Le Commencement

The Beginning. The word is used as the name of the ceremony when we graduate high school or from college. Not to celebrate the end of four years, but rather to celebrate the beginning of a great new adventure, or phase in life. And that is where we are now, commencement.

Dave and I decided that it was time for another adventure. It had been 3 years since we returned home from our year in England, so the natives were getting restless. And when I say natives I only mean Dave and me, of course, since the little natives would have been more than happy to stay home in Arizona and swim in the pool all summer. But when Dave gets an idea in his head, it's hard to stop the train.

So here we are now in Nantes, France for a few more weeks until we depart for Mougins, in the south of France until July 2008. The kids enroll in the local elementary school on August 28th.

I haven't wondered at all if this was a good idea or not. We always knew we would be here when the time was right. I'm just really glad it was sooner rather than later, because the commencement of something new is one of the best parts of life.