I don't quite know when the itch started. I guess it's always been there. I loved being in the Air Force and moving around. Regardless of the trials we endured in the Philippines, it was exciting. It was different. I struggled when we came back to America because it all seemed so familiar. So mundane. After the Philippines, it was Colorado and then England and finally Nebraska. It was all good. We enjoyed every assignment.
As a child I used to love maps. I also loved reading and my favorite thing was to read books about places with exotic names. I pictured going to places like Kuala Lumpur and Kathmandu and Abu Dhabi.
How do you decide that a perfect life isn't what you are looking for? Derek retired from the Air Force on September 1, 2001. He missed stop loss by 11 days. The Air Force tried to talk him into staying in After 9/11. If he hadn't already gotten a good job with a large company, he might have stayed in, but I doubt it. He was ready to settle down. We decided to stay in Nebraska despite my early reservations about moving there. So he got his corporate job and we found a beautiful home and we settled in. The house is 3000 sq. ft. backing a forest. The neighborhood is tidy, established and filled with beautiful trees and we have made a comfortable home there. I'm not sure how to explain. I love all of those things. Our two sons live in the area so we see grandchildren almost daily. I love being near family. My sister lives with us, so we see her everyday. Our daughters family lives in Colorado Springs. They are a day trip away and we see them a few times a year. We have enough money to get by and not struggle, but still I'm restless. I feel ungrateful for not appreciating the many blessings that I enjoy. I do appreciate them. I just want something else too.
Grandmothers are supposed to want to stay home aren't they? Stay home and knit and bake cookies and babysit grandkids. I love doing all of those things...well, not the knitting. And yet...
It just seems to me that this is a really huge planet and they're all of these people and places and cultures and experiences to be had and I want to have them.
So here we are. We do NOT leave our beautiful family behind lightly and we are already planning to budget travel money in to come home for visits, but we want this; we need this and I am eager to see what Heavenly Father might have in store for us!
Friday, September 26, 2014
Friday, August 22, 2014
A fond farewell to corn...
Every great adventure has a beginning and an end. Our Nebraska adventure began when we were living in England. Derek came home one afternoon and announced that we had orders to Omaha, Nebraska. I responded with "Where is Omaha? You know...in relation to the rest of the planet." The second question was, "Whomever you have offended, could you apologize to them and get us out of this? Because, if we are being sent to Nebraska, clearly, you have done something terribly wrong".
Derek was a little surprised that I had been quite willing to follow him half way across the world to the Philippines, but had reservations about Nebraska.
It was just that it sounded so...Midwestern. I envisioned a flat, dry, treeless dustbowl. I was not wrong about a good portion of the state, but Omaha and Bellevue were a pleasant surprise. Who knew that Omaha is the home of Arbor Day? I discovered a lush green city rampant with trees and even with culture. There are beautiful museums, jazz festivals, shakespeare festivals, A list plays...It's a good place to be.
Since arriving here, we have put three kids through high school, seen them go to college, seen them marry and then seen them have children of their own. We own a beautiful home where I can sit in the back garden and watch deer, turkeys, possum, raccoons, butterflies, hummingbirds, other beautiful birds and yes, more than a few mosquitos.
We have made amazing lifelong friends here and built a wonderful life for ourselves. In short we have loved Nebraska and it has been a grand adventure, but now it is time to go.
We have a new adventure beginning in just a few weeks. This one is called, "The Adventures of Derek and Leni". We have raised our kids. We adore them and we adore our grandchildren, but now we are ready to make new and exciting (hopefully not TOO exciting) memories. There are two truly exciting components to this new adventure. The first is that, while we know we are leaving Nebraska, we have no idea where we are going! The second is that it will be just the two of us and every adventure is better with Derek beside me.
So, what does all this mean? Well...drum roll please...
Derek has accepted a position with the State Department, Foreign Service. What this means for the near future is that in two weeks we will be leaving for Washington D.C. for orientation into State Department Life, policies and procedures. Orientation will last until the end of September at which time (yes, AFTER giving up his current position and all illusions of security), we will find out what country we will be posted to. Derek will stay on in D.C. until February for additional training and I will come back to Nebraska to get our house ready to sell and see our kids and grandkids as much as humanly possible.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Foreign Service, we could be posted to any Embassy or Consulate in the world. Unfortunately, there is a small chance that Derek could be assigned an unaccompanied posting for a year, in which case our Nebraska friends haven't seen the last of me yet, but we are making it quite clear to them that I really am willing to go just about anywhere, so hopefully we will be going together:-)
Rest assured, we will let everyone know when we find out where we are going.
To all of you who have made our lives amazing here in Nebraska, we love you and thank you. And welcome you to come visit us where ever we end up.
You all have made Nebraska a truly grand adventure indeed!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
A Fishy Affair
I hate fish! Stupid conniving, slippery little back stabbers! I provide them with a lovely home and then they turn on me!
After six years, it appears that our pond is in need of some repairs. The water level is going down each day at an alarming rate and so we have reached out to our original landscapers to come in and do some work on it. Unfortunately, this requires the removal of the koi living in it. We had to wait as long as possible to remove the fish because it has been too cold. In case you didn't already know, you aren't supposed to disturb Koi when they are cold and in their winter stasis.
