Readjusting

It has been interesting living back in a country that should feel like home to me. Last night I watched a movie with my parents about a team of men who were fighting in Iraq. It won best film at the Oscars a few years ago. There is one scene in the film when a guy comes back from Iraq and is at the grocery store with his family doing some regular shopping. He is walking around like he is in a daze until he comes across his wife and child. She has a basket full of food and other items and asks him to go pick up some cereal and meet him at the check out. He agrees and the next shot is him standing in the cereal isle.

He is dumbfounded and can't decide which one to grab. I told my parents, "I know how that feels." Now granted I can't fully grasp what a man who has seen the things that he had seen and is standing in an isle full of 200 different types of cereals, but I can appreciate the overwhelming feeling of choices at the grocery store. This is just one of the things that I have had to 'readjust' to life back in America.

Some of the things that I thought would be hard to adjust to have really meant nothing to me, and things that I never even thought I missed have been shocking. For example, toilet paper here! It is SO soft!  I mean really, ridiculously soft. The septic system in Europe isn't that great so the toilet paper has to dissolve easily. In turn you give up the comforts of 'triple ply quilted' tush paper.  : )

Another thing is hand soap. Here it actually stays on your hands when you squirt it there, and it lathers and gives you the comforting feeling that it is actually cleaning your hands. Another thing is air conditioning. I sometimes choose to go out in the 100+ temperatures of Texas just to thaw out from being inside. I am grateful for the cool air, but sometimes it's just a bit much.

Life back here in the States has been wonderful, I really am enjoying family, and all the comforts of being home. It has definitely been a great time to relax and just be with out any real responsibilities.

I have 5 days left here in Texas before I go to California to spend 2 weeks at training getting to know the new teachers coming over next year. Then I'll be back here for a week and a half to two weeks before making my way back over the ocean to my second home.

Thanks for all of your prayers and for keeping up with me in everything that I am doing. I'll keep you posted as everything unfolds in the next few weeks.