181.2 My Very Own Haboob

Watch this youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W4Cx44XKZ4) and you'll see what a haboob is all about. We missed it by one day, but flying into Phoenix was really creepy. The sky was gray but not cloudy. The mountains were indistinct and bleak looking. Our car, parked in the covered parking structure, was coated with dirt and grime and as we left the airport, the atmosphere of the city and road was more like that of a background scene in a disaster movie rather than reality.

What you see in the video is the slow unrelenting progress of this dust storm reported to be 60 miles wide and 10,000 feet high - very scary. When I got on the scale this morning the slow unrelenting progress of weight gain was also very scary. I thought about not writing at all today in hopes that if I waited until tomorrow I wouldn't have to confess to this weight gain. But I need to smack myself with what I've done, my own personal haboob. Oh, I can rationalize it all that I want to, but that doesn't change the new reality. (I had even brought my travel scale with me, but somehow just never chose to unpack it and can't even begin to explain that!) What's really interesting as I step back and think about what really went on during the past two weeks in regard to my weight is that compliments came from so many people I thought I could get away with not staying with the program. But I've been covered with the results of not staying present and aware so that now I'm in a state of disbelief and fear - a little like my feelings as we flew into Phoenix yesterday. Things are different now.

Our daughter MIranda with Zuzu

But, we had a wonderful time in Boston, getting acquainted with the most beautiful little girl in the world. Susannah had a rough beginning but she is thriving now under the exquisite care of her parents and doctors. Being born with a milk protein allergy was not part of the script that we had all expected to be played out. She's beginning to plump, and has the best temperament in the whole world, and no, she didn't get that from me!

One more thing :)... in the airport restroom I found this bouquet of flowers!

How could anyone not look at that and not smile. Is this an only in Boston moment?

177.8 An Important Conversation

Tomorrow we leave for Boston to meet little Susannah! There's so much I want to tell her about her world. I remember holding my grandsons when they were newborns and having this conversation with each of them. It's about how much they are already loved, how special they are, and how happy we are to have the chance to enjoy them as members of our family. It's about the aunts and uncles (including greats) and cousins who are all so special who want to share their worlds with her. I've got so much to tell Susannah. And if she falls asleep while I'm telling her how excited I am to get to know her in my lifetime, I'll just keep talking. This is an important conversation :).

So, I may write a few posts while we are in Boston. Please keep checking in. There might even be a picture or two!