So I figured out that if I can lift the suitcase, it’s the proper weight, I almost completely max out at lifting more than about 50 pounds… The things you learn when moving your family across the world. I’ve also discovered that my clothes mean a lot more to mean than I expected and that packing a large bottle of French’s mustard isn’t as easy as I was thinking. Ahhh, the joys of travel… Everything is a “mind opening experience” and I just think my mind is so open right now bugs might start flying in. 

Yesterday I had a family session on my little secret beach in La Jolla with the Rees Family… I love those kids, they make me smile so much just watching how well they blend and gel as a new family. Warms the heart. My daughter came along and we spent a few moments just hanging out there on the beach together… enjoying the wildlife and the fine sand, the chilly water bubbling up from beyond the ocean shelf and finding shells to throw back for funsies. I’m really going to miss the Pacific; she is a mighty one that I have grown a very serious respect for over the years… I will miss her rhythm and her ways greatly. 

On the way back home we hit some “fun” snags that forced us inland to my folks house, so we made the best of the rest of the day while Tess and I waited for a ride back home where we would meet up with Aaron. Watched the butterflies pollinate sort of like they were drunk… I always see butterflies as so awkward when they flitter around and then, WHAM! “hi flower!” Not like the graceful Hummingbird that zips and flits back and forth then doesn’t even jostle the tree to retrieve the nectar. I love to sit and watch them in my parent’s backyard. 

Dinner with the family at our old favorite, Lienzo Charro. That place never gets old… and the family that owns it has never been anything but sweet to us. Food always so tasty, service is always so friendly… My kid, of course, burnt out from the longest day ever, passed out quickly in a booth next to us and missed out on the luscious last feast. That’s ok, her quesadilla made for a rather convenient late night snack.  

So we pack up and I hug my family, and my parents take us home. I felt a little uneasy knowing it was going to be one of the last nights I’ll get to sleep in my room on my plush American bed so I think I rambled my parent’s ears off the whole way home. I’m still in the “convince myself this is a great idea” phase of this move and sometimes it helps to just say what you’re thinking… Thanks mom and dad for listening. 

We’re home and I tuck Tess in for what turned out to be a 13 hour nap for her… I turn out the lights, turn on Parks and Rec and sit cozily on my plush American bed and quietly try to enjoy the safe space I’ve made myself one last night. I told myself that “tomorrow I wont be sad anymore, I’ll move on to the acceptance part of the move.”