The Longest Night

Two nights stick in my mind as almost unending. The first was a long time ago, my last night as an Ohio resident, in fact. The other was within the last 8 years. We (3 girls) were on an eventful trip to Lake Powell. By eventful, I mean things like using (and emptying) a miniature port-a-potty; navigating a houseboat parking lot in the dark with our boat; learning to drive the boat and whomping down when we hit a houseboat's wake.

Girls in their early 20s are adventurous. We thought it would be so cool to sleep on the shores of Lake Powell. Imagine, pulling your boat up on the shore for the night in a secluded cove and going to sleep (hahahaha) with the gentle sound of water lapping at the water's edge. As the sun gently peaked over the horizon, we would be awakened to a peaceful morning.

So I settled into the sand for my first (and last, I think) night on the beach. First, it was cold. We didn't have enough clothes. And the ol' wind kicked up a mite so sand blew in our faces all.night.long. I think we even took turns sleeping in the middle because it lent some shelter from the wind. It was a long night.  Each minute ticked by so slowly. In the morning, we were bleary-eyed, sand-blasted, frozen, and well, we had looked better. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever looked worse.

We looked so bad that, when one of my traveling companions heard that we were adopting, she said, "If you show that picture to anyone I'm pretty sure you won't be approved to adopt any children."

Oh, did you want to see it? I found it on a scrapbook page and thought it would be funny to share. This is the better picture; I can't find the really bad one, but use your imagination. I promise it was terrible. See below.

Admittedly, that story was a long way to get to my point. That face, the face I thought I wouldn't see again for awhile, looks back at me every morning. See, Baby J sleeps all day and he's up most of the night. What really surprises me is that I'm okay with the eye bags and scratchy eyes and my general mental fogginess. We've already had him two weeks and it's gone by so quickly. I'm sure I'll get exhausted soon, but, for now, we're enjoying him...at any time of day.

The black blob is a friend who did not grant me permission to share her face :).