Road trip

For school, I was asked to drive a four or five hours into Mississippi and attend a conference. I LOVE road trips, and I am excited about what the conference is about and I WAS excited about getting out by myself. I realized I haven't really been away from John and the kids completely on my own.

Instead of relishing all the things I CAN do without them around, I keep thinking about the stuff I can't:

1. I can't finish an entire meal. I eat until I'm full and have all this left over. I never thought about it before, but I probably haven't finished a meal for 4 or 5 years on my own- without six chubby little hands eagerly "helping me out" with those fries or tater tots or whatever.

2. Pointing out cool stuff- Driving through Mississippi isn't the most exciting, but every time I came upon a herd of some kind of livestock, I instantly thought about pointing it out to everyone in the car--- which was me.

3. I keep having a hard time just getting in the car, buckling myself up, and driving away. I have to fight the urge to buckle someone else in and keep wanting to check the back seat to make sure I've done it properly. It just doesn't seem right when it only takes two seconds to get in and go. It's quite a process at home.

4. Hotel pools aren't as cool. I was so excited about getting in last night and swimming- and I did and it was alright, but I was done after ten or fifteen minutes. It was kinda boring without a monkey of my own making holding on to my back. It was nice, though, to sit in a hot tub.

5. I can't sleep the same. If I ever go to bed alone at home, I will probably wake up with three more people than before. Today, I woke up and it was still just me.

I'm enjoying my trip but I can't wait to get home to all the things I CAN do.