The hours are counting down. Only 48 more to go until we're airborne, heading to France! It's been a pretty hectic week, and I'm sure it will just get busier as we get closer to our departure.
Things have been crazy all summer, but they really reached a fevered pitch Saturday afternoon when Laura drove her parents, Patti and April out to the airport. They are spending this week on another Viking River Cruise touring the Rhone River and enjoying the sights, tastes and fragrances of Provence. I think we are all jealous of their experiences, but excited for our own upcoming adventure, starting when we join the group Sunday morning for our cruise down the Seine.
Kara and Laura have been hard at work all summer. Laura ran two one-week summer camps up at Allegheny College, the last one ending only a week or so ago, so she's barely had any down time to do much more than wash clothes and pack a suitcase. Kara hasn't quite finished her first year at her job, so her days off are still pretty limited. She assures us she hasn't minded a bit saving up her vacation days in anticipation for the trip.
On Tuesday I started back to work after my 4 month deployment and subsequent 2 months of leave. Counting back I don't think I've had that much time off in one chunk since the summer after my Junior year in High School! It was almost too long when you have a job to go back to... you start to feel like the world is moving on without you and you are going to be REALLY far behind when you finally start back. It did feel a bit like that, but there are so many of us in the same boat, that I found am only a little behind... It was a bit surreal walking around the office trying to get into things, especially since I knew I would be leaving soon for another two weeks... eventually I just gave up!
Kurt has been at the Boy Scouts 100th Anniversary National Jamboree down at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia for the past 10 days. He got back late last night after an all day bus ride, dead tired, with no voice and a huge grin on his face. You spend months getting ready for these events and wonder if the cost, hassles and all the preparation are worth the effort. Then you see that ear-to-ear grin when they get off the bus, and you know it was. He's been talking non-stop, sharing stories of his activities, patch-trading, the "awesome!" Switchfoot concert at the Arena, and the guys he hung out with.
Jill has been down in Washington D.C. all summer working a summer intern program with the American Forestry Foundation. She's headed out with us to Paris, so in the midst of all the normal chaos, we needed to get her back home in time to unpack and repack for the trip. We were thinking Jill wouldn't get done until Friday afternoon, but things worked out, and she was released after lunch today (Thursday), so Laura drove down to Washington last night to be ready to bring her and her gear back home. They rolled in about 9 tonight, road-tired but happy to be heading to their own beds.
So, for the first time since May, everyone is home at the same time. Unfortunately there's not much time to enjoy that togetherness just yet: It's time to wash clothes, make our lists, pack suitcases, brief the dog sitters, and practice our french! The excitement is building for the start of our big adventure, and we can't wait to get going! The e-mails and blog posts from Patti, April and Pat & Stew have really whetted our appetites for our aventure européenne. Let's get this party started!
Vive la France !
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