today is just gonna be one of those days where i wish i had bought stock in kleenex.  yep, the tissues are my best friend today. no - not a cold....worse....saying goodbyes.  i hate them.  i also dislike "see you laters" and all other sorts of goodbye greetings.  i especially dislike them when it comes to my parents and others whom i love dearly.  especially when they live far away and i only get to see them once or twice a year.  it's so hard.  so yes, today i'm letting myself just have free range of the kleenex box and allowing myself to not feel too guilty about it.

i'm very close with my parents and we've been so lucky to have them down visiting for almost a month.  it seriously was such a special thing to get to visit with them that long.  especially for the girls.  we got to have thanksgiving with them which i haven't had in like 12 years and many other fun moments to share like the birth of my new nephew (such a cutie pie!).  they got to stay in a house rental half way between my sister and i that was literally a 5 min drive for me.  it felt like old times.

i know some of you have prolly never dared to read my "about" page but i grew up in a very small town with almost all my family living there.  anytime you wanted to visit them you could walk there.  all my friends were within walking distance too.  so being in a city was a major culture shock for this northern bc gal.  it was so special to have that comfy feeling of being able to whip over to my folks place this month just to visit or stop by for coffee and let the girls run in the yard.  it was awesome to have those shoulders to lean on and those hours after school was out to visit and play.  it honestly became my fave part of the day instead of dreaded.

we're in a condo so yards are a gift to themselves these days.  so each day we were over there to visit, play and get spoiled.  we had gorgeous weather and lots of fun.  bonus is my mom is where i get most of my crafty gifts from so i got to wind her new yarn, talk quilty goodness and sewing fun too. she loves to go thrift shopping & had craft parties with the girls! yep...i'm gonna miss her.  she even drinks more coffee than i do..lol.. and the girls just loved having their opa (my dad) to play with, have tickle fights with and do his hair.  my omi (my grandma) was with them as well and it was so nice to get to spend so much time with her as well.

i could go on and on and i'm sure you can all relate somewhat to those people who are family (or like family) in your lives and how hard it is to say "see you later" when you know later is a long way off.  when later means phone calls instead of real hugs, when later means emails and pictures instead of hanging out in real time, when later means who knows when.

so i'm going to pray they get home safe and await the first phone call of many and hope that the "see you later" will be more like "see you soon".  i hope that one of these days everything will align and they will be down here for good instead of just visiting and that my hugs goodbye no longer have to be the hugs where you can't let go.  in the meantime i will bond with my kleenex, hug my babies and try to explain why nana, opa and omi had to go home & let my hubs tease me for crying so much.

- to my folks and my omi:
we love you and we'll miss you guys....come back soon.


anyone up for virtual hugs?  i could use a few and i know some of you are going through similar things or have loved ones away working or living far from home so let's console each other.  how do you make it that much easier on your wee ones when you have to say goodbye?  what do you do to stay in touch besides facetime and webcams?  tea's brewing and i've got a cozy couch...you up for a chat?