The Waiting...

I once took pride in my patience... And now, it has all come down to Tom Petty mocking me-- the waiting is the hardest part.

Michele and I were told last Thursday that our Peace Corps invitations were completed and mailed to us the day before. Due to the fact that our Peace Corps rep had asked me that day to clarify our address and whether or not we could receive FedEx packages there, I became excited. Our invitations should be arriving in the mail the next day (Friday)!

The invitations are the hardest part to wait for because they hold our fate within their papery grasp. Every single aspect of the next two years of our lives depends solely on the contents of these letters -- where in Africa we're going, when we're leaving, what jobs we'll have over there, pretty much life itself -- everything depends on some random grouping of words in a FedEx package.

So today is Monday morning with no sign of any FedEx packaging. Michele and I have been braving the enormous, fanged spiders at the front door checking for some sign that anyone's passed through there with no luck. Quite possibly the spiders devoured the postman and the package, but I have a feeling that with the frequency of our peering out the front door, we would have at least seen evidence of a leg or shoe before they had a chance to eat the whole thing. (No one ever uses the hallway beyond the front door since our neighbors like to leave it open allowing dozens of eyebally spiders to take up residence there. I feel sorry for any pizza delivery guy. They're never smart enough to use the back door like everyone else.)

Maybe the package will arrive today. Or maybe, I'll pull all my hair out. It could go either way.