Home from Home

Is it possible to have your heart in two places at once?  I left home to go home for a week.  Then I left home to come home again.  Both goodbyes were tearful.  And both welcomes were very warm, though I have to say, an Arizona welcome is always warm this time of year!  My heart has been completely filled up and really, I don't have adequate words to describe what it was like to be with my wonderful parents without the distraction of my own family, nor the gratifying feeling of hearing my husband and kids tell me repeatedly how good it is to have me home again. :D

Alison took over as the resident mother here, planning and preparing the meals, making sure chores got done, and keeping the house in order.  It was a good experience for a girl who is prone to panic in the kitchen, and she did great!  I chatted with each of the girls and my dear husband almost every evening.  Do you know how long it takes to hear of the day's happenings and to say goodnight to five people?  At least an hour!

My dad is doing very well.  He is quite independent and is good about doing the things he can do.  It will just take time to heal his spine.  In the meantime, Dad, no lifting!  See Dad up there, holding his special dolly from Emily. :)   Mom and I drove all over Orange County, shopping, making deals, and running errands.  I came home with more stuff than I took.  In an effort to divide the weight of all my stuff between two bags, I completely forgot the airport rules about carrying large bottles of dangerous liquids on to an aircraft, and I had to give up my conditioner, mousse, and hairspray at the security check.  Oh well.  It was cheaper to give it up than to pay $20 to check another bag. (I use the cheap stuff!)

I was not successful at finding a way to stuff a large piano keyboard into my suitcase, so my girls are waiting anxiously for its delivery this weekend.  The keyboard is the result of our deal-making.  The woman didn't want to sell it to me for the price I offered, so I left her with my phone number.  She called the next day, saying  she had changed her mind, that when you hold too tightly to your possessions, they become your prison.  Don't I know it!  But I was happy to become prisoner to her keyboard, and it is now ours.  I am looking forward to seeing what my girls will do with it!

Now I am back to giving orders, thinking about what to eat for supper, and wondering (still) what we are going to do about school this coming year.  Before I can get that all settled, we need to take a family vacation.  School is going to be late, and that's all there is to it.  That's okay.  My one motivated kid is learning on her own anyway, and maybe the others will become wiser as they grow.

It's good to be home.  I feel more useful here. More relaxed there.  More responsible here.  More pampered there.  More needed here.  It's all good.  I thank the Lord for such a nice week, and I am so grateful he has blessed me with all this love.

The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22