Update from Last Weekend in CA

First, thank you for all your prayers!  I think that they saved the plane that I took into Phoenix, which was by far the bumpiest ride I have ever had.  I would've easily flown out of my seat had I not had my seatbelt on.  You know it’s bad when you can see everyone swaying back and forth in unison and even the flight attendants are completely still and silent.  We arrived safely though, and when I got to CA around 9:00pm, Ryan and Vanessa Duckworth took me to the apartment where we started moving my 55 gal. fish tank to one of the conference rooms at Church.  Greg Hernandez came with his truck to help.  The fish were happily in their new home when we left the church at 2:00am.  The police officer that was watching from across the street seemed happy that we were done, although I don't think he ever figured out what we were doing.

The next morning I went to church and afterwards we went to the Apt. to move.  Everything went pretty fast and no one would let me lift anything, so it was about the easiest move I've ever done.  On Monday Ryan, Vanessa and I wrapped up a few loose ends with the move, I went to the post office to change our address, and then I went to Gage to try to get things ready for the year.  A few other teachers came by and helped me and I showed them things to show the sub.  I also got a chance to talk to the administrators at Gage about missing first trimester and they were very supportive of me.  The principal told me that as far as he was concerned, I could miss the whole year and he'd "hold my spot" for me, even though we both know that that isn't realistic.  There are still some things to work out, though, so pray that things go smoothly with the district.  I don't think that there's any way I could be that effective of a teacher with Kari here anyways.

It was very nice to be able to see everybody.  I was able to hang out with some friends in Riverside as well as people from Redlands.  I even got to see some of my former students :-) (Janie, Danny, Miranda, Amy and "K" tell everybody I miss them.)  Still though, I'd say the whole experience was surreal.  This was the longest I have been away from Kari since the accident, and seeing everybody made me all the more homesick for sunny So Cal.

I am happy to report though, that I was able to get done most everything I needed to do. I want to thank everyone that helped with the move and getting set up at school. There were 28 people that came over to the apartment Sunday afternoon. Most of them were from the church, but the crew also included two of my former students and a parent from Gage, two other teachers from Riverside and their husbands, and two couples from APU with whom we are friends.  Many people spent countless hours beforehand packing up the apartment too, so when I got there, most everything was in boxes.  Especially, though, Ryan and Vanessa made the whole weekend possible.  From finding a great place for storage to giving me a place to stay, taking me to and from the airport, and running a few errands that I didn't have time to do, they pretty much worked as much or more than I did!  They even sorted through the stuff we took to Kari's office and organized all the food from our kitchen to give away.  I feel very blessed to have the support that I have had.

Hope to CU all soon.

Aaron.