"We've taken a new job", is a frequent comment we make to friends and colleagues these days. When we go on to explain that our new job will take us to Uganda the responses vary from unbridled enthusiasm to cautious pessimism. Some friends, those who know us well, tell us "You're living the life now!" Others express concern about our safety. Others wonder how we can leave our children behind on a different continent. All wish us well, of course.
We, ourselves vascillate from those early morning clouds of doubt, "What in the world are we thinking!" to full throttled excitement! Right now we are in the preparation stage. It is a time of defining life's priorities. Spending quality time with local friends, divesting ourselves of volunteer responsibilities, and making lists of things to do fill the hours that comprise our "spare time". Setting up this blog, with skilled guidance from my good friend Francine, is one more thing I can check off my list!
I hear the chainsaw in the back yard as Steve takes down a maple that is going to grow large enough to crowd the side of our house if left to its own devices over the next five years (who knows what the previous owners were thinking when they planted it there!). I hear the skillsaw as he prepares lumber to repair the deck or the fence or the shed or who knows what else. He's working on his own checklist.
Next to come is the pairing down of our belongings. We need to get down to dimensions that will either fit into the shed in our backyard or into one of the four suitcases we will take with us to Uganda. We have been packing away, into the nooks and crannies of our home, so many accumulations over the past 15 years that this will be quite the task! It will be a catharctic exercise in simplifying our life, and I am looking forward to that. But it won't happen if I keep blogging, so I'll sign off now. If you signed on to read about Uganda, check back in July. If you stumbled upon this because you are a friend who googled our name, feel free to keep reading as I blog through our preparation and departure. -Marge
