Since She's Been Gone.....

What I thought was going to happen: The days after returning home from Chicago are going to go by so slow.  I am going to be a mess.  I am going to be so bored.  I am going to miss Naysia terribly!

What has happened:  The days after returning from Chicago have flown by!!  Work has kept me hella busy-and stressed out.  I won't share the issues here but all four days were quite miserable.  I'm off today with a possibility of going into work looming.  I may not show up tomorrow, we'll see.
That being said, my days have been long on campus, and I've had to do hours of work at home.

I had a "moment" on Tuesday night with all these wild thoughts running through my head. I went to bed thinking.... I'm so lonely, I'm so bored, what am I going to do,  I wish I had a husband and more kids to pour my energy in to.  Crazy, right? Right.

Spent some time with my mom and Imaunii on Thursday.  We had a movie night, watched 'The Woman in Black' and 'Safehouse'.  I worked hard in the drive-thru and brought home McDonald's double cheeseburgers and fries.  A big cup of Kool-Aid with a dash of whipped creme vodka made for a good night.

I've had several invitations to hang out with friends but have not been able to.  I've been working on Naysia's "welcome back" surprise, which has been tedious, but fun!

Late Wednesday night I had a welcomed surprise.  The program leaders sent parents a Shutterfly link to view pictures they have taken of the students.  As I went through about 500 photos, with each click I was hopeful that Naysia would be visible.  If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, it looks like they are all having a fantastic time.  They've done some incredible sightseeing, she seems to have made several friends.  Three students and a teacher have had birthdays-so they were celebrated, presented with some pretty elaborate cakes.  The skies are gray and the clouds hang low.  At most times they have umbrellas in hand and Naysia is wearing her hat in every picture.

This is the longest we've been apart, of course I miss her very much.  This time next week I'll be about to head to Phoenix and fly to LA to meet her. This week has provided a tiny glimpse into what life will be like as she continues to grow older and explore her freedom.  So just what am I going to do when she is grown?  Undoubtedly my care, concern and responsibility won't disappear, it will change.   I need to explore other interests besides working and cake decorating.  And most importantly I need to learn how to use the TV, DVD player and PS3.