Call me Greece Lightning

My Dad works in construction and there was a period of my life when he was bidding on several jobs that took him out of town. This wasn't my family's favorite arrangement because it meant that Dad would go out of town for work and return home only on the weekends.

But then one summer this arrangement spelled Pinetop, Arizona. Before we kids could blink, Mom and Dad had made arrangements for an apartment/townhouse for the whole family to accompany Dad on his weekly excursions to this exotic destination. The townhouse community abutted a horse pasture and a wooded reserve.

Honestly, some of my favorite childhood memories were generated from that summer: hiking through the "Friendly Forest," purposely falling in the creek, shaving my legs for the first time, getting a horrible perm, swimming in the community pool, Rachael chewing on broccoli for 30minutes straight, feeding carrots to an ancient-looking horse. All of it happened in Pinetop, Arizona.

Then a few years later Dad submitted a bid for a job in Hawaii. I don't remember all of the details, but I have a very vivid memory of wearing a plastic lei and practicing the hula with my sisters, of Dad jumping up and down in the kitchen and shouting "Yiiii" in his enthusiasm. "Hawaii," my father said, "is just around the corner." Lightning had struck twice, I reasoned...once again Dad's work transformed before our eyes into the possibility of another fantastic summer vacation: a summer vacation with way more bragging rights than Pinetop, AZ.

But what we had mistaken for lightning, it would turn out, was merely a lot of static. The contract fell through for reasons I don't remember and the leis were relegated to our costume collection.

With this narrative as a backdrop, you can imagine my simultaneous skepticism and excitement when, a few months ago, Landon told me that his work was considering assigning him to a three-month audit in Europe. My response was more or less, "Cool. I'll act enthused when it's written in stone." Well, don't break out your chisel yet, Copernicus, but Landon has officially been assigned to Greece...Kifissia, Greece to be precise (I'm told it's just outside of Athens). With Landon in Greece for three months, I'd be foolish beyond insanity to stay here in Colorado. So Griffin and I will be traveling with him. Woot.

The upshot of it all is: If you ever wanted an excuse to visit Greece, I am happy to serve as just such an excuse. We'll be there from May 25th to the beginning of August sometime. Grab your passport, I hear Greece is lovely in the summer.

P.S. Yes I'm planning to chronicle our Greek journey on the blog. So if you can stomach touristy photos feel free to check back every so often.