There and Back Again

I was in Colorado this past weekend. Leaving Friday afternoon and returning Monday, I spent time with my family and attended a good friend's wedding Saturday.

A good weekend. A packed couple of days. A bit of a whirlwind trip... here are some snapshots -

• Long conversations with each member of my immediate family at all kinds of hours and in a variety of contexts.
• Bringing gifts for my family.
• Playing piano duets with my mom ... one piano + four hands = lots of fun.
• Karaoke in the basement with my sister after midnight.
• At the wedding, seeing lots of familiar faces from another time and another place.
• Handsome groom. Beautiful bride. Love. Joy. Peaceful closure.
• Seeing my cousin who will be having a baby soon. (The next time I see her, there will be another little one in the world.)
• Great talks over coffee.
• Attending the early service at my parent's church (where I grew up and everyone knows me), then rushing to Denver to the late service at my sister's church (so I could experience her new pastor in action).
• Surprising my uncle, aunt, and young cousins at my sister's church in Denver.
• Medium-rare ribeye with my grandparents and sister after church.
• Grading middle schoolers' papers so my sister could enjoy her weekend.
• Classic dinner-and-a-movie night with my parents.
• Seeing and experiencing the many specimen's of my sister's newest crafty passion: soap-making. These to soften. Those to exfoliate. All to clean. ... etc.
• Snow. Pretty, white falling snow.
• Sleep-deprived... and fighting a sore throat and runny nose.
• Delayed plane for de-icing.

I like traveling. I want to see the world... but after several hours in the air, it always occurs to me that I really just like to be where I'm going. It is at times like that I wish teleporters really exist.