Last day of Summer Blues

The kids go back to school tomorrow, so sad and exciting. I'm really going to miss having them with me all day, and they are extremely nervous about going to a new school. We went to orientation this past week and their new school is so cute, even its name is right out of a storybook. I know they'll make new friends and have a great year with their new teachers, but of course it will take some adjusting time.

I had big plans for today, but unfortunately have been battling mastitis all weekend- really not fun! The temperature outside was 63* (it still is August, I am so scared for this winter!) but I had a fever of 103* so it felt good (except when I had the chills). Even though today didn't go as originally planned the kids did get almost 3 extra weeks of summer vacation than if we stayed in Taiwan. Plus, next weekend is Labor Day, so hopefully we can do what I wanted to do today then.

Looking ahead- hopefully I won't have the day after Christmas blues this year, as we are back in the land that celebrates Shopping Day! I mean Boxing Day- tee hee. I hope everyone has a Happy New School Year!

Back in the Great White North (and back on-line finally!)

Yes, we are back in Canada and Ottawa is just as pretty as I remembered it! It's been so nice returning to our Chapel Hill family and not having to start completely over again. Since we've been here, besides visiting with old friends and making some new ones, we've been busy shopping for furniture, assembling furniture, unpacking our suitcases, long-term storage stuff, and our sea shipment. We're still waiting on our mini-van (it's here, we just can't have it yet) and furniture for the dining room, family room, and our headboard. We drove to Montreal on Wednesday to get a table and chairs for our kitchen. We had been waiting this whole time for the Ottawa store to get it in-stock, and I finally gave up on them so we hit the road to Quebec. It was a beautiful day for a mini road trip. If I think too hard about all that we still have left to do I'll go crazy, so instead I keep reminding myself that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." We've taken that first step and even if we're taking baby steps along the way we're still progressing. The kids have one more week of summer vacation before school starts and then Len's paternity leave ends the following week. The time has gone so fast, but I'm anxious to get into our new routine.

We had a nice time in Vegas visiting with family and friends. If we missed you this year, we'll catch you next year!

We still think of Taiwan everyday. However, it's already starting to feel like a dream. We miss our wonderful friends there, but we will keep in touch.

I have 364 e-mails to get through, and I need to post pictures from our summer adventures thus far. Like everything else I'm working on now, I'll eventually get them all done.

Ottawa really is a beautiful city and we love company- so come and visit us anytime!!!