Written between AUS and SJC

As it turns out, I needed to fly to San Jose/Palo Alto tonight rather than tomorrow morning. So here I am, in a very nice hotel room, absolutely exhausted because of plane delays, and finding it very strange to think that I woke up in my childhood bedroom in Houston this morning. To update on the last few days.

Friday, JP was home with a feverish Biscuit. A feverish Biscuit who demanded much attention from everyone in the house, especially her brother, who had a very hard time with the "don't touch Claire because she's sick" rule.

The touching captured below is really our fault since we failed to cancel the nighttime wrestling match, but it's the best part of Landon's day. JP is somewhere under there too.

Our little hot potato woke up Saturday morning with another 102.8 fever, so while JP was swimming, I was at urgent care with both kids. For the millionth time I thanked God that Landon is so well behaved because Claire would not tolerate even the tiniest sliver of air between us and my two arms were occupied with my clingy little honey badger and the signing of all the paperwork.

As it turns out, Claire is teething. Teething with a side of possible ear infection, so we have some Amoxicillin to make us all feel like we're fixing something. Thirty minutes later, we were piled in the car for Houston. Even though I had a million things to do and the Bear was officially sickish, I knew my parents could handle babysitting a teething baby and my shoes REALLY needed to be worn. So off we went.

My favorite part of the whole drive is when we turn in to my old neighborhood. And not just because both kids are tired of the car at the end of hour 3 (actually, this time they were both perfect- Landon has finally decided he likes movies and Claire slept for 2.75 hours), but because it is unbelievably soothing to drive around a street you've circled one million times and find everything has remained the same in your absence. The houses look exactly the same, their lawns freshly mowed, their inhabitants surprisingly consistent. My parents have lived in their cute Victorian house for 23 years and it is going to break my heart whenever it isn't "home" anymore.

Upon arriving, Landon immediately charged upstairs to bring down the "vintage" Fisher Price Little People my siblings and I loved so much. He took the boats swimming (or "swimming") and when I went to tuck him in after JP and I returned from the reunion, I found the whole lighthouse in his bed carefully tucked under his arm.

And then there was Prom. I mean the Reunion. It was quite a bit like prom- fancy dress, date, forced pictures outside by the rose bushes.

But quite a bit different as well. For one, my date was 6 inches taller, allowing the deployment of 4.5" heels. I was 4 sizes smaller and paid for my dress with my own money. And alcohol was officially allowed (though some people still can't handle it). Also, the party was at Minute Maid Park, which was Enron Field back in our day.

Though my dad still can't take a picture without chopping off the feet or capturing odd facial expressions! (JP made me crop the one below, but at least you can see my "I have 30 seconds and a rubber band to do my hair" hair.)

It was a good time and I'm glad we went. It was amazing to see how many people looked the exact same... and how many people looked very different. It was 3 hours of deja vu- I'd be talking to someone and suddenly remember that it had been 10 years since we'd spoken last. Several people remembered I had planned to go to medical school, and many were surprised to hear I was a lawyer with two kids (I think the lawyering was far less surprising than the 2 kids). Because we never moved once I started Kindergarten, there were plenty of people there I'd known since we were both 5 -- only 1 year older than Landon!

And now I'm in Palo Alto, in weather I would describe as downright chilly compared to the high of 106 we had in Austin today. I already miss JP and the kids (so much), and am already cursing the logistics of working remotely- otherwise, this weather might just make me stay forever! I went for a short walk down University Avenue and saw all these enthusiastic people talking in cafes. After getting my "but it's so late! who eats after 9 on a Sunday?!" thoughts out of the way, I immediately wondered which one was inventing the next facebook- and then wondered if they needed a lawyer.