Are We There Yet???

Long time no talk... I'm really striving to be a bag blogger it seems. So I'll try to bring ya'll up to date.

We did make it back safely from our cross-country roadtrip. Memphis was great, and Quinn dined at her first Southern BBQ joint. The staff at Central BBQ was so enamored with her they gave her some plain grilled chicken to gnaw on while we wolfed down things I won't publicly admit to ingesting.

A grandmother at another table thought we must have been starving her when she saw how this tiny child could inhale chicken bits. The college students sitting nearby couldn't help but notice her trying to flirt with them and flirt right back, which brought out her rock-concert squeal making the night feel like a happy end to our long trip.

Early the next afternoon, which was three weeks after we'd left town, Jack, Quinn and I were finally back in our own house. The trouble was, it didn't feel much like a home.

A few days before we had left Tennessee, we decided we should have the filthy, nasty, pee-scented carpeting we inherited from the previous owners taken out and replaced with wood floors. The upside would be that we wouldn't be around for the noise and dust, but we had to move all our of furniture out of my office and our bedroom. Not a big deal, but not exactly fun either.

Long story short, since we were doing the floors we also decided to finally rid our lives of the freakish colors too and paint the walls of those rooms... which we had yet to do.

So our return home from a fun, but not entirely relaxing trip, was to roll up our sleeves and get a bit messy whenever Quinn was cooperative enough to take a long nap. Then after she went to bed we'd knock ourselves out spackling, priming, and painting until 2am when we'd collapse on the living room couch.

A good friend who was scheduled to come out for a visit had offered to come anyway with paintbrush in hand, but realized what a mess we and the house were and offered to visit another time.

By Tuesday, when Jack had to return to work, the painting was complete and we were sleeping in our own bed... Now picking out our mistakes in the paint job instead of someone else's.

Then before we knew it, we were back in the car heading down to Alabama to visit friends who we had hoped to see on the drive back from California.

Climbing into the car for another 7 hour drive wasn't exactly what we'd been hoping to do, but we'd systematized how to keep Super Q feeling pretty super even though she would spend the time straight-jacketed in a carseat.

Besides, we knew she would have a blast as soon as we set her loose around the dozen people who would be gathering to welcome Jack back and meet her for the first time. And if that didn't do it, we hoped Quinn would forgive us when she had her first taste of cake because she'd be turning a year old among her new collection of friends.

And that is precisely how it went.

Quinn had a comfortable ride, and made herself right at home as she explored every corner of our friend Sue's house.

When new people arrived the next day, she was eager to play with someone other than her drab parents, and kept us all guessing at what all her babble might really have meant.

Saturday evening, the house began to fill up with new faces and the growing clamor of a celebration.

Conflicted by her body's fatigue and the thrill of her first party, Quinn would rub her eyes and let out a feeble cry and then muster the energy to flash a smile and wave at the next arriving friend. And so, it was a long fussy night until she gave in and passed out.

But it was a night to remember as Quinn had her first taste of dairy-free chocolate-free (but definitely not sugar-free) frosting, and loved it.

After Skyping with her Grandparents in California, Quinn received a load of presents, and lots of attention as people lined up with super sanitized hands to give a hug to the Birthday Girl. If this party set the bar for birthday bashes, we are in for a festive future, that's for sure!

Home at last,
The Travelin' Murphys