Oh the Places You'll Go

I mus admit I've never read the Dr. Seuss book with this title in its entirety.  I know it's often gifted to high school and college graduates because it's supposed to be a great metaphor for starting out in life.  A variety of conversations in our household recently have dealt more literally with the idea.


My daughter Amy will be headed to Cincinnati again this week for a couple days with her boyfriend, including a concert and a Reds game.  This will be her third trip in two months, plus he's made two trips up here.  He'll be up again at the end of the month, when they're also taking a quick trip to Niagara Falls.  They're working very hard at this long distance relationship (and racking up the miles).  


We're also trying to decide on where and when to take a vacation this summer.  We're leaning toward a cruise to the Bahamas in August.  We've never cruised before but finally have passports and are ready to take the plunge.  It will be our end of summer, right before she goes back to school trip.  Kind of weird how similar that is to when she was a little girl.


But she's all grown up now, and she's making lots of decisions about her future.  She started a new job recently, is considering career paths, and is thinking about what classes to take in the fall.  On top of the whole boyfriend-in-another-city-who-she-wishes-was-closer-and-thinks-is-really-the-one situation.  It's good to see her excited and happy about starting school.  She only took one semester off, but she's ready to head back and move further along the path to her degree.


I must admit it's a new experience to have an adult daughter living at home but living her own life.  I'm so glad we get along and have a terrific relationship.  We truly enjoy spending time together, but also like our privacy and alone time.  We're figuring out how to balance it all, and the basement apartment for her definitely helps (which hopefully will be finished soon - more for her sake than mine).


Oh, I almost forgot...we're also talking about another trip to Guatemala...maybe next winter or spring...our hearts are forever tied to the Peten and seeing our friends Tim & Doris before Memorial Day just reinforced that.  We spent a week there this past Christmas and it was truly the best holiday I've ever had.  I can't wait to go back, to see more of the country, see God at work through Hospital Shalom, and get first-hand updates on people we met on our first trip.  I never would have thought missionary work was for me, but I can definitely see why  people are so drawn to it.


I'm on my own for a couple days since Amy left this morning.  Time to dream about the places I'll go...