I've heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I think it might actually be something else. For example, maybe it's driving from middle Tennessee to mid Maryland with two pre-schoolers. By oneself. Then driving on to Connecticut. Then coming back just a few days later (husband in tow, necessitating speedier travel). Two weeks after relocating, long before the last box is unpacked, and right before one's husband embarks on three consecutive weeks of travel. CRAZY.
Hi. We've been here two weeks now. That is long enough to unpack a lot of boxes, long enough to meet a few (awesome) neighbors and to discover those peaches on the tree in our yard are not for eating and definitely not for putting in my children's pancakes. It's long enough to get a new library card and find a find killer indie rock radio station (we are Music City adjacent, after all), long enough to visit a new vet and the same church twice, long enough to make my first antique store purchase, and long enough to find I really miss Trader Joe's and can't afford to shop at Whole Foods.
But really, it hasn't been long enough. It hasn't been long enough for any of us to find our place, for me to make any friends, to figure out a routine, how to work out when I am always with my precious children, or to determine what exactly my job is. It hasn't been long enough to find a preschool or my kids' coloring books.
It has been just exactly long enough for Daniel and I to realize that it's easy to take our fears and frustrations out on each other, but that it doesn't do either of us much good since we're all we've got down here.
Despite our being decidedly unsettled, tomorrow we ride. Daniel is headed to Atlanta to meet his new team, then on to meet us in Connecticut. The girls and I are headed to Maryland with every intention of driving straight through and with a brand-new, dual-screen DVD player that totally doesn't work. (But we've got audio books! Who are we, the Waltons?) Mosotos, the aging puggle, is headed to what I am calling summer camp. We'll see if he agrees.
In 7 days, we will travel roughly 2,000 miles. Having just made one leg of this journey a couple weeks ago, albeit with much more back up, I have packed loads of healthy food and drinks. May we happily drive by Sonics, McDonald's and Waffle Houses in at least five states. My goal is to stop only for coffee, to stretch and to pee. I haven't tagged up with the girls to see if they concur with this plan. I have packed dry erase boards and finger puppets, glow sticks, Leapsters, cookie sheets and magnets. (Incidentally, if you have any great ideas for how to keep 2 and 4-year-olds occupied on long trips, please send them my way.)
We are so caught up in the logistics (what? Me? Never!) that we might have forgotten why we're going. One of Daniel's best friends is getting married to a girl we adore. We couldn't be happier, and we couldn't miss it. And in the process, we will get to see my parents, one set of his, and most of our siblings. I'll get to be there the day of my little sister's latest (and last?) knee surgery. My little girls will get to see their precious Aunt Nae. It's a whirlwind dose of the familiar, which we desperately need. We haven't been able to find that in any of our boxes.
Tomorrow, if you think of us and our first-world problems and you're the praying kind, please pray for open roads and hearts, for perspective and redeemed time.
Hi. We've been here two weeks now. That is long enough to unpack a lot of boxes, long enough to meet a few (awesome) neighbors and to discover those peaches on the tree in our yard are not for eating and definitely not for putting in my children's pancakes. It's long enough to get a new library card and find a find killer indie rock radio station (we are Music City adjacent, after all), long enough to visit a new vet and the same church twice, long enough to make my first antique store purchase, and long enough to find I really miss Trader Joe's and can't afford to shop at Whole Foods.
But really, it hasn't been long enough. It hasn't been long enough for any of us to find our place, for me to make any friends, to figure out a routine, how to work out when I am always with my precious children, or to determine what exactly my job is. It hasn't been long enough to find a preschool or my kids' coloring books.
It has been just exactly long enough for Daniel and I to realize that it's easy to take our fears and frustrations out on each other, but that it doesn't do either of us much good since we're all we've got down here.
Despite our being decidedly unsettled, tomorrow we ride. Daniel is headed to Atlanta to meet his new team, then on to meet us in Connecticut. The girls and I are headed to Maryland with every intention of driving straight through and with a brand-new, dual-screen DVD player that totally doesn't work. (But we've got audio books! Who are we, the Waltons?) Mosotos, the aging puggle, is headed to what I am calling summer camp. We'll see if he agrees.
In 7 days, we will travel roughly 2,000 miles. Having just made one leg of this journey a couple weeks ago, albeit with much more back up, I have packed loads of healthy food and drinks. May we happily drive by Sonics, McDonald's and Waffle Houses in at least five states. My goal is to stop only for coffee, to stretch and to pee. I haven't tagged up with the girls to see if they concur with this plan. I have packed dry erase boards and finger puppets, glow sticks, Leapsters, cookie sheets and magnets. (Incidentally, if you have any great ideas for how to keep 2 and 4-year-olds occupied on long trips, please send them my way.)
We are so caught up in the logistics (what? Me? Never!) that we might have forgotten why we're going. One of Daniel's best friends is getting married to a girl we adore. We couldn't be happier, and we couldn't miss it. And in the process, we will get to see my parents, one set of his, and most of our siblings. I'll get to be there the day of my little sister's latest (and last?) knee surgery. My little girls will get to see their precious Aunt Nae. It's a whirlwind dose of the familiar, which we desperately need. We haven't been able to find that in any of our boxes.
Tomorrow, if you think of us and our first-world problems and you're the praying kind, please pray for open roads and hearts, for perspective and redeemed time.
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