Last week, we signed a lease on a house in Austin, Texas.  Today, Gaylon has rented the moving trucks, and I am reserving a flight home for Kendall’s friend, Joey, who has volunteered to drive one of the trucks for us.  We are packing a little bit more every day. This is really happening!  We are really doing this!

But, now that everything is starting to come together,  it’s just getting tougher and tougher.  Like this morning.  My friend Lisa came to hang out for a bit.  Her son, Eli, walked in and announced that it was really getting depressing, seeing all of the boxes in our house.  Yeah.  I totally agree.  And it makes it harder still that I delivered that child when he was born, almost 15 years ago!

My friends are really starting to press in, and let me know they love me.  I got a text from the Amazing Kathy T.  We are going to have breakfast together tomorrow morning.  Then I got an email from Vicky. She wants me to drop by during her break some day before we leave.  Many more friends have RSVP’d for Kendall’s wedding, and it’s killing me, because I know that it will be the last time I see most of them for a very, very long time.

And it’s not just my friends, but my homeschool support group I’m leaving behind.  I got an email yesterday informing me that it’s time to renew my membership in the Henderson County Homeschool Association.  By the time that membership is due, I will be 1100 miles from here, in a new “galaxy, far, far away”.  I will miss the Fall Family Picnic.

But I think that the most difficult part of saying ‘Goodbye’ is leaving behind all the memories.  This is where my children grew up.  And Faith was born here.  I have such sweet, sweet memories of La Leche League Meetings, Bible Studies, “Friday Classes”, Ice Cream at Piggy’s, the Christmas Lights on Main Street and Little League Baseball games at Jackson Park. Some of my favorite times were with Kendall, as he participated in “My Father’s House” and shared God’s love with others through Sign Language and Music. And I loved watching Alex dance with the Asheville Ballet and act at the Flat Rock Playhouse, and going with Faith to her Girl Scout and 4-H meetings.  I know that I will always carry those precious images in my heart, but there is something about leaving this place that makes me know I will leave a very vital piece of myself behind.

We started the house-hunting process right away, and discovered that this is going to be tough.  We thought we’d found a great house in South Austin this morning, and I even heard the property management lady tell the realtor (over speaker phone) that she would hold it until she got our paperwork.  Then he called me a few hours later, after I’d already gotten money orders made out and spent money faxing forms to Gaylon, and he had already faxed them back to the realtor, to tell me that she had rented it right out from under us!  Wow.  That was a really tough blow.

We have a few other things lined up, and are praying hard that we will find the perfect house.  We don’t need anything as big as what we have in North Carolina, and we can live almost anywhere for a year, right? *sigh*

However, in the meantime, Alex got on the internet and found a really awesome lunch spot for us: Shady Grove.  It is a Tex-Mex Burger Joint not far from Zilker Park (Austin City Limits) and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!  I had a green chile cheeseburger, and it made my lips burn!!!  Yes!!!  We both loved the funky-cool “Keep Austin Weird” vibe, too.  We felt right at home, after all, we are from Asheville!

Then we went with Donna and her fiance, Dave, to a place called Central Market.  Now, we have Whole Foods and Earth Fare back in NC, and I love them.  But this place was like Earth Fare on mega-steroids!!!  We found so many awesome items.  For example, I can’t wait to try their sausages (like the one with cherries and pecans!) or the mushrooms!  Finding just the right mushrooms for the pierogi at Christmas is gonna be very easy from now on.   Alex found the “real” Dr. Pepper, made with Imperial Sugar, instead of corn syrup.  He is a true blue “Pepper”, and my cousin, Branden, got him hooked on the “real” Dr. Peppers years ago.

Tomorrow, we are planning to look at some more houses, and we have an appointment Saturday morning to look at one up in the Brushy Creek area that looks very promising.  Alex and I also decided that the best remedy for our stress and discouragement is to spend some time in Eucharistic Adoration, so we are planning on finding St. Williams up in Round Rock tomorrow and doing that.  We know it won’t necessarily make things easier, but it will definitely give us strength. Gaylon and Faith (who now wants to be called Abby) will get here tomorrow afternoon.  I am very much looking forward to that.  I feel so much calmer when Gaylon is with me.  We will probably head downtown and check out whatever is going on down there tomorrow night, too.

