You Can (And Can't) Go Home Again

Just a surprise-ish heads-up that W&C will be taking a little bit of a break until late next week.

I just dropped Todd off at the airport this morning (a biz trip to Japan) and while that usually means that you would be getting a week (or sometimes two weeks!) of "woe is me" and "I'm so lonesome I could cry" posts... I came up with the brilliant idea that, why don't I get of town as well!   So I am leaving tomorrow and getting back the day before Todd returns, so I should be able to keep myself sane (well, kinda).  It is just going to be very weird tonight to be VERY alone... not only without Todd being here, but I also have to drop Rocky off at the kennel... errr, pet resort... this afternoon since my flight is excruciatingly early (though that's my preference - and I'm starting to think I am past the age that red-eyes are a good idea).  But no doubt, that I'll be pretty stir crazy later today!

So where am I going?  Well, I'd like to report some place exotic and exciting... or even, one or the other... but it's to NJ... to visit my parents.  I haven't had a real visit with them in nearly 2 years, so it is way, way overdue!   Granted we had a brief visit during a 3-hour layover on the way home from Europe last May, but that hardly counts... though, funny enough, after about an hour or so, they were "OK, I guess that's it"... but that's pretty much my parents!  My Dad, on his first trip to AZ, looked out at the Grand Canyon for a few moments... and was like... "ok, that's it"... he was really done, no interest in other vistas... no lingering... etc.  Ha!  I'm pretty much from a "been there, done that, let's move on, next!" kind of family!

I am hoping this trip home (bonus/brownie points for it being Mother's Day too!) helps me re-group a bit too.  Been in a rough patch of late and just need to sort things out and I think this may help.  I'm not sure how many of you get to go to the home you were raised in... or even if you have that, if you sleep in the same exact bed you slept in pretty much most of your teenage (heck, even pre-teen ... given my parent's frugality/"if it still works" mentality) years.  

But as an adult (not quite sure when that happened!), it has always been a surreal experience... more often than not, it helps me realize how far I've come... all the good things that have happened in my life that that boy who slept in that bed never dreamed of... and appreciate the life, right here, right now... a few days re-familiarizing yourself with your parents' quirks accomplishes that pretty quickly (thankfully we get along fine... but still!).   I am a need of a "Snap out it!!" experience and I'm thinking this trip will provide a lot of the visual/mental cues to help me do that.

The tricky part of this trip is keeping it secret from my Facebook 'friends'... as anyone of you who are on FB know, it kind of turns into "This Is Your Life!"... and quite a few folks from my NJ past have resurfaced over the past year or so... some of the re-connections have been fun, some have been "well, I can't so no" ... so I am keeping my NJ trip on the down-low.  I don't want to be put in the awkward position of not wanting to meet-up... though, in reality, I don't have much free time even if I wanted to (2 days are spent in-transit, we're booked on an overnight Atlantic City Trip, and then there's Mom's Day!).   Heck, I haven't even let my very, very best friend know I'll be back... so definitely no time or energy for a 20+ years recap, no matter how good those times were!  So mildly guilty about that, but my parents really deserve my time/attention on this trip. 

So if you are on FB with me... shhhhhh!   It's our little secret!   I may still pop in with a non-location specific status update... but will be more free-wheeling on Twitter (no NJ "blasts from my past" over there!)... though don't expect too much... not am I going back to my childhood home, but I am going back to the land of.... (gasp!)... landline Internet connections... though I am thankful my Mom was hip enough to get even that a few years back! 

Guess that's it... catch you late next week!

Comments

[monette]

have a good seekrit trip! It's nicely grey and rainy here on the PA/NJ border, with flood watches for fun!

[Jeff]

Have a good trip! I know what you mean about being back home. My mom got DSL just last year (and I even got her a wireless router); it's still a little mind-boggling that she went from dial-up not long ago to now having wifi!

[Beth]

Hope you have a great trip! I had a deja vu last week. Went back to PA for the first time in 6 years. My grandma passed at the end of Feb and we had her services last weekend. Sort trip, saw family and such. Things have changed in that 'short' time!