Why Do I Live in Michigan Again?

Our trip to DC this past weekend was great.  I know you were worried, so I'll reassure you: there were no diaper-leakage incidents on the plane.  Or anywhere else, for that matter.  We even got wicked-lucky and had three seats to ourselves on both flights, even though we'd only paid for two.*

We were in the capital-town for about forty-eight hours, and it was exactly long enough: we left while we were still having fun, but we didn't feel shorted on time.  Our friends were completely taken with Camilla, natch, and spent two days doting on her.  She was pretty fond of them too, especially our host.   Here's a picture of him - or his hand, anyway - about to tickle her.

They offered outings like museums or the zoo, but we declined on the grounds that we'd rather spend the time playing Dance Dance Revolution on their XBox.

Ha, not really, although we did play a lot of it, and we are really bad.  We declined on the grounds that Camilla is fifteen months old and cannot tell the difference between a coyote at the zoo and the neighbors' dog pooping in our front yard.  And guess which one of those things is easier and less expensive to see?  Also, I hate the zoo.

To assuage our feelings of guilt about flying five hundred miles just to sit around playing video games, we did take Milla on a walk, and visited the playground of the elementary school down the street.  This, as you can imagine, was absolutely thrilling for the toddler.  She found a stick on the ground!  AND we let her push the empty stroller around the basketball court!  It was the best day ever!

Cute, right?  But like so many first-time parents, we committed Outerwear Overkill.  I don't blame myself because I'm used to Michigan winter temperatures, but still: Milla was wearing overalls and a long-sleeved shirt, a fleece hoodie, a hat and mittens, and her coat, and it was FORTY degrees outside.  When we got back she was all sweaty underneath.  Poor girl.

The highlight of the trip for me was the chance to meet a fellow blogger with whom I've corresponded for a while, but whom I'd never met in person.  SoCo is awesome - we went to brunch and didn't stop talking for three hours, and I felt like we could have kept going for three more without the slightest bit of trouble.  I'm her biggest fan now, and I'm not taking a single DC trip again without seeing her.

I realized after I met SoCo (and talked Bryan's ear off for the next three days about how great she is) that I've now had eight in-person meetings with friends from the Internet, and every single meeting has been a positive experience.  I'm not the type of person who is friends with *everyone*.  I have a lot of friendly acquaintances but just a handful of good friends, and there's not once been a time when I met eight people in a row and thought I could be good friends with all of them.  Now, I know they're self-selected in advance because we've already discovered common ground online, but still: with every single person I've met from the Internet, I felt I could be really good friends with her if we just lived close enough.  Especially SoCo, who is lucky she doesn't live within five miles of me, because she would never get rid of me.  Seriously.  I would put up a tent on her front lawn.

Since I can't do that, I'm thinking about packing myself in Bryan's suitcase when he goes back to DC next week.  Or maybe I'll pack myself in a box.

Yeah, that would work too.

*Someone recommended this to us years ago and it's paid off a number of times: when traveling as a pair, choose the window and the aisle seat in any given row to decrease the chance of someone else taking the final seat in your row.  If someone does get assigned the middle seat, he or she will be happy to switch so you can sit together, and if no one gets assigned the seat, you're in luck!

Comments

[Julie]

Fun! I too have had great experiences meeting friends from the Internet...we all joked at a big get-together that it was like meeting celebrities. You know all about them! You've seen their pictures before! There they are, in real life! Squee! ;)

[Lindsay]

Wow. Eight people? I'm impressed. I guess that's possible when you have money... though, since I technically met my boyfriend on the internet, that theoretically counts. And I've met his friend & his friend's wife, who also have a website, so I suppose that kind of also counts. Maybe.

[Ted]

hahahaha

Loved the part about telling a coyote and the neighbor's dog apart. You hear of families spending small fortunes going to Disneyland when their kids won't even remember it.

We went on a trip to the Grand Canyon with my cousin and his family years ago. My uncle treated us all to a helicopter ride tour, which was amazing. My cousin, three at the time, was only interested in playing with the headsets we were wearing during the entire ride...

[Kate P]

"Outerwear Overkill"--that's hilarious. Camilla must've been having too much fun to even notice!

[Maura]

The great thing about friends/family in DC is that flights to those airports from DTW are usually fairly reasonable. I got a flight on a Friday, from DTW to NATIONAL for $127 roundtrip. ROUNDTRIP! I can take the Metro to my sister's house! I am far too excited about this.

Since I'm bringing the toddler but NOT the husband I pulled the "pick the window seat in a row where some poor unsuspecting stranger picked the aisle seat" in the hopes that no one will buy the middle seat. And have prepared to apologize profusely for an hour and a half if someone does....

[Lisa]

Yay for not trying to accomplish too much sightseeing with a toddler. Loved your description of her day at the playground. I'm sure she couldn't have had a better time if you took her to greatest vacation spot you could think of. I'm all for downplaying the outings and experiences with the wee ones. I've found that at Olivia's age, she gets overly wound up just by being in a room with more than two other people. She's very social and can be entertained just making faces at you for hours (or, until her little tummy gets hungry again).

[Jane]

Glad your trip was terrific!

I've met probably fifteen or twenty people I've met online, generally in a "we're all gathering at this convention; meet us there" kind of way. But some have flown here just to meet and stay with me, and that's been awesome. If there's been a long history between the two parties and it's handled properly, it's really not as dangerous as the media makes it out to be.

[Southern Comfortable]

You have a standing invitation to stay in my guest room. I'm not kidding.

[Maggie]

You live in Michigan because your family lives here, you big loogy! Except me. I live in Florida. But I'll be home soon!!

[Jane]

I like the seating trick--I'll have to remember that. I've previously relied on wearing my headphones, reading a book, and keeping my body angled away from the aisle so people would think I was Decidedly Unfriendly, and in general, if the flight wasn't crowded, that has worked.

I hope you don't mind, but I tagged you for a meme on my weblog.
http://philangelus.wordpress.com
I'm new to blogging, and I don't "know" many bloggers, but I read here a lot, so I figured I'd try you. I'm sorry if that violates web etiquette. Thanks.

[Autumn]

I just wanted to say that you shouldn't get down on yourself because you feel that your blog has changed in tone or scope. I often read your site (and have been reading it since before you became pregnant) and I don't think that your writing has suffered at all! Your life is now more coloful because of your beautiful baby girl. It will twist and turn, change and grow as your family either stays the same or grows by adding more children. Write when you can. Write about what you know--your life as it is now. And that, that's a wonderful thing.