The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful...

The Good: The Turners remain happy and healthy, albeit occasionally stressed, largely because of what you'll read in the "The Bad" portion below. Olivia is going to school, learning her letters, sight-words, and all the appropriate cheers for the school's pep rallies. Go Panthers! She's also found her "fast feet," on which she wears her "fast shoes," for which she'll insist we engage in a race, and during which she always wins. Eli is chock full of energy, and, though Halloween is over, insists he is still Iron Man...which he is, but we don't want it going to his head. He's also a frighteningly good dancer...I say it's frightening because I have no idea where he acquired his rhythm. Alise is a beautiful little girl, and so small. She really is the smallest of the Turner babies. Julie swears that Alise has two dimples when she smiles big and wide, but Alise hasn't shown me those dimples yet. I think perhaps if I were her food supply, I would get more smiles. Julie remains an amazing mother...I'm astounded by her abilities, Ney! her capabilities...she is wonderfully capable. Once Julie mends entirely, and is able to pick the kids up for such games as "Airplane," "Iron Man," "Spider Pig," and "Mountain Climbing," then I will almost certainly become obsolete, which is why I'm desperately trying to clean up my act and corner something in the child-rearing market.

The Bad: My Employer. Let me be vague, but to the point. I'm not yet 40, the age at which men are advised to see a doctor only so that doctor can don a latex glove and suggest that "you'll feel a slight pressure" just before checking for an enlarged prostate. Well, recently, I'm almost positive I heard my employer suggest "you'll only feel a slight pressure," but it wasn't checking for an enlarged prostate. I was assigned to a position that really wasn't available yet, but wasn't told that. I was told to pack up our life and ship it to India. We rented our home. Two days prior to my departure, I was told the truth of the situation, a situation that hasn't resolved. While we wait for resolution, I've been told that while I did everything correctly, and while someone dropped a serious ball, the problems associated with the situation, the real problems (i.e., financial, logistical, etc.), are my own, and my employer seems to be backing away from the problems, like an arsonist slowly backs away from the fire they just set, as the crowd gathers to watch.

The Beautiful: While we wait for this situation to resolve, I remain in the D.C. area, between trips to Abilene. Today, after voting, I drove past my house, through my neighborhood, had breakfast at Bagel City, and shopped at Target. Julie and I have talked about how much we already miss our "old life," the routine, the habit, the usual beauty of it all. For those curious, now as one looking back, there is something amazing about that routine and daily life, the routine and daily life that Julie and I often took for granted, that we probably all take for granted. It's only been two months really, but that's been long enough. This delay, this situation, this problem we've encountered with my assignment has caused me some pause, made me reflect on my choices, our choices for the family. We want to travel to India, still want to travel to India for the adventure, for the experiences, for the beauty and ugliness that our children should see, must see. Maybe, perhaps, the adventure and experiences we're looking for don't depend on where we live, but how we live.