An Update from the Arctic Tundra

They are using words like "arctic" and "polar" to describe the weather that will be hitting the Chicagoland area this next week.  It is moments like this when I channel my inner zen-friend (she's been on vacation as of late) and repeat mantras like: "This, too, shall pass", "Wherever you are, be there" and "Whether or not it is clear to you, the Universe is unfolding exactly as it should..." because sometimes I wake up and I think, "What the hell!?!" It was less than a month ago that I was living on a boat in the Caribbean and here I am - a world away - living back in Chicago during a winter of "record cold".  Man, talk about bad timing.  But, really, I'm not supposed to be too active at this point anyway so I guess it's a blessing in disguise that I get to be tucked inside a cozy, warm house with a hilarious toddler as a sidekick.  

Seems like I'm not the only one effected by the cold and missing the sunshine, though.  Isla now demands to watch our video recap of 2013 on repeat at least six or seven times a day, which kind of breaks my heart. "Video? Video?" she asks each morning in her sing song little voice.  She sits in front of my computer with her chin on her hands, tapping her fingers and bobbing her head to the music as she watches with a little smile on her face.  Up until now I would not have guessed that she missed the boat or the islands in the slightest, but the fact that I have now watched that video with her about thirty times is indicating otherwise.  I keep hoping we might be rounding a corner and "over it" but no such luck.  Just when I think her obsession has traveled over to the finger paints or toy cars, she'll suddenly drop what she is doing, climb up into the chair in front of my computer, look up at me with her soulful brown eyes and ask in the cutest voice you ever did hear, "video?"  Doh.

Scott is finished with work and after over 30 hours of travel via three islands, one "whoopsie" stop in Dominica and an unexpected overnight in Antigua he finally made it back to Asante only 22 hours after he was supposed to.  As the crow (and, you'd think, plane) flies - it's just over 400 miles from Grenada to St. Maarten but leave it to a Caribbean airline to play ping-pong in the air.  Luckily, we are well-versed with "island time" and he wasn't bothered in the slightest by the insanity of his travel day.  This little adventure was brought to him by Liat Air, which will surprise exactly no one who has ever flown that airline.

My father arrived in St. Maarten yesterday afternoon to help Scott deliver Asante to the British Virgin Islands.  While Scott was prepared to do the trip himself, putting a boat "to bed" for a year or longer is no small feat and having an extra set of hands to help haul the boat, get things organized, and pack up will be a huge asset.  It's a win/win really.  My dad and Scott are very close so not only do they get to spend some time together - but my dad gets to escape the coming cold snap (which is a gross understatement) and enjoy a ripper of a downwind sail while Scott gets some help and company.  They left at 3am this morning and should be arriving sometime in Tortola this afternoon.  I am anxious to hear how the sail went.  Hopefully better than our sail from BVI to St. Maarten.  Man, that sucked.

Moving along...

On the baby-baking front, I am now over 30 weeks pregnant which officially marks this pregnancy as the fastest pregnancy ever.  I mean, is it just me or has this flown by?  I can hardly believe that it is very likely that we will meet these two little fishies anywhere in the next 3-7 weeks (later would be preferred).  I had an ultrasound yesterday and got to see our little darlings.  They are both looking great and are clocking in at 3.5 and 3.9 pounds, which makes me very proud of myself to be growing them so well thus far.  The human body during pregnancy is so mind-blowing and carrying multiples makes it doubly so.  The fact that they are the weight of an average singleton at this stage is very promising as is the fact that they are within an ounce of each other (significant weight discrepancies can indicate problems).  There was one tiny area of concern; baby A's amniotic fluid was less than B's but the doc wasn't too concerned all things considered but to be on the safe side I have to see the maternal/fetal specialist next week to make sure we're all good.  Please send good vibes.  We'll keep you posted.

So that's the news from arctic Chicagoland.  Hope all is well (and warmer) in your neck of the woods!