Anybody Miss Me??

...'cause I'm back!!

Whew! The past couple of weeks were ROUGH! I can honestly say, I have never been as sick as I was two weeks ago. Never. And I get sick a lot! But getting strep throat, then a GI bug, then pneumonia, then pleurisy (that explained the horrific chest pain I had) all in the span of five days...well, I was beginning to think I would never get back to a normal state of health.

Interestingly, on my follow-up appointment with my doctor, I asked him if I should be concerned about getting sick so often. Do I have some sort of immunity problem? His answer made me laugh...he blamed it on my "mangy kids." He's probably right...but I've never referred to my kids as "mangy." (That's a term I typically think of in relation to stray dogs.)

So, I'm super behind in blogging. I'm finally caught up at work (at both of my teaching jobs) and thought I'd spend a few minutes while the Littles and I watch "Despicable Me" to blog a bit.

Where did I leave off before my bout with every illness under the sun...?

Oh, yeah. Meggie went to Germany!

In our attempt to get Meggie to the airport early, I sort of forgot the camera. Duh! At least I have a camera on my phone. The pictures aren't great...but they ARE pictures.

We were the first to arrive at the airport from our group, so we had a bit of time to kill.
Meggie and I grabbed some chairs and chatted a bit. It felt very surreal to me...my oldest was about to get on an international flight and leave the country without me. She wasn't scared, or emotional, or dreading leaving me. She was excited. This growing up stuff is for the birds, Meggie. At least I still have the Littles...
...in all their eccentric weirdness. (Yikes, that boy ain't right sometimes.)

Anyway...
...Meggie was super excited when her best friend, Laura, arrived. Laura's grandmother came along to drop Laura off and they really should have taken her on the trip. She was obviously German (based on her thick accent) and was giving the girls all kinds of advice for sightseeing. She would have made a GREAT guide on this trip!

We headed upstairs and hooked up with the rest of the group...
...and there you can see their wonderful teacher, Miss L (in black, in the center) helping the girls tag their suitcases. Meggie was having trouble figuring out her money belt...
...so Abby's mom jumped in to help my pathetic daughter. (Come on, Meggie, you wore one of those when we went to China to get Carson!)

As the group was checking their luggage, the Littles were getting a bit stir crazy. So I told them I would take their picture...
...and THAT'S how they posed?! Goofballs! Hey, Carson and Molly, are you going to miss Meggie......or are you looking forward to a Meggie-free house for a week?
Is it just me, or is that second picture a bit more convincing? Guess the Meggie-free house wins!

One more quick picture, of Meggie and her friend Abby...
...then hugs were shared and the group headed off. As they were walking ahead of us, toward security, Carson yelled out, "Meggie! One more hug!!" It was so sweet, it kinda choked me up.
Meggie, however, was all smiles as she headed out on this wonderful international adventure.
We watched 'em go through the security area without issue, then waved one more time and they were off. While I didn't cry, it did feel kinda...empty. And weird.

Since I got sick two days later, I don't have tons of details for you of her trip. She did e-mail me every day...but since they were all sharing Miss L's computer, the e-mails were short and sweet. They did some sightseeing, visited some great landmarks (including the original Hoffbrau House, a concentration camp, and the Swarovski crystal factory in Austria where she bought me some pretty awesome earrings), presented well at the Future Educators Association (FEA) International Conference, and generally had a blast.

Of course, Meggie is my daughter, so her trip was not without medical issues. She had an allergic reaction to her money belt (which, for safety, was worn under her clothes) and ended up with hives all over her abdomen. And she got a sinus infection that required the purchase of German medications. But she handled it like a champ.

And I'm glad she's back in one piece. 'Cause I need to make the most of the next few months with her before she heads off to College.

This growing up stuff is for the birds, Meggie.