Yesterday started out like any other Mile High Monday: a dizzy tangle of fleece-clad limbs and yapping doglets tumbling into our bed way too early. Dave made breakfast for Hettie and Phineas, a favorite distraction from his imminent return to a job he likes a lot -- but not nearly as much as he loves the weekend. After some waffles and jam, a perfunctory apology for the mess in the kitchen, and a volley of kisses both human and canine, Dave grabbed his bicycle helmet and rushed into the briskly radiant morning, running about as late as he always does. It was lovely.
Around 10:30, the phone rang. It was Dave, who sounded... odd. The case he's been living and breathing for the last 20 months reached a settlement over the weekend -- we'd heard rumblings for a week or two that something might be in the works, but, even if things did settle, we couldn't imagine a scenario that didn't include months of clean-up work. We were wrong: 700+ contract employees, including dear friends, laid off and out the door before lunch. By early afternoon, Dave was reassigned to a new project. Now, just a day later, he's sleeping in a Manhattan hotel room, and I'm wondering how on earth I'm going to clear out our apartment and transport three kids, two dogs, and our trailer-laden car back home on my own. (Road trip, anyone?)
We have absolutely loved our Colorado adventure. I'm surprised at how quickly I've felt blissfully at home (silly, perhaps, since we've been staying in the house I grew up in!). I sincerely believed we'd be around for a few more years -- and maybe forever. And had grown to really love that idea. We are so sad to leave our friends both new and old. I've become so spoiled, having Z and my amazing Mom just a stairwell away. Leaving is almost unbearable... until I remember how hard it was to leave D.C., and all the people, places, and -- I'm a bit ashamed to admit -- things that are waiting for us there. I am looking forward to my own house and bed, being close to so many aunties and uncles, and all the happy details of our other, wonderful life.
Around 10:30, the phone rang. It was Dave, who sounded... odd. The case he's been living and breathing for the last 20 months reached a settlement over the weekend -- we'd heard rumblings for a week or two that something might be in the works, but, even if things did settle, we couldn't imagine a scenario that didn't include months of clean-up work. We were wrong: 700+ contract employees, including dear friends, laid off and out the door before lunch. By early afternoon, Dave was reassigned to a new project. Now, just a day later, he's sleeping in a Manhattan hotel room, and I'm wondering how on earth I'm going to clear out our apartment and transport three kids, two dogs, and our trailer-laden car back home on my own. (Road trip, anyone?)
We have absolutely loved our Colorado adventure. I'm surprised at how quickly I've felt blissfully at home (silly, perhaps, since we've been staying in the house I grew up in!). I sincerely believed we'd be around for a few more years -- and maybe forever. And had grown to really love that idea. We are so sad to leave our friends both new and old. I've become so spoiled, having Z and my amazing Mom just a stairwell away. Leaving is almost unbearable... until I remember how hard it was to leave D.C., and all the people, places, and -- I'm a bit ashamed to admit -- things that are waiting for us there. I am looking forward to my own house and bed, being close to so many aunties and uncles, and all the happy details of our other, wonderful life.
