Phone--for me?

There are many things about being back in the states that take some getting used to.

Phone calls are one.

Image courtesy of Pong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For the past six years we haven't even had a home phone.  We used our cellphones for local calls and phone over the Internet for family and friends in the states.  But family and friends rarely called because of the time difference.

What this means is that for the last six years the phone didn't ring very often and when it did it was almost always someone I was happy to talk to.

A ringing phone was a positive, joyous event.

Not so much any more.

It's not like the phone rings off the hook or anything it's just that every time it rings I get that jolt of excitement, that initial thrill of --who's been thinking of me and called to chat.

The answer here most often is your friendly neighborhood cancer/firefighters/politician fundraiser.

At first the kids were confused.  "I think our phone isn't working right.  When I answer there's no one there and I have to say "hello, hello, hello" before someone finally answers."

As I wrote this my phone rang.

Caller ID showed that is was the Children's Cance...

It suddenly occurred to me that I didn't have to answer the phone.

Cool.

Mo-crastination

School has begun and we have a new word in our house, coined by Imagination Boy and now a key part of our family vocabulary-

Mo-crastination

Mo-crastination is the practice of procrastinating by moping.

photo credit: Cayusa via photopin ccn

In our house it commonly goes something like this:

"I can't believe I have so much homework.  How am I ever going to get it all done?  I'm tired and I just want to go to bed.  But I can't because I have all this homework.  How am I ever going to get it all done?  I don't even know where to start. How am I ever going to get it all done?  No I don't need any help.  I just don't know how to do it.  How am I ever going to get it all done?  I can't believe I have so much homework.."

And repeat.  Over and over and over.

You get the idea.

Mo-crastination has all the downside of regular procrastination in that no work actually gets done minus the upside of at least enjoying quality leasure time (such as computer games) while procrastinating.

Plus it has the dubious side effect of DRIVING YOUR FAMILY CRAZY.

This could be a long year.

The Summer that Wasn't

This was the summer that wasn't.

It's not that there was no summer. There was.

There was time off of school.

There was hot weather.

There was sun from early morning to late evening.

Image courtesy of David Castillo / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

But for us, this was the summer that wasn't summer in the ways we appreciate summer the most.

There wasn't a summer family vacation.

There wasn't time lazing about the house sleeping late, reading a few good books, getting bored.

There wasn't time spent just hanging out with friends free from the pressures of the school year schedule.

There weren't any friends.

Because this was the summer we moved.

And it was hard.  It IS hard.


I need to write more about our summer and our transition and the ways we have learned and grown.

But first let me write briefly about the summer that was.


There was a summer spent together as a family.

There was the challenge of stretching ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally and realizing we are capable of handling and doing more than we thought.

There was fresh fruit and vegetables and meat on the grill and laughter and love at the dinner table.


It is difficult to let go of what was and embrace what is.  Change is hard.  Major change is even harder. But change is inevitable.  Embrace it.  Mourn it.  Celebrate it.  Roll with it.