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September 29 Reality

Transitioning to Reality (which clearly includes being confused about your blog daily posting deadline when you go from Turkey time back to East Coast time so sorry we're late)

It was a LONG trip home. September 28, Steve's birthday and he was wide awake at 1:30 A.M. anticipating the day's travel. I was not much better, up at 4 for our 7A.M. flight from Izmir to Istanbul. 

Although the flights went according to plan, our five hour layover in Istanbul was painful as we could not check in early and head to a lounge to wait as planned. And though the flight touched down in London on time, we had only an hour to connect and there was enough of a delay in getting us deplaned and onto the bus to the terminal, that we barely made it. We managed to O.J. it and board seven minutes before flight time. Little did we know that we would sit at the gate another hour waiting for other connecting passengers arriving into Istanbul late.

All said, we got into Philadelphia on time and at home, about 24 hours after our day started, whew!  The house was clean (thank you, Spencer), there was food in the fridge and flowers on the table (thanks, Shelby),




ten boxes waiting to be opened 

and a shitload of mail. We managed to unpack our suitcases and fell fast asleep until......about 4 A.M. on our internal clocks, again.

I pretty much have an on/off switch. Once I am home, I am back quickly and in full force. So, out of bed by 5 and right back into the make the coffee, make the bed routine except, what a treat first to watch the sun from my own home town, rising on a beautiful day. Watching the big sky lighten and the city lights dim, sipping the first cup of decent coffee in two weeks, knowing my kids would be over and thinking about seeing friends and family, excited to do the wash - clothes AND hair - and get ready to start a new chapter in our lives.




I am not sure there will be as much magic each day; there certainly won't be as many meals out and probably not as many laughs. But we'll get to see Blue Jasmine, do a binge TV Breaking Bad Season V, Part I, hop into the new theater season and finally have time to get to yoga, start to paint and sew, see the authors speak at the library at noon and maybe even read a book. Steve and I will go our separate ways a bit (really, can you believe we spent literally 24/7 together for 117 days???) and we'll see if either of us have a bit of withdrawal. It's back to normal, if you can call suddenly not having to wake up for work after 35 years of working, normal. 

Taking a journey awakens your senses and stirs your feelings for people, for life, for beauty. I think that to make it count means trying to keep a bit of that when you return; it's just a little  more work.

Today's magic? Seeing my kids, knowing they missed us but were fine, and of course, opening those ten packages, remembering and sometimes not remembering the places each momento was from, asking how we possibly had to send so much of our own dirty clothes back home, marveling that not one thing was broken and only one small item lost from one split package but mostly enjoying reliving the magic of those 12 countries, 40 cities, and 117 incredible days. 

P.S. One more day to guess the WTF.  Get your guesses in today, deadline Tuesday, October 1st at noon which gives me enough time to write my blog before I head to bed, hopefully back on East Coast time body and mind. Email subscribers will get it, Wednesday 2:23A.M. And of course, those of you more loyal readers will probably be hitting the page all day long in anticipation of winning one last prize. 


 

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