Last Sunday

Today was our last Sunday in Jacksonville. We went back to Westfair today to see old friends there. It was nice to say goodbye to them before we hit the road.

We also did a lot more packing. We have a lot to do yet, but I'm very pleased with where we are at now. Most of the closets are empty but for the things we want to take with us. I packed up the dishes we won't be bringing with. Most of our decorations are packed. We talked to our neighbor today and she's going to mow our lawn for us until the house sells. Our extra clothes, grill, lawn mower, and lots of odds and ends went in storage today.

I saw an Oprah episode today that got me thinking. It was on "What can you live without?" There had been an episode a few months back on the same topic right around the time we decided to move into the trailer. This time, they had a family on there totally hooked on technology. Everybody was texting on their phones, spending time on their laptops, playing video games, etc. They even texted each other in the house rather than talking face to face. It was sad, but I could see us turning into that family in another ten years or so. In the experiment, the producers took away all the tvs, cell phones, computers, video games, ipods, and other technology. The family was required to eat dinner together every night and spend time together. For the first few days they were frustrated and lost, but they ended up enjoying it so much that they did it for two weeks instead of just one. The kids really thrived having the direct attention of their parents and loved spending time with their family.

It makes me glad that we'll be living in the trailer. Sure, our kids are young and won't remember much of the actual trip. But I hope we set a precedent for focusing on time together as a family and not making new "stuff" a priority. The lasting effects are what should make a big difference for our kids.