when i was back home last week, my seester michi, thoughtfully bought me a fabulous new brown journal for my trip. i was keeping my eye out, a new journal was very high on the mental list of things to get before i left. the pages are so crisp. new. empty. waiting to be filled with my adventures abroad. i absolutely adore handwritten journals. i still swoon over my piles of sticker-ed adolescence filled with pages of crushes, heartbreaks and serious reflections. there is nothing like setting my pen to a fresh close-lined piece of 5 x 7 paper. and the little rubber-bandy elastic thing that holds it shut? i love that little detail to help hold in any memorabilia i lovingly stuff inside.
i can just see it now...i will probably spend most of my journal time writing about how much i miss the hubby and my two girls. how much i wish jacob was scaling the eiffel tower with me, enjoying lunch on the river and whisking me down the cobblestone streets. i'll probably fill the pages with tears over how big the girls are getting as i spend eleven hours in the air, dampen the thousands of dollars worth of art at the french museums with my weary sobs. please pray that i will not be one big ball of pathetic. please. i know, i know. i will be in a gorgeous-breathtaking-never-seen-before-to-my-eyes place. this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (hopefully not, jacob? he may or may not have signed something before we were married that bonded him into taking me to italy at some point in our lives. i may or may not still have this smallish contract tucked away in a very safe and private place). so i think it's best to just accept the fact i'm going by myself, without my love and without my chillins', and fully know that they are in loving and capable hands. and miley, you better not learn to walk while i'm gone! though, she has officially taken her "first step". just one, but i did see it with my own eyes. i told my mom, very lovingly, that if miley decides to stand up and start walking, to just push her back to the ground. in a very gentle and loving way, of course. psh.
the girls will be camping out at grammy and papa's for three weeks. jessa is very excited, and just to warm my little heart, she did say that she doesn't want me to be away for that long. she assured me that she would miss me. big ball of pitiful and pathetic, here i come! i usually put lengths of time {car rides, sleeping time, etc.} in terms of television shows. for example, the trip to grammy and papas is four hannah montana shows. or roughly one disney princess movie. i think you get the picture. it might be a little overwhelming to say that mommy will be gone for 1,008 hannah montana's or 504 movies. we might have big alligator tears. and jessa might shed a few too.
i will spend this week soaking up my girls - in between loads of laundry and packing three people for three weeks. planning {as best i can} dinners for the hubby, making last minute trips to the store for last minute necessities and squeezing in very important play dates. this morning, we spent some time outside in the fresh country air (despite the bambi carcass on the side of the road that couldn't’t help but send unpleasant aromas up my nostrils, causing my already sensitive gag reflexes to kick in) walking, tossing rocks and playing pooh sticks, minus the bridge.
tonight is dinner at my in-law's, with family. after last night's dinner with our dear friends, ken and judy {new "precious legacy" blog in my sidebar}, i just feel spoiled to get another dinner out. i really reap from time spent with loved ones. it is truly a blessing. i hope you enjoy your lovely sunny tuesday!
please tell me how i'm not supposed to desperately miss these sweet faces?!
