GTT (Gone to Texas)

Well, the four week contract is up, and it's time to head home to Texas.  I had pinned up a few photos of our travels and family so as to make things feel like home.  Those need to come down.

Souveniers carefully selected for the kids and grandkids needed to be carefully packed away.  We probably spent more money than we should have, but we would probably never get a chance to come back, so it was now or never.  We needed a whole new suitcase just to get them all home!

You can tell by the snow-white knees that we simply weren't here long enough! (And why I likened us to Alaska's Beluga whales!)

We knew that whatever we bought on the island might have to be left behind.  About the only thing I couldn't fit into the suitcases were the straw mats we'd bought for laying on the beach.  These are amazing things.  Sand sticks to a towel like glue; it shakes off these mats as though they were made of teflon.  They cost less than $2 each, so it's not like we're losing a lot of anything but memories.

Remember, the air conditioner stays, and our traveler company will work something out with the apartment owners.

John was given a good-bye party at the hospital with a catered meal, presents and everything.  (You just thought I was bragging on him 'cause he's my husband!  No, really, co-workers like his get-to-it attitude when he comes in in the mornings, and supervisors like his don't-make-waves attitude.  He knows he's there just to help them through a rough patch of choosing a permanent worker.)

Momma always said, "Leave a place cleaner than when you got there and you'll always be invited back."  I scrubbed and mopped long and hard, just to be sure we would maybe possibly be invited back someday. 

Aloha, Kauai!  You are an amazing place!