"Tell me, Muse, of the Man of Many Ways"

I have decided that we are Odysseus. And this realization began with bitterness, but has brought great inspiration the more I've dwelt on it. 

To explain... Many of you readers will be "in" on this, but in mid-July, Jon interviewed on campus for job at the University of Rochester. This job, folks... was everything. It felt like it would have been a dream come true for him to get it, since it combined a good fit with Jon's education with locationlocationlocation. Do you know that I've been wanting to get back to Rochester since I left it in 2000? It sometimes feels like my Ithaca.

I used to think maybe Ithaca was my Ithaca, but I've changed my mind. Anyway. We recently learned that Jon did not get the job in Rochester, we will not be moving there, and we are blown back into our Odyssey after the closest brush with Ithaca we've had. It was a blow. 

I am happy to say that we feel we have come out on top of our ship. The epic pirate journey continues, and we are up to some very good stuff here in the Land of the Lotus-Eaters.

Ok, that comparison is not altogether a good one. I must be allowed a little bit of dark humor. 

Last Saturday we had social campfire #3 with our friends Kelly and Terry & their son, Kam, Adele's best mate from daycare. According to them, they've been married since last winter. They're still as giddy as newlyweds, however!

Adele is having a big week. Today, she started preschool! She started at the same school that Miles attended, and, to our utter delight, has the same teacher Miles had. I definitely welled up when I got that letter.

Miss Pam is such a tender, joyful, gentle soul. 

When we lived on Lee Street, before Adele was born, I used to walk past this preschool almost every day and think, what a perfect, idyllic little kid world that place is. How lovely if Miles could go there...

And he did go there, for two years, and a sister I couldn't have dreamed up if I'd tried came along and goes there too, and it feels like a strange fulfillment. These little moments I've been having since we moved into the Pirate House are doing everything to help me feel like God is still for us.

She's excited about preschool and about seeing brother again in equal measure. 

First day picture! Here she goes!

Meanwhile, I continue in my rather grueling work schedule. Little moments lighten it, like this selfie-fest Miles and I had at the dance studio. There were more than just these two...

He often does his homework during Adele's dance lesson. He has homework EVERY DAY now. First grade is not what it was, folks. Here was one from last week: 

Family Rules. I can respect this constitution!

Here's my game face for my very full day at work today. I get knocked down, but I get up again. 

Thinking about our Odyssey and what the intense enjoyment of Blacksburg means to it all, I am reminded of a beloved poem by Constantine Cavafy, "Ithaka."

I think he's right about journeys and destinations. They don't always mean what we think they mean. 

...Keep Ithaka always in your mind. 

Arriving there is what you are destined for. 

But do not hurry the journey at all. 

Better if it lasts for years, 

so you are old by the time you reach the island, 

wealthy with all you have gained on the way, 

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. 

Without her you would not have set out. 

She has nothing left to give you now. 

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you. 

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, 

you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

I may not yet understand the meaning of Ithaka. So, here's to finding out. Sail on!