Skypefeast!

I got to Skype with Matt today!!

At last, the stars aligned, and I was able to get my dad, Loretta, and Matt over to Loretta and Matt's place for a somewhat choppy Skype session. We resolved to meet around noon their time, 10 PM my time, and though it connected, it was pretty much unusable. We postponed for a couple hours, and at 2 PM their time, midnight my time, it worked considerably better. It is still not very good quality, but even video that updates once every couple of seconds is fine with me. I can also hear them just fine, but apparently my voice isn't getting through, so I resorted to typing what I wanted to say, and just listening the other way around. Not perfect, but it's a start!

I also got a headset for the XBox in the mail from my brother, and we were able to talk via XBox Live, which is really intended to set up gamers with each other to play games. It just so happens that being able to talk to each other was a valuable enough feature that it is included, and my roommate has an XBox 360 he barely uses now that he's beaten the only 2 games he brought with him.

The many faces of generosity

I walked into Loretta and Matt's new apartment this evening, and I am speechless.

It is amazing!

The apartment is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit in Glendora, where Loretta lived for 25 years before moving to Maryland last year to live with us. The complex is very lush and green, which hopefully will suit Loretta and her green thumb very well. The apartment itself is newly-renovated, with new flooring and paint. It has a large living room area, a smaller breakfast nook, and a moderate kitchen. There is also a plethora of storage space both within the apartment and near the assigned carport.

I had been dreading arriving here and getting moved into the apartment. After all, I feel like I have spent a good portion of my adult life in the process of moving: I moved at least twice per year in college, then moved three times in medical school and residency, and finally moved to El Paso last summer. In the past 12 years, I have lived in three major cities and 12 different apartments/homes. Frankly, I'm tired of moving and wasn't looking forward to the mountain of boxes and shopping lists this move would require.

When I walked into this apartment, all of my doubts and fears vanished. It was completely cleaned, unpacked, furnished, and stocked with food, linens, toiletries, pots & pans, and toys. I knew that my mom and all of her friends and co-workers had worked very hard this week to get the apartment ready, but seeing the place for myself confirmed their generosity. They thought of everything, from a small office pack (with letters, stamps, stapler, post-its, etc) to hangers in both of the bedrooms to a garlic press in the kitchen to food for all of our pets. The best part was Matt's room: she decorated it with dinosaurs of all types - stuffed dinos, dino lamps, dino puppets, dino wall hangings - and it was completely ready for him, from a collection of books, to diapers, to his name in block letters on his chest of drawers. In fact, the room was so perfect that Matt had his bath, read books, and went to sleep without a problem - which is unusual for any 13-month-old in a brand new place. The sight of his room literally took my breath away.

The generosity of everyone involved in this move has been astounding. I could never have imagined a few months ago that so many people would band together to help me, James, Matt, and Loretta in our time of need. All of your hours of toil have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. To all of those who have contributed in some big or small way to making our lives easier and happier over the past month, I truly thank you. Your thoughtful and selfless personal sacrifice will allow me to enjoy the next few weeks and create the memories with my family and friends that will sustain me during my tour in Afghanistan.