Home again, home again; jiggety jig

Greetings from Canada. The kids and I arrived in Calgary on Saturday to visit my folks for a couple of weeks. Why would I take two tiny kiddos on a plane by myself? Well, Jon is away for 5 days and the prospect of a couple of flights with the kids seemed less insurmountable than 4 nights alone. So here we are. The flight was fine, although I left the DVD case on the plane. Fifteen of Anna's favorite DVDs are now flying the friendly skies. oog.

Anna loves visiting here, and she seemed to settled in quickly at first. But there are some cracks around the edges. I think she's missing Jon more this time. I suppose that will happen more and more as she grows. Isaac - who has been exhibiting stranger anxiety since August - had a rough 24 hours. But he's come around since then, warming up to his grandparents and enjoying his new surrounds. His crib is right beside my bed, and that's taken some getting used to. Little Man snores.

In the past, when I've visited here, I've always had a good amount of time to myself, generally squandered playing computer games. This time I came with a mental to-do list, centered around editing and ordering pictures from Isaac's early months. Zero editing accomplished so far. I forgot that I came here with two kids, not one. Once again, I need to adjust my expectations. So far, I've purchased a gently used snow suit for Anna (blue, so Little Man can eventually use it) and figured out how to get cash in this foreign land. Small steps, but important ones.

As for Jon's whereabouts, he's at a conference that we used to attend together (Society for Neuroscience). I've left the academic track, but even so I kind of wish I was there. Maybe because conferencing reminds me of those carefree graduate school days....
Ha! The truth is I was a nervous wreck during those years. I may be sleep-deprived, adle-brained, and lonely but I'm still fundamentally happier now. Maybe because having a family is fundamentally more fulfilling, or maybe I just wasn't cut out for research. Who knows? And this isn't to say I won't go back to work, but when and to do what remain open questions. Figuring that out will not be on the to-do list in the near future. For now, I just need to work on those pictures.