Life is Better in Rain Boots...Especially on a Sunny Day

It's official.  In less than 12 hours I can say, "We are going home this year."   And, oh boy, is it making me reflective--which I guess is the appropriate thing to do this time of year, right?  I am having all kinds of crazy feelings thinking about this phrase and am full of lots of different thoughts and emotions.

Excited beyond belief because I can't wait to be closer to my family and friends.  How wonderful it will be to be able to pick up the phone and call them, not worrying about time changes, if the African internet is working.  I will be in the know about what everyone is doing, can jump on a plane and be home in less than 3 hours if I need to, to laugh with my sister's on the phone again, call my mom for gardening advice, and gossip with my girlfriends.

Ready for normalcy -- to not wonder if the man laying on the side of the road is sleeping or just dead (although, according to Moses, Seth's driver for work, if they have shoes on we aren't to worry--they are just sleeping).  To have consistent power in my house.  To have Seth work a 40 hour work week instead of a 70 hour one. To not have to bargain for fair prices when I go shopping (this may take a while to get used to--I can envision myself going into Target and telling them that I will not pay $4.99 for toilet paper and that $3.50 is my final offer). Although, I have to say...it's funny how quickly abnormal becomes normal when you are living overseas. 

Anxious -- Where will we live?  Will I go back to work?  How will I handle time away from Claire?  Will I  be as good a teacher as I was,  knowing, somewhere in the back of my head , I will be wondering what my sweet peanut is doing--did I miss something while I was gone?  Is she sad to not have her mama around?  I cringe just typing this. The adjustment to moving back home will be huge.  We left our lives to come here and will need to reinvent them when we return. 

I know I have said this before, but I will say it again...our time here in Africa has taught me GRATITUDE.  I am learning that there is nothing so time critical in my life that I can't stop for ten minutes and play with my baby.  I don't know if I would have learned that life lesson so soon if we hadn't come here and been forced to slow down.  To just be.  Rather than looking back and feeling like I wish I had appreciated those moments, I lived them while I was in them--watching her sleep, snuggling on the couch when we should have been grocery shopping, exploring the green grass and the wide world, picking up bugs, reading books in our jammies even though it's past lunch time, rain boots on a sunny day, fingerpainting in diapers in the backyard.  Swinging.  Bubbles.


And so begins the new year and a new resolution.  Instead of trying to figure all these feelings out, I am going to welcome 2012 with open arms--so many adventures lie ahead of us that I will take them one day at a time, ready for anything that awaits.  That, and I plan on losing at least 10 pounds.

What's your resolution? Make it a good one.

Happy New Year to all my friends, old and new, and family.  Love you all!