Final Preparations

Well, we've reached the 11th hour. A trip that seemed so far away for so long is nearly upon us. All of us have had final preparations that have been taxing:

Elise will be staying at Schoo Middle School (pronounced "sko"), continuing to teach 6th grade next year. However, she is changing teams which will mean a different classroom. She also moved out of her apartment the same weekend which meant rearranging two very significant parts of her life in a short amount of time. I think we did pretty good but I now have a room full of Elise stuff and it is beginning to smell a bit girly in here. I really admire my sister for the number of significant relationships she is able to maintain and I know she is trying to spend as much quality time as possible with those people in the next few days.

Dad has had a few paintings to finish up and I even heard a rumor that he relived his college glory days by staying up until 4am to finish one of them. But isn't it true that no good art can take place before midnight? His last few pieces have been really good so I think it holds true.

I have had a large variety of things to do. On the way to get my international driver's license last week the throttle cable for my motorcycle (1971 Honda CB350) snapped. I was looking forward to letting my brother use the bike this summer, as sitting unused is about the worst thing for these old bikes. That will be one of tomorrow's projects. The last four days I have been finishing up everything at the mission and will definitely be missing everyone there while I am gone. Packing? More of an abstract thought than a plan at this point. I also need to update some insurance and get other finances in order.

Mom has the toughest job of all of us, keeping the rest of us on track. She is the most prepared in our group and I don't think this trip would be possible without her ability to plan ahead. She has already been researching campgrounds as we try to get at least the first few nights planned out.

That's pretty much where we are. I think we are all looking forward to just being on the plane. That way, even if we forgot anything it will be too late to worry about it!

I'll try to get the other family members to post here. I feel like I've been monopolizing the blog.

'til next time



BA