The Number Field

We hadn’t even been in our house for a week when I had to go back to the US. On short notice, someone from my team was needed to go on a business trip and I drew the short straw. Neither Jenny nor I was thrilled with the prospect of me leaving while so many of our boxes were still packed, but lots of friends promised to help out if she and the children needed anything, and she let me go. The work I did on the trip was rather unremarkable, but at least I was able to make the best of my free time. At the beginning of the trip I went to church and spent the afternoon with my Dad, enjoying fresh vegetables from the garden with our dinner. In the middle of the week, I had a very enjoyable evening out with Leisa, Sam, and Vera. The night before I left, I even got to pick Laura up from the airport, since she was coming into town for business of her own. I went rock climbing at a gym with a friend of mine. I also had a rather substantial shopping list from Jenny that felt at times like a scavenger hunt–I certainly didn’t plan to spend quite as long as I did flipping through the clearance rack at The Children’s Place looking for somersault shorts for Elena, and if I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed that two Wal-Marts would be out of stock of the one thing that Jenny asked me to get there. During the week, it wasn’t easy being away from Jenny, Elena, and Roman, but I managed to keep myself busy. Jenny tells me that they did their best to be happy when I called, so that I would get happy vibes and be happy to come back home. There was one part of the trip which was, without a doubt, better without children: the transoceanic flights. Upon my arrival home, I was impressed by how much Jenny had unpacked. I left behind a shambles of boxes and packing paper, but returned to a place that felt very much like a home.

It wasn’t until my birthday that I had a chance to go on another significant solo adventure. I had announced to Jenny that I wanted to take the day off and go on a long, challenging hike. When she asked whether I was doing this because I needed to “find myself,” I explained that I wanted to go out precisely because I already know myself; I know that I love getting outside to face a challenge, and it had been a very long time since I had done that, so that was what I thought would bring me the greatest fulfillment on my birthday. I settled on a twelve mile loop through the Yorkshire Dales with two significant ascents. The trail was tough from the very beginning, and as soon as it leveled off the weather turned, and I had to fight against wind-driven rain for much of the rest of the day. The most moving sight on the trail was a memorial for a World War II plane crash, erected by the lone survivor. Immediately after that, the mud started; over the next several miles I was almost swallowed by the bog twice. Already exhausted when I approached it, I met the most serious challenge of the day: an ascent of Great Whernside that seemed to go straight up. Sadly, I wasn’t able to enjoy any views from the peak, as the clouds had descended and I was barely able to see the trail five feet in front of me. I escaped the cloud cover early in the descent, and was able to see the beautiful Dales laid out before me with the picturesque village of Kettlewell in a valley not too far ahead, a welcome sight because that was where I had left my car. Back at home, Jenny and the children were putting the finishing touches on a beautiful Angry Birds birthday cake. I cleaned myself up, and we had a wonderful dinner followed by opening presents. Roman’s present for me was a bag of Cheetos, but he was rather indignant that I didn’t want to open it up and share the snacks right that second. It was a wonderful and memorable birthday; I’ll certainly plan for future birthday hikes, even if I don’t make it an annual tradition.

I’m afraid that this year Jenny’s birthday wishes weren’t fulfilled as well as mine were. It just wasn’t a good time to have people over; we were dealing with some lingering sniffles and still recovering from a weekend trip so our plans to have a real party never materialized. Instead, we celebrated her birthday with a quiet evening at home. She opened presents–I did manage to help both Elena and Roman give her their own present–and I made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, as Jenny had requested. She did have a birthday party earlier in the day; her visiting teacher had invited Jenny and several of their mutual friends over for lunch. I’m sure Jenny suspected something, but it was still a very nice surprise.

Jenny did get to go on a solo trip of her own a short time later, back to Texas for her stepbrother Shaun’s wedding. The trip almost didn’t happen: even though she was very excited at the prospect of seeing her mother and all her brothers, we just couldn’t financially justify paying full fare for a ticket. I tried all my money-saving tricks, then looked at every combination of miles and points I could think of, and it just wasn’t coming together. Jenny was dejected, but then I remembered one account that had a whole bunch of bonus points and booked the ticket at a price that worked for us.

Despite her dislike of lengthy travel days, Jenny was very happy to be back in Texas with her family. She had a great time; when we were talking about it afterwards, she said that it was nice to enjoy each other’s company without any of the petty rivalries of childhood (except for her oldest brother demanding shotgun on the long ride from Buda to Houston). She stayed at John’s house, so she had lots of time to see nephews and nieces, which included meeting new arrival Arden for the first time. It was nice for her to be able to announce in person that we’re expecting a baby in May. They ate lots of tasty Tex-Mex and Barbecue, and Jenny got to see her good friend Vivian. The wedding itself was very nice, which is good because it was the main purpose for the trip. Unfortunately, the return flight was not as nice; Jenny described it as one of the worst of her life due to the constant turbulence, and then she had to drive back home from the airport on her own, which was not easy in her sleep-deprived, motion-sickened state.

While Jenny was gone, Elena, Roman and I managed pretty well, in part because we got quite a bit of help from our friends. On the morning that Jenny left we went to the movies to keep the kids from being too sad. I had Monday off, but had foolishly scheduled some things at work that required my presence on the following days, so Roman spent that time with his friends Maggie and Will and their mom Michelle, which he really enjoyed; one night they invited us to stay for dinner, which we all appreciated. Vanessa picked Elena up from school and taxied her over to Maggie and Will’s house so I could finish up at work, and on the morning when Elena refused to attend the “Breakfast Club” before school, I was able on short notice to drop her off at Alex’s house–her girls go to the same school. Both Jenny and I are grateful to have such caring friends who help us out when we need a hand.