Wow, can it really be more than 2 weeks since we arrived back in the motherland? Time sure flies when you're in paradise--granted a much colder, wetter paradise than I remember. It's been more of an adjustment than anticipated--some good and some not so good.
Reflectors on the smoothly paved road: genius. With all the rain we've been having those bright little bumps are a lifesaver. Ooh, lifesavers, another thing I've missed.
Blinkers and wipers switched again. Teenagers smirking at me from the backs of trucks as I wipe away non existant rain or signal a left turn as I head to the right. Sigh. And I keep looking over my left shoulder to reverse and get a face full of seatbelt. Oh, and I miss the beeping sound that reminds me that my car is in reverse. More helpful than I had thought.
Costco. aa-ah-ahhhhhh (to be heard in surround-sound chorus). The beauty. The wonder. The large packs of affordable diapers. On the other hand, I now find warehouses full of oversized products and luxury items a bit appalling. We really do live in the land of excess.
There's no GAP here. I'm of course talking about the playgroup and not the store. The store can't hold a candle to educational daycare at the low low cost of $1.88 per half day (that's as long as 7:30 to 1pm if desired). I miss my 2 days a week of having only one kid to care for. And I miss French Fridays with Keahi coming home singing Mon Petit Lapin.
I miss the sun. It's been raining a lot and Grenada thined my blood so that now I need sweaters here. So no beach as of yet for us. We miss pooldays with our friends.
Long hot showers are like mannah from heaven. I love showering at night again. But I miss our bathtub for bathing the kids. But my mom's double sink works rather well. I was floored by how huge that sink was compared to the tiny ones in Grenada.
We now have our wimpy pet cat instead of our landlady's 2 large dogs. I like not having to watch out for dog poop in the yard but I think our cat got even more neurotic in our absence. And you've never seen such a woosie cat in your life. We had to bring his foodbowl inside so he could eat without the 5 roaming kittens bullying him away and stealing his food. So we leave the door open a bit so he can run out when he's done. Usually we wait and then close the door behind him, but a few days ago Iz walked away for a bit. When he returned he found a couple of kittens polishing off Keoni's food. He chased them outside and looked around the garage for the scaredy cat only to find him cowering under the table in the living room. He had let 2 little balls of fur come into his house, take his food and scare him farther into the house for safety. Wow. He's a tough one.
And of course there's the doting grandmother. I remember when we first flew to Grenada with 4 books and 4 toys for Keahi. They more than doubled thanks to his joint birthday party with Isaac. Now that we're back at popo's house, the boys have oodles and oodles of toys. Each of them got 9 gifts from her ranging from massive train sets to talking dogs. On Christmas morning they sat admists their booty with huge grins and eager fingers. Jarom discovered the joy of ripping wrapping paper. Of course, it was much simpler to clean up those 4 toys.
