Life is suddenly better, this February. It looks like there's a chance I may be heading back overseas, though not before fall. I had started studying Arabic, then went ahead and switched to Italian- the Middle East is still a possibility, but Europe tugs at me more. And I still have a half-finished workbook from last year, so it's easy to get back into it.

Knowing there's 'a future and a hope' just makes this year so much more faceable. Like I was telling someeone the other day, I "spent two challenging, delightful, frustrating weeks in SC with the wilderness training, then two weeks here wondering how it all went wrong, and what I was going to do with my life." But now I think I can see a little further into the future, a little more of what has for me. And that revs me up, so to speak, because when I know what's coming I can prepare for it. Just the simple step of studying Italian helps, as do some recent storytelling resources.

So we'll just have to see how all this develops, but I'd be highly excited (and not very surprised) to be on the road again soon....