Road Warriors

I left St. Louis this morning under a surprising break in the cloud cover. It was bright and cool outside as I loaded Atlas up, checked the oil and tires, and started making our way north to our new home town.

This week has been a little tough. Saying goodbyes has been more difficult than I had imagined, culminating last night in a tear-choked voicemail from my mother that just about broke my heart. There have been blessings, too, in the form of some wonderful shared meals with cherished friends and family, and even a generous IKEA gift card from coworkers.

It seems like the blessings continue, which in turn, continue to inspire me. The return of the sun and respite from the gloom and rain of the past week has done a lot to bouy the spirit.

And here's a fun one: last night I logged into Facebook to update my status to something maudlin like "Andy is ready to be done with goodbyes". However, before I could finish, my battery ran down and the laptop shut down on me. This morning, to my surprise, it read simply "Andy is ready."

For those interested, Atlas is traveling well. He's spent the greater part of the past three hours snoozing (noisly) on my lap.