Still Reeling

To "reel" means to be in a whirl or to behave in a disorderly manner. Disorder characterizes my house at this time and I certainly feel as if I am in a whirl(a disorderly one? yes!) My children are not sure where they are when they wake up, and I do not find this surprising as we have been in two different temporary housing apartments- one in France and one here, then we moved into our house and took a road trip less than a week later to Nashville, and now we are back at "our house"- with suitcases still open on the floor, most things still lost in the mass of boxes, and furniture that is not quite arranged yet. To top it all off, Daddy is gone to Thailand for two weeks. SA has changed schools, they both have had various caregivers over the past couple of months, we have used several cars in the past couple of months,and we've visited different churches as well. Everything has changed for them, and while I feel in a whirl personally, I cannot imagine how they must feel at all of the life changes that have been happening lately. Not to overdramatize the situation, I know kids are resilient, and thank God, because in this family they have to be. This week especially, SA has been talking about her friends in France and telling me that she wants to go back there. I have to admit I have been pretty nostalgic this week and missing life there too. It's a strange sort of feeling- being back in the US but not really being connected here. I'm still connected to people there and my children are more connected to people there than here (barring the grandparents, of course). After all they have lived most of their lives in France and not the US. We do plan to remain connected to people there (I am hoping everyone gets their webcams ready soon), but I need to choose to live in the here and now and patiently wait for the connections that will be formed here, gradually.


This week I am looking forward to spending time with the girls and getting settled into our new home more (a process that it is sure to take months) and just getting comfortable in our new surroundings. Hopefully we will establish a new routine that will provide more stability and consistency to their little lives (and mine too). Routine is sort of comforting. Those "d'habitudes" that are so darn important to the French- lunch break promptly at noon, closed stores between 12 and 2, nothing open on Sunday, and random closed days depending on the store and/ or the town all make for a rhythm of life that is distinctly not American. All of the things that I used to wonder why they couldn't just break out of, seem rather comforting now. It is nice to know that some things are sure- you know like the sunrise and sunset- in France you just get the "this is the way we do things here" feeling. So, when I was there, some of those things seemed like frustrating inconvenient constraints, but I adjusted to them and now they seem comforting- I guess you can tell that I am ready to find a rhythm in my new life here.

Tonight when we pulled up to our house after having dinner with friends, SA said, "Are you sure this house is ours, Mommy?"

Tired of Transition

So last time I posted it had been one month since Chrsitmas and the packing up of my house. Today we have been in temporary housing for one month stateside and we were in temporary housing for a week in France. So, although I am very thankful for temporary housing, I am tired of it. Tonight I dsecided to take advantage of one of those take home your dinner places. So far I have seen several around town- Dream Dinners, Supper on the Table, Two Chefs, and Gourmet to Go. I knew it wouldn't be cheap, but then after having been in a small town with no restaraunt and only a French version of Gourmet to Go, I decided it was worth the splurge. After all, we ate way too much McDonanld's in France because it was just the only fast food option. (I've now switched to Chick-Fil-A) Anyway, $40 later and with NO WINE, I went home forcing D to open one from the cave. It was a stressful day and I really wanted to enjoy a nice wine with our $40 take out dinner. The dinner was good, and so was the wine, but I am sure we won't make a habit out of buying homemade take out.

We closed on the house Friday but I have no way of downloading pictures, so you'll just have to wait until our computer arrives. We found out today that our container is in the port of Charleston but was selected for an x-ray check. Hopefully we'll have our things this Friday but it could take longer to get through customs and pass the extra check. We are all so ready to have access to the rest of our closets, and our kitchen, and our computer, and our toys, etc. Also, just settling into our own space will be nice.

I am really missing fresh bread- found a drive thru at Atlanta Bread Company today and ordered a baguette. I was highly disappointed with the rubbery version of this traditional French favorite. Last week I tried Great Harvest Bakery- good bread, but just not the same as the boulangerie favorites that I loved. It seems that my baby misses French bread as well and feeding her has become ever so difficult. She throws everything on the floor (that would be on cream carpet in our apartment) I am so missing the dark red tile that I had throughoiut my house in France. Spaghetti sauce? No problem- no one could see it! I made most of her food there but without my food processor here it has been a challenge. I bought a manual food mill but she doesn't like the food that I grind with it. Sometimes Gerber makes her happy and at other times she just throws the whole bowl on the floor. Whoever thought carpet in the dining room was a good idea has never had a baby! I have found that she does like peanut butter crackers, so today she had them at both lunch and dinner after rejecting all the Gerber that I offered her. On the brighter side I found two of my French favorites here in Greenville- Mustela baby bath products and pomme pots! I am so pumped- who knew that I would grow so attached to applesauce in a tube? It is ever so handy for throwing at hungry fussy kids in the car while driving around trying to get this transition over with.

Back Home

We are back in the States. It has been three weeks now, and, although we are still in temporary housing, we are starting to feel like we really live here again. Starting over after having lived overseas is a long process as some of you are well aware. There is so much to do at one time just like there was so much to do at one time before we left France- that would be why I haven't posted in so long. Life has been pretty crazy and stressful but thankfully, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of transition.

It is great to be closer to family when you need help with the kids. The grandparents had childcare duty almost full time for the first 2 weeks we were here while D and I searched for a house. We finally found one and I'll hopefully have pictures up soon. Now it's on to finding cars and setting up utilities and getting the move coordinated. It is SO nice that all of these things can be done in English this time, though! What a difference it makes to be back in one's home country. It is nice to know where to go to buy the things that we need and to be familiar with the city where we are resettling. And then, this time, I can actually figure out how my cell phone and appliances work because the manuals are in English! I can actually communicate on the phone with no difficulty and with the people at SA's school and the bank, etc. How refreshing to go to an English church service again and be able to worship in my mother tongue! It is just such a different world form where I am coming from though, and I cannot help but have a different perspective now after having lived abroad as a foreigner in a different culture. So, you may have noticed I have changed the title of the blog but the address will remain the same. I hope to begin posting regularly again soon especially when we get our computer set up in our new home.