Ah, home, sweet home. For the second time in two weeks, Rob and I found ourselves unpacking our big teal-coloured hard shell suitcases yesterday and just tossing most of their contents in the direction of the washer and dryer. Some stuff goes back into the “travel” closet (where the extra curling iron and travel-sized bottles live). I want to pitch two pairs of high heels into the ocean, but I’m sure it would just prove frustrating to mermaids, so I’ll keep them until I forget the pain, remember how they looked and pack them again. 
 
One month today we’ll be wheeling those suitcases to our nearby airport again as we host (along with my radio partner Mike Cooper) a river cruise in Amsterdam. This is turning into quite the year for logging miles and I’m not complaining. When I pictured reWirement, TRAVEL was at the top of the list of things I wanted to do. And so here we are. Molly has been in the excellent hands of warm and loving people staying in our home.
 
This time around, I have no travel mishaps to share with you and there’s one great big reason for that: Rob was with me. Yes, we had lousy snow tires in a Toronto blizzard (not our fault; it was the only car that Hertz had available when we landed at YYZ – a Kia with Nova Scotia plates that shouldn’t have been anywhere near a snowy road) but that was the extent of our (mis)adventures.
 
I do have to tell you a Rob story that is so above and beyond the call of duty you’ll marvel at this guy’s patience and sweet nature.
 
It was the day before our trip to Toronto, two weeks ago today. While I was getting my hair cut, Rob had taken Molly into Victoria for a grooming, so that the couple staying at our home whilst we were gone would have a sweet-smelling pup between them when she decided to hop up on their bed and join them for the night (which she does, the little tart). 
 
I asked him if he would pick me up some adhesive lashes. I’d considered getting extensions, but found out that: a) no one in Sidney was available to do them, and b) you need to go a few days with no water or makeup near your eyes for the lashes to adhere properly. The latter was not going to be an option, as I had TV to do the day after we landed.
 
My friend and favourite makeup artist, Christine Calder, had told me that her best pro lashes came from Walmart (’cause I don’t just write for them, I shop there, baby!). So I asked Rob to pick me up a few strips of KISS brand lashes. I guess that sounds simple enough, but here’s how that went down.
 
Overwhelmed by the selection, Rob texted Christine and they had a conversation that went back and forth to such an extent that it ate up all of the time he was going to spend doing errands during Molly’s appointment! He sent pictures, she sent advice and on it went. I ended up with about six packages (or 30 sets of lashes) and will probably be laid to rest wearing one of those pairs, so many do I have now.
 
Then last week, as I was doing a phone interview with PostMedia’s Kevin Connor, Rob was out at a downtown Toronto Rexall trying to match a picture of blush that I had sent to his phone, since I didn’t pack mine. I wouldn’t have ten minutes to shop and he volunteered to go find some for me. He brought back three to the hotel room; one was fine and the other two were returned later in our trip. 
 
Anyway, in case you didn’t already know, that’s the kind of guy I married. The guy who, all last week, got me (and sometimes my amazing publicist Melissa) where we needed to be on time and mostly composed, weather permitting. As I stayed and signed and hugged and talked with readers and former listeners in Oshawa, there was Rob with his own lineup of folks who just wanted to meet him, shake his hand or have him sign my book. It was heartwarming.
 
He’d gotten up a few times at different events and offered his perspective on things, answered some questions and even was the mic runner for one particular gathering in Uxbridge. He’s never stopped supporting this endeavour and I’ll never stop being grateful for everything he’s done to get us where we are – and some days that’s simply “upright.” And that’s okay.