EMERSON'S BIG BROTHER JACK

Jack is here now. Mike and I drove to the Spokane airport yesterday to get him. At the Frontier counter we were advised that just one of us could check through security and meet Jack at the gate. Mike went. “Airports aren’t as much fun as they used to be,” I thought to myself.

So, of course, on the ride back to the Valley, I picked Jack’s brain about stuff. It’s a grandmother’s prerogative – you know – to get the inside scoop, as it were. “When will Kelly and the baby be home?” I asked. “Wednesday,” said Jack.

“How long will Kelly be off work?” “Three months, I think,” replied Jack. “Of course,” he went on, “she’s working now. She has a laptop and she’s working from her hospital bed.”

Silently my thinker was running rampant: Wow! What a woman! And knowing Kelly, who appears to be a bundle of energy anyway, I could just see her showing up at the hospital, in labor, carrying her little bag of personal things – and her laptop. “I’m Kelly Warnock and I’m in labor,” she announces at the desk. “Just a minute, please. There’s a problem I have to solve at the office. . . . Okay – Now! Where were we? Oh, yes – thank you for waiting.” And there she is, after having had a C-section, propping her laptop on her stomach to work from her hospital bed. That must hurt! What dedication! Aloud I said, “Really?!” – “No!” said Jack. “I’m kidding you.” He had me going!

I have worried about Jack’s visiting at this particular time. I was afraid the baby would be born while he was here and he would be disappointed. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. The baby was in the warmer when he saw her at the hospital. His room at his dad’s house is right next to the baby’s. He thinks she might wake him up with her crying. “Waaaaah,” he mimics. “I bet you’ll get used to that,” I told him. Besides, it won’t go on forever.

Big sister Annie is also away from home this week attending a softball tournament in Utah. Apparently she was able to stay home through Sunday so that she, too, could see the baby before she left. Annie is due home about the same time as Jack – next Sunday.

Jack is going into the fifth grade. He is currently reading the last book in the Harry Potter series. He arrived with enough electronic gizmos to keep him entertained if need be. “So,” he asks me as he looks over my laptop, “where does your MP3 player go?” My MP3 player?

We bought a pizza on our way through Clarkston for a “carbo-load” feast. Of course, I carbo-loaded, too. Then Jack and I read over the blog while Nellie sat on his lap with her head on his shoulder. “She’s hugging me!” observed Jack. Yes, Nellie likes to hug. “Don’t you need a comma there?” he asked. Then he moved over to sit by Grandpa Mike and watch a few episodes of The Office. We were getting ready for bed by 9:00.

Jack was cheerful and excited when Grandpa awakened him at 5:00 this morning. The three of them – Mike, Jack, and Nellie – were off by 5:30. They plan a 6-mile hike from Pittsburgh Landing to Kirkwood Ranch where they will camp. From there they will make a 1.5-mile hike to Suicide Point.