Last night's full moon was called a super moon because the moon was closer to the earth than it has been for years. It has to do with the moon's elliptical path around the earth, and being on the short side of the ellipse this time around.
Interestingly, its timing feels like another new chapter for me as well. Things have settled out on the work front, and we just returned from our first trip back to Missouri since our move. Both of these happenings have had significance in my feeling more rooted here.
When I initially applied for work at UCSC, there was not an option for part-time work with benefits. However, when I told my boss last month that I was going to look for that kind of arrangement in the community, he was able to offer me a "4 days a week when school is in session" option. I was happy to accept! I will still have 2 months off in the summers and university holidays plus vacation time. And since my main aim was to protect some time off, this is a good solution. It has been an adjustment for me to be taking care of not-so-sick college students after my years with the oh-so-sick uninsured patients at The Kitchen Clinic, but I have some ideas for keeping it interesting.
We made a whirlwind trip through the midwest last week. We first flew to Carrie in Bloomington, IL so we could watch her run her 1st marathon. The Illinois Marathon was held at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana with around 20,000 runners in all. She had a time of 3h19m which qualified her for the Boston Marathon for the next couple of years...IF she wants to go (she will). Her husband Travis did a masterful job of planning our tour around the course so that we could watch and cheer half a dozen times, reminding us of her old cross country days. After giving her time to shower and eat a LOT of food, we put her in the backseat of the car and began the 7 hour drive to Kansas City. The next day was Will's senior voice recital for UMKC.
A dear old friend from KC was out of town and gave us the use of her beautiful home while we were there. This gift was a godsend, since we needed a kitchen to prepare for the reception which followed the recital. Will's friend Alex came from CA to help out, which was a lucky thing since my procrastinating son was still working on the translations for the program that afternoon!
His concert was unbelievable, an hour and a half of pure joy for his mother! All his aunts and uncles were there, and his grandmothers and lots of other friends and supporters...such a nice time. We wound up the evening gathered in our home-away-from-home, laughing the night away in our PJ's.
After a nice lunch together with family and friends, we headed down to Springfield the next day. We spent the next 3 days visiting family and friends and our old house and favorite golf courses. So much fun, and so exhausting! And it was sad being at Ginny's old house, looking at her empty chair through her front window...
We were happy to come HOME to Santa Cruz!
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