So as yesterday was finally blissfully warm, I donned the appropriate fish finding attire and ventured my way into the pond. yes, INTO the pond. I had only a smallish net, so standing on the bank was not an option. The first thing I noticed as I entered the pond was that while the ambient temperature was around 80, the water temperature most certainly was not. The chill of winter clung tenaciously to the water and bit at my thighs. It's a 2,500 gal pond so they had a lot of places to go. I was starting to feel pretty stupid for even imagining that I could possibly catch them with my little net.
In what I am now certain was a devious plan to boost my confidence, I managed to catch one fish very quickly. I decided I might actually be able to do this after all! I should mention that undisturbed, the water is crystal clear. You can easilissue to the very bottom, however, once I got into the pond and started walking around stirring things up it got very murky, very quickly. It became more and more difficult tos see the fish, especially at the speed they were darting about at. The pond was filled with an entire winters worth of dead leaves and rotted debris that had settled innocuously to the bottom but was now swirling around my calves. I couldn't see a thing. The fish, when I could catch a glimpse, had gone into hyper-drive and were nothing but little blurs of orange. I swung wildly back and forth in an attempt to net one. In addition, I noticed that as I stirred up the water the air filled with the fetid stench of a cesspool.
I don't know at what point they decided to turn on me. I suspect they found a rocky outcropping beneath the water to hold a strategy meeting and planned the whole thing. All I know is that there were no fish visible in the clouded water and then there was a big black and orange one directly in front of me. He swam back and forth at a leisurely pace right on the surface of the water as if to say "go ahead, I'm just dying to be caught". I focused all my efforts on keeping him in sight as I slowly, so as not to disturb him too soon, moved my net towards him. I positioned myself to make the catch. I'm quite certain that what happened next was executed perfectly, according to their diabolical plan. As I went to swing the net at the black and orange demon, one of the other fish rammed straight into the back of my knee startling me so badly that I lost my balance and landed on my butt on the silty bottom of the three and a half foot deep pond. Gales of laughter filled my ears and I looked up to see Derek standing at the patio door. soaking wet and miserable I gave up and pulled myself out of the water. Now I also smelled like a cesspool. rotting leaves clung to my clothes, They had outsmarted me. For now that is. Today I'm planning on going to the store to pick up a fishing pole and some bait. Then we'll see who outsmarts who.
After six years, it appears that our pond is in need of some repairs. The water level is going down each day at an alarming rate and so we have reached out to our original landscapers to come in and do some work on it. Unfortunately, this requires the removal of the koi living in it. We had to wait as long as possible to remove the fish because it has been too cold. In case you didn't already know, you aren't supposed to disturb Koi when they are cold and in their winter stasis.
So as yesterday was finally blissfully warm, I donned the appropriate fish finding attire and ventured my way into the pond. yes, INTO the pond. I had only a smallish net, so standing on the bank was not an option. The first thing I noticed as I entered the pond was that while the ambient temperature was around 80, the water temperature most certainly was not. The chill of winter clung tenaciously to the water and bit at my thighs. It's a 2,500 gal pond so they had a lot of places to go. I was starting to feel pretty stupid for even imagining that I could possibly catch them with my little net.
In what I am now certain was a devious plan to boost my confidence, I managed to catch one fish very quickly. I decided I might actually be able to do this after all! I should mention that undisturbed, the water is crystal clear. You can easilissue to the very bottom, however, once I got into the pond and started walking around stirring things up it got very murky, very quickly. It became more and more difficult tos see the fish, especially at the speed they were darting about at. The pond was filled with an entire winters worth of dead leaves and rotted debris that had settled innocuously to the bottom but was now swirling around my calves. I couldn't see a thing. The fish, when I could catch a glimpse, had gone into hyper-drive and were nothing but little blurs of orange. I swung wildly back and forth in an attempt to net one. In addition, I noticed that as I stirred up the water the air filled with the fetid stench of a cesspool.
I don't know at what point they decided to turn on me. I suspect they found a rocky outcropping beneath the water to hold a strategy meeting and planned the whole thing. All I know is that there were no fish visible in the clouded water and then there was a big black and orange one directly in front of me. He swam back and forth at a leisurely pace right on the surface of the water as if to say "go ahead, I'm just dying to be caught". I focused all my efforts on keeping him in sight as I slowly, so as not to disturb him too soon, moved my net towards him. I positioned myself to make the catch. I'm quite certain that what happened next was executed perfectly, according to their diabolical plan. As I went to swing the net at the black and orange demon, one of the other fish rammed straight into the back of my knee startling me so badly that I lost my balance and landed on my butt on the silty bottom of the three and a half foot deep pond. Gales of laughter filled my ears and I looked up to see Derek standing at the patio door. soaking wet and miserable I gave up and pulled myself out of the water. Now I also smelled like a cesspool. rotting leaves clung to my clothes, They had outsmarted me. For now that is. Today I'm planning on going to the store to pick up a fishing pole and some bait. Then we'll see who outsmarts who.
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