Bittersweet

Boy, am I glad that part is over. Our last day in Houston was a mishmash of saying goodbye to my colleagues (who are not included in the directive in #2 of the last post), meeting with Dev's teacher to go over her progress (excellant), getting the car detailed and sold, picking up dustbunnies the size of Boo's head so the house cleaners don't run screaming when they arrive, and basically saying good bye to the place I realize now I've lived longer then anywhere else since I moved away from home.

We moved to Houston at the very end of 2002, and swore up and down that we would be there for three years before moving on to cooler pastures. Six years later, we're leaving with much regret. We managed to make a wonderful life for ourselves, very different from what came before, but full of some wonderful friends and places that we will miss very much. We tell everyone we're coming back, but that's a hard thing to promise; our families are all back in the Northeast, and with the only grandchildren (for the next few months that is) on either side, there's a big draw to head back to New England when we're done overseas.

This is going to be a very grand adventure, there is no doubt. But I'm very glad that the leaving part of leaving home is now over with. We're in Maine, having attended a very special event today, and we'll be here for a few days before we head to Vermont to see the other set of grandparents. Then it's back to the Houston airport for four hours before we fly out to London. I think I'm ready.