Recovery

I may have caught up on most of my sleep from my trip to Africa, but it appears Rachel is still emotional about me being gone for (in her mind) so long. Tonight we went to Powell's and she fell asleep in the car on the way home. I came inside, changed clothes, unloaded the dish drainer and got dinner going before waking her up. She had trouble waking up all the way -- unusual for her, she's usually quite cheerful after her catnaps -- and then she couldn't seem to stop fretting and weeping. Finally I took her in my arms and we cuddled in the glider in her bedroom.

"I want mama," she whined.
"Mama's here," I reassured her. "Mama's always here."
"Except when you're on a long trip," she shot back.

What could I say? It took 15 minutes of cuddling before she started insisting that my sweater was too scratchy -- this was the sweater she had cuddled against and then announced "I'm going to switch sides," and moved from my left to my right. The weepiness continued as she set the table and we sat down to dinner. "You're the preciousest thing in the world!" she exclaimed before tucking in to chicken, challah and carrots. "Even more precious that a jewel. Even more precious than my Pinkalicious book!"

Now, THAT'S high praise!

***

During dinner Rachel commented that the princess Band-Aid I'd asked her to put on my finger a few days ago was gone. I also remarked that the Band-Aid on her knee was gone, too (she had tripped while our friends David, Laura and their son Graham were over for Hanukkah dinner last Thursday night).

"It was a very bad trip!" Rachel reminded me tonight. "It was startling and painful!"