I preface this entry by writing that I enjoy going home because I get to see our family and friends. That and the few places to eat that are not available in PA are the only things I enjoy about going back to KS.
There is never enough time to see everyone and no one is ever happy about that. We literally run from one get together to another and try to squeeze in seeing everyone possible. This becomes very stressful and an emotional roller coaster.
This trip was no different in fact even harder than most trips home. We try to go home for at least a week so that we are not running around like crazy as much. This trip was on the heals of our Disney adventure and right before the holidays...not ideal but there was a wedding that we couldn't miss. So out of the four days we were back for 1 was spent with the wedding.
I don't know that I have mentioned this before but my parents are getting a divorce after almost 30 years of marriage. They have been separated for several months and although I think the divorce is going to be a good thing for them it took 30 years to create this life of theirs together it is inevitable that pulling it apart will be difficult and unavoidably ugly. More in a later post.
This was our first trip home since they have officially separated and I will be the first to admit it was really hard. There was not going to be very much time to spend with my side of the family and now that time was split in two again. My dad has had a difficult time keeping up with the house on his own so it was in shambles and not a good idea to stay there. So we stayed one night with my mom at my aunt's house and two nights at two different hotels.
On an up note Emily did a great job as a flower girl and Bret was a dashing usher. On Friday night after the rehearsal dinner we went to the casino and stayed in the hotel using my mom's player club points with some close friends from Wichita. My mom stayed and babysat all 5 kids while we went and played for a while. Besides the wedding this was the highlight of the trip. We really miss these friends and it was a reminder why they were our closest friends. Out of everyone we go home to visit I can honestly say that without a doubt the work the hardest to see us and never complain. Their attitude is just tell us when and where even if it means that they have to drive hours to visit us even for just a dinner together at Old Chicago's. I hope that they come visit soon.
Sometimes it frustrates me that our family has a hard time making it out to see us once a year. There isn't time off from work, it costs too much, etc. There is only one or two of them and there are four of us. Yet we can make it home 3 or 4 times a year. We take the time off and pay for it ourselves. I bring this up because Bret and I have seriously contemplated not going home for Christmas this year. Bret has to work the week of Christmas but gets the 10 days off over New Year's. After pricing airline tickets we would probably have to drive home. I think his sister and her fiancee are coming for Christmas even though he is working for part of the week. We are going back to KS for a week in June for their wedding. We are so torn here. There are so many pros and cons for either decision that we don't know what to do. I know that not going would be really hard for our family but I don't think they have any idea how hard going home is for us. Stay tuned as we are far from a decision.
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