Preparing to leave

This time next week I’ll be on the red-eye to New York to attend Book Expo America. I’ve never been away from the kids before. Look at these faces. How could I possibly leave these faces?

kids picnic table

I adore them. I’ll miss them terribly. I’ll probably miss them so much I’ll cry.

You know what else I’m going to do, though?

1. Eat when I’m hungry.

2. Not cook when I’m not hungry.

3. Eat with two hands, with no one sitting on my lap, and while my food is still hot.

4. Sleep alone.

5. That bears repeating: Sleep Alone.

It’s going to be an incredibly busy week filled with readings and signings and meetings and book parties and seeing friends and family, but there will also be moments when I’ll get to just be…alone. I haven’t been alone like that in seven years. I’m ready for some of that.

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3 comments on “Preparing to leave
  1. I remember these writerly excursions wistfully. Have fun, Cari. It is rare.

  2. Yay! Good for you! I remember that feeling of constantly subjugating my own bodily needs to those of the kids’, of sleeping crammed into awkward positions with a small, bony elbow poking me in the back in the name of snuggling, then awakening with a small, sweaty foot draped over my face. So I know how much you will enjoy the eating and sleeping alone and unencumbered. Enjoy your trip. And, when you get home, enjoy the little snugglebugs. Before you know it, this too will pass into memory and you’ll have Big Kids who leave you alone to eat and sleep, whether you like it or not!

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