Since I've been back

I did miss Harry and Ellie while I was gone this weekend, but I was having so much fun with the girls, I hardly noticed. Once I got on the train back home, that's a different story.

Ellie seemed to do fine with me gone. There were no crying jags or temper tantrums because I wasn't there. I know that should probably upset me, but it actually has the opposite effect on me. She's still in that stage of out-of-sight-out-of-mind when it comes to me being gone, and I'll take it. That's mostly because she carries on every single morning I have to leave Teri's, and it breaks my heart. Once I'm out the door, though, she's fine.

Harry, on the other hand, really, really missed me. He had a hard time sleeping, and he wanted to talk on the phone for quite a while every time I checked in. That's extremely unlike him (and me for that matter). It was nice to see his face when he picked me up from the train station.

Since I've been home, I've noticed a new calm wash over me. I'm WAY more relaxed and patient, two things I've really needed to work on. I haven't been my normal screaming banshee self, pulling my hair out at every turn and rolling my eyes pretty much constantly. I'm able to enjoy it when Ellie drenches me with water while taking her bath and licking my face like a dog cuz she thinks it's funny. When those things happened last week, I had to take a deep breath and count to 10 so I wouldn't lash out at her. This week, I laugh along with her. That's good stuff.

I've been enjoying every minute I have with my little family. I'm happy to wake up to Harry making coffee. I get sincere pleasure out of moseying on into Ellie's room while she's still asleep and watching her slowly wake up (OK, I've always enjoyed that). I've been making simple meals so we can spend a little more time playing and reading after dinner.

And I've been taking it easy at work, too. Things have been, ahem, stressful, to put it lightly, as of late. Getting back into the swing of things and not letting all the things that are going wrong affect me has been easy since I got back. I'm hoping that will last. I was in a meeting on Tuesday, and I couldn't believe how calm I felt. Please, please, please let this last.

In the end, the aftermath of the wonderful trip is proving just as wonderful. What an awesome added bonus.