Our final week in Oregon

It's down to the last few days, really. Rachel and I leave Oregon on Friday morning with Molly, driving across the country to Minnesota, dropping Molly off in West St. Paul, then continuing on to Madison, WI (to see Drew's best friend Jack) Chicago (to see Ruth, Steve and some friends from college and beyond), Memphis (to see my old boss), Ohio (to see a dear friend and former colleague at the Oregonian), then Roanoke (to see one of my former reporters on the Daily Northwestern), then HOME to Arlington, VA. Can't believe it's finally here.

I've been immersing myself in the chaos of last-minute packing, getting rid of all our food (and, geez, do we have a lot of Tupperware! I am NEVER buying any Tupperware AGAIN), finishing up some projects at work so I can drive unimpeded -- i.e., without checking emails or phone messages -- racing around Portland to eat dinner and lunch with all the friends we can possibly squeeze in, getting the house in shape for the movers to just pick everything up and go, getting my car looked over to see that it's drivable (yes), returning the Comcast cable box, getting my car cleaned so we won't start our drive with gunk all over the seats and floors, etc. etc. All of this craziness is probably a coping method for me to put off having to process leaving a place I've called home for the last 15+ years, a place I hated at first but now have grown to love, a place where I saw my greatest career successes and failures, a place where I really became a grown-up -- bought a house, sold a house, had a child, acquired a circle of friends from different parts of my life (singing, OAJC, chavurah, synagogue, Willamette, Oregonian) -- a place I never thought we'd leave. I'm not sad enough to cry (yet, if ever), it just amazes me that within two months this spring, I was all of sudden ready to go. And now, we're going.

***

"I actually LIKE getting owies," Rachel said, examining her banged-up legs this morning. "That shows that I've been having fun!"

***

"Beauty is not more important than health," Rachel said as she was washing and brushing after breakfast.
"What makes you say that?" I said, astonished, since it came out of the blue.
"Because it's TRUE," she replied calmly.

It amazes me what a good head she has on her shoulders.