Travels without Tatum

August was a huge months of firsts - not for Tatum, but for me.  This month I traveled on my first business trip to Sacramento for a tree conference.  This three day conference counted as the first time I had ever spent a night away from Tatum.  Geez!  The little lady is two, and every night for the past two years she has awoken to me in the morning.  During a moment of mothers' guilt I changed my three-day ticket to a two-day and ended up only spending the night in Sacramento.  Which proved to be a wise choice since the conference was hosted at a university and housing was in the dorm rooms.  My dreams of sleeping on six pillows and soaking in a hot tub vanished as I made my extra long twin bed and put on the case to the provided plastic pillow.  I returned home the next night after Tatum had gone to bed.   In the morning she awoke, called my name, and we continued on as usual for a Friday.   I must say that toddlers are a bit like dogs in this respect: they miss you when you are gone and once you return they can't remember that you had left. 

So, the following weekend I joined two friends of mine who I met 10 years ago during my study abroad experience to India.  We traveled the coast to Big Sur and camped in the Los Padres National Forest high above the marine fog layer that is famous in Big Sur.  Yes, and this trip was without Tatum and Andrew.  When I was first invited to attend I kindly turned down the offer.  It wasn't even in my head that I could go without my family.  My friends continued to urge me, and realizing that it had been 10 years, I talked with Andrew about the trip.  He quickly said, "Go, you don't even have to ask.  You should go."  Partnership is amazing. 

The morning before I left I was helping Tatum to breakfast.  She asked for dada's cereal, which I got for her and poured milk into.  Tatum whined that she did not want the milk.  So I got another bowl and filled it with cereal minus the milk.  She continued to show dissatisfaction.  I asked her what was wrong, momma had listed to Tatum that she did not want the milk so I poured her another bowl.  She then turned to me and said "momma no bye bye" and crawled into my arms for a long hug.   I reassured her, no matter where momma goes, I am still your momma.  And momma always comes back for Tatum. 

Rhonda and I near San Simeon, CA among the Elephant Seals