Clinical Science Conference

Jeff has been gone since yesterday morning to attend a Clinical Science Conference in Pocatello. This was the first time since we've been married that we were apart overnight. It was strange. The kids and I drove him over to the school where he met the other students for carpooling over. I took a couple fun pictures of the kids in the car.Yesterday wasn't nearly as hard as it could have been, because the kids and I spent the morning and afternoon at Mom's house doing laundry. It made it easier on me to have Marie there to play with Zaylee. I got some fun pictures of them outside.

Mom and Dad have a little pond in their back yard, with a bridge over it. Zaylee likes to stand on the bridge, though of course this is only allowed when she is closely supervised!
They also have a little log swing. Marie was helping Zaylee swing on it, and she really enjoyed it, though sometimes she was a little uncertain!Last night, when we were back home, and I had the kids put to bed, and the laundry put away, and the dishes done, and the living room cleaned up, I started realizing how lonely I really was without Jeff there. You take it for granted when you always have someone there for you. Jeff always helps to put the kids to bed. We hang out during the evening, watch a movie together, eat snacks together that we probably don't need to eat, and just enjoy each others' company. But last night I put the kids to bed by myself. I watched Disney's "Haunted Mansion" and wished Jeff was there to hold me through the scary parts (they weren't really all that scary, but seemed more so because he wasn't there). And I had to eat my pudding and marshmallows and chocolate kisses all by myself (like I said, they're snacks I probably don't need!).

The hardest part was actually going to bed. It was the first time I've slept alone in the whole time we've been married (not counting naps, of course).

Today was pretty uneventful. We got up, had breakfast, and just hung out until this afternoon when we went to pick Jeff up. It was so nice to see him and give him a big hug! We've spent the rest of the day relaxing. We went through all the booty that Jeff brought home (you know these medical-type conferences - they give out all sorts of free stuff). Jeff brought home the traditional pens and notepads, and also a mint dispenser, a screwdriver thing that has a variety of heads, a couple things of hand sanitizer, a small flashlight that turns into a tiny screwdriver (it's awesome - I used it to tighten my glasses!), and other fun stuff. And some candy. Yeah.

Anyway, it's been a fun couple of days.