I am still so excited, and yet...

I am having a bit of a hard time, these past couple of days, filling the last bits of the suitcases, and getting the house ready for the person who will be staying here in our absence. I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed, and a bit sad at the thought of leaving my friends, although, with technology, I can still stay in touch quite regularly, and instantaneously. I am also a bit more attached to my house than I thought previously, and will actually miss the comfort of my familiar spaces and routines.

School started here today, as well, and I'm a bit sad that my sons will miss *this* school year, although I know that they are excited for the chance to go to school in France! They are just happy that they will not miss the first day of school in Rabastens.

I am not looking forward to the drive to Calgary from here. Seven hours of actual driving, all of us in the bouncy truck, is not my idea of a good time, but I know that the children will be pretty great, actually, for the trip.

I dislike saying goodbye, and we've said it a lot recently. I am glad that we have a lot of friends and family that will miss us, and I am beyond excited that people have planned to come visit us, even if some of those plans have not come to fruition because of other life events. I am pleased that they cared enough to try to make plans to come see us while we are away.

And to top it all off, we dropped off our pets yesterday at the place where they will stay while we are gone. I know that they will be fine - I trust H to cherish our animals. But, I still miss them very very much. And it has only been one day. Not even a full 24 hours yet. *le sigh*

But, I am still totally pumped for this adventure of ours. I want to breathe the different air, and see the scenery, and eat the food and drink the wine, and tease out the differences in attitudes toward school and work and commercialization and free time and health care and literature and music and popular culture and traveling and... Well, you get the point. I can't wait to soak up the differences, and exclaim over and be comforted by the similarities.



I guess I should get back to packing the last couple of suitcases, and get the house ready for our departure now.


P.S. Soon, I will post many many pictures, but for now, I'm still working on the computer that doesn't have the photos...