The End of the Beginning

Dave went back to work today.

This wasn't his first time in the office - far from it. So expect nothing groundbreaking about his new job, his new office and his new co-workers. He's been going in daily during naptime for over a week now. He's gotten to know the co-workers, gotten comfy in his desk chair, and become quite adept at his blackberry. He even manages to turn it off sometimes.

So the girls and I had our first day on our own. And we had our second typhoon. There were no evacuations or school closings, but it sure did rain a lot.

We live on the 21st floor of our hotel. I had noticed that I never hear it raining - a sound that I miss. I suppose I wouldn't, though. I'm too far from the ground to hear water hitting the pavement, there are no trees anywhere near, and the top of the building is another 20 or so flights up. There's nothing for me to hear.

Today, I heard the rain.

Looking out our windows, I could see the wind and the rain blowing in all directions. I could hear rain pounding against my window, with no determinate pattern. I heard it for over 12 hours.

Amid this, L-- and S-- and I had to get out of the house.

With the stroller neatly covered with its rain guard, and I protected with my rain jacket, we walked to a few stores and out to lunch. A few blocks round trip. By the time we headed home, my patience had worn quite thin, as had S--'s and L--'s. L-- kept herself occupied by standing up in the stroller - made especially challenging by the rain guard over her head. To truly succeed in standing, she had to push the rain guard pretty high. While crossing the street in tropical storm strength winds, this effort succeeded in throwing the rain guard off the stroller entirely. It caught on the front tire and went down in the middle of the street.

Full of anger, and that's-what-you-get, I grabbed the rain guard and let the girls travel in the rain the rest of the way home.

They loved it.

S-- was happier than she has been all day - before or since. She laughed the entire ride.

L-- was amazed at what she had done, and pretty excited to feel the wind against her face.

It probably does get pretty stuff in there. I just hope she doesn't make a habit out of this.

Other than this episode, we actually had a successful and quiet day on our own. The outing went well, and we have another planned for tomorrow. My life isn't much different than it was back home. After all of the chores, meals and naps, there remains only a small window for living. The amount of life can be done within that 2-3 hour window is quite manageable, really. Even on my own, its hard to be intimidated by a mere 2-3 hours.