Recap and Reflections of My "Time Off"

Note: I apologize for the delay. Thank you for the 15 of you who checked yesterday/this morning to see if there was a post, and to my mother, who worriedly emailed me, afraid she had missed it. You didn't miss it. I am just still suffering from jet lag and a cranky toddler who learned how to throw epic temper tantrums in my absence. Here is this week's post.

I think I have about five blog posts running through my head right now. I am hoping I can turn all (or at least most of these thoughts) into a coherent something that makes sense. If I can't, well, we are close to another 500 pageviews bonus post, so keep an eye out!

As mentioned in my last post, last weekend I climbed aboard an airplane, flew across the country, and played hooky from my normal life for four days.

It was glorious.
No diapers, no dirty laundry, no cooking dinner, no cleaning.

It was hard.
My arms felt very empty. I couldn't sleep very well without my husband. I missed my loves terribly.

And now that I've been home for four days (the same amount of time I was gone), I have had time to reflect on my favorite parts of my trip, the things that made it more than "worth it" to spend some of our tax return on a plane ticket.

My big brother!

And even though I saw a hundred really cool places and things (I went to Washington, D.C. for heaven's sake!), these are the parts I loved the most:

The look on my brother's face when he realized his little sister had walked through the door at 10:30 pm.

A Thursday night slumber party on air mattresses in the living room with my mother, where we stayed up far too late, just talking.

A Friday morning drive through the Virginia countryside, made an hour longer because of an accident on the freeway. My father and I (the two diabetics and two history-lovers in the vehicle) insisting we were fine to skip lunch if it meant that we could make it to the Monticello tour on time.

with my Dad at Monticello (we made it and we got lunch, which is why we are both still standing)

A Friday night at the fanciest dinner I've ever attended in my life and my mother asking me what all those utensils were for, when she's the one that taught the etiquette classes growing up!

A Saturday afternoon personal tour of my brother's law school, where he has spent the majority of his time during the past three years. How I admire his accomplishments. How proud I am of the things he and his wife have done, the people they are, the service they render. Meeting one of his professors. Explaining that though I have two Bachelor's degrees, I am a happy and content stay-at-home mom. Watching my parents, a financial analyst and a kindergarten teacher, watch their son among what was basically the top ten percent of his class, receive an award for his accomplishments. Of all the parents in the room, I can't help but thinking that perhaps they were the proudest because their son, who had once struggled in school, had come the farthest.

on the courtyard by the Law School at The George Washington University

A Saturday evening skyping session with my husband and daughter. Seeing the smile on her face when she saw me, seeing the dark circles under his eyes and the relief to see me so happy, knowing  he was worried that I wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy my trip. Neither of those things were a problem!

A misty, rainy Sunday morning sitting encased in plastic in the middle of the National Mall, where my brother, dressed in a cap and gown with three stripes on the sleeves, celebrated his accomplishment in the midst (could also read "mist") of history, knowing he was making history of his own.

My cute sister-in-law, who took care of me all weekend

after commencement, with the Washington Monument in the background

This is my favorite picture of my mom and brother from the whole weekend

Sunday evening, playing cards and watching Duck Dynasty and making chocolate chip cookies for my brother, because as I learned on my mission, food=love. Hearing him proclaim that my whole trip was worth it just for those cookies. Realizing that he loved having me there and didn't think I was an intrusion on the limited amount of time he gets to spend with my parents.

Rinda's famous Cookie Doo cookies

Monday evening, cuddling with my husband and daughter, realizing that they missed me more than I could ever comprehend.

I realized while I was traipsing along the East Coast that my roles in life have changed since I've become a mother. Understandably, I've changed since becoming a  mother. My thoughts and priorities and energy levels are completely different than they were before Kevin came along. My relationships with my siblings and my parents have changed--I'm not just their daughter and a sister anymore; I'm the mother of their granddaughter and niece and that changes things for bad or good or whatever, life just changes. And even though this trip didn't make me "not" a mother--my thoughts still veered toward my little family at home more often than not and my energy levels were still shot--it did let me revert back into being the daughter and little sister first and everything else second.

I needed that, and others needed it too.

My husband and daughter needed some one-on-one time together.

My in-laws needed Scott to be free for a weekend so they could have some personal time with their youngest son (where he also got to revert back to his pre-marriage relationship with them, made strong from his days of being the only child at home) and their granddaughter.

My parents needed to have me there with them to make the event feel more like a family accomplishment, something they could share.

My brother needed to know that his graduation was important to me. I can't seem to express just how important. More important than a simple cross-country trip. Way more important. I am so grateful for the man he is and the example he has always been for me.

And, perhaps most of all, I needed that experience of sitting next to a businesswoman from New Jersey, proudly telling her where I was headed and why, and a few minutes later, in the exact same satisfied and content tone of voice, telling her who I was and where I was coming from, and realizing that I didn't feel anything lacking when I told her my job was raising my daughter, and I love what I do.