley lived to see another night. We pulled into the driveway at 3:30am, and we were both asleep by 3:40am.

It really hit me this morning just how much I missed Cordelia. When I woke up, my first desire was to race downstairs to see her. I quickly got dressed and walked down the stairs. Cordy’s back was to the stairs, so I quietly crept up to her to surprise her. As I got close, she turned to look at me, showed me the crayon in her hand with a half-smile, and then turned back to her coloring book. “I think the cats missed you more than she did,” my mom said in response. (She may be right – the cats were practically climbing up us when we walked in the door last night.)

While I’m a little sad that Cordy seemed to show little interest in seeing her mother, who was away from her for several days, I am glad to be back home. I spent an hour this morning sharing my breakfast with her and just sitting quietly beside her while she colored.

I wanted to share a few more pics of the trip. These are from yesterday – I spent more time at the beach, and also visited the Virginia Aquarium. While the aquarium was largely disappointing, there were a few good exhibits, including sharks and giant sea turtles.

The highlight of my day was petting a sting ray. I had no idea that they’re just slimy puppy dogs – the rays in the tank enjoyed being stroked and touched by all of the eager hands.

(Ah hell, I just realized how awful I look in that pic. Self-portraits are never flattering, are they?)