I’m sorry I’ve been absent.
Life, you know. Busy, but also lazy at times. Beautiful and messy. A July filled with birthday parties, sleepovers, camps, backyard snakes black and green, learning, meetups, birthy moments, teaching, a few meltdowns (me) and tantrums (kids).
Norah received her first kayak so we’ve spent some days paddling as a family.
School continues. We do year-round to allow for slumps when we escape to beaches or mountains or simply spend days eating popcorn and watching movies.
There was a giant pause during the last two weeks when it was possible that I would go to Bangkok, Phnom Penh, or Singapore. My brother-in-law‘s health was dicey and Noelle needed help. Her sweet soon-to-be two year old was nursing like a newborn round the clock. In the end, my mom was chosen to go to Singapore. Her layover in Hong Kong coincided with Typhoon Vicente and after some delay, she arrived.
I have a bad feeling she’s going to inadvertently break a rule like spit out her gum and she will be fined or caned.
Right now, it looks like my brother-in-law might have Tropical Sprue. Have you ever heard of this? Me neither. I’m fairly certain it is something Ernest Hemingway coined. Along the lines of malaise or consumption. It is old-fashioned and tres missionary-esque. Thankfully, it is treatable.
In the meantime, I attended a birth at which I was entirely superfluous. While I want that to be the case, it is still hard to admit when I’m not at all necessary. You know a birth is amazing when the doula isn’t needed.
Speaking of doulas, there is a local doula who needs to attend a birth in August to complete her certification. Do you know someone who cannot afford a doula or would be willing to invite a doula to serve?
What else? I have two spaces remaining for my Aug/Sept Hypnobabies class.
Come see me Saturday at the Blessingway!
Inexplicable Ways 
Surely you are not speaking of my birth because superfluous is not the word I would have used to describe your role. In fact, my mom, Josh and I were incredulous when you said you didn’t do anything. And Josh, who agreed to hire a doula because I wanted to even though he didn’t personally think I needed one? He just may have said right after you left the birth, “She was worth every penny.” Yep, he sure did.