Leaving Monday

Hello,

Leroy and I are taking a vacation that does not include visiting any of our children. It has been a long time since such a thing has happened. Do you think our children realize how important they are in our lives?

Because we are going south, clothes decisions are taking a bit of space in our minds. It is in the 30’s here and will be in the 70’s at our destination. It is hard to conceptualize the temperature difference.

We are staying with friends. I got some gifts to share only for Leroy to note that one was a liquid in a container that is too large to be acceptable. I am both glad and sorry that he noticed; glad so I do not give it to the TSA and sorry that I cannot take it.

Even though we can have a check in bag on this flight, we have gotten used to not having one and do not want to deal with that. I guess we are good even though I think the bag Leroy is taking will be close to too large. I also think about the fact that we used to lock our luggage when we traveled. We no longer do that and do not even think about it. There is some freedom in that.

Because the flight was quite a lot cheaper out of Des Moines we are driving there. The time is good on this end, but we will arrive in the middle of the night and leave there in the middle of the night. Life seems to always require some adjustments.

I just finished reading The Hillbilly Elegy. I would recommend it. Any book that opens up new ideas in my mind is good for expanding my thinking. My live has certainly been different in many ways from this author’s life, but there were a few similar things. He talks about feeling slightly out of place in college and I also noted that. It especially bothered me when I got my master’s degree. I was sure that someone would notice I did not belong there.

Paula