Arriving

September 3-5.

Well, we made it.  We stopped in to Thomas' new place of work to look around and of course, to snap a pic.

We had one visit with old friends from long ago who live southwest of Austin (Thomas' work is northwest) for the afternoon and evening, a great time of catching up and asking tons of questions about the Austin area.  We spent Labor Day Monday driving around peeking at various apartment complexes, not able to go in because it was the holiday weekend and the offices were all closed.  The rest of the day flew by, and then early in the Tuesday darkness Thomas drove us to the airport.

 I hope Thomas can learn the crazy Austin road system!!

Fernando had enough hotel points to put Thomas up for the week, and then he was on his own.  We had to trust that the Lord already knew the plan, because we sure didn't.  A way-too-short goodbye at the airport, and Fernando and I had breakfast together then had to go to our separate gates--Fernando to fly back to Rhode Island to continue training at Y., and I back to Chicago and home.

Goodbye, Fernando.  <3

Just drop off your son in a strange city and take off.  Only the Lord knew what would happen after we left.  And we had to leave; life goes on and I have to take the next step, onto my plane and home to reality and uncertainty.  Each of us was in the Lord's hands.


Back to life,
Christine

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Onward to the New

September 2.

The day after graduation, Fernando, Thomas, and I drove over to Thomas' apartment to finish packing up his stuff, do some last-minute cleaning, and get moving on to Thomas' destination.

After packing most everything, we met up with an old Navy buddy of Fernando's, and went out to eat, us two couples and Thomas.

Then it was back to the apartment, finish up, and take off.

 Goodbye, Orlando!

Typical scene as we drove north then west through the Florida panhandle.

Driving west along the Gulf through Louisiana.

Time to gas up and clean off the bugs.

Up and over the bridge, then more driving along the Gulf...

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey a week earlier, much of the low-lying areas looked like this...

More aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Finally, we drove into Texas!

There's a reason the houses down here are built on stilts.

Pumps were pushing out the floodwaters from the oil refineries and other areas.

On and on, and finally into the setting Texas sun, we drove what seemed like forever.  The sunset was beautiful, even through the front windshield of Thomas' car.

Late that night, we reached a new place, a place of beginning for Thomas.  A place of hello and goodbye, a place of promise and hope, and newness.



Back to life,
Christine

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Orlando, Thomas, BMW, and Graduation

August 31.

My turn to fly again, down to sunny, hot Orlando.

It was Thomas' turn to pick me up from the airport, and drive me to my hotel!  I couldn't believe he had been down there for four months, and that graduation was the next day.

After we dumped my suitcase at the hotel, we seriously needed dinner.  Thomas asked me if I'd like Puerto Rican food, because he knew this food truck (one of his instructors is Puerto Rican, and turned on half the class to his native food!).  I said sure, and he said it was a 45-minute drive.  I said, "I don't care; let's go!"

It was amazing, and so much food for the price.  They didn't speak English, but Thomas was a seasoned pro at this food truck so he ordered tripletas for us.  Yum!

Our view from the parking lot where the food truck was located.

Friday, September 1.

Thomas stayed the night in the hotel with me, and then we got ready and headed to UTI Orlando for his graduation ceremony.

Thomas, Eddie, and Juan.

1986 BMW, on display for Class #FL86. 

Thomas and Micah.

 Proud, happy mama!

Micah grabbed several of us, and we headed out for celebration drinks.  No food, since they catered a huge meal for us after the ceremony!

We celebrated a little too much, but we managed to make it back to the hotel.  Both of us took a nap--does three hours qualify as a nap??  I woke up, and realized we needed to head to the airport to pick up Fernando!  Which we did, then spent the evening talking before going to bed and getting ready to help Thomas pack up and move out of his apartment.


Back to life,
Christine

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End of August

After coming home from Rhode Island, the next two weeks have passed pretty quickly.  I've been working my retail job, even with pain in my Achilles tendons--especially by the end of the day.  Jake continues to make messes in my kitchen...

...the end-of-summer spiders created their masterpieces around the outside of our house...

...and then Thomas called me.  (I'm blogging this way after the fact, since we kept the following information under wraps until events actually happened.)

"Hey, Mom, you know I was hoping to find a job at a BMW dealership in Florida, right?"
"Yes..."
"Well, what do you think about Texas?"
(Um, wow.  And where is this going?)
So I let go.  "Thomas, I want you to go where God leads you.  If that's Texas, and you go there, I'll be happy that you're following the Lord."
"Okay."
"Where in Texas?"
"Austin."

So there it was. BMW of Austin would fly him in to visit the dealership, give him a tour, and interview him.  As the weekend approached, my ears perked up at the mention of Hurricane Harvey.  Hmm.  I Googled it, then widened my eyes, took a screen shot of the map of its patch, then texted Thomas...

"You're flying in to Austin tomorrow, right?"
"Yep, in the morning."
"What about the hurricane?"
"What hurricane??"

I texted him this:

So, he flew in that Friday morning, August 25, and Harvey moved in that afternoon.  Thomas spent the entire weekend either at the dealership or in his hotel, with torrential rains.  I think he said they got 17-19 inches overall! 

 Danny chatting with Thomas (in Austin) on the house phone.  Yes, a corded phone.

Thomas flew back to Orlando on Monday to finish up the last week of the BMW STEP training program.  I took the long Labor Day weekend off so I could fly down for his graduation--more money spent.  Y. company was going to fly Fernando home that same weekend, for his one weekend home per month, so they worked together to fly him down to Orlando instead of Chicago.  Now that our weekend was planned, I finished harvesting some things in the garden, mostly carrots.  I fermented them with some of the rosemary I grew.  Yum!

Tomorrow, next stop:  Orlando!  And Thomas!!


Back to life,
Christine

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Home Times Two

Friday, June 30.

Fernando's birthday, and the day he came home!  His plane was scheduled to arrive later at night, so he missed going with our good friends C and C, plus M and T, and a bunch of kids, to a White Sox game.  We met at C's and C's home, piled into their 15-passenger van, and headed into the city.

Chris brought his tablet, since he loves to track airline traffic.  He asked what flight Fernando was one, and once I told him, he let us all know when Fernando would be flying by.  It was during the National Anthem, so I snuck a photo with my phone as his plan flew by in the distance!

I brought my camera for a few fun shots of the game.

After a great fireworks show at the end of the game, we made our way back to C's and C's home, and I drove home from there, twenty minutes to greeting Fernando and starting the weekend together.

I was telling Fernando about a song he needed to hear, and rooted through my purse to try to find my phone.  I turned around, and THOMAS WAS STANDING THERE!  I screamed, hugged, cried, hugged again.  He told no one he was flying home for the weekend!  Fernando had arrived home, then noticed a car pulling into our driveway.  He looked out, and Thomas got out of the Uber driver's car and came walking up!  They all waited for me to get home to complete the surprise!

The next day, I had to go to work (this is getting old fast, now that Fernando is home only for a few days!), so Fernando snapped a pic of Thomas and me together.

The weekend flew by, we brought Thomas to O'Hare Airport to fly back to Orlando, I worked some more, and then drove Fernando to Midway Airport to fly back to Rhode Island.  Too short, but packed full of together.  Thank You, Lord!


Back to life,
Christine

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