It's been nearly a month since my last post... I was emotional and weepy the last time I wrote. This time I am emotional and weepy. Some things never change. It reality, though, quite a lot has changed since we got back to Texas. We are staying with my parents until our container arrives and our house is vacant. Savannah, Dynamo and I are bunking with Mom, Dad, and their two dogs, ChiChi the alpha-female chihuahua, and Wiggles, the mentally challenged Yorkie. Their dogs bark. A lot. At nothing and at everything. My dog is learning some not so great life lessons from these pups. I am a little leery about taking him to our house at the end of this month. Sigh. Savannah and I are getting pretty spoiled by my mom. She is cooking breakfasts and brewing coffee and packing lunches and making dinners and doing laundry. It's kind of like being back at the Leela, but with a couple of yappy dogs. And my dad is driving Savannah around everywhere, which is kind of like having our little Murugesan back, except he speaks English and wants to talk a lot so there's no tuning out and jamming to the music on the phone or staring at Facebook while Dad is driving. I have to drive myself back and forth to work. And anywhere else during the week. It's awful. I miss Murugesan. On the weekends, though, I get to hand Michael the keys and hop in the passenger seat, which makes me really happy. I do not have tea or coffee delivered to my desk twice a day, but I can walk to the coffee machine and get my own whenever I want, which is almost as good. I am learning lots of great and terrific things about the world of exports and all about the new company that I am working for. Although still under our AP Moller umbrella, Safmarine has a different flavor and I am really enjoying it. The team welcomed me with open arms and they are teaching me all kinds of awesome stuff I never knew about the other side of the business. It's exhilarating and exciting and makes the days go by SO DANG FAST! Outside of work, I am busy annoying my best friend/wedding coordinator by making as few decisions about our wedding as possible. She is about ready to throw me off a bridge because she wants to know about the details... and I am SO not the details girl. My motto has been, "I don't care, just make it pretty. Oh and less expensive. Make it less expensive." She might revoke my BFF-ness if I don't watch out. In other news, Savannah has joined the ranks of the college-bound. Many thanks to the BFF's mom, Erin, she enrolled in FOUR classes at Lone Star, which is our local community college, for those not familiar. She will take English, Algebra, Intro to College all on campus on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and then Music Appreciation online. I am really proud of her, as she was only wanting to take 1 or maybe 2 classes, so this is a stretch, but I think it will be really good for her. She's been having a tough time since we got back home... I have been going non-stop between work and wedding and just having a lot to do and not enough time, and our time together has been lacking. She feels disconnected and a bit lost with her identity. Most teens probably go through this after graduation, but I think hers is coupled with being back in the US and seeing some of her friends going off to college while others are readying for their senior year. She's jumped feet first back into the youth group at our church, which is great, but is still searching for exactly where she fits in these days. She misses the kids and our church family from India. She was putting off job hunting because "when I get a job that means India is really over..." And the only thing I could tell her was that India really WAS over, at least for this season of her life. If she pursues this teaching degree she is beginning with and winds up overseas to teach English like she says she wants to, then India could be back in her future. Yes, we had a great time and made some wonderful memories and friends of a lifetime, but for now we are back in Texas and we have to move forward. There are a lot of great memories and friends to be made here as well. With that conversation and some tears behind us, we set out to find my girl a part time job. She has an interview tomorrow afternoon and is babysitting for a friend for a couple weeks in the meantime. My girl needs structure in her life, so working and school are just what the doctor ordered. I'll ask for your prayers to help her acclimate back to American living and feeling more at peace with her transition into adulthood.
Hmm what else? One of the things that is so different to me is the amount of variety. Too many options. I needed a refillable cup for my water at work. I ran into a store to pick up a plastic cup with a lid that won't sweat. I was overwhelmed and frustrated with all the options. Every different color lid you can imagine. Different patterns from colleges to football teams to abstract designs or butterflies or owls or... well, just about everything. I just wanted a cup. Seriously. Take me back to India where I don't have a choice and I take what I get and it probably leaks. LOL I just stood there and looked and looked and looked. It was like I was frozen in time and could not make a decision. I ultimately decided on a tall cup with peacock feathers and a light blue lid. Very Indian, after all was said and done. Ironic.
