Sad Day #2

Oh man, I've hit a new low in blogging. I just deleted today's entire entry. Rats. I'll do my best to recreate it, but it was good. Sigh.

Ummm....it was another sad day in the Randall car today. After hugging Kate and holding her close, I had to let her go, get in the car, and drive home. We were at Donna's house (surprise) where we spent the last couple of days. And I had promised Phil I would drive home today so we could spend the 4th together.

It was a sad, lonely trip. My only company? A mystery novel on CD. There was no giggling. No cow poker or license plate bingo. No long strings of silly jokes or goofy songs from my childhood. Just me. Tired and teary. I don't know if you all know, but Donna and Ren just moved to a new town. They're in Ida Grove, IA. It's a nice little town, but the drive is a little longer. By the time I hit Jamestown, I was so tired I thought I might drive off the road. So I parked in the shade at a rest stop, cracked the window a bit for fresh air, leaned my seat back, and closed my eyes. But there was no way sleep was going to work. I laid there, eyes squinched shut, vibrating. After a few minutes I gave up, bought another Coke, set my cruise control, and hit the road again. I did make it home -- obviously -- but I think it'll be an early night tonight.

Kate's spending this week playing with her little cousins and helping Donna and Ren get settled into their new house. Then next Monday, Donna will drive her to the Minneapolis airport and see her onto her plane. From there, Kate will head for Texas for a few days of getting to know her fellow missionaries and then they'll fly away to Africa. How cool is that???

There was a nice surprise waiting for me when I got home. Tal had called and left a message on the answering machine. She's just finishing up in Cambodia and will soon be heading for Thailand. In between, she's going to be spending a few days in Burma. She promised to try and phone again this weekend. If it works, you'll all hear more from me. Otherwise, we'll all wait together for our next update.

Promise,
b