Christmas in July

Kevin is brewing up a business trip to Michigan.

Not counting conference trips and board meetings, this is his first far away business trip since I've been here. Possibly his first since last summer.

When the girls were teenagers, we women used to occasionally push the lone man in the household to consider some weekday travel. The hoisting of the family anchor to sanity meant the slight hold on adult choices in our life was missing.

Popcorn and Pepsi for supper. Using the good china and wine glasses. My favorite movie popped in the VCR--White Christmas. In July. Maybe a late evening drive through the campus village to see if any cute boys stayed around for summer classes. Radio cranked up to car shaking levels.

A night or two of innocent frivolity. Then sanity arrived home--usually with his pockets full of peanuts, pretzels, chips, candy; whatever goodies the hotels and airlines were handing out that week. The daughters would carry on about the bags of peanuts as if they contained diamonds smuggled in from Africa and daily life would return to our version of normal.

By the time the girls had all flown the nest, Kevin and I were living in separate states during the work week and his business travel didn't really register a change on my daily radar. Distant was distant whether he was in Ohio or New York.

This will be the first time I've stayed alone in Ohio. I know it worries Kevin. He was getting home things in order even as he packed tonight...taking out the trash, making certain I knew where he kept the extra door key hidden, gassing up my truck, emailing me a list with the phone numbers--work and home--of every person he knows in Ohio.

I'm doing my part too.

While Kevin is gone I plan to go through a couple of moving boxes that have remained untouched since my arrival......I KNOW I packed the White Christmas DVD when I moved here.