Getting Readjusted Again

We returned from our first visit back to the U.S. on Tuesday, and it's going to take some time to get readjusted. It was nice to have unlimited Starbucks, shopping at Walgreens any time of day or night, tearing up at the grocery store (honestly!). We (OK, *I*) brought an empty duffel bag for anything I happened to buy along the way. Ended up with the bag fully packed!

The trip home (to Brussels) was uneventful, but long. No one slept very well on the plane, except for Amelia. We were delayed nearly an hour leaving D.C., as they had to "remove" someone off our airplane and then had to find all of his/her luggage and get it off the plane. No news on why the person got removed, but it definitely made me a little nervous. Then we had a 1/2 hour longer flight because of unfavorable winds. But we arrived safe and sound, around 8:30 a.m. We got the kids on a rough approximation of their schedule and were hopeful for a smooth night.

Amelia was up a few times. Literally. Once, I found her crawling in our bed; another, we found her walking down the hall with a blanket wrapped around her. Jack was up several more times, including one marathon wakeful period where he was convinced he wanted to go play and eat. He also felt the need to comment on all noises he heard outside his room. Which were many, unfortunately. They changed the landing pattern at Brussels, so that all landing aircraft go right above us (luckily, this is only a temporary thing). By the time they go over our head, the wheels are down and they're really close. They were still going overhead at 2:30 a.m. (who on earth is traveling at that hour???).

But finally, everyone settled down for the night. Amelia didn't wake until 9:30; Jack until 11:30. We'll see how tonight goes. I'm not optimistic today.

We really enjoyed our trip home. Too much shopping (familiar clothing and shoe sizes), visiting the grocery store (gravy mix, Velveeta, muffin mixes and bottled sauces [barbecue sauce, hot wing sauce and teriyaki can't be found around here!] were the favored purchases), all sorts of things. I did feel terribly guilty every time I got a plastic bag from the store, and I couldn't stand to have any clothing wrapped in fancy tissue paper that was just going to get thrown away (and even when I requested no tissue paper, some places STILL gave it to me). I'll have to bring some of my recyclable bags back home next time... I did get some grateful looks from grocery checkers as I bagged all my groceries. I'm in the habit, I guess. Recycling is just so big over here, it's impossible to avoid.

The kids are back to be home (though disappointed in coming back to our train set -- they liked my dad's much more). It looks like we're headed into some better weather here. Cross your fingers!

Shortly after walking in the door on Tuesday, I headed to the market for a chicken rather than making a whole grocery store run. And Amelia was thrilled to pick up yellow tulips!

Friday's Update
The kids' sleeping patterns are still a little messed up. They're back to normal waking and napping times, but from bedtime to midnight, it's rough going. Jack is up and down a lot, but Amelia has been settling down. A few more nights, and we should be back on track.

The tulips at the market seem to be more infrequent now, so we've been buying hyacinths. They have such a wonderful smell and really makes me feel like spring is on the way.

The weather has been sunny and warm -- great for the playground. We've also been spending a lot of time on our terrace. Amelia has made fast friends with our neighbors. Emilia is about 6, and Maried is 4 1/2. Jack's buddy is Noah, who just turned 10. They are the ones who have 2 bunnies, and they just got a big playhouse for outside. Wednesday, the kids all played next door; yesterday, I had 5 kids at the kitchen table playing play-doh. I felt a bit soccer-momish, and wondered how I got old enough to be "the mom whose house everyone comes to play at." But Amelia and Jack had a ball, and it was a nice change for me, too.

I've made a foray into a new grocery store -- Delhaize, which is owned by the same folks (and with same lion-ish logo) as Food Lion. The draw to this store is that you can scan your groceries as you put them in your cart. Then when you're done, you just pay and go. This should be a big time-saver with the kids in the cart!

It feels good to be back walking, too. I admit, I felt rather lazy driving around everywhere in the US (although walking really wasn't an option -- things weren't that close, and I was doing lots of shopping!). I've only driven once since we've been back, and it's felt good to be walking to the grocery store, and the post office, and the bakery and the playground. Justifies all the chocolate croissants, I guess!!

It's nice to be back, even though we miss family and friends terribly. I know we didn't get to visit with everyone, but we hope to catch more of you on our next trip.

Hope all is well with all of you!