Thanksgiving for a Safe Return

My husband, in-laws and my mother-in-law's parents all returned safely from Missouri yesterday. Turned out everybody refused to drive the rental truck except my husband. After seeing it pull into the farmyard, I can understand why. A 15' truck is really, really big. Big enough that is makes you wonder that average folks are even allowed to rent such monstrosities and drive them over state lines without a special license.

But no mishaps. It was a lot bigger (and when fully loaded, heavier) than anything my husband had ever driven before, but he did all right. The worst part of the trip was that his mother rode alone with him -- knuckles white, lips pursed, blood pressure skyrocketing -- telling him to slow down every time they headed downhill. A truck like that sure picks up speed on the downhill stretches of road.

The kids and I drove out to the farm at 7:30 p.m. to pick him up. Edyn, who was virtually napless all day, slept on the way out while Zooey and I sang Christmas songs and chatted a bit about things like why cattle yards smell so bad. (They don't all smell bad, but some are pretty sloppy about manure management, and those will get you. And yeah, we passed one on the way out to the farm.)

When we climbed out of our vehicle, Zooey was flabbergasted at the vast number of stars in the sky. It was a very clear night, and out in the country, there are fewer competing lights, so the number of stars you can see is at least tripled. It was like being in the middle of the Milky Way. We stood there for a minute and stared at God's workmanship, but it was pretty chilly and I had to get Edyn inside.

It is SOOOOOO good to have my husband home again. I know, he was only gone 51 hours, but I missed him greatly. And yesterday, my pregnancy hormones were getting the better of me so every little mishap felt like a major catastrophe. My husband is the emotional rock in our household. When I'm pregnant & weepy like this and ready to fall apart, even just a look in his direction is enough to get me back on track.

I imagine we'll be heading out to the farm again tomorrow to help unload. My husband has a gig tonight & I'm trying to catch up on some tasks this afternoon, so today was out for us.

--Sparki