It's December. Another year has almost expired on this ride around the sun. It's been an impossible four months since we moved out of our house. It feels like just yesterday, and yet also like forever ago. The reality is... our time here is short.
~
Today Jim told his boss of our plans and gave notice. I had done the same a week ago, although in my case the leaving was no surprise~ I was merely sharing my intended departure date. Somehow, Jim finally breaking the news made it more real. As if the house nearly devoid of furniture and possessions weren't enough. As if having all of our family and friends aware of the upcoming departure weren't enough. These things have all been a long time in the coming. Through it all, Jim's workmates were unaware of our travel-lust, unaware of our upcoming plans and now IT IS OUT THERE!
Today marked my second to last week of work at a place I have worked at for 16 of the last 18 years. While exciting as hell, this period is always difficult. We are acutely aware of what we will be giving up in exchange for the leaving. The PEOPLE we will leave behind. A few co-workers still exist from those early days, and we spent some time today looking at the photo books of old; reminiscing of how great it used to be in it's heyday.
Last week was the USA's Thanksgiving day; a celebration for eating too much turkey and watching football, seemingly a day of excess. We used it as a long weekend spent with friends. We started Thanksgiving morning with Ken and Wendy popping in with mimosa's to warm us after a very chilly dog walk and ended with a quiet dinner with my brother Warren, his wife Julie, and her mom.
Friday was all about the annual Civil War football party at Ken & Wendy's with Jim's parents joining the fray and with his mom and I being the only ones celebrating the outcome of the game. (GO DUCKS) It ended with just our little family of four celebrating our own turkey day dinner with a movie in front of the fire.
Saturday dawned bright and very cold, spurring us on to a longer than normal hike with the dogs to get warm. A day spent shopping for the correct size dog pad for the new back seat build in the truck. A day spent enjoying a couple of beers over lunch leftovers. A day to go to dinner at our friend Dana's new house and laugh over past fun, while plotting where she might want to come and visit us on our long trip south.
The final day of our long weekend was the coldest yet with an early morning wake-up call, for the fishing boat was calling Jim and Ken. I laughed at their craziness as Jim added layer upon layer against the 20 degree temperatures, cursing under his breath about being too old for such nonsense, all while excited to hit the water with his best friend. The dogs and I did the typical weekly house duties and got dinner in the slow cooker, for Ron and Dario were coming to dinner. As always, an amazing time filled with wine and laughter.
Our time is short, and the PEOPLE are what we will miss. We are officially on a countdown clock, spending as much time as we can fit in with those we love.
TWENTY DAYS until we embark on the next BIG adventure! Time for our new reality to begin.
Originally published at The Next Big Adventure