This Family Circus is HOME again

At long last, we are happy to be back in sunny (and steamy) NC!


Our trip across the Atlantic was surprisingly ok... the time "flew."  And the restrooms on the plane were downstairs which we all thought was pretty cool.  We had plenty of time to contemplate this since Pete and I took about 25 child-attending trips down there throughout the flight (no exaggeration).

We flew over Boston -- just like this!

What seemed almost as long as the 10-hour flight was the standing in line at the Charlotte airport after we landed.  Eventually, though (90 minutes after we arrived), we were free to join the general public and were happily greeted by family members with signs and flags!  Definitely a highlight of the whole last 7 months.  :)  They even sang a couple of songs, which I certainly captured on video.  I'm not sure they'd be thrilled to have me post said videos here, though, so I will keep the footage in the archives until a day when I may need it for blackmail.


We've been the blessed beneficiaries of welcome-home food from thoughtful friends and neighbors, and thanks to my mom's dinners-to-go, I haven't had to cook a hot meal since we got home.  What a blessing it is to be surrounded again by people who are so kind to us!!


So now we're busily settling back in... unpacking, putting the kitchen back together, moving everything back into our bedroom and closets, unloading boxes... and wondering for the umpteenth time why we have so much stuff.  And we're learning to adjust to the taller beds and shorter toilets.


The kids are happy to have toys to play with again, and, most exciting, BIKES.  Even though they're drenched with sweat the whole time, they insist on playing outside much of the day.


 I drove a car for the first time in 2012, and went grocery shopping in a place where I could actually read all of the labels and signs.  And I even understood every word the check-out guys said -- even with his thick Southern accent.  


This writing is feeling very choppy... but that accurately reflects my state of mind at the moment.  We're still not sleeping well -- getting up each morning any time between 3:30 and 5:00 am -- and we feel like we're hitting the ground running, with things like jobs and school decisions facing us.  Hopefully we can get this house in some semblance of order soon, so we can move on to the rest of life!


And sometime soon I want to reflect on our trip overall.... but right now it's still overwhelming.  Maybe tomorrow.