12 days

Most mornings for the past few months, I have walked to the alleys across the street and picked up some fresh baked bread and some banh my for breakfast for the kids before school. Inevitably, I will run into Vietnamese people getting ready to work, and this morning I saw the group of woodworkers in the alley: they start their day very early and go very late, and they were sitting around a small table on the floor drinking tea, and getting ready for the day. It struck me that they lead a simple life, work hard, and at the end of the day can feel proud of what they've done.

It is starting to hit us that we are going to be leaving Vietnam soon. As I write this we are 12 days out from leaving. Today is the kids last day of school, so they're saying goodbye to everybody. All four of the kids are sad that they're leaving, which I think is a good sign.

Last night and this morning I've been running a checklist in my mind of all the things we still need to do: pack for Thailand, get ready for Christmas, start to pack up our lives and return the States, etc.  But I also need to remember that we only have 12 days left of our Vietnam adventure, and to take time and soak up the last parts of our experience.