Happy New Year 2012

Posted Mon Jan 16, 2012 in Ruminations

The holidays are past, most of the stuff put away. The travel is over. Between the end of November and the First of January, I drove about 8,000 miles. We drove to Missouri to visit Wife’s folks for Thanksgiving, then to Louisiana to visit Daughter and her family for Christmas. We returned on 3 January. Older Son and DiL arrived from Denver on 7 January for a week’s stay.

We loved having the kids here. Older and Younger Sons worked with me to do some of the project around the house that languished for lack of enough help to move the furniture. The kids and Wife played a good part of the time. I worked most of the week, then took the last couple of days off to work around the house and spend time with the family.

This was very good. It’s a challenge for me to leave work for almost anything. While I wouldn’t say I “love” my work, it provides the support needed by my family and I’m dedicated to getting the job done for those who depend on me — family, clients, and boss. So, that was hard, particularly after being gone over the holidays. But, I did it anyway. It was the right thing to do.

The Girl adores the kids. She played hard with Older Son, who loves rough-and-tumble dogs. He has his own “war wounds” to show for the rowdiness. It’s a guy thing, I think. The Girl will play as rough as you want, but she’s very sensitive to her strength and has a soft mouth. What a doll.

When they were laying about watching TV, the Girl was in the middle of them, snoozing in a nest of blanket. Until they came, she wasn’t much to get on the furniture. But, she was right up there with them, sleeping and cuddling. She is the most social dog I’ve ever known.

When it was time to drive them to the airport yesterday, I put her in her crate. I left her a chew toy to occupy her time. As we left and I closed the front door, I hear her cry out. It was a cry of pure anguish at being left behind while her family left. I backed the car from the garage and heard her barking, calling to be let out of the crate.

That was hard. I hate leaving the Girl behind. But, there isn’t enough room in the car for five adults and a dog. So, behind she had to stay. It broke my heart to hear her pain. I guess I’m still the empath, after all I’ve been through.

The boys talked on the trip to Reno. It is fun to listen to them together. I wish Daughter could participate more. She might be small in stature, but she can keep up with them. That girl doesn’t know the meaning of quit.

Too soon it was time to drop them at the terminal and return home. We had a couple of stops to make on the way home to finish the projects. I am using my Winder$ box enough that I wanted speakers for it. So, I moved the Harmon Kardon Soundsticks to that machine (it recognized them!) and bought a pair of B&W MM-1 speakers for my MacBook Pro. I also needed a couple of small office-type things and Wife needed to pick up her prescriptions.

The Girl was happy to see us when we returned. She was waiting patiently in her crate, chew-toy between her front feet. The crate is beginning to show the impact of her protests. She pulls on it when we leave, trying to get out. The wires at the door are bent inward. The Girl can pull.

We crashed hard. I puttered around my workroom, installing my speakers and cleaning up my worktable. I backed-up Wife’s computer with a new drive. She filled the old one, so it was time to get something a little larger. I went for small too and bought one of the Seagate Go-Flex drives. I should buy the FireWire adapter for it because FireWire 800 is still faster than USB 2.0. I might do that yet.

The house seems quiet without the kids here. I’m used to Older Son showing up in my workroom about this time with coffee. We spent the early mornings talking about things. Those are the dad-words I wish I could still have. DiL would wander in a little later with her coffee and sit on the floor, reading a magazine and listening to us talk.

I wish they were closer. I wish all of them were closer. They are not and I don’t see it.

The week begins. It’s time to refocus on the tasks before me.