Around 10:30, an old high school friend came by and we walked up to the local coffee shop for coffee, scones and chat. We took Sebastian, who was a little distracting, so that Andrew could pack the car. It was so nice catching up - I sometimes lose sight of all the changes the last 10 years have brought, and because I have so little contact with anyone from that part of my life (or I did until I found Facebook) I forget that these people have changed and grown too. Laura has grown into a wonderful, sweet woman with great stories to tell and a big soft-spot for cute kids. I was very pleased to learn she might be moving to Vancouver soon! Most awkwardness was avoided and only seemed to creep in at the end, likely fuelled by caffeine, fatigue and her impending interview - which I hope went well - and we ended up having a great time and a whole lot to talk about.
When we got back Andrew had bought subs and we quickly scarfed them before running out the door, only 34 minutes later than our target departure time of noon (amazing considering the mini-meltdown Sebastian had when we told him he needed to change his clothes and diaper and the fact that we were leaving on a five-day trip). As we drove to the border we kept an eye on border wait times and remained relatively quiet as we willed the small boy to sleep. He slept through the entire one-hour wait and most of the way to Seattle, upon waking he was a little surly and wanted to listen to Baby Beluga over and over - and then he wanted to listen to Six Little Ducks, over and over and over and over... we finally put our feet down and Andrew put in one of his own CDs for us to listen to. We had been hoping Sebastian would get tired of listening to the same song on repeat - but apparently not.
About to fall asleep, almost as cozy as his bed at home:
Checking the border wait - I confiscated his blackberry after clicking this photo:
Our one hour wait:
We got checked in and made plans to go get diapers and some food - our original plan, Trader Joe's just up the street, was squashed when we found they had no diapers and the place was such a zoo I thought I might actually hurt someone, we found a clerk who was giving Andrew skunk-eye for handing her our basket full of perishables until I swooped in beside him and said (sincerely) "thanks so much for taking that, we didn't know what else to do with it and this guy (gesturing at Sebastian) is going to throw a serious tantrum if we don't get out of here right now." Her demeanor changed completely and she thanked us for not just leaving it on the ground to spoil. As we left I reminded Andrew that people are generally understanding when you explain your situation to them, it isn't as though we are big assholes who pull this stuff all the time and I think that comes across when I tell people why I am doing something that might be interpreted as assholy. Plus it gives me a chance to offer sincere gratitude, which I know I always love receiving.
We ended up driving out to the Target we'd seen on our way in and getting all the things we needed (diaper, deodorant, baby soaps, snacks) and I fully admit I was mesmerized by the bright lights and low, low prices. The Canadian dollar is strong currently and so these prices were as amazing as they seemed. I am a bargain junky and that place was giving me the shakes. My hunger was also making me and the family pretty shaky and so we stopped at the in-store pizza-hut for some terrible pizza and noxiously sweet drinks.
Once safely back at the hotel, three stomachs protesting the grease and other crap we'd just put in them, we crashed in our big bed. That first night I covered sleep-duty, rocking Sebastian and whispering "within you is a peace that can not be disturbed," works better than a lullaby. Given that we're living in one room Andrew and I decided we would also go to sleep and for the first night in ages I got something resembling a full night's sleep.
