Backtrackin' to Carolina in my Mind

After a wonderful holiday in Arizona, our little family went to the airport and headed in opposite directions: Chris went home to snowy Tri-Cities, while Ally and I continued on to North Carolina. I am very grateful (as are some of our friends and family) to Chris for his flexibility and willingness to pimp me out for babysitting duties and showing-off Ally purposes. This wasn't the first time in recent history that he's been left home alone to fend for himself. We aren't sure what Chris did for those 2 weeks, since he didn't blog and he didn't take any pictures. Of course, I am sure it was utterly boring without us kicking around the house and keeping him up late at night.

Anyway, here's the beginning of a (long) overdue summary of what I and our little globe-trotting munchkin were up to . . .

The whole reason we ended up in Carolina last month was because of a good friend Margaret and her insanely crazy notion that I would be the perfect substitute mother. (Some people are just too trusting with their children!) And so the plan was hatched.

Margaret and Tom got some much-needed relaxation and re-bonding while cruising the Gulf of Mexico with old friends. Emma Jane, Matthew, Ally, and I did some re-bonding of our own while trying not to burn the house down.

Ally seemed to enjoy having 2 older siblings to chase her around and tell her what to do; she also enjoyed chasing 2 older dogs around and telling them what to do. It was during this part of our journey that Ally started speaking in sentences and commands. Emma and Matthew's favorite Allyisms? "No means no!" and "Oh my goodness!"

I didn't take too many pictures during our week in Pinehurst. Ally and her pseudo-siblings did, however most of them didn't quite turn out. I wonder why . . .



While at their house, Ally started frequently asking to call Daddy. It warmed my heart to watch her pick up the phone, get excited to hear Chris' voice on the other end, and then start jabbering away about the days events. He could probably only understand about half of it--usually something to do with Mickey Mouse or the doggies--but I'm sure he appreciated hearing her voice too.

Most of my time in Pinehurst was spent playing Minivan Momma, but I was able to sneak away and visit a few friends during the school day. (I'm posting these 2 pictures of Uncle Mike here to see if he's made any progress with using the Internet and if he remembers how to get to our blog. We love you, Mike!) I even took Ally back to Hospice, where I was offered a telecommuting job and Ally got one last dance with Charlotte. Margaret also let me borrow the car one last time (thanks, Mom!) when they got back so Ally and I could make an unannounced guest appearance at our old church congregation. We wish we could've seen more people and spent more time with our "extended family" in Moore County. We promise to return soon on a true vacation, and next time we'll be dragging Chris along with us.

After packing up our things, and not-so-conveniently leaving our coats hanging by the door, Margaret and Emma drove us up to our next stop: Chapel Hill. My dearest tempestuous, tantalizing, tempting, titillating, teasing Taunja-- so sorry we only had a few hours. I could've stayed at your house forever: playing with your hair, listening to your vocabulary-rich stories and ponderings, and stuffing my face (and Ally's) with your fabulous cookie dough. I didn't even have enough time to make you wheeze. . .