Vienna waits for you

That's one of our family's favorite Billy Joel songs. You can listen to it here.

We are in Vienna once again. Above are photos of the trust black Mercedes van that schlepped us back and forth between Budapest and Vienna, three times. Next are photos of our place in Vienna--it was such a relief that we were able to stay in the some residence hotel, in the same suite. A little familiarity goes a long way these days.

Shane has one more full week of treatment here, two days of fever inducing IL-2 (which also fights cancer), followed by low dose immunotherapy and then other infusion treatments (bio-chemotherapy) towards the end of the week. Then, his final immunotherapy treatment next Monday (though it possible he could stay longer, it will depend on how his body is doing), after which we will return to CA for a few days to allow Shane to recoup before the final leg of our journey to CO.

The decision to move to Fort Collins, CO was, in many ways, a simple one. We have the most family support there (Shane's parents and sister, Melissa, and her family), the kids will attend a classical charter school (we've applied to four charters there, and when I say we, I mean Melissa), the cost of living is lower, lots of young families around, many members of our church, a temple (a special house of worship). It's not a town we would normally choose---your typical modern American city chock full of cookie cutter homes with mini-yards, your side windows looking right into your neighbor's, strip malls galore---milquetoast, not a lot of soul. But milquetoast is what we need for now.

By the way, Fort Collins if a HOT place to live right now. Check out these home sales from 2021. And rentals are going like hot cakes. Shane's mom, dad, and sister have been invaluable in helping us house hunt.

So off to Fort Collins we will trot in August. Haven and Micah are already ensconced there being cared for splendidly by Grandma, Grandpa, Melissa, Dave, and cousins. Sage is alternating between weekdays in Vallejo, nannying for a dear former client, and weekends in Sacramento with Shannon, Shane's sister, and her marvelous family.

We look forward to the reunion with our kids (we've hated being so far and so disconnected), and we dread it a bit too. We'll have to come out of our Shane/cancer bubble and prepare for some discomfort as we to add in our old roles: parent, business owner, homemaker. Back to Planet Earth. Hope the landing is soft.