Recovery

I'm home from the trip...  Well, I actually got home on Monday afternoon, but have been in recovery ever since.  The trip took a LOT out of me - physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I don't think I realized just how much, until realizing it's taken me nearly a week to start to feel rested and up to resuming activities here at home.  (Even typing up a blog post has seemed too daunting a task all this week) 

Sure, I expected I'd be tired, but I grossly underestimated how much.  I don't think I got more than 5-6 hours of sleep a night during the trip and was go-go-go the whole time.  There was the driving (1100 miles each way), lots of last minute prepping for the show at the hotel, then being on my feet at the show for nearly 12 hours, and of course, visiting with my daughter and her family...  for the first time in nearly ten years. 

Since returning home I have been Wiped. Out. on every level.  I've been on the couch, getting some much needed and overdue "lap time" with my kitten and catching up on some TV shows.  I've been going to bed hours early every night and so NOT wanting to wake up in the mornings.  Today, I'm finally feeling like I might be able to accomplish more than just rest... starting with this post.

I plan to do a few posts about the trip, more in detail.  There is just too much to cover in one post and I'm afraid it would probably drain me all over again to relay all of it in one sitting.  I can summarize the whole thing by saying that it was a good time and I'm glad I went.

The biggest news was seeing my daughter for the first time since she was about a year old.  She is ten now.  I've kept in touch with her and her family over the years and have talked to her several times on the phone in the last year or so.  We saw each other every day while I was there. 

The last day, we spent a magical few hours together at a beautiful park in the area with a lake and sandy beach.  We started off by gathering up walnuts from the ground and throwing them into the lake.  Then we kicked off our shoes, rolled up our pants and splashed around in the water.  We played in the sand, drawing pictures and building landscapes.  I hope to carry the memory of that day for the rest of my life.  I didn't take many pictures, and none of our time on the sand that day, but her oldest sister actually painted the scene of the two of us sitting in the sand and gave me the painting when it was time to leave.  It was the most thoughtful gift and I'm so thankful and happy to have it.