And staying with my parents is great, being spoiled and spending some quality time that we missed for two years, but it's lacking the quiet solitude we often had at our flat in Padur. There is usually a niece or two running around or a dog barking or the TV blaring an old John Wayne or America's Ninja Master or whatever that ridiculous show is that seems to play every.single.night.of.my.life. I try to find a quiet corner of the bedroom or escape to the porch if it's not too hot out, but sometimes there just isn't an escape and that, too, is overwhelming. Sometimes I just need quiet time. If only I enjoyed driving... then I could probably happily drive myself somewhere for the peace of it. Oh, well...
So, yes, there are some things Savannah and I miss from India. Biriani. Our church family and friends. Simplicity. Peace in the midst of chaos. Set dinner plans after church and not having to make a decision about where we would go. Comfort... repetition... the norm. We have to make a new norm, but it feels as though that is out of our reach at the moment. The end of this month, while I know it will approach rapidly, seems just past our fingertips and too difficult to imagine just yet.
I don't know if I will continue to blog or not. It's been so busy, but I had a lot on my mind, so thought I'd put it out there. I'll take it one week at a time. In the meantime, here's a side note - I have been very out of touch - not a lot of Facebook checking on friends or texts or phone calls at all - with all my friends, near and far. Please know I am just, well, overwhelmed with so much to do and not enough hours in a day. Know I love you and hope to catch up very soon. Just need a little time to catch my breath.
Appreciate your love and prayers and support as we transition back to our American way of life and sending love and hugs back to each of you!
Hmm what else? One of the things that is so different to me is the amount of variety. Too many options. I needed a refillable cup for my water at work. I ran into a store to pick up a plastic cup with a lid that won't sweat. I was overwhelmed and frustrated with all the options. Every different color lid you can imagine. Different patterns from colleges to football teams to abstract designs or butterflies or owls or... well, just about everything. I just wanted a cup. Seriously. Take me back to India where I don't have a choice and I take what I get and it probably leaks. LOL I just stood there and looked and looked and looked. It was like I was frozen in time and could not make a decision. I ultimately decided on a tall cup with peacock feathers and a light blue lid. Very Indian, after all was said and done. Ironic.
And staying with my parents is great, being spoiled and spending some quality time that we missed for two years, but it's lacking the quiet solitude we often had at our flat in Padur. There is usually a niece or two running around or a dog barking or the TV blaring an old John Wayne or America's Ninja Master or whatever that ridiculous show is that seems to play every.single.night.of.my.life. I try to find a quiet corner of the bedroom or escape to the porch if it's not too hot out, but sometimes there just isn't an escape and that, too, is overwhelming. Sometimes I just need quiet time. If only I enjoyed driving... then I could probably happily drive myself somewhere for the peace of it. Oh, well...
So, yes, there are some things Savannah and I miss from India. Biriani. Our church family and friends. Simplicity. Peace in the midst of chaos. Set dinner plans after church and not having to make a decision about where we would go. Comfort... repetition... the norm. We have to make a new norm, but it feels as though that is out of our reach at the moment. The end of this month, while I know it will approach rapidly, seems just past our fingertips and too difficult to imagine just yet.
I don't know if I will continue to blog or not. It's been so busy, but I had a lot on my mind, so thought I'd put it out there. I'll take it one week at a time. In the meantime, here's a side note - I have been very out of touch - not a lot of Facebook checking on friends or texts or phone calls at all - with all my friends, near and far. Please know I am just, well, overwhelmed with so much to do and not enough hours in a day. Know I love you and hope to catch up very soon. Just need a little time to catch my breath.
Appreciate your love and prayers and support as we transition back to our American way of life and sending love and hugs back to each of you!