I remember being thirteen, and having friends over.  Those were such sweet times! But what I do not remember is any of us sitting around, talking about how funny and awesome our dads were.  So it was a special treat for me tonight to listen to these three young ladies sit around the dinner table and start trading funny stories about their dads!  They each had something fun and exciting to tell, and it was beautifully obvious to me that the three of them are crazy about their daddies.

I wish I had felt that way about my own father, but I am so very grateful that my daughter has such a close relationship with hers.  It is a sacred bond,one that is all too rare in this day and age. I know that all three of the men who were spoken of so fondly by their daughters tonight are strong and faithful Christians, and I have no doubt that is the reason their daughters feel the way they do.

I do wish that leasing agents would do a few things differently.  First of all, I think they should post as many pictures as possible.  And next, following through on that theme, the pictures should be clear.  Not taken with a cell phone.  Those end up being either very pixelated or blurry, or, worst of all, tiny.  Also, the pictures need to be of actual living spaces.  The most important of those being the kitchen.  I am amazed at how many folks don’t bother to include a picture of the kitchen!  I have also seen pictures of windows.  Well, I do like my houses to have windows, but just snapping a shot of a window doesn’t tell me much about the room it’s in.  But even more surprising to me is the number of pictures I have seen of doorknobs and ceiling fans, and even flower bushes!!  Really?  Again, those are all good things to have in a house (especially doorknobs!) but overall, they don’t tell me much about the house itself.

So, this is a frustrating process for me at the moment.  In just a few short weeks (three, to be exact) I will be driving down to Austin to find a home, and I know that will make me feel much better.  Well, except for the fact that I corresponded with a realtor down there today, and she told me that rentals usually only last one day before they get rented, so looking online now probably won’t help me at all in three weeks.  *sigh* Now I am going to have to find a better way to spend my time.  Packing, perhaps?

Image: djcodrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Alex: “Your hair smells like H’s (new girlfriend) hair.  What kind of shampoo do you use?”

Faith: “Oh, I don’t know.  X-Men.  No, wait. . . Matrix!”

I love my kids!  They keep me so entertained!!

Colorado Trail Sign

leaves at 11:33 a.m. and he will arrive in Denver early tomorrow afternoon.  After Alex is safely through security, we will hang out for about two hours, and pick Gaylon up at 12:06 p.m.!  I am obviously not much of a travel agent, or I would have managed to get Gaylon here in time to see Alex before he heads off into the wilds of Colorado!!  I’m afraid my brain has headed south without me.

Anyway, my niece, Kristi, is going to pick him up at the Denver airport, and he will stay with them until Jess joins them.

So, I am putting in an official prayer request:  please pray for Alex as he hikes the Colorado Trail.  They will officially head out on Saturday, June 12, and are planning to reach Durango by July 22.  I gave Alex a bit of room for error, so his flight doesn’t actually leave until July 27.  That way, if it takes a couple of days more to reach Durango, it will be okay.  They will take a bus from Durango back to Denver.  He will get to hang out in Denver with my niece, Kristi, and her family in the meantime.  Hopefully he’ll get to hang out some with my nephew, Joseph, and his family, as well.

If anybody wants to pray for me, that would be nice, too.  I am trying not to stress out too much, but I can’t help but be a little worried about sending my baby boy off into the wilderness!

Nana:  Alex, I really would appreciate it if you would take the dog food down to the basement for me.

Alex:  Yeah, ok. (Walks off, grumbling something incomprehensible under his breath)

~That evening at the Dinner Table~

Nana:  I don’t have any food left downstairs for the dogs.  Alex, would you please take the dog food down immediately after supper?

Alex:  What?!  We have dogs??!!

I laughed so hard I almost spit my food out!

Conversation #2 – Alex is leaving next Thursday to fly to Denver and begin hiking the Colorado Trail, so it is a constant thread in our conversations.

Me:  I found a video of when the house burned down.

Alex: Really?

Me:  Yeah.  You were walking around in the rubble, and you were so cute.  You used to be so little and cute!

Alex: (changing the subject) You know what?  I realized that when I go on the hike, it will be the longest I’ve ever been away from home.

Faith: Wow.  You’re going to really miss your computer.

Alex:  Yeah, I will!

Me:  I remember when you would come home from camp every year, you hadn’t been on your computer for a month.  And you were always so sweet when you came home.  Until you got back on your computer.  Then you would become unpleasant.

Alex: No, that’s not true.  I just don’t like being interrupted when I’m doing something.

Me: I don’t mean when I would interrupt you from a game.  You would just be really unpleasant, in general.

