life and puppies

By my calculation, I have now spent a total of twelve nights away from Bear. The first was a very awesome night of sleep when my mom and Sev agreed to take her overnight when M-Bear was only about 6 weeks old. Ah, that was nice. I still remember the text from my mom in the morning: “When are you coming to get her?” I think they tag-teamed staying up to watch her sleep all night because they were so worried something would go wrong. Thanks again, guys! Next up was the September 2012 trip Heather & I took to California to watch Brady get married in that lovely ceremony outside of Healdsburg. That was a nice, but quick trip. Then came a jaunt to Chicago for a January oral argument. In February, we went to NYC for two nights for Emilia’s super fun wedding.  In May 2013, I went back to Chicago for another argument. Earlier this month I spent three awesome nights outside of Guerneville with great friends in a kinda wacky house we filled with too much wine. And now here I sit in a hotel room in Elkhart Lake about to wrap up my time here at a work conference. On Monday, I’ll return to Chicago for two oral arguments scheduled for Tuesday. So, what do I think of *all* this time away from my loves? I’m not going to lie: sleeping in a big bed in a quiet room I don’t have to clean is pretty nice. Waking up on my own, without hearing crying or whining and having to rush out of bed to change a diaper and soothe my babe, is not bad. It’s refreshing to have a couple of days away.

All that said, I’ll be driving a little faster on the way home than I did on the way here (but not too fast, of course — state car and all). I can’t wait to get home and kiss some cheeks.