Five days 'til we hop the pond.

Old feelings...and another ocean

It's quiet in the Mellederer household tonight. Dan's working---trying to get all job-related tasks done before we leave for London on Saturday. (Saturday!) And after reading on the front steps for the past couple of hours ("The Instinct to Heal" by David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., PH.D---only two chapters in and I'm hooked), I'm inside with my laptop on a chair I rarely sit on. Strange, how our apartment looks different from here. I'm writing now, though I'm supposed to be paying our bills so that we don't have to worry that much about it while we're gone.

We spent the morning looking at websites of Bed and Breakfasts in Doolin, Ireland. We're hoping to hop a cheap flight to Shannon and drive down to Doolin to stay for a few nights while we're over there. I had never heard of the place but Maureen, my sister's friend and housekeeper, whom I adore, is from the Aran Islands which are located off the west coast of Ireland where Doolin is. Every summer she takes her two daughters and stays at her childhood home where her mother still lives on the middle island, Inishmaan, and visits with her sisters whom are also still there. If money doesn't run out and time permits, we'll stay in Doolin and take a ferry out to Inishmaan to visit with Maureen and her family. Doolin is supposed to be a center for traditional Irish music which Dan (curiously) loves. It's located in County Clare which, by strange coincidence, is also from where Dan's maternal family descends.

After busying our brains with the trip most of the morning and into the afternoon---and after a long weekend of shopping, packing and list-making---we let it all go for a little bit today to enjoy the sun. Dan said it finally felt like summer. We played tennis (two consumatte gym spazzes) at the Phillip's Exeter courts where we're not really authorized to play but which are all but abandoned over the summer and most of the school year, too. Then we put the top down on the Bug and headed to "Memories" which is like Frosty Freez (Aquidneck Island's favorite ice cream joint) but---it must be said---better. There's no traffic-heavy main road which runs by it and it even has a wrap-around porch with picnic tables and abuts a farm...a real farm (that for whatever reason doesn't stink). Dan got lemon blueberry sorbet and I got a scoop of Cookies and Cream. This was followed by an afternoon head-to-toe reading and napping party on the couch. Afterwards, I took my tea to the steps with my book while Dan shopped for and prepared Steak au poivre, roasted asparagus and baked sweet potatoes. (I, like any second-string cook, did the dishes.) Then I went back to the steps, watched the robins in the evening sun and read until there wasn't much light left and the first mosquito came after me. A dream of a summer day, I almost feel a twinge of sadness about leaving New England right now. Almost.

It's hard to believe this trip came up so quickly. Born, as I mentioned, from a yearning to see Michael Jackson and on a spontaneous whim, a quick jaunt to London has turned into a four-week trip of a lifetime. Dan's sister, Mary Beth, brother-in-law, Doug, and nephew, Zack have been over there for the past year and will be staying at least one more due to Doug's job. We had been talking about getting over there but were ultimately pushed over the edge by MJ's concert series. We bought our concert tickets without talking to them first (not exactly courteous, but it would have meant calling them in the middle of the night) and as it turned out they are heading back to the states for the summer and offered up their house in Wimbledon for us to stay at while they are gone. (Fortunately, they haven't left yet---school isn't out!---and we'll get 10 days to visit with them in London before they leave.) The idea of staying any longer than a week hadn't really occurred to us until they threw this offer out there, prompting (me to ask) Dan to check out his company's sabbatical program. Apparently, since Dan has worked there for over 10 years, he's entitled to a four-week paid sabbatical. (Holla!) We went back and forth on the idea so many times---can you say recession?---but ultimately decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up. We have a place to stay for free, the plane tickets are paid for, and we're not missing out on any income (except mine and we'll make do), so we just had to do it. How could we possibly turn down such an opportunity, particulary when there are no babies or mortgage payments of which to think.

So we leave on Saturday. Four weeks. We haven't had that much time off together (who does?) since our honeymoon almost two years ago when we had about three weeks to fly out to California and roadtrip home. I had poison ivy everywhere during the trip---not exactly ideal for a roadtrip (or a honeymoon)---but that's another entry. Anyway, we ended up spending the majority of that time in Santa Barbara, which we fell in love with and hope to revisit on a future anniversary. This year we'll have to settle for...Paris.

How ridiculous is that? We're going to try to make it to Paris to celebrate our two-year anniversary in early August. Who gets to do that? Seriously, how stupid-lucky are we---to get the time, the place, the whole opportunity? We've been so caught up in saving and planning and preparing that we forgot how awesome this whole thing is. Even as I pack bottles of shampoo and flip-flops and raincoats and travel guides, it is hard to believe this is real; that this is my life.

But, guess what? I felt that today on my steps, too. As I looked at the blue sky and felt the sun's warmth on my shoulders and face and heard Dan clanking around in the kitchen, I felt so stupidly blessed.

I am looking forward to traveling to England and whichever nearby countries to which we are lucky enough to make it. I am looking forward to drinking wine and visiting with Dan in a way that we haven't been able to here lately. I am looking forward to being somewhere new and feeling new things. But, (and, perhaps, it is perfect timing or else I may not have ever come back) today---napping on the couch with my man---I was reminded of how good old feelings are, too.