Alex: (in a very light-hearted, good-natured tone) Did it ever cross your mind that maybe I’m just unpleasant?

Me: Actually, yes!  But I’m trying to not believe that about you.

Alex:  (Laughs)

Gaylon and I have tried very hard to instill in our kids a strong work ethic and strong Catholic Christian values.  We have always encouraged them to think for themselves. And many times, we have wondered if they were absorbing any of it. Apparently, they were!

Yesterday Kendall said something to me that made me so happy.  He said that every day, he is more and more grateful for the the way he was raised!  He said that he gets complimented all the time for being such a hard worker, for having such a good work ethic.  He told me he credits us for making him work as he was growing up, instead of letting him sit around and play video games.

Then, a few hours later, Alex called to tell me that he got a bonus at work, for being such a good worker, and going above and beyond the call of duty! And the day before, he took his sister out for dinner and a movie for her birthday.  He paid for all of it on his own.  She was thrilled!

Both of my boys are always ready and willing to help me out with the yard work, or even the house work.  They love to hang out with us, and we enjoy their company so much. And, even better than that, they enjoy hanging out together, something I didn’t think would ever happen!  In fact, last night, Alex spent the night with Kendall.  Not much could make me happier!!

So, finally, we can actually see the fruits of our labor!  And it really is sweet.

I am excited.  I am looking forward to the adventure of meeting new friends and experiencing new things in new places.  But I am also grieving deeply the life I am leaving behind here in North Carolina.  These Blue Ridge Mountains have been my home for the past sixteen years, and my children have grown up here.  I have so many memories and friends here.  This is so much more difficult than it was to leave New Mexico.  I find myself feeling very melancholy sometimes, and it’s hard to stay upbeat and positive when that happens.

Yet, I know, beyond any doubt, that moving to Texas is what God has for our family right now, and that it will be a good move.  I spent almost two weeks out there at the beginning of this month with Gaylon, and it was wonderful!  Besides getting to spend some really needed one-on-one time with Gaylon without any kids or anything, I really got to remember all the things I love about Texas.  The people in Texas are, without any doubt, the friendliest in the world!  Here on the East Coast, it’s just not so friendly.  Folks in Texas still smile at you for no reason whatsoever when they see you in the store or at the movies.  Heck, they even say “Hello!”, whether they know you or not.  If someone steps in front of you while you’re in the aisle of the grocery store, they say “Excuse me.”  The men are gentlemen, too.  They still hold the door open for women, and say “Yes Ma’am” and “No Ma’am”.

They even drive nicer!  In fact, if you are taking up space in the fast lane and you’re not actually passing a vehicle in the slow lane, they will give you a ticket! People are POLITE.  I didn’t run across a single rude person the whole time I was out there!  So I am very much looking forward to that.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, too, but the Mexican food in Texas is AMAZING.  So is the steak.  The Mexican food out here is okay, but it’s not the Tex-Mex that I grew up with and love.  As far as the steak goes, well, I used to know a guy who wouldn’t order steak unless he was in Texas.  (He was from Chicago, btw).  Now I know why.

And, although I am convinced that North Carolina is one of the most beautiful places on this planet, I can find beauty in Texas, too.  Like the Bluebonnets!  And the Live Oaks.  Bluebonnets and Live Oaks are two of my favorite things. Ever.

But at the same time, I love these Blue Ridge Mountains!  They are warm, and cozy.  I have wrapped them around myself like a favorite quilt.  I love the blazing color in the Fall, and the endless fields of wildflowers in the Spring.  I love the Lightening Bugs and the sweet haze that hangs low over the Summer mountains, and the smell of woodburning stoves drifting through the barren trees of Winter.  I love the woods, the streams and waterfalls. I love my church, our 4-H Club, and our homeschool group.  I love it when Kendall’s friends drop by, even when he’s not here!  I love it when Kendall drops by, too!

I love picking apples in the Fall and making homemade applesauce.  I love how easy it is to grow a garden here, and all the wonderful things I have learned about home canning.  I am still blown away by the fact that strawberries and grapes just grow wild here!  I tried for years to grow strawberries in New Mexico.  Then, we move out here, and they just sprout up out of nowhere!

Yes, there are many things I will miss when we move, and even more people that I will miss. I am trusting in God, and know, without question, that He has the whole thing under control, and that as long as He is in control, everything will be okay.  But even so, this is a bittersweet move, and as exciting as it all is, I know it won’t be easy.