Paul and I just returned from another getaway business trip in S.CA. Since we travel there so often and are getting a lot of business down there, Paul decided to open an office  in L.A. — in Marina del Ray to be exact.  He will be moving in on July 1st. That means he will be traveling to the S.CA office every week for a while and eventually every other week.  

We drove down on Wednesday and stayed three nights. Paul surprised me by booking a suite at  the Westlake Village Inn. It is one of those  luxurious hotels where you find  fresh flowers and wine  waiting for you, chocolates on your pillow and the housekeeper puts fancy origami folds in the toilet paper.

At night we walked the grounds on our way to dinner. The architecture is very Tuscany style with Roman pillars, clay tile roofs and walkways; lots of fountains and private cabanas by the pool. We went swimming at night, soaked in the hot tub and admired the lamp lit palm trees and lush, tropical landscaping of papyrus plants, star jasmine, bougainvillea, lavender, and the  many different varieties  of roses.

It wasn’t all play and relaxation. We visited job sites, had meetings with clients and on Thursday presented a Green Seminar to the local building community. Paul is very excited about the prospects, leads and new business this trip generated. In this, or any economy, you have to go where the work is, which means that by opening this office, he will be away from us a lot more. 

Paul was very concerned about the effect his frequent traveling would have on our home life, so we decided he would only be gone on the weeks that I had just my girls, Sophia and Eva  and his kids were normally with their mom. On the every other week that we had all the kids, he would try to be here.  This is actually a welcome compromise for me in some ways. For four years before I met Paul, I was a single mother with two daughters who got used to having me all to themselves.  Now with Paul gone on our weeks alone, it will be only the three of us again and just like old times.  It gives us the guilt free  opportunity to do things that only we enjoy like eating Thai food, learning to sew and painting each other’s nails. Pretty soon my girls will be going off to college so I want to savor this time alone with them for as long as I can.  Paul understands this and he is grateful that I am independent enough and capable to be alone. Plus, as the old saying goes: “Absence  makes the heart grow fonder.”