echooooooo

Did anyone notice I haven't posted in like 2+ weeks?

So we are back. Part of me really misses St. Thomas and the other part of me feels like that our time there was just a really vivid dream. But I'm awake now and starting to forget it already. Make sense? It just feels like a million years ago that I was driving all over the island, taking Piper to Coral World to look at the sea turtles and awesome reef fish and baby sharks and sea horses! Oh man that last month was a freaking blast. Once I was done with classes I had the BEST time there. As cheesy as it sounds, I felt really present and blissfully happy each day. I took walks with Piper and smelled the flowers, looked for birds in the sky to point out and get all giddy over (she loves birds), swam in the pool, read books together, drank rum drinks with Patrick every night while we watched Deadliest Catch, woke up early to do my exercise video, tried to sear the incredible down-island views into my mind, drove down to Red Hook in the evenings with Patrick to watch the million $$ fishing boats come in, enjoyed a few fun date nights with Patrick, volunteered on a Wednesday night sailing race, went to St. John for the weekends and lounged on the beach and walked around Cruz Bay and drove around the island while Piper napped in the back seat. The last month felt really carefree. Our last day on island I took Piper to Magen's Bay and we played in the sand and I plucked her out of the water every 30 seconds. Then I stripped her down, dried her off and then put her little naked butt in the carseat and we drove to the top of a section called Peterborg to see the beautiful view of Magen's Bay. It was a beautiful day and there were vibrant red hibiscus and flamboyants blooming everywhere. I rolled the windows down and there was a run of like 3 awesome songs on Pirate Radio 96.1. It was just a wonderful, awesome day (would have been a ton better if Patrick was with us and not at work).

And so now we are back. And I'm feeling all the worldly stresses creeping back in. Social obligations, buying textbooks, groceries, unpacked bags, cars that need to be fixed, doctors appointments, bills, trips to wal-mart and trying to tame the JUNGLE that our yard looks like after 3 months of no TLC but lots and lots of summer rain storms.

I just feel a off. Frustrated, twitchy and just a tad annoyed. I'm hoping it's just me coming down from St. Thomas and from all the wonderful, uninterrupted bonding time I had with Patrick and Piper. I didn't think I would, but I really miss the little island home we had there. This home, our real home, welcomed us back with open arms. It smelled like home and was clean and bright and had lots of mail and our comfy bed with soft sheets and the beautiful park view out of family room and our sweet little Sammie. We missed it here, no doubt. But I still miss it there too.