bittersweet

Chris and I are leaving in the morning for Florida. We're taking Jonathan with us and leaving the bigger little boys here at home, where they'll be splitting their time between friends and Mimi. We'll be gone for over a week, and we didn't even tell them until tonight. That seemed like the best idea when we first figured out when to tell them, but now I wonder if earlier wouldn't have been better. Ben didn't seem to get it, which worries me that he'll maybe freak out a day or two into it when Mom and Dad are still mysteriously missing. And Sean, trying to process where he would be from one day to the next and who he would be with, kept asking, "Are you gonna leave me and Ben here all by ourselves?"

I'm so looking forward to time away from everyday life for a bit, and seeing old friends and classmates from a little college in Temple Terrace who will always be near and dear to my heart, and revisiting and reminiscing about all the places that made Tampa home for us for two years (six years, really, if you want to quibble about the definition of "home"). I can't wait, honestly, but I know there's going to be this little hole in my heart that won't be filled until I have my little boys in my arms again.

"...I hate bittersweet chocolate. I don't even... what's the point of that? Why not just sweet? Who are you helping?"
Michael Scott, The Office