Arrival

Lookee there!

478 run/522 to go


The kids and I took off for Virginia Beach on Thursday afternoon.  I meant to drive about ten hours, find a place to stay and finish up the drive the next day.  Eleven hours in, we felt great and decided to push on.  Twelve hours in, still felt great.  Fourteen hours in and 800 miles in, didn't feel great at all, but who gets a hotel room when they only have 80 miles left to drive?  (answer: sane people)  We arrived for the annual family lake/food/cocktail/love fest at about 6 am Friday morning. 

Last night I announced my plans to get up early, run and then study at Starbucks for a couple of hours.  It was a grand plan.  I would be home by 9 am, with work and run behind me.  When I stumbled into the kitchen this morning at 930, pajama clad and clearly not at all post-run, my aunt kissed me good morning and asked if Starbucks had been busy.  About a minute later, my cousin Kim breezed through, noticed me and asked how my run to Starbucks went.  I love a group that can tease the hell out of me and still leave me feeling loved. 

This year has been a rough one, my family has gone through major adjustment and we continue to navigate the sometimes painful new structure and challenges.  The kids and I have been looking forward to our Virginia trip for months now, and I've known how badly we all needed the time to do little but swim and boat and play together.
 
This afternoon, ten of us piled into my cousin Jeff's boat to search out dolphins.  We road fast through the chop of the Chesapeake Bay, and found dolphins, lots of them.  They swam up against and around the boat.  We decided to drift for a bit, and let the kids drop into the salty chop to cool off and maybe brush up against a dolphin or two.  While the Jeff and the kids played in the water, Kim and I stretched out on the deck, shut our eyes and soaked in waves of bright, hot sun while the boat rocked and bobbed. 

Moments like that, every challenge pales; the world makes sense and is right and I am without a doubt, the luckiest girl in the world.