Sleeping in My Bed Tonight

I just spent eight hours in a hot car with my three kids and a bunch of stuff.  

We made the journey back home today, after our two week friend/family-a-thon.  I would have driven the I-5 but was worried about Thelma making it over the Grapevine in the heat.  (We've decided to name the beater Thelma - kinda makes her special that way.)  For those of you who don't know, the Grapevine is a long stretch of the 5 freeway which goes up and over mountains to take you from L.A. to about 200 miles of desolation.  


Anyway, to avoid the possibility of a pregnant lady and three kids madly escaping a wagon inferno amidst endless fields of kindling, I opted to drive home via the 101 (always makes me hum,  "Ventura Highway, in the Summer time..").  I love driving the 101.  It's lined with all of my favorites: beaches, farms, quaint towns, vineyards...   Good for the soul.  Even the kids seemed soothed by it.


It shouldn't have taken eight hours to make the trip but Mama had to take lots of "potty breaks" (Grrrr), which inevitably resulted in Thelma-refueling, gum-buying, and seat-renegotiating.  Throw in traffic and collection of the dogs and a six hour trip was successfully extended to eight.


Still, my kids were fantastic.  I didn't have one frazzled-mom moment.  A notably amazing feat.


In truth, I was dreading today.  Not because of the drive, I actually love road trips; but because it means I have to go back to facing life... alone.  I know I'm not entirely alone, but somewhere over the years I drew into myself and abandoned that social butterfly I once was.  I'm sure there are great explanations for this, and I'm certain that my therapists are hard at work solving it for me.  In the mean time, I'm back home, alone, after two weeks of soaking in the love and support of time-tested friends and family.

***Long Sigh***

So, here I am.  These first few hours haven't been bad.  In fact, I was surprised by how good it felt to drive down the familiar streets of Pleasanton.  And stepping into our sweet little home was... nice.  The kids helped unload the car then bolted off to reconnect with the neighborhood gang.  I didn't mind.  They needed to run and yell a bit.  I opened the windows to let the cool breeze in, plugged in the chinese lanterns in the garden, loved on the pups, and did the preliminary sorting of the stuff.  Feels good to be here.  It's mine.  Ours.  Home.

A few visions from my Mom's garden...

If all dentist's chairs were in gardens I might have fewer cavities.