Priorities

This is the post “weekend filled with kids” entry where I usually bemoan my lot in life as I now experience a cavernous gulf in my ability to be happy because they’re gone.  I’m not going to do that because that would not be precise.  I am left with a feeling of contentment that I was blessed with the time all of them were willing to donate to be with us.   I’m more than sure they had other options but they felt compelled to gather and welcome my wife home and to hang out with us.  As I think about it I’m a little stunned and humbled (not an easy task by any stretch).

It’s beyond my poor ability to capture how much fun it was spending time with our kids and their significant others this past weekend. The time did pass with its usual startling velocity which is my only complaint.  I still wasn’t 100% on Saturday and was dragging by the end of the day but I still didn’t want it to end.

The important lesson for me is just how much of my happiness is tied up in spending time with these guys.  It’s caused me to wonder at the facile way I absented myself from them during my military career when everything work related seemed more important. I guess middle age is when you start looking back on your life since there’s more in the rear view mirror than out front.  Any work accomplishments pale to insignificance when compared to time with the important people in your life.  I’m into the serious recapture mode now as I try to savor the time we do get to spend together and wouldn’t denigrate it by staying it wasn’t enough. While I miss them desperately this does help build on the anticipation level for the next time we’re together.

Daughter Creating Keto-Biscuits

My Wife Monitoring Progress

Our hypervelocity Sunday included a late brunch at Cracker Barrel where I gazed longingly at their signature biscuits which I am denied by my keto regimen.  My daughter, ever the innovator, had a keto friendly recipe for biscuits which she demonstrated when we got home.  They taste nothing like regular biscuits but they’re a reasonable facsimile.  She also spent a good portion of the afternoon transferring some of my wife’s thousands of recipes from their plastic bag storage container onto my wife’s I-pad.  This was followed by the customary mad dash through Connecticut to the New Haven train station which was over run with green garbed St Patty’s Day celebrants.

The Departing Group Shot
I was Directed to Excise My Wife Out of the Photo
On Pain of Summary Execution Due to a Poorly Executed Smile