The State of the (Mai) Union

Today it has been two weeks since our journey began. About now, on our normal trips from home, I'd be thinking of arriving back to our house, our regular routines, our mountains of "vacation laundry". But today, that end is nowhere close to my line of vision; if anything, we have only just begun.

And, on the whole, I think we are fairing pretty well.

Sleep deprivation set in around day 2, and we have yet to remedy the problem; the concept of a "bed time" must have gotten packed away in the box of curtains and dust ruffles now sitting in our storage unit back in Pennsylvania. Oddly enough, the meltdowns have been kept to a minimum (myself included).

Currently for homeschooling, this Civil War Unit fills most of our study time. During history yesterday, Cade decided that if he lived during the Civil War times, he would move to Alaska till all the fighting was done. Then, infused with a surge of courage, he changed his mind, choosing to be a soldier in the army, but only after he had invented the telephone so that he could talk to his wife while on the battlefield. Our school time consists of these types of conversations on a regular basis; sometimes I think I let my kids talk too much.

On the domestic front, the process of keeping us in clean clothes still eludes me. You'd think that without an entire house to maintain and daily chores to do, I'd get the washing done. The problem is, when you're at home everyday, sometimes the only excitement you have in your forseeable future is restoring your toilet bowl to it's original splendor or vacuuming your living room floor in geometrical patterns. On the road, sharing a dish of white chocolate bread pudding in a chic little restaurant in downtown Charlotte is time far better spent than squatting next to a pile of dirties, sorting darks and lights. Ultimately, it puts my priorities back in order, but we all do look a bit unkempt. (Truth be told, I've been wearing the same sweater for the past 36 hours, through the night and all. I assure you that this is very unlike me...)

On a more serious note, I do find myself feeling rather unsettled, a little anxious much of the time. Perhaps I've jumped the gun a bit, but already my mind is thinking, "What will we do when the trip is done? Where will we live? How different will the second half of this year look compared to the first?". And the problem with this thought pattern is that I'm missing the "now" when I spend my mental energy trying to predict the future.

Hence, here goes the pep talk; feel free to listen in:

"Maile, you get to take this trip, the very trip that you are currently smack in the middle of and have dreamed of for the past twelve years, once. Don't wish it away looking to the future. Don't ask for answers that you don't need right now. Because there will always be questions, Maile; but this moment passes in a breath.

So breathe deep."