Dear Evangeline,

Mommy took a vacation three weeks ago and, though I have been back on New York terra firma for a solid two weeks, I must have left my motivation back in New Orleans along with my Mardi Gras beads. I have, however, been meaning to write. When I started this blog, I wanted to use it as a means to document memories of our trips. Pictures are one thing, but words are another, and though I am told that visual stimulation (i.e. pictures) can stimulate a memory long after its formation (even to the point of reviving olfactory sensations), I find words to be a more effective tool for encapsulating emotions.

Daddy took mommy to New Orleans for my 30th birthday. I was six weeks post-op at the time, so America’s # 1 party city definitely seemed like the most appropriate choice for such a celebration (the choice was, in fact, mine). This was the first solo trip daddy and I took without you since your birth more than two years ago. Now, don’t get me wrong nugget, I missed you like hell (no, really, I did), but there were five things I hadn’t done since I peed on that stick. And every single one of them was grossly overdue:

1. I drank way too much alcohol. More than what would be considered responsible for a girl on the
eve of her 21st birthday, let alone a 30 year-old mother. I drank beer. I drank vodka. I drank cocktails. I drank wine. I drank mimosas in the morning. And I even drank these dangerous little things called “Handgrenades.” They were delicious.

2. I noticed things. Because I slept. Every night. For MORE than eight hours. I noticed colors… and shapes…and stuff. I sniffed flowers instead of poopie diapers. And I took pictures of things that weren’t you (this is in no way meant to insinuate that you are not the world’s best photography subject, because you are, of course!).

3. I touched your Dad. I think he liked it.

4. I listened to music and sang along to things outside of the usual oeuvre of “ABCs,” “Twinkle Twinkle,” and “Wheels on the Bus.”

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5. I went to the park and I didn’t go to the playground. I saw birds, and trees, and I noticed that the sky was turning a really frightening gray color.  And I was also able to leave the park exactly when I wanted to.

Of course, the best part of all was getting to leave my old college kind-of-life after a prompt five days, and come back on home to this:

Feeling Rested,

Mama Pearce