A Long Overdue Meeting

Megan and Paige met Christine for the first time on Friday. It wasn't as if Christine and I haven't corresponded since college. We IM each other about once a week. It wasn't as if we live far from each other either. Christine lives in DC which is less than two hours from Dover, and we travel there frequently. Also, if Christine goes to the beach, she basically drives past our town. Christine had never met my family before simply because of bad timing. If one of us was in the other's neighborhood, the other one was usually out of town or busy.

So anyway, this meeting finally happened and I also finally got to meet Christine's fiance Justin. We went out for dinner and all basically ordered the same beer and meal (well, Justin's choices stood out. Paige's too.) It was a beautiful day weather-wise and we took advantage of that by walking by the shops of Dupont Circle, Megan even purchased Paige a new book. I certainly hope we see more of the couple soon, but realistically our next meeting may be their wedding in October.

By the way, earlier that day we took Paige to the National Mall. We have pictures of her in the Museum of Natural History and on the carousel outside (slide show or set.) We noticed Paige gets irritated inside museums and being outdoors instantly has a calming effect on her. She's a Spring baby after-all, having spent the first three months of her life outdoors.

mp3: "Fake Empire" by the National

Too Bad It Didn't Work Out

(Disclaimer: The following blog entry references an unfortunate situation that occurred between multiple parties. Like any event of that nature, there is more than one side to the story. What is written represents only my side.)

So, Sheri left. Yeah, Megan's sister had originally intended to stay through October, but that plan was cut short and she went back to San Diego. Apparently, I was too mean. I barely spoke a word to her during her last two weeks here.

Prior to those two weeks, I was "shhh'ed" mid-sentence on more than one occasion. I figured that keeping quiet was what was expected of me, so I stopped talking. At least, I was avoiding conflict. Honestly, I thought those two weeks of silence were going really well. Then Megan confronted me and told me that my not talking to Sheri wasn't very nice. I saw her point. The silent treatment could be very isolating. So for the next few days, I said a little "hi" and "bye" and chatted about some non-controversial topics. Despite that, on Tuesday when I woke up from my post-work nap, Sheri was gone.

Really, I didn't think she left because I was too mean. Something about Sheri's sudden departure didn't quite fit that reason. Paige's 1st birthday was less than two weeks away. Since Sheri lived across the country, unable to attend most family functions, I figured she would put up with me for a few more days to make her sister and niece happy. I believed that something in San Diego (i.e. job or housing opportunity) was pulling her back, more than my actions were pushing her away from here. Anyway, that was a theory only. There was no way for me to know her motivations for sure because... well... we weren't speaking much.

I asked Hue about this and, almost immediately, he responded that I could be pretty cold. There definitely was truth to that. However, was my behavior the sole factor in driving someone away from family and a rent-free housing situation? If that was true, then I'm sorry.

There were some positives to Sheri being here. Chief among them was that Paige really liked spending time with her aunt. Too bad it didn't work out. We hope she's happy out west.

mp3: "Ray of Zdarlight" by the Avalanches

A Vacation At Home

My sister Mary and her family (husband Long and kids Alexander, Kaitlyn and Sarah) all visited us yesterday. We had a blast. In the morning, the kids played on Paige's new swing set. That afternoon, the whole family went house-shopping with us. (Megan and I are thinking of moving, but more on that later.) We even went out for ice cream. Mary commented that the visit felt like a day of vacation, with playing in the morning and site-seeing and eating out in the afternoon.


They're a fun group to house-shop with, since they're so vocally enthusiastic about every home they see and they're very direct about the pros and cons of each. Paige took to having guests really well. Even if she couldn't keep up with her older cousins Alexander and Kaitlyn, she enjoyed watching them. She was much more low-maintenance than usual when she had her cousins to entertain her. We should make it a point to see Mary and Long more. We even considered having another child to keep Paige company (not yet, though!).

mp3: "North American Scum" by LCD Soundsystem

April Snow Showers

After a busy night shift, the last thing I wanted to do was dust snow off my car. More interestingly, in April, it was the last thing I expected to do. However, a snow-covered car was exactly what greeted me this Spring morning in the parking lot.

So snow in April isn't that unusual if you live in Quebec, but here in Delaware it was. We had some snow-covered flowers in our front yard. I thought that looked kind of neat, so I took some pictures.


By the way, I ended up going to Washington DC with Paige, Megan and the in-laws last week. It turned out to be quite tiring, especially since I had to work that evening. But I'm glad I went. I'm especially glad I didn't wait for this week to go. That would have been cold. Here are some pictures from last weeks trip. (slideshow or set)
mp3:"Keep the Car Running" by Arcade Fire