(Flashback) Kip and Whitney say Hi.

The funny thing about being on posting is that we are basically borrowing a lifestyle. Sure, it is one we aspire to, but Jane and I have a lot of financial ground to cover before we can afford anything like our current lifestyle and neighborhood.

Part of this borrowed lifestyle is that the kids will be going to a nearby private school. Its lovely. To give you an idea, Tom's class has 20 children in it, and three full time teachers. The other night the school had a fundraiser. You pay your money and then spend a couple hours being ushered through drinks and nibbles at three very nice nearby homes owned by people with names like Kip and Whitney (seriously). It was a pleasant enough evening, I am just not sure what to talk about with guys that run their own – highly successful – business and their suburban trophy wives (or vice-versa, as the case may be). I mean sure, we can talk about our kids, but there is a timer on that conversation. Eventually you break through and find a new topic, or there is an awkward silence in which somebody suddenly remembers that they are needed at the buffet. Alternatively the conversation simply washes around the sides of you like water around a rock sticking out in the middle of a stream. Awkward…

Let me also make it very clear that these people have been nothing but kind and welcoming. There have been no pointed, or even veiled, looks nor remarks. If anything needs to be done, the onus is upon me. To be honest, I find the discomfort surprising. I grew up traveling between wealth with my mom and working class with my dad. I guess it’s pretty clear which of the two penetrated deeper.