So, about that wedding...

 As we made our way up a gravel road to the rehearsal dinner I could still hear a faint rumble of thunder in the background, smell that distinct scent rain leaves behind and feel the layers of humidity sealing in the heat brought in earlier that day -- all evidence that a strong storm had recently passed through.  Though I enjoy the thrill and child-like excitement summertime storms so often deliver, I was relieved to have escaped the show that night.  The Foy Family had just endured their own storm – a six hour storm and the threat of an encore performance was uninvited to say the least.  While our storm may not have consisted of any electrifying weather phenomena, it did involve successive events that included (but were not limited to ) a frustrating attempt to submit a research paper while traveling down a pot-hole ridden interstate, trusting our GPS just enough to make a key wrong turn,  enduring DC gridlock at its finest, and encountering an individual who, in that fine DC traffic, proceeded to style his hair using his rearview mirror for literally 5 miles (which at this point was equal to about 45 minutes of self-grooming).  James was a trooper the whole trip up.  That means he slept for all but the last 20 minutes of the car ride and the one hour stop at Wendy’s for lunch/paper submission.  We were about a half an hour late to dinner, but so was most of the wedding party (ironically, both were due to earlier “storms”). 

 

You know how in the middle of one of those summertime storms the torrential downpour suddenly stops and the Sun pokes out from behind the clouds and you forget all about the fact gale force winds were just about to toss you into the Land of Oz? 

Well, that’s kind of like Eddie’s family.   Not in a pretend it never happen kind of way, but the kind of a way where you have so much fun catching up and swapping stories about daycare disasters and 'Big Green Eggs' (if you haven't heard of a Big Green Egg you need to google it) that you really forget how frustrated you were just hours before.

I looked back at the pictures tonight I didn’t really remember our trip up to Baltimore being so difficult.  I actually wrote that part almost a month ago when my car still had Puffs and Cheerios scattered all over the seats -- and when I sincerely believed that I would have a free moment to finish my thoughts for this post in an acceptable amount of time after Colin and Jess’ wedding.  Which brings me to the point of the long winded post…



For the record I did not take this picture...Eddie and I were recovering from chasing James all over the back of the church during the ceremony.  But it's my favorite picture so I had to share it.



Wherever they go the Campbell’s are guaranteed to have a good time.  We started early, picking up right where we had all left off at Thanksgiving and stayed up late filling each other in on everything from new jobs and promotions to how to get your kid to stay out of the trashcan or take pictures with your I-phone (jack-jack may be the next Mark Zuckerberg).   Even in a short span of about 3 days we managed to close a hotel bar down, chat with Art Donavan, and take over the Crowne Plaza’s swimming pool all while making it through one of the hottest weekends Baltimore may have ever seen (I have no statistics to back that up…only pure speculation).    

And of course there was a fabulous wedding ceremony in the most gorgeous church I’ve ever seen and a reception that rocked. 





The reception site was absolutely gorgeous. 





 I don’t know that I have ever been to a wedding where at times there were more kids (and babies) on the dance floor than adults.  Again the Campbell’s are guaranteed to have a good time.  Every time I looked out onto the dance floor there was as mess of cousins and second cousins and aunts and uncles and grandmamas and papas(and yippie and gimpy if you're Jack Jack or Janie Campbell)—and love galore. 

 Since that weekend I’ve slowly returned to reality and all those mundane tasks that just have to get done – laundry, daycare drop-off, yard work, daycare pick-up, and the list goes on and on then circles back around for the next week.  And that’s okay too – there’s something to be said about a routine even if it is boring.  But it’s things like weddings and a cousins and closing down hotel bars.

 

So, one month later...
Congradulations Colin and Jess

FoyTales: Busy...

FoyTales: Busy...: With the house demanding a cleaning, the dog overdue for a bath (even with a recent grooming Max still smells like an odd combination of swe...

Busy...

With the house demanding a cleaning, the dog overdue for a bath (even with a recent grooming Max still smells like an odd combination of sweat and mildew), a thousand emails to respond to, a million more to just read through, a lovely pile of patient referral forms just waiting for a particularly disinterested pharmacy student to review every medication listed (and provide a very detailed summary of each drug as well as information about each of the – oooohhhh I don’t know – maybe 6 to 10 disease states  listed on each sheet), a pile of laundry – some clean, some dirty – in almost every room in my house (a house that still needs to be cleaned),  and a little one with a “ TRIFECTA”, which includes teething, an ear infection, and a cold…anyway…I did what any other mom on the verge of a complete meltdown would do…

I turned off my computer and turned on the bath water

I grabbed a magazine – not my dorky Scientific America that I typically read on a low key night – a trashy one with Kim Kardashian and her over-the-top wedding, Lindsey Lohan scandals, and my personal favorite, Teen Mom updates.

I kicked away rubber alligators, poured in at least twice as much Elmo Sensitive Skin Bubble Bath as the bottle suggested, and sank.

Because I needed a break.

It didn’t matter that it wasn’t a trip to Caribbean or even that it only lasted a little under an hour.  It sufficed.

If you haven’t already noticed due to my lack of recent posts, I’ve been busy…Rushing to complete assignments, Staying up late to plan a Mickey Mouse birthday party, Giving a huge yet uninspiring presentation in the midst of an earthquake, Pushing James around our house in a big inflatable duck (which used to be his bathtub until he outgrew it), trying to run more, wanting to write more and surely needing to sleep more…and, to be completely honest, I’ve loved every moment.  Not so much the fact that I had a Zombie-like expression on my face when I picked James up from daycare last week or the look that the Toys-R-Us lady gave me the fourth time I came through her line because I forgot something the first three times.  It's the thrill of trying to balance it all that I enjoy and the adventures that evolve when we can’t get it just right.  And I love being a family and a mom through all the chaos.

When James was born I wasn’t really sure how I would juggle everything, I just knew that I needed to do it…and figure out the “how” part later.   So, while it may not be working out perfectly, it’s working out.  James will sometimes break away and zip down the hall to the bedroom where I’m doing schoolwork plow through the door then peek out from behind the corner with a big grin that says, “See what I did while Daddy wasn’t looking?”  Other times he helps me move clothes from the washer to dryer or watches me vacuum the rug while I mumble something about Max and fur and shedding too much.  There have been days where running meant chasing James down after a bath, when fast food lunches were the most favorable option, and when blog posts – though written – just didn’t get posted. 

At the end of a long day (or a long month in my opinion) it feels good to sit back, take a break and know that even though you may slip and bust your tail as soon as you set foot outside of the bathtub, you’ve still pulled it off and made it work…and that’s how this little family of four does it(just to be clear Max the DOG is included as a family member in this calculation).  We work then we become exhausted and complain that everything should slow down, but bubble baths with trashy magazines are so much better amid a whirlwind of excitement because that’s when we need them most. 

So, while it has been busy, it has been good.  Things will eventually slow down, which we will all welcome with open arms.  We’ll have time to read Goodnight Moon three times instead of only two or spend a lazy Sunday morning in our PJ’s rolling toy trucks through the house.  And with any luck I’ll carve out a little extra time to share all of it.  More posts to come shortly…