Returning
The feeling is difficult to put into words. I had a hard time sleeping last night, our final night abroad (for the time being). Everything is in order for our return.
Our renters left this past weekend. They generously had the house deep cleaned and handed the key over to our neighbor.
We have a rental car reserved and even have a hold on a new car for me - many thanks to Charlie Ray Montgomery and Kia of Louisville!
Kids are all set to return to JCPS. For a second we thought Ava would have to go to a new school as she had been moved out of Hawthorne to a school much further away (because they used our forwarding address as our new residence). After a denied transfer request, several emails and calls, plus two initial applications to closer private schools, JCPS got us sorted and she is set to return to Hawthorne as a 4th grader. Paul and Sophia will attend 6th grade at Highland Middle.
Doctors and dentist appointments are all booked.
Making good on our promise to the kids that they could get a dog after this year of travel, we even have a puppy we’ll be picking up the Sunday after we return. She’s an adorable black and white Goldendoodle. There is much debate over the name, but we think it may be Momo after the “spicy little dumplings” we had first in Nepal and then throughout Thailand that everyone loved.
Ben is set to ramp up to full time in his role with UofL.
I even have a consulting contract lined up that begins August 15th.
And just like that it feels like life will return to “normal”. And while I am excited for all these pieces falling into place and am looking forward to being in our home and with our friends and family, I also don’t want everything to be the same as it was (cue Harry Styles ✨) That feels like a betrayal of all that we gained during this past year. The time, space, adventure, love, conversation, awareness, reflection, growth, freedom, and perspective. I want it all to remain and to somehow form the big rocks of our lives while the other pieces - school, work, appointments, and commitments become the smaller pieces that fill in around the big.
Before we left it was the opposite with school, work, and social commitments as the biggest rocks in our lives and all the “rest” squeezing between the cracks.
What would it mean to swap some of our bigger rocks with our smaller ones? Is it possible? It has been for a year, but can it be sustained? In all honesty, I have no clue, but naming it as a goal is always a good way to start.
Quick side note of gratitude for our renters, Melanie and Rob. We could not have found better, more considerate, kind, generous people to rent our home to for the year. I’m pretty sure they took better care of it than we have in the past (maybe I’ll winterize our hoses this year 😂). Honestly, I hope we get a chance to host them when we are all in Louisville to properly thank them for being so great! And thanks to Cate for connecting us to them! 💕
