Sleepless

At the wee hour of 4:38am, my eyes popped open and the to-do list began playing in my head like one of those unmanned pianos that you see in old-timey western saloons. It was much too early to be up puttering around the house, and I'm going to have to pace myself if I'm going to get through these agonizing last two days of preparation. I 'rested', tossing and turning for a while, but finally decided to use my time wisely (ha!) and write this blog entry.

Yesterday was massively productive, despite the emotional weight that came with the kids' last day of school. I wore sunglasses at the afternoon pickup, which did a poor job of masking my tears. Jackson's teacher had given him a book as a parting gift; to be honest, I haven't been able to bring myself to look at it yet. Both the older boys have received journals from their friends; so sweet.

Jackson is old enough that he feels the pang in his heart and was a little teary-eyed at bedtime. I did my best to honor his feelings and at the same time reassure him that Skype was a great way to see his friends' faces, and that along with writing real letters, he could also dictate an email that I could send off to a parent to pass along whenever he'd like. I also told him that I'm sure he'll make good friends while we're down there, to which he replied, "But then I'll just have to leave them, too!". Right, son...there are definitely benefits and drawbacks to having an open heart; I know them well and struggle with it daily.

This weekend is forecasted to be sunny with highs of 53, which in the Colorado altitude makes for glorious weather. Oh, did I tell you that our area of New South Wales has had an unseasonably cold and rainy summer so far? It's predicted to stay that way; here's hoping that Australian meteorologists are about as accurate as American ones, because as coastal transplants, Sam and I have quite a bit of beach time to soak up to make up for all the these inland years in Colorado.

Salty sea air, here I come (if I can make it through this to-list). It's now 6:08am; time to get going. Next post will likely be quick, as we wait to board our plane to San Francisco on Monday.