Friday, December 20

We’ve had clouds and some rain for the last four days in a row, so when the sunshine and breeze knocked on our door this morning, we gladly said, “Come in!” The batteries are responding beautifully. The breeze is making working inside a little easier. And work inside we must, because the countdown to departure is on!

Yesterday, Aaron printed out the list of our daily activities needed to get us out the door in an organized way. Transition is one of my least favorite things about our lives here. Seems like we’re always coming or going. But we’ve learned how to navigate all of the changes a little bit better, and the master list is one of the best ways to communicate well all of the things that need to happen. With Christmas coming only a few days before we leave, we have to start the packing and sorting and cleaning now.

Today we tackled the school shelves, wiping each book with care, looking for any damage, and cleaning each shelf. With the humidity and the insects and the geckos here, books can take a hard hit really quickly unless we regularly maintain them. We want to steward our precious books well. One of the challenges to this job is not stopping to read along the way!

We’re so grateful for the Sonlight Curriculum that has led our family through the last sixteen years of homeschool. It was time to reorganize the books, so we took the time to sort and label the shelves so we can easily find what we are looking for. We also made no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies (with some of our rationed butter) to help sweeten the dusty task. Before we go, we’ll dustcover the bookshelves to allow the books to breathe while protecting them from all of the soot and ash and dust in the air.