(Trying to Get) Back to Normal

Last week was a hard one, but I think you already know that. Travelling, late nights, early mornings, lack of caffeine and a motel room that I'm pretty sure I was allergic to. On top of that, grief so thick that my tears started to hurt my cheeks. A sense of relief that confused and made me feel guilty.

And through it all, Izzie was a trooper. With everythingt she went though and saw last week, we expected her to have more than one well deserved melt down. But she only started to get upset when she knew we were heading home....because she wanted HOME NOW!

We were all happy and sad when we arrived home. We all missed my stepmother (who Izzie took a great loving to, and for whom she still asks about) and my brother R. and his girlfriend K. I enjoyed hearing stories about my dad from his friends, old and new. I hated leaving so soon, but life doesn't wait for you to get over things.

(And boy oh boy did we pick a crappy time to come back! It's frigging cold out there! So cold that Izzie and I didn't leave the house for two days. Phil didn't even bike to work, he took the bus. And he biked almost all winter last year, except for one week.)

So now we are home, and getting back into our routine. Early nights, early mornings, cups of tea, tea parties, puzzles, colouring, more veggies than chicken strips, less giving in to crying and temper tantrums and more standing firm, dancing and Christmas songs playing all day. Breathing and allowing myself to cry when I need to.

...and stopping little kitties who have developed bad habits in our absence. Bad kitties!