A Million Words

The truly impressive thing about this wedding, if I do say so myself, is that the party came together on 48 hours' notice -- including ordering a gigantic cake.   We had planned to get married here in December or January, but Nova's late arrival, followed by the usual busyness of Christmas, then Mike's getting stuck in Ireland, fouled up that plan.  Next, we had a date in late March all lined up in Ireland, but the lawyer had given us bad advice regarding the byzantine workings of Ireland's Health Board, which governs civil marriages over there.  They told us that we didn't have the papers in order for a late March wedding, and gave us a date of May 1st.  We were all set for that when the news came in that we had to be back here to deal with a legal issue.  This sudden trip derailed that plan, so we were re-scheduled for June 6th with the bureaucrats at Shantalla.   The issue which had called me back was finally resolved on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning,

We're getting married today! 

We all made it through immigration, so now I'm back "home."  It's strange being here where everything is so familiar Regarding my previous post, I realized that I am still carrying way more than I need.  We didn't use the spare outfit but I still think it was a good thing to have.  I didn't use the blanket at all -- for the third time in a row.  Airplane blankets work fine, and you don't have to jam them back into the bag at the end of the flight.  I didn't take a towel after all, but I did bring a washcloth and a shawl which was good to put on the changing tables.  Halfway through the flight, I forgot to take the shawl to the toilet with us, so I used the Ergo carrier.  That was much handier.   For the next flight, we'll pack even less.  

Nova is about to embark on her fourth transatlantic flight since she got out of the womb.  I wish we didn't have to go back and forth so much, but that's just how it's turned out. The first flight was on New Year's Eve, when she was just over a month old.  She surprised me by sleeping almost the whole way from Newark airport to her grandmother's house in Galway.  On the next two flights, I traveled alone with her, and honestly it wasn't so bad.  The flight attendants on Continental pretty much ignored us, and offered me no extra help.  Aer Lingus was a different story, with the flight attendants all offering to hold her and walk up and down the aisles, or sit with her if I needed to go to the toilet.   Each time, I've brought a little less with us.  This time Nova's equipment will consist of a stack of disposable diapers, a small towel, a blanket, a change of clothes, some cotton wool, a teething ring, baby tylenol and bum ointment just in case, maybe a

Writing with a baby is not impossible, but I've had an awfully hard time doing it.  It doesn't help that every time I turn around we need to make another trip across the Atlantic.  I don't want to get into the reasons here, just now, but next week we'll be flying back for another few weeks in the US.  Of course my parents will be happy to see Nova, and I'll be glad to see what friends I can, but I'm unhappy about hurrying off just when we were starting to get settled in.   I had a script-writing project planned for the month of April, which got off to a flying start on the 1st and 2nd, then fell by the wayside.  I don't think I'll be able to do it now, my brain is just too scattered.   Meanwhile I've picked up another baby-related project.  We're working at the limits of our current nappy supply, so I've decided to make some diaper/training pants.  I have since discovered a vast on-line community of diaper-makers.  I had no idea how complex d