Newest on the home front
So, tomorrow Susan and I leave the Las Vegas vicinity, [RV news]heading toward Tombstone (we expect it to take at least two days, possibly three). Tombstone apparently is about to get a cold front, but past the first few days once we arrive, the low temps begin to climb, so that for the remainder of January and almost all of February (we may stay that long), we should have lows of 40° or above.
No firm decision has been made yet, but I’m inclined to pay off our RV completely with the back-pension I just received from the Army, and Susan has no objection. That will still leave us with a third of the advance amount, and reduce our expenses by $600 a month. (I was adding extra to the monthly payments to reduce the balance more quickly.) Then, when the time comes that we’re ready to give up the RV life, we can just put the rig for sale on consignment with some big dealer, and proceed without having to hang around. And that may happen relatively soon, because …
[Family news]Late last year - the day after Election Day, in fact - our son in China told us his wife is pregnant for a second time, with an expected delivery date in July. We waited to make any announcement (and prayed a Rosary for them every single day since then) because Mei-li is at an age where complications in pregnancy begin to be more likely. She’s already done a successful delivery before, though, and she’s safely into the second trimester. If the schedule holds, our so-far-only grandchild, Amber, will turn 10 less than a month after the new baby is born; with that much separation, it will almost be as if they’re two only children (as in, by the time the new baby is ready to start school, Amber will be comfortably into her teens).
[Travel news]Susan asked Mei-li if it would help for us to be there to offer support; Mei-li answered that she thought she’d feel less stress if we waited till a few months after the birth. Consequently, we still have the remainder of winter, spring, and into autumn before we’ll be heading back to China to see them again. By that time, permanent relocation overseas may be in the cards; we’ve had it as a background wish for several years already, and we’re certainly in a position now to make it work.
Things change, and not all changes are good. For us, though? lately? It’s pretty much all been good.