Homesick

My bouquet of leaves

Fall is my favorite season. There is nothing better than crunchy leaves and breaking out the sweaters for chilly weather. In Austin, fall means you can finally open your windows and turn down the air conditioning a bit, but you probably won't find brightly decorated trees or yards piled with maples leaves here. So this time of year, I get a little bit homesick.... for fall.

This is also the time of year when Trevor is gone. A lot. With college students back on campus, and study abroad fairs in full swing, Trevor might find himself in Denver, Des Moines or Dallas, and sometimes all in the same week. Family conference calls are common during this time as I turn on the speaker phone and the kids yell, "I love you more than anything," to their Daddy who is miles away. They are homesick for their Dad. I am too.

This week was a week like many others. Trevor left midday Sunday and headed to Iowa for meetings at three different universities. I manned the home-front, doing my best to ward off the frustration and wear that comes after working 16 hour days (and being on call each night).

Trevor finally arrived home last night at 9:00pm. Seth and Katelin were settled in bed, but Lina was tired and wouldn't sleep. Trevor took over. I slipped out to the patio for a few minutes to read and refresh. When I came back in we each ate a bowl of cereal, watched House, and caught up on the happenings of the week.

Then Trevor pulled out a surprise for the kids: fall leaves from Iowa. Not a yard full, but a few. Enough. I looked at Trevor and smiled. He is home. And I am not homesick anymore.

Note: Read on the patio late last night, but did it in the morning today. So much nicer.