SNOW?! Are you serious?

Yesterday it started snowing. Two weeks before Thanksgiving! We almost missed it; if we'd left on schedule we'd have been outta here by the time the snow started flying. We're not really prepared for über cold weather. We realized yesterday Ivan has no coat. He has hoodies. But he doesn't even have a sweater to put on under the hoodie. I foresee a quick stop at Goodwill on our way to Indiana tomorrow.

BTW, Ivan came through his tests the other day with flying colors. It's so nice to get good test results back!

I've been packing like a maniac this week. Sorting through closets, cabinets, a dresser, under the bathroom sink... what do we take? what do we give away? what can be thrown away? I'm pretty sure Ivan couldn't put the lid down all the way on the rolling garbage container we take out to the curb every Thursday night. And there are just flat too many suitcases. I am not even going to mention the number because it's embarrassing. I'm hoping we can track down a few more largish ones and consolidate what's in some smaller ones to bring the number down. A bunch are way under the 50# weight limit, so that's totally possible -- IF I can find bigger suitcases.

Of those we are taking with us, four are fully packed and ready to go. The remaining two are partially packed and I'm just praying we can fit the last minute items in without going over the weight limit. We're going to take as many of the four as we can to Indiana this weekend, and leave them at Kyle and Tina's. That way when they come to get us next weekend, we might not have to use their little trailer. It all depends on how much we can fit into the Saturn tomorrow. We are also going to take two large plastic bins full of things we need to leave here; they'll reside in Kyle and Tina's garage for the next couple years. Hopefully we'll have more time next furlough to go through and get rid of most of it. But it's paperwork and you can't throw that out willy-nilly.

Our purpose for going to Indiana is because Kyle and Tina are being accepted into membership at their church on Sunday. So excited to see them take this next step!

I managed to get an appointment to get my hair cut Saturday afternoon too, meaning I can return to Argentina in ten days and not have to worry about getting right in to see Florencia. Once back in Argentina, we're hoping to spend just a couple days in Carlos Paz before heading to Sta. Rosa for a little vacay. Where I'm guessing we'll spend most of our time sleeping :)  It's been a FANTASTIC six months, but folks, this furlough business is EXHAUSTING.

Makes us realize the wisdom of doing four-month furloughs in the future. We just can't keep up this pace for longer than that :)  Plus it just makes sense (to us anyway) to come back for shorter periods of time, more frequently. We'll also be a LOT more thoughtful about planning and organizing furloughs in the future. This was a learning curve for us, and we realize we could have been more efficient and productive if we'd put more thought into the limited amount of time.

One thing for sure: we'll be interjecting little "breaks" into future furloughs, so we're not so exhausted by the end. And by that I mean times alone, just the two of us, to unwind and unplug. I'd love to hear what you do when you need a break. I want to start building a "library" of ideas now!