Rough Start?

It’s officially August 27, just after 1am. We left our house around 8:20pm on August 26.

And we just left our house again.

We left hastily the first time, frustrated we hadn’t left earlier. Mama was shooting for 4pm, Papa figured it’d be closer to 6pm, D was ready to go by 3pm, and M was just killing time on his tablet.

It’s so much easier to pack and plan for a weekend, a week, or even a couple of weeks. This prepping for three months has been, in a word, ludicrous.

Today tensions were high, patience was short, and there were too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak. That resulted in a lot of uncertainty as to what had and hadn’t been accomplished.

Had the hot-water heater been turned off?

Did we completely close the doors of the freezer and refrigerator?

Were the doors of Mama’s car locked?

Was the garage door closed?

Did we leave our heads at home altogether?!

Two hours into the drive, Mama couldn’t take it any longer. She made a tearful comment about how she wished they hadn’t been so rushed, that they would’ve turned around before leaving town to check on things again, that she’d gone over the check list more carefully.

Papa — being the kind and patient soul he is — turned the truck around. No hesitation, no questions asked. He said he couldn’t bear the thought of Mama beating herself up and having so many unanswered questions for three months.

 Four hours wasted.

But at least now there are no more questions, no more uncertainties.

We aren’t going to get as far tonight as we had planned, but wherever we stop for the night at least we’ll get there with settled minds…and not-so-frazzled nerves.

This time, we really are as prepared as it’s going to get.