On The Road Again

It's one a.m. here. In a little over an hour I'll hop on the little shuttle bus that drives through the night between here and SLC. I'll arrive at the airport, eat some overpriced breakfast food, doze in an uncomfortable chair, and take flight just before ten a.m.

It's been an excellent trip. I've truly enjoyed just hanging out at my folks' house and visiting with family and eating food and playing with babies. It's been pretty sweet.

There have been some overall highlights of course -- the post-presentation chat at the AML conference, hanging with Tony, movie night at Jason's, Hadley, Dave and Melanie's kids, Geraldine's with Mom, a movie with Dad, lunch with Dan, lunch with the Captain, etc. It's been great.

But I really miss my wife and kids. I miss sitting with Suzanne and talking once the girls are asleep. I miss helping Maryn with her homework. I miss Avery teasing me and helping in the kitchen.

Avery puked again last night and, apparently, she takes after her dear ol' dad in her ability to cover a lot of ground with her vomit. I guess last night she ran to throw up in the toilet but the lid was down. Not pretty.

I mention this not because I feel as though I missed out on seeing an impressive display of projectile vomiting, but because I regret that I wasn't there to help Suzanne clean up. I appreciate her immensely for supporting me in taking this trip. She knew it would be good for my resume and good for my soul to come out and she let me go without grousing or guilting. Avery's been sick but even if she hadn't been, taking care of two busy little girls while working full-time and holding down a calling is a heck of a lot of work. I appreciate that she was willing to do that work so I could have a few days of familial luxury.

I miss her. I miss Maryn and Avery. It will be good to be with them again. Suzanne's got a GNO (Girl's Night Out) lined up for Saturday night and, boy howdy, is she welcome to it. She deserves a break bigtime.