I am home! I arrived home at about 7pm Wednesday after a whole day of travel. We left the O. house at 6:45 am for the Raleigh airport. It was rush hour by the time we got there, so it took longer than expected and we said a quick goodbye because by the time my bags were checked it was boarding time, but my flight was delayed half an hour because of storms. On the plane to Chicago I sat next to Rick Boyer, a homeschool author (The Socialization Trap, etc.), and father of fourteen(www.thelearningparent.com). That was pretty neat!
I sat in Chicago for four hours, my flight was delayed there about two hours, but that seems normal for flights nowadays. My family met me at the airport and my life has been a whirl of activity ever since. My family made the decision to move while I was gone, so our whole outlook on the future has changed. My sister has also done some traveling while I was gone, and it’s so wonderful to see how mature she is. My brothers have all grown several inches, I’m sure, and Caleb is now officially and obviously taller than me. They are all so handsome!
I am not even unpacked yet; there is so much to do. Housework, and our drive to raise donations to send packages to NE soldiers overseas needs to get going soon. We are off to a late start. Lots of other things too! Last night we went to Sioux City to hear Presidential candidates McCain and Huckabee debate. I was glad I got to hear them both speak.
As to my emotional state, which I am sure you are all yearning to hear about: I am struggling not to be disappointed and bitter towards Mrs. O. The last night I was in NC we sat down and had a talk. I from that I know that Mrs. O was not satisfied with my work, though of course she did thank me. She told me that there had been things she wanted me to do while I was there, but she didn’t tell me to do them, at least not directly, because she thought she would speak too harshly to me. For my part, I was struggling with loneliness the whole time I was there, but I didn’t feel like I could ask Mrs. O for anything, since I was there to serve. Basically, there was poor communication between Mrs. O and me. So, optimistically speaking, I am still benefiting from my time there in that I am learning what it is to be a complete servant, I need to initiate more, etc.
In closing, there was no need for any of you to worry about me getting engaged while at Ft. Bragg- in my time there I am sure I met only half a dozen soldiers, and probably even less single men than that!
The night after I got home we went to hear McCain and Huckabee speak in Sioux City. Right now, I think I favor Huckabee over any of the other candidates, but I have not done a great deal of research, and there's still a whole year left before we vote, so we'll see.
