Magic 8 Ball Says. . . ; or, So it Goes

This week has been all about paperwork.

I filled out paperwork for the house we recently vacated as well as for the new house.

I spent a loooong time filling out the NINE page document to sign each kid up for soccer. Recreational soccer. Seriously, y'all. . . nine pages each, for recreational soccer.

Then I spent hours getting all the paperwork signed and passed around base so my parents can come visit for Spring Break. I am so excited to have visitors! And in our new house!

The most time has been spent on the paperwork for the transfer round. I am staying optimistic, I am future focused, I am staying the course. This will happen! (Okay, this may not happen, but keeping with my optimistic theme of the day, THIS WILL HAPPEN!).

I have so much to be thankful for right now. I have finally connected with my pal Nicole's mom, and twice in a month we have talked. It's always a treat to talk to someone so upbeat who has been in the DoDDS system (and as an English teacher). I reconnected with some girlfriends I haven't seen in a while and met up with them for dinner this week. I got to see my beloved former neighbor (we had a trail of lights between our houses so we could find each other---with a bottle of wine---for our many back porch philosophy sessions). We hung out with one of my new neighbors. I've had conversations right here in little, tiny GTMO with one person about her trip to Antarctica, and another about his humanitarian work in South Sudan. We've had friends stop by the house almost every night this week. I have had friends overseas and in the States tell me that they are praying for us during the transfer round. I never quite know what to say when people tell me that, other than "thank you." It's so flattering (and overwhelming).

And of course, I am thinking about the future so I consulted my Magic 8 Ball. As far as all the stars aligning for a great 2015-2016 school year?

It's going to be great, "without a doubt." Whether it's here or somewhere else, who knows.

Just in case the Magic 8 Ball isn't infallible, I am looking to Kurt Vonnegut for guidance. Who can go wrong with a little Vonnegut? From one of my very, very favorite books:

I am going to work on not looking back so often. Vonnegut (as usual) got it right. It is human nature. There are a lot of components to the story of how I got here (this literal geographical place as well as metaphorical place). There is a lot of work to get where I want to be (again, geographically and metaphorically). I am going to try to spend less time thinking about the "how" and "why" of my time in Cuba (the past), and focus on the "what" (the present). I still have lots to accomplish. It may take 4-5 months to finish my time here, or it may be that I will be here another school year.

Who knows? Today I can focus on today, by doing my best job of the here and now. I can also focus on what I can change down the road---thus the paperwork. So I promise---no more transfer round talks until we hear something (the antici---pation is killing me!)