the new normal...

Things have been a little quiet here as we've settled in to Minneapolis.  Tim's got a class for work starting today and going through Thursday, and so I'm cooling my jets, re-exploring the city that we just left a few months ago.  It feels a bit strange to be here - it was only two months ago that we drove out of here, on our way to California.  Actually let me amend that, it feels really strange.  We drove past the house, just to check in, and instead of feeling sadly nostalgic, it just felt like we were driving home.  The weather here is in full spring-time mode - trees are starting to blossom, temperatures are edging up, and the Twins even had their season opener in the new stadium yesterday.  This is the seductive time of year in Minnesota.

But it feels really good to be here, having such a great time on this trip, and simultaneously looking forward to being back home.  By all accounts, the California crew is having a great time without us.  One contingent is taking spring break in Yosemite, and the rest of the crew is hanging out in Davis, and eating some fantastic food as always, I'm sure.  Paul and Nikki are taking great care of Hogan - I'm not sure that she'll want to leave all the fun when we get back.  Who knew that we could be having as much fun as we are, and still be missing home, too?

I'm still trying to adjust to what life will be like as aircraft owners.  On Saturday when I dropped Tim off at the airport, I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be awhile before I saw him again.  He told me that he thought he'd be there two hours.  I called him four hours later, and he told me he'd be ready in another hour.  I showed up about an hour and a half later, and we left another hour after that.  But like he said in his post, we were both so happy that'd we'd have been purring if we were cats.  He had grease all over his hands and arms, parts and pieces of the airplane all over the hangar, and a huge grin on his face.  I felt completely content from a day of reading and writing at the library.  This is our new normal.

On Sunday I found myself thinking about that a lot.  What exactly will our new normal look like?  We've had a lot of changes since we were here last, and I don't think that we have a full grasp on what they all mean.

But I'm sure looking forward to figuring it all out!



More photos are here.