Home Sweet Home

It was a wonderful trip.  The kind of vacation that leaves you with a total of 8 hours of sleep for three nights kind of wonderful.  The kind of trip that isn't overshadowed by the cancelled flights, delayed planes, and nasty flight attendants.  The kind of trip where hanging out with your best friend in the hotel room laughing until your face hurts is just as much fun as going dancing and to karaoke and shopping at a mall for the first time since you can remember.  The kind of trip where you talk and laugh and shout over loud music so much that you loose your voice.  The kind of trip that makes you cry as you board your plane because you realize just how much you are going to miss your best friend.

And yet the best part of the trip turns out to be the realization of how much you truly love your life.  I guess that is why going away once in a while is so important.  If you never go away you may never realize how good it feels to come home.  Being able to come back to my family makes me look back on my younger, wilder days fondly, and not wistfully.  This is a good life.  And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I walk in the door and see Grace sitting on the toilet.  "MOMMA!!!!!!!" she squeals at me.  She nearly falls off the toilet as she reaches out for me.  All three of the boys hear Grace and come running into the bathroom.  There the five off us stand, hugging and kissing and jumping up and down, Grace bouncing on the toilet.  Todd comes downstairs from vacuuming and wraps me up in his arms.  The first thing out of his mouth is, "I do not want your job."  I laugh because I feel so lucky to have my job back again.   Home, sweet home.

As soon as my bags are brought into the house presents are handed out to the kids and they go about playing with the little airplanes for the remainder of the night.  It is manic.  They are running and screaming and laughing and chasing.  I can tell Todd has had enough of that over the weekend but the noise is music to my ears.  Sounds of home.  Ever so often one of the kids runs up to me and tells me again how much they missed me and how glad they are that I'm home.   Home, sweet home.

Now here I sit in my bathroom watching Grace splash in the oversized tub.  She sings along with the radio and tells me silly stories.  I keep my eye on the clock to make sure I give myself plenty of time to pick Ben up from school in this crazy snowstorm we're having, and make plans for hot chocolate and a nice fire if swim classes are cancelled tonight.   It is my mission to make home as sweet for them as they make it for me.

Home, sweet home.