365 #32 - I'm Home!

Sunday, February 5

I'm thankful to work for a company I can trust.

Today, we woke up at 3:45.  Christian had asked to be woken up so he could say goodbye, so I did that.  We were out the door at 4:05.  By 4:35, Katrina was driving away.  That's our minivan at PDX at the very far end of the picture.  You probably can't even tell.  But it is.

I got a couple carrot-zucchini muffins and a large hot chocolate for breakfast and sat down at my gate.  Everything worked like clockwork - on time departure, lovely sunrise over Montana, I think.  Somewhere where there are mountains.  The clouds covered the valleys, ephemeral silt on the rivers.

I had a quick layover at O'Hare - out of the plane at 12:20, my next flight leaving at 1.  I looked around for signage.  Nowhere to be found in the C concourse from where I was standing, and no time to mess around.  So I fired up my Traveler app. I tell it my flight number, it tells me flight status and my gate.  Unquestioning, I followed its directions.  First class was boarding.  30 seconds later, Premiers boarded, and I was on the jetway.  No time for a potty break, not for this guy.

We came in to LaGuardia from the South - I think I saw Atlantic City and Cape Cod on the way.  When we landed, the enormity of what we were in the midst of hit me.  This is my home airport.  I'm home, driving through New York City.  My bags had made the short connection, I got all of them (1 carryon rollerboard, a full backpack and 2 checked bags) and hopped on the rental car shuttle.  The car was reserved, as expected, no problems.  Since Katrina and I had done the drive a few weeks ago, I had no problems getting out of the city and following I-87 North.  I took exit 9 and stopped for a few minutes in Sleepy Hollow.  Yep, it's an actual town.  The full moon was shining on Sleepy Hollow Middle School at twilight.

The village happens to be about an hour South of where we'll likely live, right on Rt 9.  I will post the pictures once I can figure out how to get them off the stinking camera I had to use to take them.  This is not a normal problem for me, so it's driving me crazy.

The whole time, I was in a little bit of shock.  We're moving here.  This is home.  I can come down on Saturday and explore Sleepy Hollow.  I don't know many roads, I know the names of 6 people in Dutchess County.  I have met exactly none of them twice.  But I trust that this is the right thing for us.  It was certainly not a decision lightly made, nor has it been easy to execute.  We're operating on faith - not "go move to the moon, it'll be great there!" faith.  But I've had to trust that the new company is going to be good for us.  Trust that we'll be able to adapt.  Trust that we'll sell our home in Beaverton quickly, that I'll be able to perform at work as I (and they) expect I can.

At any rate, the hotel is fine.  I unpacked, got dinner at A&W (I can't handle the root beer any more - too sweet), watched the Super Bowl (Go Giants!  My new home town team!), and generally got settled.  Tomorrow I start work and in the evening go see the room I want to rent in Poughkeepsie.