Change of Travel Plans

Well, Crosby & I were supposed to be back in the UK by now....and I am sure we would be having a fight with jet lag right about now but we're not! We changed our flights (of course with Scott's permission and agreement) so we could stay an extra few days with my parents. Plus, it hasn't hurt that the weather has been 65 degrees and sunny in the midwest this week!

We spent the morning on a walk and at the park in order to enjoy the super nice weather we are having right now.

This always happens when I am about to leave my parents after a visit. I really don't want to leave them because I don't get to see them as often as I would like. When I think about it, I know I am a "home body" and maybe I am stranger than most in that I really love being back at home and enjoy spending time with my parents. Perhaps it's a female thing but Scott is good about encouraging me to spend time when I can with my family because he knows how important it is to me. If I take a step back and look at it, I am often amazed that I do so well with being in a completely different country from my family, but I know that my parents were always good about encouraging my sister & me to flee the nest so we could take advantage of life opportunities.

When I was younger, I remember my father taking out a map and drawing a circle around our city, saying "Here's a 500 mile radius. You girls can go to college anywhere outside this circle." And he meant it! At a time when most parents we knew were trying to keep their children close to home, ours were telling us to go away. Their theory was that we could always come back home again, but we needed to leave first to see what else was out there.

I feel their lessons ring true more often than not these days. My sister & I have both moved away and are making our own ways out in the world. I am sure my parents never imagined that their encouragement in fleeing the nest might lead to our current life in England, but they have been nothing but supportive of it, despite the times when the distance really is far.

Now, in time, it will be my turn with Scott to teach Crosby such lessons in life. But for now --- for one more week -- Crosby & I just wanted to be home again to enjoy some more time after the busy holiday period. Jet lag can wait another week, because I am sure it will find us upon our return to England, regardless of when that is.

Sometimes it is just really nice to be home again.