Homeward Bound

We are loading up the family VW and heading southwest! This will be our first road trip since The Great Sickness of 2009. I gave Momo clear instructions to wear Cal out today so he will be a good little traveler for the 3 hour trip. The objective is minimal crying. Happy Cal = Happy Mel.  Now if I could only think of a good way to wear Annie out. We used to take her to doggie day care (yes, we are those people) and she loved it but she came down with kennel cough twice despite being current on her shots. You haven't lived until you have listened to a dog cough for days on end. Ugh.

There are a lot of people on the agenda to see and I'm pretty sure it will be impossible to squeeze them all in a 48 period while trying to maintain some sort of schedule for Cal. This is when my guilt sets in, actually a whole range of emotions - excited to see everybody, guilt for not spending enough time with said people, happiness when I do see them, exhaustion/irritation for feeling spread too thin and then sadness for leaving. This cycle happens every. single. trip. home. At least I cut the hysterical/weepy part out of the cycle when we are leaving. I never, ever thought I would get used to calling St Louis home. It changed when I had Cal. Where he is at, Jeff and I are home.