Floating

Alaska Air has this really cool feature where you can track the status of a flight. By typing in Bryan’s flight number I can see that his plane is now at 32,000 feet and directly over the central part of western Oregon, and that he should be walking through this door by 11pm.

Bryan left last Saturday afternoon for a conference, making this a longer trip than usual. Surprisingly, the kids and I had an extremely great week. Normally I dread these long trips, having grown accustomed to the typical four day/three night trips he takes every couple of weeks or so. This week I managed to create an excellent ratio of down time to activities, and kept us out of the house doing things. When we were home, we were hard core home – with jammies and movies and junk food, totally elated and exhausted from our adventures that day.

This week felt like a very similar experience to the trip we took to San Jose in January, in that I was feeling as if I didn’t need to control every moment and every move of my children – especially Ruthie. I felt relaxed and at ease. I wasn’t perfect, and we had our moments, but the overall vibe of the week was enjoyable and, dare I say it again, relaxed.

And what’s nice, I was able to feel this way within the fairly normal routine of being at home, instead of relying on a vacation or change of scenery to make me happy.

I really am in awe of the week. It feels surreal.

Floating.

That’s the word and the feeling that continues to come to my mind when I try to capture what I am experiencing. A weight has been lifted from me – probably in many more ways than one, now that I think about it – and I am experiencing great joy and freedom in my heart, and it is spilling over into my relationship with my children.

This week is another rock cairn to mark along the path I am on.