We know we can buy things there but will they have clothes that fit? Will they have books we can read? We are learning Spanish, but not well enough to just read a book for enjoyment in Spanish.
January 14, 2004
I guess we are beginning to say our goodbyes. Last night we spent a very nice evening with John Pickell (Tom's best man at our wedding). We don't see him often and it was nice that he could come visit.
Today is taking care of a little last minute business and getting serious about what to pack. I think we will sort through everything several times before we narrow it down.
We also got some great news last evening. Our 10th grandchild will be arriving in July. That is great news because Dana and Rich are great parents but it does make it a little harder to leave. I guess there would always be something to make it difficult. Rich has been saying for a long time "You can't go away for two years. That's too long!" I guess we know why now.
January 25, 2004
We have been really busy. We have had each local family over for dinner. Tim drove down from Fort Wayne yesterday. We put some more boxes in the attiic along with pictures we have taken off the wall so Brynne can make this more like her home.
We are really fortunate to have a daughter to move into our home taking some of the financial burden off of keeping the place going while we are gone. Brynne and Brandon told us yesterday that they are expecting a baby in September.
As we have each family over I have really enjoyed spending time with them. Everyone but Pam and Lucy will be able to come next Sunday (day before departure) for a goodbye get together. When Pam left and said "I don't know if I will see you again, but we'll talk." it really hit me. We are leaving our family for twenty-seven months. I'll probably be a wreck next week when it comes time to say goodbye to all of them.
It feels like we are really close to having everything done. I guess that is good since we leave one week from tomorrow. We have pretty much settled our packing. I think I need one more run through to narrow down. I have found some things I would like to take and I will have to see what I can do to fit them in the restricted weight and measurement limits.
Today there was a nice article in our local paper, Anderson Herald Bulletin. Thank you Stacey for such a good write up.
Tonight Tom is working on finishing our taxes and I will be doing some some last minute alterations. Tomorrow is some last minute business at the bank, post office, social security, etc.
