< ![CDATA[   It is 4:30 a.m. and I can't sleep. Tony and Gabe just left for New York City... a six hour drive to do a meeting and then a Father-Son overnight in the city. It is Gabe's first business trip with Dad and a very big deal. That's not what's keeping me awake. It's the details. 9.5 weeks until blast off and the Devil is in the details. So... here I lay, holding on to his horns for dear life, wrestling him through the myriad of things left on the list: 1. Sell the house 2. Pack and store its contents 3. Buy airline tickets (within the week, preferably) 4. Call back about Ezra's typhoid shot (he's too young for the pills) 5. Get life/health insurance 6. Take Dad's yellow drill with us to Indiana 7. Get the kids' bikes in for their tune-ups 8. UPS the gear to London And the list goes on, scrolling through my head in an endless cycle. How will we ever get it all done? We were talking the other night, on the way home from IKEA, having purchased the last drawer front and piece of countertop for the kitchen, about these last weeks, the adjustments to come, and the beginning of a new life. We both agree that whatever stress may come with piling into the camper and heading for the Midwest on our final family and convention tour, it will be a relief on some level to be living just one life instead of three! The kids are fairing amazingly well. When last night's dinner guests asked them if they were excited they answered in the affirmative and chattered on for some minutes about all of what they are excited about. Hannah, sagely, pointed out that there are two sides, one side that is excited, one side that is a little sad and a little nervous. For Dad and Mom too! As I sat last night, visiting with dear friends, drinking tea and tatting lace, surrounded by a forest blanketed in thick snow, Europe and my bicycle seemed a lifetime away. I am perfectly happy here on my hill. Nonetheless, the clock is ticking. We're all getting excited. The boxes are beginning to pile up around the margins of life and we're still praying that the house sells BEFORE we leave. More than a little nerve wracking, to be sure. Even so, we have this crazy peace of heart and mind, knowing in some unknowable way that this is the right time and that the Devil will be banished with his details before long. Tempus Fugit, ]]>