From Carolina to Dakota

So, you might have noticed the lack of blogging. I missed the anniversary of Kings Mountain (October 7), which I was feeling particularly angsty about since that was smack in the middle of the government shutdown, and with the site maintained under the national park system, they couldn’t even hold the usual commemorative events.

I also haven’t blogged about this year’s ACFW conference, because, well ... I came home to news that rather blew away most of my conference thoughts by its significance.

After 22 years of living in the Charleston area—and more than 25 years in the South, overall—my husband was offered a job in North Dakota.

That’s ...

NORTH.

DAKOTA.

And we’re currently barreling down on November. Can you feel your blood turning to ice just at the thought?

Mind you, my husband and I grew up in the Midwest—plenty of cold and snow. In fact, I learned to drive in snow, but years of mild weather has thinned my blood and changed my driving skills a bit. These days I’m better at crazy downtown and rush-hour traffic than all the nuances of ice and snow (... wet? dry? fresh? packed? powder? ice under snow, or above? black ice?).

Not to mention, all our kids were born in the South, and will have to be educated on dressing properly. There was the time my oldest daughter nearly had frostbite because she didn’t know to wear socks inside her rubber boots when tramping around in the snow and cold, helping my stepdad with chores, on a trip back to Missouri for Christmas ...

And speaking of kids, the three older ones will be staying behind:  the two older boys in college, our oldest daughter married and settled here. We’ve all been a little in shock about that. As my oldest put it, one expects to grow up and leave the nest, not that the nest will uproot and leave you!

Needless to say, we’re all in for an adventure. I’ll do my best to bring y’all along, as I can ... :-)