The Long Goodbye

The last week has been a busy one of goodbyes and swim lessons. Belle is making wonderful progress and we practiced for quite a bit yesterday at Echo Lake.  On Monday afternoon, I had a planning session for the last writing camp next week with my friend, Jen, and then that night, I went with my friend Ashleigh to see the final installment on the Harry Potter films, and now I must wait impatiently for J.K. Rowling to make the series available as an e-book since I recently sold my paper set (it is coming out in October). On Tuesday, we attended a Miranda Cosgrove concert at Meadowbrook with a bunch of Belle's little friends. On Wednesday, we took the day to pack and clean. Thursday evening I went out to dinner with some of my lady friends, and then we walked around town and stopped for pictures with Pollyanna (her creator was from Littleton).

We just came home from our family farewell party, which was lovely and sad.  The feelings and tidings were mixed, but by now most everyone is excited for us and our adventure and I truly hope some of them make it out to visit us.  I know it would mean a lot to Rob.  Belle is having her last sleepover with her best friend since birth, Katie.  That is sad too, because I've watched Katie grow up and now I feel like I'm going to miss big pieces of her life, not to mention how Belle feels.  I'll post photos of this final visit later, but for now, I'm going to go rest a bit for tomorrow's church family farewells.

A rare family photo

10 days left...

Debris

Our house is a mess. Literally. We have plastic bins and laundry baskets filled with clothes from dressers that have found new homes.  Our sunroom, guestroom, dining room and kitchen have all been stripped of their furnishings, and our laundry room will lose its remaining appliance today.  Last night and this morning, totes were turned into makeshift tables for meals and I went grocery shopping for the last time for this residence - buying only the things we need to make it through this week.  Our garage/barn is holding the remnants of our yard sale.

Today, I return to school and am wondering how we will accomplish all we need to each evening...sandwiched between doctor & dentist appointments, softball, and swim lessons.  Did I mention I also have lunch duty this week and the NH Scholastic Writing Awards and Middle/High School Voices Conference & Publication Launch?

I'm going to take a deep breath and begin.