Home Again

I had a good visit this weekend with my parents at the farm. It was relaxed and enjoyable. The kids ate up all the grandparent attention. My mom, who recently had a pacemaker put in, seems to be recuperating well. It is a bit of a wake-up call to realize that my parents aren't as young as they used to be and to see the evidence of aging. Dad showed me their calendar between now and Christmas - at least one doctor's appointment (and often more) for at least one of them every single week between now and Christmas. Wow.

I was thrilled to have a couple of opportunities to have quality time alone with my dad. There has been very little of that for a very long time due to all kinds of extenuating circumstances - my sister's illness and death, our family's particular grief process, Mom's various and frequent illnesses, the needs of the kids, etc. Dad and I have always been close and I've really missed time with him.

Yesterday morning we saw a dog running near my aunt's house that looked just like Scratch! The resemblance to a younger version of my sweet companion was unreal. I wanted so much to open the truck door and let it in. I think my mom, who was driving, may have actually hit the accelerator to make sure I didn't. If I had seen that dog again, I probably would have brought it home with me. I so miss my canine companion.

My two youngest children got to witness their first live birth - the birth of a very large calf. Rosemary has seen dozens of births. Then again, she lived her first 5 years on the farm and until we moved to the coast we were there frequently. Emily and Ian have enjoyed seeing the baby calves, but had never seen one born. It has been interesting to watch them process what they saw. They knew that babies are in a mommy's tummy and as best they knew they came out through the tummy. Now they know better! Emily is still thinking a lot about the experience. Just this morning she asked Rosemary how she got cleaned up after she was born. I think she was greatly relieved to learn that Mama didn't have to lick her clean like the Mama Cow did! LOL!

We got back home around 10 last night. On the road we listened to the 2nd half of the Clemson game and celebrated like crazy that BIG win. And yes, I kept the car between the lines on the highway while doing the victory dance. Eventually all the kids fell asleep and I had to find ways to entertain myself. When the songs on the radio started making me sleepy, I changed stations and listened to that other SC team play. Sorry Vandi. I was pulling for you!

The cats were relieved to see us back home. They didn't punish us too badly for leaving them, although one of them did come into my bedroom about every 2 hours during the night to meow loudly at me. Payback, I guess. That's a cat for you!

I had some difficulty making the mental transition back to my work. We didn't unpack last night, so we were running late because we couldn't find anything this morning. I'm very particular about having everything lined up just right prior to worship, and I somehow missed a few details. I doubt anyone else noticed, but it kept me off-balance. No biggie to anyone but me. It was, as always, a long Sunday. Good, but long. But I'm excited to be back. I have a few projects in mind that I'm ready to tackle this week. Life is good. Home is good.