A whole new take on cancelled flights

I hadn't considered this particular dilemma, I thought, as I glanced nervously over my shoulder at a snoring Finley in the backseat. Had her foot moved when I ordered? It was hard to tell in the dark with no baby mirror. I really, really did not want her to wake up. She had developed a sudden and violent aversion to her car seat of late, and we still had 3 hours to go. I took my diet coke from the drive-thru attendant and steered the rented Hyundai back toward the interstate. Now that I had ordered it- upon realizing I couldn't leave a baby in a car seat while I ran into a service station for a drink- I was terrified to drink it. If I had to pee, I would have to take her inside with me and she would almost definitely wake up.

I was so thirsty my whole mouth felt dry, but I stared at the untouched diet coke all the way back home. An already-restless Finley woke up every 45 minutes or so and screamed for 15. Just as I was getting ready to give up and pull over each time, she fell back asleep. But I knew that a bathroom trip would do us in, so there would be no whistle-wetting for me. We eventually made it back- to the tune of 2:30 in the morning- and by then my nerves were so shot my hands were actually shaking.

Finley, on the other hand, was just thrilled to be reunited with her Daddy. The picture at right was the scene on the couch at 3am.

We had had a blast in Fayetteville while Seth was throwing in Oklahoma. I had to go to a memorial service Saturday night, so we had flown down Friday and used the opportunity to make the rounds to see old friends in a place I loved and genuinely missed. The flight was a bit of a handful, as Finley doesn't travel light. Nor does she actually do much of this on a plane.


But it was worth it, to get to introduce Finley to friends so close they really are family. Jenn got the remaining members of the O.G. together and we had a great time reminiscing and marveling at how the years have flown since we all first met. We also cracked up at Maggie's "big sister practice," as Hudspeth Baby #2 is on the way. Sharing is an acquired skill, we learned, as sweet little Maggie wailed and gnashed her teeth on the floor at the very thought of Finley playing with toys she had long outgrown. The pink jeep walker was particularly contentious.

They had (mostly) sorted things out in time for a pool date Saturday, at which Maggie did remember how much she had loved her baby float

but magnanimously shared her Annie's graham cracker bunnies. Finley went crazy for them, naturally.

Jenn and Neil watched the little beast and let me go to the memorial kid-free, for which I was grateful. And Finley got to hang out with Brannagh Droz (Finley was cranky, so the visit was not well photographed) and spend a gorgeous morning hanging out on Aunt CJ's boat at her beautiful lakehouse.

She also got to eat the pineapples off of Jackie and Kevin's pizza (not to mention pull the new kitten's tail.)

We were hanging out with Heather and her kids in the gorgeous Governor's Club pool in Chapel Hill when I got the call that our flight home was cancelled and the next available one had two stops and didn't arrive until 5 Monday evening. It's so easy to be flexible when you're traveling alone- "sorry, boss, won't be in tomorrow due to cancelled flight. Guess I'll stick around and drink more beer!"- but it turns out it is gut-wrenching with a 7 month old in tow. Between bottles and diaper changes, I made hysterical phone calls and finally decided reluctantly to make the drive, which required a trip to the airport to swap rental cars and a threat to the Enterprise employees that the first one of them that woke the sleeping baby would be keeping her.

And that's how I found myself staring at a diet coke the whole way up I-95 to DC.

I wouldn't recommend the experience- and I'm pretty sure I have actual PTSD- but remain grateful that we got to catch up with some of my nearest and dearest friends.

Seth didn't have his best throw in Oklahoma, but he is still tinkering with his prosthetic and his form, and he said it was a great learning experience. (He also still threw a really long way.) April took Gunnar to see him throw, which was awesome, and she took some terrific pictures.

Now he's at Nationals in Minneapolis getting ready for this weekend's event, and Finley and I are making do on a truly crazy week (which involved my first-ever ball drop on a work commitment due to daycare issues, a rather awful rite of passage. There was a mixup with her shot records and they refused to let me drop her off until I sat fuming with a cranky baby for an hour waiting for patient records to open and produce a copy. I was livid and deeply embarrassed.)

Luckily, I have good friends to remind me that it will not be the last time this happens, and it's not the end of the world. At least, as Sara pointed out, Finley didn't require staples in her head. So there's that.

As for this week's photos, I love this one of Finley in her pool at Ana & Ata's (who again saved my week with Finley-sitting on a cranky teething day and a bonus of one of Mom's amazing pizzas.)

And this was one of the hilarious outtakes from Finley and Maggie's pool date. Sunglasses fail.