Early Wednesday morning I jumped on a train to New York City. I went for a BabyCenter conference and to do a little work face-to-face with my editors in their offices there. Whether it's three days or three weeks, leaving home requires all sorts of juggling, scheduling and planning.

In one sense, I love the occasional push to get out of the house, out of my routine, being forced to give myself a little attention--yeah, those ratty sneakers you wear every day probably need to be replaced with something a little cuter, and you might need a little something splashier than those pearl earrings, and woah, you really need a haircut.

For the very few times a year when I do travel, Dan holds down the fort. But this trip happened to hit in the middle of his busy season, on the exact week that almost every farmer in the area begins spring planting. That means taking three days off is pretty much out of the question. So, I juggled care for the girls during the day. It took some finagling, but thank goodness for family and a wonderful nanny that helped me out.

Before I left, I taped schedules and reminders and food lists on the fridge--who does which chores, who needs to be reminded to give water to animals, who needs to clean out the baby chicks' pen in the boot room, who should feed the finches. And of course, my traditional daily checklist of kisses and hugs for the girls to cross out each day.

Just two hours into my trip and I already had a text--someone busted their lip, someone had a tick stuck to their leg. But everyone was still alive.

I have to laugh at my life sometimes. Here I am sitting in the Times Warner building, New York's Central Park outside my window listening to oodles of research and reports on the 21st Century Mom. I look down at my phone and there's an email from the North American Southdown Sheep Breeder's Association, reminding me of an upcoming show and sale. I get a text from Emma about the girls riding the pony around the barn, chasing each other bikes. I step outside and we hail a taxi to BabyCenter's offices in midtown.

Even though I love stepping into a different life and surroundings for a few days, home is where my heart is. I love dipping my toes in the city waters, but they are much more comfortable in a pair of barn boots and an apron.

It's good to be home.

Wishing you all a week of peace, comfort and joy, especially in light of last week's events. Hug the ones you love, people.

More soon...