Eastbound and down...

Eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin'
We gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there
I'm eastbound just watch ol'Bandit run...

Hey kids,

Tomorrow (rather, later today... Momma's been in the caffeine again and is sitting here wide awake in the wee hours), you come home to me.

I've only cried once in your absence -- finally, three days ago, when I passed that statue of the Pony Express guy out at the intersection of 88 and 395. I remembered that time that you asked me, Jakob, how statues are made, that one in particular. I told you that I didn't know exactly, but that I would look it up on the computer and get back to you. And of course I didn't, even though you asked me if I had read up on it yet, every time we passed it on the road. But I've thought about you and missed you more every day. I just knock around by myself on weekends -- doin' stuff, sure -- but always thinking how much cooler things would be if you were there, too.

I visited last week and got my kidlet fix over a long weekend of fun stuff. We spent the night in Monterey and went to the aquarium, where I think you are both finally old enough to enjoy and appreciate the sea life on display, rather than being overwhelmed by the crowds and the sheer novelty of being away from home.

We had dinner on the wharf and ran into the Mythbuster guys:



Of course I didn't have my camera, but wouldn't that have been cool to get a picture of the two of you with them. Damn. We spent Saturday in Santa Cruz with your Aunt Laurie, taking a cruise around the bay in a boat:



And defying death hundreds of thousands of feet over the Boardwalk on the Sky Glider:





Here's a link to more photos, if you're so inclined.

Since then, I've returned home to my life as a model citizen, with my daily two-mile hikes and boring-ass You On A Diet fare. Discovered some places I want to take the both of you (swimming at Kiva Beach in Tahoe, splashing at the River Walk in Reno, Faye Luther Trail down the road on 88) and I want to start carting you around immediately, but sounds like Jakob is sick, so we want to get him home and well as soon as possible. We'll talk about why you're sick in another post. It warrants a rant all its own...

My master list of crap I needed to get done while you were gone was completed, save one item: the back yard. I finished up cleaning and decluttering my bathroom today, tossing a couple of large trash bags of stuff: old clothes, old toiletries, etc. A few items were painful to part with: a couple of bottles of leftover Domperidone from back in the ol' nursing days, the potty seat that fits over the regular seat that Wavy seemed to need for only a few days before she was big-girl enough to go without it.

Have watched a ton of redbox and netflix the past few days: The Crazies, The White Ribbon, The Last Station, The Story of Anne Frank, Season One of Party Down; have gone to the theaters to see Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and tonight, my last kid-free night, went to see the new Twilight movie.

Started this new summer blockbuster, and am enthralled, less than 30 pages in:



With all this other, more pressing, shit going on, just could not get it together enough to tackle the back yard, so hopefully you guys can help me with this line item this weekend before we head out for the funner stuff.

Hope coming home doesn't suck too, too much for you. I know Grandma and Grandpa can be fun as all get-out... but I will try my best. Love you, be safe on the road, and can't wait to see you when I get home from work tomorrow.