sunshine and rain.

Holy November.

I hate that I'm about to be one of these people who says things like, "Can you believe it's (blank)?" But seriously, Can you believe it's November? Can you believe Thanksgiving is two weeks away? Can you believe it's going to be Christmas soon? Can you believe it's almost 2014?

I really can't. There is so much going on.

Two of my friends Lauren and Trish have added babies (welcome Bain and Matthew) to the end of the year madness, and I’m also in the throes of helping plan another shower for a third baby due after the first of the year. New babies mean home visits (with homemade lasagna dinners) and hospital visits – good fun chaos, but chaos nonetheless.

Just when things had started to settle, and I was ready to throw all of my attention to Gallman Baby Watch 2013 (whose due date is TODAY), I found myself again last weekend driving back to South Carolina for a hospital visit of a much different variety.

This time for my dad who spent five nights to be treated for an irregular heartbeat. He’s fine – and “broke loose” (his words) from the hospital on Tuesday – but his stay has stirred up a lot of emotions in me I haven’t really known what to do with. I’ve been anxious and distracted and have had little desire to write.  And because sometimes the universe is cruel - not writing has led me to feel more anxious and distracted.

 

So, short story long - I'm baaaaaack to finally tell you about the end of my trip to Washington State. You know, that trip I took in SEPTEMBER?!

When we left Seattle, it looked like this:



(Side note: I've developed a "thing" for lighthouses lately.  I'm not sure why, but lighthouses and bridges light my amateur photographer fire.  Perhaps it's because where there are lighthouses and bridges, there is water.  And I love water.)

We congratulated ourselves before we left on our good luck/good planning that the day we were driving out of town for our hiking adventure to Mt. Rainier National Park was expected to be the best weather day of our trip.  Two and a half hours later, we arrived at Mt. Rainier prepared to bask in the glory of Washington's picturesque active volcano and the lush landscape that surrounds it. 

Instead, we saw this:

The rainy and cold weather created treacherous driving conditions that took years off of Jacob's life and he had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel throughout the entirety of the drive.   


We managed to stop a few times to hike and see some cool stuff, but I can say confidently that despite having been to Mt. Rainier, I've never actually seen Mt. Rainier.  

 

I remained optimistic that the sun would eventually shine, and it did . . .and the pay off was lovely. 



A better, more profound and more creative writer than I might tell you how the less-than-desirable weather was merely a metaphor - they'd write that in order to truly appreciate the glory of the sun's glow, we must first drive through the rain.

But that would be disingenuous.

I don't need cloudy days and zero visibility to help me appreciate the sun - and I definitely don't need unexpected, scary trips to the hospital to remind me how precious life is. 

Because if it were up to me, all hospital visits would be to see new babies and all road trips to national parks would happen when the sun was out.

Here's to a weekend with a little more sunshine, a little less rain, and fingers crossed - Baby Gallman's arrival.  It's good to be back.