I love this picture of Jess and Julia and just wanted to post it. Julia, born 12 weeks to the day before Gracie. Jess, one of my dearest and oldest friends and a sure soul sister. We’ve been through many experiences together, good and bad, and I know we’ll be friends for life. Jess, you are one of the people whose opinion I value the most highly in this world. Your wisdom, patience, and uniquely insightful perspective add immeasurable joy and value to my life. We may live far apart, but as Carly says, “we are so close that in our separation there’s no distance at all.” You are one of the three or four people I think of as flanking me as I go through this life – thank you for all of the love and support and understanding. As you put it in a long-ago letter: “Maybe it’s just a current with a similar wave pattern that runs through our souls…” I aspire to be the kind of friend, woman, and mother that you are.

Best case of making lemonade out of lemons:

Last night, arrived at LGA for 6:30 shuttle. It was delayed, so I got into the long line of people queuing for the 5:30. Right in front of me as an adorable little woman with long dark hair … Charlotte! We got onto the 5:30. We took off at 8:30 after 2.5 hours on the runway. Charlotte and I asked so many times for wine that the pilot finally got on the intercom and announced to the entire shuttle: “We are legally bound to serve only non-alcoholic beverages on the ground.” It was hilarious. My stomach hurt from laughing after 3 hours of sheer Char comedy.

A few brief passages from Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott.

“Sometimes Grace works like water wings when you feel you are sinking.”

“We’re invited more deeply into this mystery on a daily basis, to be here as one-of; a mess like everyone else, and not in charge. That’s why we hate it.”

“I took it personally, as I do everything – I can’t seem to learn how not to, or at any rate, I’m the slowest learner in the class.”

“I loved him intimately, sight unseen. yet when he lay on my chest for the first time, part of me felt as if someone had given me a Martian baby to raise, or a Martian puppy. And I had no owner’s manual, no energy, no clue as to what I was supposed to do. The other part of me felt as though I were holding my own soul. Now, all these years later, this still pretty much says it.”

“A friend once told me that while fear and confusion often swirl around us, faith is straight ahead: I trusted that even though I didn’t know a thing about taking care of infants, toddlers, kids, or teenagers, I would be shown the next right step on a need-to-know basis…. [though] I thought there would be a little more downtime. That’s a good one.”

“my friend said to approach my relationship with Sam like a frozen gym membership, where I am taking a break. So far, I have not pushed him down the stairs, which during rough patches passes for grace around here. This falls short of the heavenly banquet, but some days will have to do.”

Spent the day in Marion. Guess which fun-filled afternoon was mine: sailing in the brilliant sunshine, or driving with a sleeping child? Yep, you guessed it. Grace, however, is eerily at home in a Mount Gay hat, down below in a gale, and lashed to the lifelines of the boat. Pretty easy to imagine her with cocktail in hand, which is both frightening and awesome.

My father uttered one of his classic lines today: “We always told you and Hilary that two words separated us from the masses: ‘may’ and ‘well.'” Confirming that I come by my Grammar Girl moniker honestly.

Another baby in the family!

Baby BOY Scully
5/26/07
6 lbs 3 oz

Born in New York, at a birth center, and attended by a midwife.