4 Hours to go.....

Wow, it has been a wild month. It is hard to explain the monumental undertaking it has been to get to this very moment. I certainly have squeezed all of the nanoseconds out of my minutes and hours. I have been so busy going a million miles per hour for so many weeks that I forgot what it felt like to sit still. And if I did stop my brain filled with so many things to do that I would start vibrating and have to move.

We certainly put a lot of stress on ourselves to get a lot done in a very short period of time, but it got done and of course unexpected things happened. Those unexpected things included: both our vehicles being in the shop (my car is still being held hostage by the Toyota dealer), the computer breaking, an "incident" with the rental car, the rental moving truck breaking down while Mondo moved our stuff to Sacramento, missing plane tickets and travel itineraries, and finally realizing that we moved my trip shoes to Sacramento!!!

But there have been wonderful things too. Mondo was able to bring Nellee with him to Sacramento, where they met up with our friends that will be watching her for the summer. They are saints and my heart can rest easy because she is in such good hands. Our friends here have certainly out done themselves in kindness and generosity. One friend lent us a car so we did not have to rent one, another offered to pick up my car from Toyota while we are away, another is accepting our forwarded mail, another is storing our stuff and taking us to the airport. It is making really difficult to leave and say goodbye...sitting here I cannot help but cry my heart and soul filled with appreciation and love.

Leaving my job has had it's challenges too. I did not realize how attached I was to the families who have trusted me with their children and how much I really loved working where I worked. I was astounded by what people said in cards and in person.

All of that said...I cannot wait to go!!! This morning I was filled with the anticipation of a trip, a feeling that satisfies my soul in a way that is hard to describe. A friend said that the trip will be over before I know what happened but that has made me try to pay attention. And I am going to be sure to slow down and take it all it from here on out.

In about 24 hours we will be checking into the Golden Tulip Plaza hotel for two day of NOTHING at Ipanema Beach in Brazil!!!! The adventure begins................