I'm Back

Sorry for the unannounced lull in posts. Between a big conference that I was involved in (decorations & gifts - wee ha!) and a five-day camping vacation, I've been largely absent from the blogosphere. But now I'm back and feelin' good. We arrived home on Thursday night and had just enough time to get most of the laundry done before packing the three girls off with their grandparents for the weekend! Life is good.

Can I tell you something that surprised me this weekend? I missed my kids. Not a ton, but like when friends invited us for an impromptu dinner tonight. My girls would have loved to have been there for some spontaneous fun with their friends. And I wished they could have been there. And church was easier, but different, sans kids. Otherwise...we had plenty of fun without them. And they had as much fun as three girls and their three second-cousins could have on a lake with their grandparents.

The other thing that surprised me lately: I'm a little sad about Timid Daughter starting first grade this year. It will be only the Uber-princess & I all day, most days. No sister coming home at lunchtime. It feels like the beginning of the end. On the other hand, sending Little Miss History off to first grade was great. It was the beginning of something else, something like freedom. I welcomed it. And I was sure with T.D. it would be more of the same, only better. But it's not.

Mind you, on the two mornings that I will drop the uber-princess off at preschool (her first year as well), I expect I'll be doing the freedom dance. Two hours to myself? Ah, the bliss! Grocery shopping...alone! Time at Starbucks, just me and my laptop! I'm nearly ready to count the days. But if I do, then it will be that much closer to First Grade. And I'm just not ready for that.