Under the New Mexican Sun (part one)

um, this post has taken three days to craft. Ignore the kids and the sunshine and just spit it out, Grace.

1. the theme of the trip for Sebastian has been: freak at any given moment for no reason at all.
2. attachment grandparenting
3. Julia was telling Bash the "plant" for the day and Bash is like, "Dad poured me into Theo's shorts. Everything else is I don't care."

4. Simon gave Theo a bath and I really hope that utensil is just a spoon ...
5. attachment aunting
6. Someone's having a tough time switching back to daytime living ... old age'll getcha

7. the mountain will only be photographed with a blurry human in the foreground. photography tutorials all over the internet haunt me. I know.
8. Simon was upset he forgot his "swim shirt"
9. $ shot. (Kidding, calm down.)

Let's bold and categorize everything flying around my nog ...

the flights: weren't that bad! Ranking in order from most poorly behaved to the best behaved: Bash, Simon, Theo, Julia, and Grace. Simon + airports have a complicated relationship. It's like we switch personalities and he goes from the most laid back human on the face of the planet to a Grace Patton (not laid back, never laid back, rarely fun). I'm normally the antsy and paranoid half of the relationship so it's all very entertaining and when we (always) make it to our gates with miles of minutes to spare -- it's very hard not to give him the smug, "I told you so .... " look. I mostly resist. I think he missed a flight once so his PTSD is real and understandable but when he starts barking up trees at 6:45 on Saturday morning about our flight that's leaving at 9:05 .... look OUT. (Simon approved this paragraph by stating, "we can't have people thinking I'm a saint.")

So.

The kids bad mood blips were fortuitously timed as other passengers were boarding our flights and neither flight was full so - rows to ourselves!!! Halleluiah. The biggest hiccup came when Sebastian thought the gentleman behind us was definitely, "grandpa!!!" ... and the man looked to be about the age that it might be insulting to be mistaken for someone's gramps so luckily the faux granddad was open-mouthed sleeping and Sebastian's garble can be understood by almost zero humans SO ... no harm no foul blahblah.

Ah. And when Julia absolutely had had had to use the bathroom and so she dropped jeggings and Superman unders ( boys unmentionables are always thicker - better to absorb a teeny tiny accident on the go) in the middle of the terminal ... we made it to the bathroom and she went the entire day accident-free (if that sounds sort of braggy - I'm sorry! I never knew these milestones would be so life changing .... truly) so we'll just sweep her stint as an exhibitionist under the rug. 

the weather: sexy talk. I now remember why I kept a sparkly Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers attached to my key chain at all times in high school. Not because I was the queen of the coolias but because if you don't moisturize your lips every 23 seconds in the desert then your lips will chap, crack, and probably fall off. I have no other complaints about the glorious weather other than the fact that going running (.06 miles - and I'm sore - really sore - it's the altitude!!!!!!!!!!) at 7:48 will leave you chattering despite the leggings and long sleeves you don BUT by 11am you'll be slathering on the SPF or risk death by sunburn after 10 minutes of sun exposure.

the culture: I was driving behind a Jeep this morning that was rocking a Harley Davidson spare tire cover but also donned a "Namaste" bumper sticker directly underneath. I love the Land of Enchantment.



Much, much more to come. I miss you all.


Yes, even YOU.