Thank you :) I have been wanting to have Carson go home and see his mother ever since I read a fic with Mrs. Beckett keping a fully stocked pantry, just in case her boy came home one day for dinner. It's one of those things that gets to me and so I had to fix the situation.

Elizabeth is as "off-world" as Rodney is in this, for all that she's not noticing it. She knows she's heading home soon, and that's where her mind is.

Also, this line struck as so very John for some reason:
"Be so damned idealistic all the time?"
I figured that he'd call her on it in a safe setting, when she's not in charge, and neither is he. But, as we saw in season two, her idealism has been worn down by reality. John's just a few steps ahead of the game on that one.