Home, Sweet Home

I went on a business trip three days this week, and boy, did it feel like forever. My flight out was late Monday morning, so I hung out with Claire in the morning until about 9 then dropped her off before heading to the airport. James got to play Dad AND Mom Monday night, Tuesday, and Wednesday since my flight didn't get in until about 11:30 Wednesday night.

He did fabulous.

It may have helped that the Saturday before, I went out with "the girls" from Claire's playgroup ... Mom's Night Out! I think it was the longest James had to deal with Claire all on his own, and he handled it like a champ. Gave him good practice for what was to be just a couple of days later! I had a great time and can't wait to do it again.

Actually, the same thing happened a few months prior when I had my "girls' weekend" and stayed away from Claire for the first time. The weekend prior to that other business trip, Syndee and Nina swept me away to do two night away in Southlake ... far enough to not be in the thick of things but close enough to hurry back if necessary. Two days later, I headed to Charlotte. Interesting.

Anywho, I was so ready to come home, and not just because it was an exhausting trip. I actually yearned to see my family. It certainly didn't help that Claire was sick; I ended up taking her to the doctor Thursday morning, and she's on her first set of antibiotics. Snotty and hacking, she's in great spirits. It's good to be home.

On the Ike update, my parents are fine. The night of the storm, my dad and I texted all night (at one point I think he asked me to stop texting so that he could get some sleep), and they got their power back on Tuesday evening (exactly 4 days). The worst thing was having no power, but mostly because there was no circulation (think: no A/C in Houston?! Yikes). They lost a tree in the front yard, but there was no flooding or damage to the house. My mom said it was really interesting in their neighborhood because - even though there was a lot of debris and felled trees - no trees fell on any houses; they all fell towards the street or across yards. Weird, huh?