Heading Home - For a Bit

I started planning this trip to Ireland a year ago in the spring of 2023 and announced it to the backpacking group I'm in last August. Along the way I made a very firm promise that I would meet anyone who decided to join me. Some accepted the offer and booked flights.

That was all before my life went crazy. Since the beginning of this year:

- I got married. Sherry and I have been dating for a while but marriage wasn't in the plans when I announced this trip;

- My new wife decided to retire early, a decision I heartily agreed with. She is a math teacher at a mental health facility. Most of the children were victims of some kind of abuse and are susceptible to self-harm. Last December they informed everyone they would now be housing juvenile delinquents, too. These are not kids who were caught after curfew with a joint. They are violent criminals. There have already been attacks on the staff and attempted murders. Sherry was going to retire this coming December but has moved it up to the end of this month;

- As a consequence of this I now have someone moving into my house. It looks like a warehouse and that is after we already gave away a lot of furniture;

- I started a major remodeling project on my house. I have been thinking about this since I bought the house twelve years ago. The area being worked on has been slowly decaying amdwas becoming unusable. I decided over the fall that it was something I had to do and construction started right after New Year's. It was estimated to take two months and I planned on three. We're now closing in on five. This was really supposed to have been done before I left.

There was so much going on that I considered changing my plans or even canceling. But, there was a big problem with that - I had made that firm promise to my backpacking group and people were holding me to it. At the same time, I had just married someone and made a very firm promise to her, too. You could go round and round on this one, and I did. After a lot of thought and talking it over with Sherry, I decided to stick to the plan and left as scheduled.

Things have gone well here and Sherry was managing at home. But, I kept thinking that I was suppose to be there. We're a team now, and I ran off to have fun while she carried the load.

The last of the people joining me finished the other day and I was done with that commitment. I was thinking of going home and surprising Sherry but couldn't quite pull the trigger on the idea. She is coming to Dublin in mid-June and we are spending a couple months together traveling Europe (also not in the plans last fall). Going home early would gum things up. Then, Sherry told me she had a dream I came home early and surprised her. That was enough.

Shannon had done the homework about getting from the Dingle Way to Dublin. I only needed to piggyback on her work. Working at home, Sherry booked me a flight home and was even able to get me on her flight to Dublin. The fares were good and when considering the savings of me not being over here, was pretty close to a wash.

So, here I am - on a train back to Dublin to catch a flight home tomorrow. But, the adventure isn't over. Sherry and I will be back in about three weeks.