Goodbye, Hello.

Arrived back home last night, after being away on my Sister Treat since Friday morning.

Home again, home again, the good and the bad.










Goodbye emergency vehicle sirens all hours of the day and night, goodbye car horns honking.
Hello to the clip-clop of Amish buggies, the cluck-clucks of my little chickadees, and the happy whimpering and tail-thumping of my happy-to-see-me dogs. Hello to the laughter of my children and their professions of joy at seeing me back home once again. Hello (sigh) to the sounds of the squabbling of my children.

Goodbe to staying up till 1, till 3, till 4:30 in the morning.
Hello to bedtime at 9:30 last night. Mama needs to catch up on a little rest. Mama's darlings can put themselves to bed on their own for a change.

Goodbye free champagne and appetizers, goodbye "good" wine.
Hello cheap stuff. Hello diet soda and coffee. Hello whine.

Goodbye chance of meeting Goerge Clooney.
Hello getting to SEE George Clooney.

Goodbye Judy Greer, Alexander Payne, Matthew Lillard, Robert Forster, Jake Gyllenhall, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges.
Hello Fred, Patrick, James, Bella, Rosie, Julie, and Daniel.

Goodbye freedom.
Hello restrictive undergarments.

Goodbye to eating 1 to 2 meals per day prepared by someone else, cleaned up by someone else.
Hello to preparing 1 to 2 meals per day, prepared and cleaned up by Yours Truly (OK, with a little help from a few in the peanut gallery).

Goodbye shiny and shapely fingernails and toenails.
Hello chapped and dried out barn hands.

Goodbye getting hair done by a stylist, including wash, blow dry and style, and with a "gloss treatment" thrown in for good measure.
Hello getting hair "done" at home with a 2-in-1 shampoo and a towel dry.

Goodbye to an entire day's worth of dishes consisting of about 10 or 12 items to be washed in about five minutes in the sink.
Hello to an entire day's worth of dishes consisting of one to two full dishwasher loads to be loaded and put away by one of the peanuts.

Goodbye to the star-studded, dressed-to-the-nines film screening at the New York Film Festival, goodbye to watching a fantastic movie with MY SISTER and George MF CLOONEY in it.
Hello to watching a movie in our PJS on our TV all cuddled up on the sofa under a blanket, while eating microwave popcorn.



Goodbye to the companionship of my sisters. Goodbye to their silliness, their understanding, their massages, their therapy, their unspoken and unbreakable bonds.
Hello to the knowledge that we will never grow up, we will never tire of our Treats, we will always understand and be there for each other.




Saying goodbye to my sisters makes me sad.
Saying hello to my family makes me happy.
If you're happy and you know it, click the button, click, clikck!