It is time to take a big sigh of relief. Another day is coming to a close. Mexican food for 7 people was a huge success. The little man is in bed. Dishes are rinsed and ready to be cleaned by angel khAla in the morning. Hot dog buns for tomorrow’s Wii/BBQ party are made. The house is cooling down nicely – 6 degrees cooler than the balmy 93 degrees F where it sat all day.
We are beginning to feel like we are getting settled back into life here. I was going to write a post a few days ago about how it felt more like we were living in a flimsy sinking dingy than in a tightly run ship, but we were working hard to stay afloat so I didn’t have time to tell you all about it. Not that my life is ever a tightly run ship…because honestly, I just don’t operate that way, but the last week has left me longing for many more elements of sanity than we were being granted.
As I said in my last post, we began moving the day after we landed back in M-ville. With stuff everywhere, the confusion of two houses, teething and coming back to a different place, language, etc., Little t was kind of a mess. He wanted nothing to do with kAkA for the first few days (much to kAkA’s dismay). Every time we would say we were going inside, he would walk toward the old house. He struggled to sleep at night and was usually up for 2 or so hours, running around like a wild man and refusing to lay back down. We tried letting him cry, we tried bribing him to go to sleep, we tried giving him Benadryl, we tried sitting in his room until he fell asleep, we tried nursing him to sleep. We tried everything. The only thing that would work was if I brought him into our bed and let him fall asleep nursing there and sleep with me.
A is not a dummy, he would flee to another room to actually get some sleep instead of putting up with the tried crabby lady and the small, but powerful child who kicks very hard in his sleep (And is very naughty when he is not sleeping jumping on the bed, singing, pulling hair, sticking his finger up nostrils, etc). So, if sitting by Little t’s bed didn’t do the trick, A was somewhat helpless when it came to corralling the little fart.
To make matters even more humorous/despairing, we were working out the kinks of the new house as well. Small things like what happens when it is still 100 degrees at 8:30 p.m. and the power goes out. The answer is that you work frantically until 11:45 p.m. to get your solar system set up so you can have fans.
Speaking of fans, one decided to shake the fabric on the ceiling so much (above our bed, keep in mind) that it dropped dust and small pieces of sand and concrete all over our bed. The first night it happened was the night we had dragged our tired bodies into bed (at midnight, post frantic solar set-up) and were too tired to care about the miniscule amount of dirt at the foot of the bed. A few hours later (when Little t made up his mind it was time to party/sleep with momma) a beach had been erected on our bed. The next morning there was dirt everywhere.
That day was such a whirl that we forgot about said fan issue and that night, the same thing happened. I tried to laugh about it. I tried to ignore it. I tried to pretend I was on a beach somewhere, but I just couldn’t do it. Granted, beaches are romantic, and maybe I could have seen it that way, but lying in a pile of sand with a small, wild child constantly attached to my breast is neither romantic nor restful. All in all, the night was a bust.
Well, we have patched the hole, the child is sleeping (and in his own bed, I may add!) and not teething as badly, and actually eating now. Things are mostly put away, we are eating real meals now (the first week was basically a combination of bumming food off of friends and hot dogs and naan and hot dogs and Craisins), we are sleeping and getting our heads on straight about life here. A is back at work in the office, I have been to my first wedding, Little t has warmed back up to angel khAla and kAkA. We are making progress.
The quiet and deep times have yet to reappear. I am so tempted to be up early in and in the Word in the morning, but honestly, we are all exhausted by the time morning rolls around. It will come in time, I know.
For now, I find joy in the simple things – the child who brings such delight (I will write a post all about him soon), the husband who is way too good to me, the friends who offer so much help and sweet fellowship, and the God who is faithful, even in the crazy times.
