Home Sweet Home

Well, here I am. Back home after a full week in St. Louis with Lisa's family. Good times were had, yet I can't help but feel like it wasn't so much a "vacation" as it was a "trip." What's the difference? As a child, I remember "getting away from it all" with the family. We'd pack up the car and drive to the Ozarks for a nice, relaxing week with the hillbillies. By the time we arrived home, I was well rested. But what about my folks? No. As a parent, vacations are anything-but. Really, all you need is some time to relax. To feel rested. To sleep in. Without waking up to a baby crying. Or singing. And, let's face it, these two things happened every morning. Or all night long.

Needless to say, I was ready to come home a couple of days ago. Not that I don't like being with Lisa's family, but whenever we arrive in town, it turns into a huge whirlwind of scheduling. Since we're in town for only so-many days, we need to fit in as much "quality time" with as many relatives as we possibly can. And with Lisa's brother, John, getting ready to depart to Poland, with his wife, Rachel, for close to a year, there were that many more reasons to see people.

Lisa's other brother, Curt, is scheduled to arrive in St. Louis at around 10:00 tonight. Since we were due to leave this morning, Lisa lamented over breakfast how she was going to just barely miss him. I offered to drive home by myself today since I'm starting work tomorrow, and then I can return to pick her and Audrey up on Saturday. Lisa pondered this and suggested I come back on Sunday instead.

Hall pass.

As I drove east on I-70 with Murder Ballads by Nick Cave blasting through the speakers, I pondered how I would spend my next few days of freedom. First things first--update the blog. I can put up some sketches I did over the past week. But what's this? I left the digital camera with Lisa so I'm unable to take a picture of one of the sketches. Okay, I'll post something I have saved to my Mac that I have never used before.

After I got home, I picked up the mail from our neighbor, mowed the lawn, and then sat down to hundreds of emails from the past week. Now that my weekend has opened up, looks like I have a full plate. A cookout at my principal's house tomorrow night and then drinks with Brandon and Jeff afterward. Saturday night I'll probably just watch a couple of movies with the same people. Is that relaxing? I guess all I need is a chance to sleep without having to wake up to a baby singing.