shifting seasons

September marked a shift of seasons and change in schedules for Philip and me.  He returned home after training, and we settled into a new routine.  I had elected to transition to full-time private practice and dialed back from the clinical work I had been doing with students at the university as we decided that it was in our best interest to have the extra margin and bandwidth going into our last months together before Philip's trip.  It was absolutely the right move.

Philip resumed his second round of language school.  As most guys had either continued or transitioned to Dari, he was actually the last Pashtu speaker which meant that every day he had one-on-one language instruction which is great and pretty draining all at once. 

We found ourselves really appreciating the space we were in by the time we hit September.  Philip's language training took place at a building that was five minute walk from my office.  As much as we could, we attempted to coordinate lunch schedules and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather we had this year by grabbing drinks after school/work and meandering through Georgetown.  There was an awareness that lingered just below the surface of knowing we'd probably never quite have a situation where life aligned like that again.  At least not for the foreseeable future.  So we reveled in what we had as long as we had it.

Mid-month we boarded a flight to Minneapolis and met my brother, his wife, and our niece for an amazing weekend at my parents' house.  We hadn't be able to spend time together in MN during the fall since one of the first years we were married, so it was wonderful to be back for a recharge-the-batteries trip.  There was lots of laughter, card playing, delicious food, catching up with cousins, and sibling shenanigans.  And, as always, it went far too fast.