Cold feet, Off Campus

As the move from Hot Springs to Amarillo gets closer our own little home body (Victoria) is starting to get cold feet. I realize there is a lot on her but she does not realize how she excels in these moments. It almost always appears easier to quit when obstacles seem large, but the consequences of quitting in a moment of difficulty always prove that it was not the easier path.


Only two months ago Mama and I were going through the same thing; leaving friends, leaving the familiar, leaving the “comfort” of the life we had to venture into the unknown. In many ways I am very glad we followed through. It is a lot of work. It is a good deal of loss, but very quickly I can see the gains overwhelming any of the loss. Besides, Victoria has to remember that we have her Direct TV contract here and we are not giving it back.

Chase really likes the school he is attending. The kids seem to be very willing to include him. On his first morning being dropped off, several girls moved to sit with him, introduce themselves and welcome him to the school. He expressed an interest in basketball and was immediately invited to practice. (I do not think he will make the Varsity but he will definitely play JV and he is okay with that.) Classes seem to be on par with where he is in his studies and he has done well on all but one quiz – Chemistry. He is not worried about anything except basketball.

Yesterday one of the Varsity players took him off campus to eat at Chicken Express. I think he enjoyed the food more for the freedom to go than for the actual quality of the meal. He did say it was very good food so Mama and I will have to check it out. There is a Chicken Express right next to the Starbucks, Pizza Hut and Braums just outside our back door, which is not as bad as it may sound.

Our neighborhood is quiet but very near everything we need, which in Amarillo is not a big brag. Mama was anticipating the service call form Direct TV the day before yesterday (or last yesterday as Alex Saravia calls it) and asked me if she should still go do her errands. I told her to relax. No matter where she might go in Amarillo, she is only ten, or at the most fifteen, minutes away from home.

I think my kids are going to like it – at least for the time we will be here.