Heavy and Light

I’ve been staying up late reading the book "A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl" by Marianne Pearl, the wife of the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped in 2002 in Pakistan and murdered. I was going to save it for our beach trip that’s happening later in the month (!) but I’ve been sucked in and it’s heartbreakingly good. It’s her love and devotion in the face of this terrifying event that drew me to the story but I am finding so much more. Courage, dedication, deceit, strength, faith and fear are themes woven in and out of the pages. I can’t imagine how traumatic such an experience might be and, to top it off, Marianne was pregnant with their son when it happened. When I am finally able to put the book down and turn off the light, I steep in the story a while longer and get scared. The world was a scary place when I was young but it’s so much scarier as an adult and now I have a child to send out into its clutches someday. I am afraid of what he will find or what will find him. Of course, thinking about this at night alone in bed makes it even darker and I sleep with one eye open, a talent mastered when Willem came into the world. It proves to be both useful and frustrating. Tonight I’ll watch a movie instead and save the book for broad daylight.

Now about that beach trip…
Sweet Jeebus, I’m cabana boy bound! For one entire week, this tiny family of three will be doing absolutely nothing. We’re staying in a highly rated, all-inclusive resort (a first!) that will be adults-only come this November. It’s located in town which is good. When you get tired of being waited on hand and foot you can wander out to the neighboring restaurants and be served by surly waitstaff. The resort has BEDS ON THE BEACH UNDER CANOPIES, and BABYSITTERS and GRATIS HOOCH IN OUR ROOM and did I mention CABANA BOYS! A dream come true, no? I went to Just Add Water yesterday to get a swimsuit where it cost me a small fortune but it’s reversible (2 suits in one…price justified!) and covers a lot of the post pregnancy soggy parts of mommy flesh that shouldn’t be viewed in public. It’s a great, stylish number and after finding something I feel good in, I’m ready for Mommy’s Gone Wild in Mexico. All I need is a packable straw hat, my sarong, sunglasses, and lots of one-dollar bills. Arriba!