Eric and I had a great visit back to NC between Sept. 28 and Oct. 11.  We were so glad to be able to connect with many of you!  Eric also had the chance to finally meet our newest niece, Summer, who is now just over 4 months old.

The two got along well, as you might imagine.  The first time Eric changed her diaper, Summer recognized right away who she was dealing with and promptly tried to pee all over her uncle.  Luckily Eric was prepared.  A few days later, Drew (my brother-in-law) asked Eric and I to try to keep Summer awake for about 30 minutes longer in hopes that she would sleep a little later into the night.  Summer was not excited about it and just wanted her bed.  As you can see from the photo below, all she wanted was to lie down…so she ended up looking a little broken in Eric’s arms.

Eric with “Little Duck,” as I have affectionately been referring to Summer.

I had a good time getting some close-ups of her too.  Unfortunately for the sweet girl, I caught her mid-sneeze at one point!  This picture cracks me up.

Poor Summer got caught mid-sneeze!

We spent our NC time going back and forth between Raleigh and Chapel Hill.  First 3 nights in Chapel Hill with my sister, then 4 nights in Raleigh at Eric’s parents’ place.  My parents also joined us in Raleigh for a few nights.  We then had a hotel room in downtown Raleigh for 2 nights courtesy of Eric’s work, then back to Chapel Hill for 2 nights, then another 2 nights in Raleigh.  Whew!

Since Eric’s brother, Ray, and his wife, Jennifer, brought their kids Rylee and Tyler over to my in-law’s place a few times, we were able to spend a decent amount of time with them too.  It was my first time to see any of them since January, so I was thrilled.  Tyler took about 2 minutes to warm up to me again, then came and snuggled up in my lap.  He spent the rest of the time upside-down on the couches and chairs or crawling under the dining room table.  The boy never stops!  Rylee is reading like crazy and already told us that she wants books for Christmas.

They love their Uncle Eric!

As many of you know, part of our reason for being in town was because I had to have a minor medical procedure.  It ended up not being as invasive as they thought it might have to be, so I ended up feeling pretty good just a few days afterwards.  Thanks to everyone who asked about me.

I also had the chance to check in with my friend and wonderful orthopedic surgeon, George Edwards, while I was there (even though I was very disappointed that his wife and kids and I missed our opportunity to hang out due to various colds and coughs and mixed up schedules).  In mid-August or so, I jammed two fingers during capoeira practice.  It hurt, but I didn’t think much about it, taped them up with masking tape, and kept practicing.  Turns out, I had chipped off a piece of the bone in one of my knuckles, breaking my first bone ever!  Truth be told, I was a little excited to hear it.  Luckily, it has been healing well on its own, so nothing needed to be done for it.

The reason I went to see George…er…Dr. Edwards…was because around the same time that I broke my finger, my wrist started to bother me.  About two years ago, I fell trying to keep up with my Mom as she ran to a Taylor Swift concert.  I was actually yelling at her to please be careful b/c I didn’t want her to fall and break a hip.  Serves me right.  I ended up with a painful sprained wrist for about 6 months.

This time it’s the same kind of pain.  George says it’s probably a ligament tear, but of course he can’t tell without an MRI.  I’m currently resting it…which is stinky because capoeira involves a lot of handstands, cartwheels, and on the floor movements.  Our big end-of-the-year event is the last week of November and the first week of December, so I’m not foreseeing getting it back into great handstand shape by then.  I’m using this time to work on my kicks and adjust my game to include more standing movements, plus I’m working on my one-handed cartwheels.

We’re now awaiting the visit of Eric’s parents during the first week or so of November!  Looking forward to showing them where I’ve been holding their son hostage for the past 10 months.

One more thing:

A friend of mine showed me this.  For those of you who don’t know Spanish, the sign says: The psychologist told me: “You need support!”

But the play on words is that “apollo” means support…but “pollo” means chicken…so it’s also kinda like you need a chicken…get it?  Bueno, I thought it was pretty funny.