And on the 12th day, they rested, sort of, and saw that it was good...and then went right back to work.

Well, it was YERT's official first day off. Here we are in lovely Ridgewood, NJ, where the DiMudugno family are sharing their home and hearth with us and even their birthday BBQ (Thank you, DiMudugnos!).

I woke early and left the boys sleeping in the princess room (Thank you, Gracie)...so of course i spent much of our first "day off" editing photos as per usual, and writing about our trip. (Basically cheating.)

Ben and I took a walk about an hour before guests were to arrive, and marveled at the size of the houses and the care people took of their homes. We stopped short when we saw a push mower in a particularly lovely yard, and then again when we found a praying mantis on the end of a _____ flower along the sidewalk. Ben made sure we took some photos of powerlines going directly into houses, as he was getting a strong metaphorical image of something else he wanted to juxtapose into a pod...

The day was hot, the Italians were boisterous, and the company was fine. Most happily, my brother, David, showed up with pregnant Kimmy and little Miles, and then Ken & also-pregnant Erica rolled in with their handsome dogs, Franklin and Fitz. The backyard was the place to be, as the trees are tall in the DiMudugno neigborhood and shade comes quick and stays long. Ben took Ken for a ride in the Ford and David checked under the hood. There was shop talk and political discussion and girl talk and baby time.

"I want to be environmental!" Erica protested when Bill handed her one of the paper birthday plates on which to spoon her food. "No, the green plates are for YERT!" yelled Bill. Bill had made extra sure that the YERT team had "green" plates (ceramic) and cloth napkins for our dinners while everyone else used disposable plates and paper napkins (which, to be fair, had already been bought for the party, but I had to wink to Erica about that one. haha Love you, Bill! Kids, keep bugging your folks to use cloth napkins! And then surprise them by doing the laundry...)

I didn't realize how suddenly and intensely nostalgic I would feel for family and friends just by getting a dose of nearness. I am going to miss both the births of my nephew and of my dear friend's daughter in September. Miles is already growing so fast - I feel I am missing prime time, but I have to remind myself that I was missing that when Ben and I were living in NYC as well. Now at least we are missing it for a purpose.

As the guests began to disperse, sun steadily sinking into the trees, I ran inside the house to get Ben, who had escaped and was starting to work on the videopods in the bar. He came out to say goodbye but the goodbye was a long one, too much love so the time got stretchy. By the time the goodbye was winding its way to the driveway, Ben had disappeared again so I went and retrieved him a second time but I must have seemed exasperated because he immediately became cross with me.

Because there are miles to go before he can sleep. Before any of us can. We have not figured out how to process what we are shooting, there are just too many hours of great footage and not enough hours to edit them. And thus, in effect, no true Day Off. We were trying, and we got most of a day on our own, but here we were, finishing our day and having to sneak work in. This is the resounding note of YERT logistics so far, and may also prove to be the thorn in the side of our serenity as a team.

Moms, keep the candles burning in the bathtub. ;)