Well, the plane didn't crash...

I'm back. Boy am I tired. I'm not sick, but I feel as tired as that bone tired feeling you get when you have a sinus infection, all lethargic and fuzzy and I have to keep blinking and squinting to make out words properly. Jet lag sucks!

We left Thursday after dinner to drop the kids at my dads and then we went on to the airport for our redeye flight to the East Coast. That plane managed to get airborne, stay airborne, and land with a minimum of jolting and wing dipping... no firey crashings. Phew! We arrived in Boston at 11 Friday morning and collected our rental car and went forth to confirm Davids job was really still there. It is - and what a relief. We spoke to a mortgage broker that afternoon, drove by some houses on our listings, and were tucked soundly in bed at my dear friend Karen's house by 8 pm. Of course she plied us with a multitude of pizza and wine first so our sleep was really more about passing out than anything else.

Up early Saturday for a full day of house viewings. We were at it from 9 til 5 that day. When we got back to Karens, we went to see yet another house. We vaguely know the couple who are selling so we sat and had a beer and some chit chat in between seeing their house and hearing about everything they've done and updated in the past 9 years. Interestingly, we had looked at this same house when we were doing our original house search 9 years ago and had snubbed our noses at it. We aren't snubbing anything now! It is a nice house, we just didn't appreciate it's qualities when we were first house hunting. Now that we are more familiar with the characteristics and architecture of New England we think it's a fantastic house. So by 6:30 pm, tired and slightly discouraged, my friend fortified us with homemade meatballs and sauce (with more of that wine!) and we were down for the count again early. We did run into one old friend while getting coffee earlier in the day. She was surprised and delighted to see us - her warm hug and huge smile sure touched our hearts.

Sunday we were up early and made it to our old church. Oh the looks on their faces! One by one as people saw us and noticed us and came to hug us and hold us... I could barely keep the tears from falling. It was so wonderful to be hugged and welcomed, to feel that they were so happy we were there and maybe coming back. We saw newly pregnant couples, and we saw the babies of those who'd been pregnant when we left. Once we were seated and had been through the worship portion, it felt like we'd never been gone. And then we looked at more houses...

Sunday afternoon David had to speak to another co-worker about his coming back and they did it over football and beer while Karen and I chatted over tea while playing with her youngest son - just like old times. We opted to pack up and go to a hotel near the airport since we had such an early flight and didn't want to disrupt Karen's house at 2am. Lucky we did for a snow storm came through and by the time we had boarded our flight Monday morning, her town was covered in 8 inches and it was snowing at the airport too.

We landed this morning and were so happy to pick up our kids! It's the first time we've left them for such a long time. I was thankful to reach them safely and to bring us all back together. Charlie-dog is still at doggie daycare but he'll come home tomorrow after a bath.

It's been a long 4 days and our minds are whirling with houses, finances, and options. We don't know where to start, but we've come a long way since the 2 weeks ago when we had this bomb dropped. I was thinking tonight about how far removed I am now from that grief and pain I was feeling at first. So removed from the awful shock and betrayal... not that it was betrayal really but thats just how it felt to us. Now we feel... exitement and anticipation. Hope and renewal. We feel ready to move on with our lives, the 5 of us together.