Today at 4:30 p.m., I dropped Jeff off at our church. From there he drove with a group of other parishoners to Columbus, where they'll spend the night before flying out to Honduras early tomorrow morning.

Jeff and the group of volunteers from church will be working for a week at Montana de Luz, an orphanage for HIV positive kids south of Tegucigulpa. He'll be back home December 5.

I'm really excited for Jeff. I had the opportunity to go on two international mission trips when I was in college (Honduras in 1997, the Philippines in 1999), but Jeff never did. When calls for volunteers to go on this year's trip came up this past summer, I nudged Jeff. "You should do that. You should go," I said. I knew I'd be done with school for the quarter by then, and that if there was any good time for me to single parent, that would be it.

His wheels started turning, and a few months later he signed on. Thanks to the generous donations of our friends and family in addition to church fundraising he was able to come up with all the money he needed to take the trip. And he managed at the last minute to get his (apparently lost) passport renewed and expedited. On the way to church today he did mention he forgot to pack a towel, but those of us who know Jeff know his penchant for not showering should make that not too much of an issue.

I really hope he has an amazing, transformative experience there. And I hope Charlotte and I are able to hold it all together here. I have a network of friends from school and church who have gone out of their way to let me know they're available to watch Charlotte for an hour or two here or there so I can maybe get a run in or go out for a cup of coffee. My biggest concern is the nights. After three great nights of sleep, Charlotte was back up to her old tricks last night, waking up at 2:30 and finally drifting off again around 4 a.m. Boo. Let's hope that's not a sign of things to come.

I'll keep you all posted about Jeff as I hear from him/the group. Check out that link above; it's a pretty amazing place.