Good byes

Harleigh has been home since December 8. It was a glorious 5 weeks having my girl here. A bit of a change to the calm and overtly predictable routine I've set for myself at Chateau Gahan with just me and the boy. I loved our time together, and all too soon I was back to that routine, so I'm glad I took advantage of her time home, every single minute of it. And while she loved being home, she missed her routine at school, and so I know that we're both appreciative of this new chapter.

We spent yesterday together stocking up on clothes, school supplies and toiletries for the new semester. Ate lunch out at our favorite sushi spot. And came home to pack up her car, then get in our jammies, drink hot tea, talk for 2 hours, then turn on the TV to channel swap between the Falcons game and Miss America (boy, are we are piece of work, or what??).

This morning I had a meeting at our church at 8:15 and she planned on going to church with her best friend Anna, then head out right from services onto the road for the 3+ hour trip back to the 'boro. We said our goodbyes early this morning (I had gotten the boo hoo's out of my system the day before). After church I headed straight into work for some catch-up — those snow days last week reeked havoc on everything work-related, and so it was either catch up today in a quiet, empty office or stress out while trying to do so as the office comes alive tomorrow morning.

When I came home, this is what I found. She'll be home for her 19th birthday. I got a little teary-eyed seeing it, but quickly occupied myself with cleaning an untidy and dusty house that I've ignored for way too long. She'll call tonite, we'll talk on the phone every day, at least 5 times a day, and in reality, Harleigh won't be gone at all.