WE MADE IT

Well, folks, we made it. The flight was ridiculously easy. You can hardly count flying business class as really flying, though. The seats completely folded down into beds so we were able to just put our kids to bed and they slept all night. The boys were so excited to get to watch movies while they were awake. That's all they did! Jack got restless a few times, but overall was a champ.

When we arrived at the airport the company had arranged for a meet and greet service to get us through customs. That all went quickly and smoothly. (We are pretty terrified for having to do all this ourselves next time, like flying economy and standing in the super long customs line.) Then came time to load up our 20 suitcases and drive home. Buuuuut, the meet and greet service hadn't reserved us a car. So they called someone to come pick us up. So we waited and waited and finally a driver arrived. In a Honda Odyssey. For 7 people and 20 suitcases. Right. So we loaded up the suitcases in the Odyssey and there was just enough room for 2 people to ride. So Jack and I loaded up and Dan went with the driver to go call a taxi for the rest of them. The driver had left the van literally in the middle of the road, and people kept honking and honking and getting all mad. I was a little nervous sitting there all alone!

Anyways, we made it to our house after 21 total hours of travel time. The boys had slept really well on the plane, so even though it was bedtime here, they were all wide awake!

It was a really strange feeling coming into our new house and realizing that this is no weekend trip. We're really not coming back for a long time. Even if we come home at Christmas time, it'll still be the longest I have ever been away from home. This is an adventure for sure, but the realities of every day life hit pretty quickly. I admit that I took a moment when we got here and just had to sit on the floor and .... I don't even know the word. I just had to sit and stare at the wall.  I didn't even know where to start, there was too much and it was too overwhelming. I just knew the place I felt the most comfortable was in the kitchen.

So we're here and now we have to feed a family of 7. We feel like it's 4 in the afternoon, but it's midnight here and we have no car. The company provides a "care pack" with 6 eggs, a loaf of bread, some milk (1 liter), some jam, and some cornflakes. So we had to ration that out between dinner and breakfast. I did, however, have a moment of accidental genius. On our way out of our house, I put a cake mix in my suitcase. My goodness, did it ever raise our spirits to have a cake the first night in our new house!! Of course, I didn't have a cake pan, but there was a roaster pan under the range, so that did the trick! Other moment of accidental genius was when I put an unopened jar of Nutella in our suitcase. Nutella toast is especially delicious when there's nothing else around. Funny how just having those two items made us feel so much better. I realized something that I may have known subconsciously but had never articulated to myself: cooking for my family actually makes me feel good. In all the disarray of arriving and having suitcases everywhere, and being in an unfamiliar place, I knew I could bring comfort to us all by putting food on the table.

One of the first things I did when we got here put up one of the only decorations I brought with me: my Rosie the Riveter magnet. For some reason it gives me so much strength. And I know WE CAN DO IT!!!