Weekend Life Sans Paul

We (the kids and I) said good-bye to Paul as we quickly headed out the door for swim lessons - the first of our 5 week fall session- I with Paul's freshly brewed coffee in hand, my "safe" hat to hide my bed head and a very dried out face from my waning bout of poison ivy, and the kids with their swim bags, goggles and towels. Swim lessons went well; the kids were bumped up to the next level on the first day and it was nice to see a smile on Abigail's face as she is feeling less depressed about the effects of poison ivy on her face. Thankfully she woke up to a face almost entirely free of dried flaky scabs, cuts, and poison ivy rash and swelling. She was gleeful this morning.....what a relief after 7 days of poison ivy torture. I HATE that plant!!!

In my small efforts to attack the thing that took a week away from our normal life, I went out and again sprayed poison all over the vines and leaves that I could see along the fence and up our pine tree. It's like a parasite, climbing and probing into and amongst the wooded life. I sprayed two days ago; when is it going to die!? I barely see any improvement on my attempts to erradicate it! Now the kids are happily playing together, giving me a moment to breath in silence, undisturbed; it's nice not to be needed or wanted for 15 minutes or more......to just enjoy some quiet as Sirius sleeps nearby. Elliott has missed his daily playtime with Abigail since she was in no mood to play with anyone this week. It affected his mood too.

They've adjusted to Paul being away although Abigail says there's an empty spot and she doesn't want to hear any music that will make her sad (that's a given rule on any day though). I said tears are good for us all...it's good to cry a little.....just a little bit every day =-) I miss Paul. I gave him such a feeble good-bye as I hurried out the door, making sure I had everything I needed for the kid's lessons. I just don't like focusing on the good-bye; it feels strange not having him here; I feel like I shouldn't have to say good-bye because it's not for good; he's coming back tomorrow night as we all lay sleeping in our beds, making that empty space a distant memory.....just a fleeting feeling like the ebb and flow of life. Temporary is good. I think it's the thought of it being permanant that makes me less inclined to focus on good-bye. Please, God; don't let it ever be permanant.

On a lighter note, I'm glad Paully has this time to spend with his Dad; it should be a lot of fun. I remember when we both got to go to a Jayhawks game in K.C. with Mom and Dad, when Abigail was like a basketball in my "tummy". Games in person are always much more interesting in my opinion; I just can't get into them when they're on T.V. Well, onto the next events for our Saturday without Paul......the dog park. I wonder if there will be any dogs this time! Last time it was just 1 dog....ours and the three of us. Happy Saturday to everyone else.