One Last Evening

We leave tomorrow.  At 6:20 a.m. Which means we have to be up at 3 a.m., leave the house at 3:30, so we can be at the airport at 4 a.m.  We will have 5 xxx-large duffle bags, 1 big roller suitcase, 1 large-screen tv, 1 bilingual cat, 1 stroller, 1 carseat, and the maximum number of carry-ons (packed with our extra fragile or heavy belongings) with us.  Can we say heavy load?  Or wide load?  Probably both.  Both Joe's parents will be coming with us to the airport because they love us and because we need all the space in two cars to load all of our stuff.  We fly four hours to Atlanta, have a four hour layover, and then have one more four hour flight to San Jose.  It will be a LONG day.  But we are ready.  It's time to get to Costa Rica, unpack our bags and get settled in our new home. 

I am typing this as all of Joe's family is sitting around the Westfall living room, waiting for a roast to finish cooking.  They wanted to do a "mini Thanksgiving" type of meal for our last evening here.  Aunt Una Beth made her famous cheese ball (a secret recipe that she refuses to reveal to the rest of us).  Aunt Maggie and Uncle Ben made stuffing and a salad.  Anita made twice baked potatoes, cranberry salad, and peach cobbler...  Great Grandma Faye is here, drinking her coffee and watching football.  Joe is drinking a diet Mtn. Dew.  Kate is running around like crazy, jumping on furniture, doing somersaults and break dancing moves.  Laughter fills the room while we wait to share a lovely meal together.  These are moments we will miss.  But we are excited for what lays ahead and for the adventure that awaits us!  We just need to get through tomorrow.  I'm sure we'll have some interesting stories to tell...