Cheers! Our Cups Runneth Over

Since the housing market is still too stagnant for us to be able to move to AZ, and since my husband, Joel still has at least another five months until he will be allowed to attempt a transfer back to MI, we decided that the next best option was to move here temporarily when the kids were out of school. July 1 to October 1; three months, or 90 days as Grace likes to tell people.

Actually, Nathan will be leaving much sooner. August 6 his dad will drive here to get him and they will embark on a 14 day road trip the long way home. Beginning with the Grand Canyon, and looping up to Yellowstone and Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and through the beautiful Pictured Rocks of the UP of Michigan, their trip will be filled with awesome sights to behold. And I know Nathan is very excited about it, as he was for this entire summer of adventure that began when we left June 28. And we are excited for him. But we will be melancholy to see him go. It will be nearly two months before we (Grace and I) see him again (longer for Joel, of course which makes me apprecitate Joel's occasional bouts of "being in a funk" all the more). Two months. Nathan, Grace, and I have never gone more than seven days apart, and that was unusual, two days at most, normally...now...two months.

It will be difficult.

Tears will fall.

Our hearts will ebb.

But oh, the joy that will effervesce when we meet again!

Luckily Nate is a kid who loves travel and adventure and new experiences as much as I do. Grace does, too, but she's a little gun shy from having Joel gone all this time.

So. For now we are together with Joel. He drove up to get us (so we'd have two cars to utilize when packing and toting two kids, a dog, a cat, an adult and all the STUFF that goes with us, instead of just one car). We couldn't afford a moving truck or trailer (we did look into it extensively); hence we don't have much in the way of material items and conveniences such as furniture, clothes. pots/pans, dishes--that sort of thing. We have a blanket in the middle of our tiny living room floor which we call our "couch". We play cards and board games, we read, we spend at least four days per week at the library up the road since we have no internet or television, either. And, we spend a lot of time at the two swimming pools that are practically right outside our "90-day Test Drive" apartment door.

All in all not bad. And best of all, our meager, mismatched, cut-rate cups runneth over with LOVE because we are together with Joel again.