Taking a vacation from our sabbatical

Yes, you read it correctly. We've decided we're in much need of a vacation from our sabbatical. As of Saturday, we'll have been on the road for six months, having visited eight different countries. We moved out of our place on Thursday, August 7, and left for Vancouver, B.C., the next day to visit friends before heading to Pender Island to spend a week with Nana and Papa. Then down to southern California to visit more family and friends before heading to Ireland. And the rest you've already read about on the blog.

So, rather than go to Sicily and the Amalfi Coast, we've decided to head home for a little over three weeks. We miss our family and friends back home and need some quality time with all of you before we continue on our journey to Uganda. Besides, especially since we'll be changing climates, there is a TON of stuff I'd love to unload, like my now-ruined, beloved REI jacket (thanks to the totally bizarre clothing dryer in our Rome apartment...argh, maybe I didn't want a clothes dryer after all), all of our cold-weather clothing, Jonah's clothes that no longer fit him, tattered guidebooks from the last few countries of our journey, and little souvenirs I've collected for our scrapbook along the way (e.g., entrance tickets to this castle and that museum, train tickets to this or that destination). It's also time to restock my bag with organic personal care products, since I KNOW I won't find a store carrying such things in Uganda. And Jonah needs warm-weather clothing that fits him.

So, you see, there are many reasons to head home. Yes, Sicily and the Amalfi Coast sound wonderful, but after six months and eight countries, sitting on the couch in either my mom's or Nana and Papa's house with a bean and cheese burrito (no sauce, no onions, extra cheese) and a glass of organic lemonade (these are the food items I crave at present), while my clothes dry in a not-so-bizarre dryer after having been washed with biodegradable detergent, with someone else following Jonah around sounds quite lovely. It is true that: (1) I am indeed an eco-snob bordering on eco-freak, so be it, you already knew that, and (2) I am a mother who very much appreciates the "it takes a village" concept of parenting. Go Hillary.

I'll post one more blog entry before we head home. We really are enjoying Rome, and there's much to say about our time here already. Rome is a beautiful city; it's a little Barcelona, a little Florence, but it suffers from a dearth of playgrounds. No playgrounds. This is another reason we're coming home. Our little Jonah longs for a good playground, and I know where I can find those in California without stalking local moms.

People, the details of our return include: arriving at LAX on Saturday, February 14; staying in southern California for a week or so; heading to the Bay Area for about ten days; and heading back to SoCal before leaving for London on March 11. Then it's a few days in London before making our way to Uganda. That's the plan. Let it sink in. We're coming home.