Friends...

I've mentioned it before, but we really do miss our friends from our old neighborhood.  It was nice for the kids to play with the neighbors and to meet at the park.  It was easy to set up meetings at the community center, at someone's house, or to go for a walk or bike ride.  Since July the kids have not had such close connections with neighborhood friends.

However for the past couple of weeks Brother has been very fortunate to have met a friend and they are two peas in a pod!  I'm not sure who will be more sad, he or I, when the family leaves on Thursday.  The reason I say that is that Brother has a unique personality and interests.  He has never had a best friend or someone that is into the same things as him.  He is eccentric and likes retro video games, he reads a lot - in short, he is a geek like his parents.  For the past couple of weeks I have seen him connect with another boy on that level and it makes me so happy to see them riding bikes, talking, drawing, computing, gaming and otherwise playing.  I've seen him interact with many kids and he enjoys playing with lots of friends, but he has never been on the same wavelength as he is with this little 10-year-old guy.  They are inseparable, they have not fought, they are polite to each other, they invite each other over for dinner each night....it's seriously too cute.  I am sure Brother is going to go through withdrawal without him around.  Also, the little boy is so nice, so well-rounded, polite, and makes great conversation at the dinner table with his travel stories.  I am going to miss him!

Over the weekend both families got together and had dinner - their family has been on the road for 15 months and they have been to every state except Alaska!  They have been to many of the National Parks and monuments and have many stories about their adventures.  It has been so awesome to get to know them a bit and to hear about their travels.  One day I hope to have that sort of experience under our belt!  It makes me so anxious to be on the road!  They shared some of their trials and tribulations of their trailer - which also was comforting - knowing that their family was able to deal with whatever came their way gave me confidence that we will be able to as well.  One big difference between us and them is that her employment is fully online - her husband, like Husband, is retired!  Now, if I can transition to fully online....