Razor Heads, Contact Lenses, and Flexibility

The countdown is on for us to leave Topeka, KS. Before we settle into our next assignment in West Palm Beach, Florida, we will first spend 3.5 weeks hiking around in Colorado.

For me, I could just skip Colorado and go straight to Florida, but I have to pay the piper. The piper is my husband. He gave me a month of beaches in May, so I have to give him a month of mountains in September. With a good attitude. Ugh. That’s the hard part. But, in a good marriage, you make compromises. He makes a lot of them. 

I do a funny little countdown. At the beginning of the month, I change out my razor head and my contact lenses. When we left San Antonio, I knew it would be for five months before we returned, so I grabbed five sets of contact lenses and five razor heads. As the time ticks down, my supply dwindles, and I know a transition is coming.

This morning, I replaced my razor head and saw that there is only one left in my supply. September’s razor head will be the last one, and then I will refill on our two day stop in San Antonio before we head to Florida. It’s a paper chain countdown with razor heads. 

Our plans have changed significantly in the past two weeks. Originally we planned to have three weeks in San Antonio between our Colorado hiking tour (lame, boo) and our next assignment in Florida (amazing, hurray).

A tour means we are traveling, seeing a specific region, and the hubs is not working.

An assignment is when we are settled in one spot, still seeing the sights of the area, but the hubs is working a contract. 

When we requested an assignment in West Palm Beach, a mid-October start was too far out and they would not submit it to the facility. *We are supposed to start work within 45 days of the request, and we were more like 90 days away when we asked for West Palm Beach. It was kind of ridiculous to presume they would consider it, but we really wanted Florida!

And we were told, “No.”

The hubs then asked if an October 1^st start date would make a difference (75 days ahead of our anticipated arrival — still ridiculous). On a whim, they submitted our application and it was approved!

They don’t know this, but my husband is worth the wait. They will realize it when he gets there. I’m so grateful they took a leap of faith to allow him to fill their last vacancy. But, this changes our plans significantly.

Rather than having a break from the road in San Antonio for three weeks, we will move at a high speed to take care of everything that needs to be done.

• I’ll have a doctor appointment
• Ryan will have a doctor appointment
• Parker will visit the dentist
• We will clean the house
• All of our clothing will be swapped for the seasons
• We will pack for our January cruise
• Kids won’t get to see their friends
• Truck maintenance
• Only two nights of separate bedrooms (lame, boo)

The change breaks the promises we made to the kids. They really wanted to see their friends. I hate that they have to roll with unexpected changes, but they do. And they will. And it will be ok.

Life is full of unexpected changes, anyway. So this is good practice.

As I watch my personal item stock dwindle, I’m getting super excited for our future plans. This time of healing in Topeka has done exactly what I needed it to. Parker is more than ok on his own in San Antonio, and we talk a few times a day via video chat.  On that front, my mama heart is satisfied. 

Friendly conversations with other campers happen daily, which helps restore my faith in people. I took time to take a pottery class to learn a skill and connect with people. I was totally out of my element, but it was good.

I also learned that while I love to create, I’m not naturally gifted at it. It gave me confidence to try, though. So much so that I decided to go back to college online and will start that in September.

I will always be grateful to Topeka for giving me this time of rest and rejuvenation. 

One razor head and set of contact lenses to go!