I‘m in a better place. Much. I hate fighting and I hate being cooped up in a messy home, and both those situations have changed. Not to mention I got to hold a baby. (Really, there’s hardly anything that can’t be solved for me if an infant is nearby.)

The Vaders came over yesterday for Rock Band. We spent the morning cleaning, shampooing carpets, buying bags of snacks and cartons of drinks, and getting the play pen out. Mark and Nancy have a five month old named Audrey, and when they brought her in from the car, Elias peered into the infant carrier. “Her skin isn’t brown,” he announced, bewildered. They were bewildered, too, until I explained that the only other Audrey he knows is my friend, who is half-Vietnamese. “All Audreys don’t look the same,” I had to inform him. He also said the Vaders weren’t “old like grandparents”, which– I don’t even know. Mark joked that they were a disappointment all over the place– wrong age, wrong color.

We had a really genuinely nice visit. Rock Band only occupied about a sixth or less of the total time together– mostly we sat around the dining room table, eating and gossiping and cooing over the baby. I think I sort of teetered between Friendly Mom Who Loves Babies, and Creepy Lady Who is About to Gank Your Child. I was all, “I’ll feed her! I’ll hold her! I’ll sing her lullabies! Her head smells SO GOOD! Have you smelled her head lately? HAVE YOU? SHE IS DELICIOUS!” They indulged me– graciously. Baby Audrey indulged me too. I know the cold sweat of being a new parent and feeling like your infant is about to burst into a screaming, hysterical inferno at any minute, but Audrey was on perfect behaviour. I’m not just saying that because they’ll probably read this. Heh. She really was. Later that night, I told Jason, “OHHH I MISS THAT.” He could tell where the conversation was heading, and he was like, “Yes, she was adorable– you want to talk about our tax refund?” Me: “HER HANDS. HER EYES. THE LITTLE GURGLES!” Jason: “I was thinking… new television.” Me: “HER LITTLE TINY JACKET!” Jason: “Hey, you want a drink?”

Jason loves babies as long as he’s not paying for them. (He just read this over my shoulder and was like, “Jason loves babies WHAT?” Now he’s laughing.)

I really want to revamp this site. I’m hoping to do something for Ali soon, and then my main project is bringing the blog back. I’ve been putting it on the backburner for the winter. Now that the sun is out again, I’m feeling rejuvenated. Money is in the bank, kids are in school– I’m going to get a new computer, hopefully– one that actually connects to my camera so I don’t have to keep long, convoluted workarounds– I’ll get a cell phone that does updates so I can Twitter every.single.aspect of my life– I’m going to do it up. If I’m not getting my baby, at least I can get my electronics.