We're here...

Hello all! We're here...ALL is well. We are at Husam's parents' house, and we've eaten something now. We're very tired (The sleeping on the plane was HORRID.) We're going to go get organized and then probably sleep soon. We're in a room with a little balcony, and the home is in Biet Sahour.

I'm very, very tired.

Airport was just fine; drive was fine, although sad seeing the wall going up.

I miss you all so much...Home is such a good place. Hug everyone and know how lucky all of us really are. Much here is showing the signs of both social and economic struggle, and in a way that I've rarely ever seen. Just know how lucky we are there at home.

We're going up to the university tomorrow at nine in the morning. Someone is coming for us here. There is an american doctor here right now; He's been here for two weeks and will leave next Friday. It's a good thing. There has been very little English here so far. I do have the feeling that we will be left to figure out our transport on our own in many regards, but Mark seems confident in what we're doing, so I will trust that.

Don't worry. Things have been really good so far. I will begin taking pictures tomorrow, and then I will let you all see what we're seeing.

Please know how much I love you all, and how much I miss you already. I'm no wimp; I just love my family, friends, and home and I miss you.

I will write tomorrow at some point. Please write to us. It will help with our homesickness!

Love, love, love, love, and love,

V : )

45 minutes...

Well, gang, we're almost out the door...noon will find us on our way to the airport.

We love you.

We'll be home safely, soon.

We'll write; You do the same, PLEASE.

Love, love, love, love, and love,

V : )

4.5 hours now...

Good morning, all...

How I wish that I could sleep the night before anything exciting begins...The beginning of school...a trip...both of these things keep me from taking naps or sleeping when I really should. I only got four hours of sleep last night, and I can't go back to sleep right now. I could probably squeeze out another hour this morning, if my body would cooperate.

Mark wants to sleep on the flight to Atlanta, and then not sleep at all on the transatlantic flight. Now I know that he's probably right. We're arriving in Israel in the late afternoon (5:25 pm tomorrow), and by the time we make it to our destination, it will be time to sleep, which will be wonderful. I just don't think that I can wait to sleep until sometime tomorrow...

I'm packed, for the most part. I need to pack my hair-dryer and toiletries that I will use this morning to get ready. Other than that, yes folks, I'm packed. It's neat; It's almost complete!

I think I'm a little in denial that I have just fours hours now...I'll write again just before we leave for the airport.

V

About 12 hours now...

Well, it's 11:40 or so, and now I'm 'weeding' through all the things I want to take so as to 'listen' to my more rational side (The "I want to travel with my closet" side has been in charge of gathering...the rational side is in charge of actually packing!) I'm writing my inventory list so that I know what I've got (just in case...knock on wood), and I should be packed before I go to bed tonight.

Correction: I WILL be packed before I go to bed tonight, and I plan on being in bed by 1:00 am. That's my summertime bedtime, and I know I should have napped (and I TRIED).

I've walked into Britt's room today/tonight...several times...just to feel her there. I have her little light on, and I've talked with her on the phone tonight. She's happy and excited to be with her cousins, and that's a good thing. God, I love that girl.

The next time I write, I WILL be packed!

V : )

23 hours?

Ok, so you know how I said that we would prepare for our trip/jetlag with all those strategies to help us not be tired and a little crazy right now?...

Yeah, whatever...

That is SO not happening...

Just finished the last of the errands, though...dry-cleaners, library stop for the kids, bank, meds, and passport photocopies...all done at last...

Now the packing.

Yes, you read that correctly; We have not packed yet. Oh, don't get me wrong...we've GATHERED, but not actually PACKED.

It'll happen.

; )

V

29 hours until we go to the airport...

*heart jumps*

Holy cow...Today is the day to make sure we're packed, all is ready, and that the errands are all finished...I still have some errands, as does Mark, and he's out of the house before me today! I still need to run to the dry-cleaners/pharmacy/library with the kids...It'll all get done; I know that...Just nerves now, I think...Both of us, Mark and I. We're both a little freaked right now. This is a big trip, and we are both excited and also have a healthy helping of anxiousness. Oh, I know that Mark has traveled in that part of the world when he was growing up, but we're older now (a little wiser?), and we see the variables now that our parents really dealt with when we were young...the ignorance of youth can be bliss, and I do not think either of us have that anymore...However, we have the gift of time and experience now, and the experiences may be deeper and more profound for us as a result...I am hopeful for the depth and dimension that a person may craft of their life when learning and exploring.

Ok, I must get moving! I'll write more soon...

Oh! And I didn't tell you! Mark is now in contact again with a life-long friend who lives in Cairo, and she may be in Israel while we are there, so they will be able to see each other for the first time in many, many years...She's known him since he was a tot, and is a great friend of his parents, so I am so excited for him! And to see Mark in such a different venue...for us to share what we're like when we travel/explore the world...How lucky are we? : )

V

Six Days and Counting

Hey Everyone! We're at six days and counting down now...We've been organizing the house, which is pretty close to being finished, and now it's time to do the final stretch of preps before our trip. Yes, there's a list, and the goal is to have that list finished by the time our heads hit the pillows on Wednesday night. This is necessary, as I am driving up to Ft. Worth on Thursday with my Mom and my daughter in order to meet my sister at the halfway point between here and Ok. City, where my sister lives with her family. Britt will stay with my sister and the cousins for three weeks, and Britt is so excited; You should see her...jumping up and down at the thought of being with her four cousins and all the activities that my sister has planned for them while she's there. The only time that is different is night-time, when Britt grabs me as hard as she can and tells me how much she will miss me; *deep sigh*...I wouldn't go, except that I want my daughter to have adventures and see the world, and not think that just because you love someone so much, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't see the world and grow, and then come home to share it all with that person/those people. I want her to be a strong woman, a smart woman, and a compassionate, loving woman, and I hope she will see that.

Deb is so awesome...She will include Britt in all of the camping trips/salon trips/Build-a-Bear trips/Bible lessons/reading/play and fun trips that all the others will be doing, and I am so grateful to have a sister who is so loving and kind, and such a good Aunt to my daughter.

Well, I have to continue our chores...I will get the car worked on tomorrow morning (finally), and I have a dentist appt. at 1:00 pm tomorrow. Mark is taking J and K to Six Flags, so I will finish more chores when I get home tomorrow from the dentist...Oh! And the yard-work! Yipes!

V : )