all good things must come to an end

and so today, we head home from thanksmas...(hopefully we will arrive there. our truck seems perilously close to death. but that's not the point of this post.) as i begin to gather & pack up our stuff for the drive, i notice that we are leaving with considerably more than we arrived with, and it strikes me that this is not unusual when we leave mom & dad's place. here, for your amusement, is The List:

• mom's kitchen aid blender - curtis enjoyed making a banana milkshake with it, saying it kicks our target brand blender's ass. it does. and now it is his.
• my birthday shoes
• a new dress (and accompanying shrug, belt & necklace. in my defense, i did pay for the dress, belt & shrug myself.)
• a new denim skirt
• 5 bottles of beaujolais nouveau for a big party i'm having next weekend
• adorably tacky elvis salt & pepper shakes
• candles
• new rude t-shirt for curtis
• 2 small christmas trees, set up & decorated, one for each of The Girls rooms
• a fun & silly christmas purse
• 2 sets of new flannel sheets, one for each of The Girls beds
• coloring books, reading books & small toys for The Girls
• high school musical pj's - one for each of The Girls
• for christmas, my mom paid to upgrade my cellphone plan for a year - so i have an envelope full of 12 checks for the appropriate amount

hmmm. i don't think i missed anything...if i did, i'll let you know. but i think i've made my point, regardless! :)

then there are the things i won't need to pack:

• sleeping in every morning
• naps
• happiness
• hours of feisty game playing
• food i didn't have to cook
• laughing
• the warm fuzzy feeling of being home
• a slower pace
• happy, if spoiled, girls
• comfort & encouragment
• secret sharing
• peace