Reintegration

The past month has flown by.  We are loving being back in the United States.  Egypt has a special place in our hearts but we are glad that we have moved away.  The security situation and lack of social life were tough.  The reintegration process has been fun and easy.  At first my girls noticed all the differences between here and there.  My youngest commented about how clean it was without trash all over the ground.  One of my twins noticed the wide open desert space with a lot less people.  I hadn't driven since last year and I guess my 4 year old did not remember because she said to me, "Mom, I didn't know you could drive."  The first week my husband and I kept a verbal list of the things that we had missed and were once again enjoying which included little things like a garbage disposal and high water pressure while taking a shower and the big things like being able to easily communicate and drive here.

We sold our minivan in Egypt so it was time for an upgrade!  We now have a Blu-ray player/game screen!  We are ready for road trips!

Of course we needed to rejoin Costco!  The samples alone make a great lunch.

A big thing is we have our freedoms back and that is HUGE!  We can drive wherever we want, wear what we want, worship how we want and eat whenever and whatever we desire!  Those are basic rights for Americans and we are taking full advantage of them.  I LOVE being able to shop in person (not only over the Internet) and not only find what I am looking for but have so many choices.  I admit all the choices make shopping last a little longer but I really enjoy having options.  I have not had Middle Eastern food since we arrived home.  I have yet to miss it.  We have enjoyed all the new restaurants and old favorites that our new home has to offer.  We need to soon stop enjoying them so often or our pants will no longer fit.  We have been in a hotel so the eating out will not be as prevalent once we are settled.

We just sold our home in New Mexico.  I was a little sad that we didn't need to go back there to sell it since I would have loved to see friends and family.  We are hoping to move into a new home next month.  It will be so nice to have a yard again, a nice kitchen and our things from Egypt and New Mexico.  We are downsizing from our past 3 homes.  I look forward to getting rid of stuff that we don't need.  We are currently living out of suitcases and besides buying a few extra things, we have been fine.  I like less stuff because it is less to care for and it takes up less space.  Plus, stuff costs money and we would rather travel or do fun things.  I have a hard time with clutter and a lot of times more stuff becomes clutter.

Agree!

My girls are going to school this year...all three of them!  I have been emotional.  I went from daily homeschooling to them gone ALL DAY LONG.  I know that they are where they need to be this year but I am hoping to perhaps home school them again someday.  It is a new season for all of us.  I am busy right now trying to find a house for us and getting them adjusted to school.  They are loving their new school and teachers.  I have to admit that it is sure easy to go shopping alone and having some free time to do whatever I choose has been nice, but I do miss them while they are at school.  I have loved being a stay-at-home mom and being the one to care for my children each day.  I am starting to think ahead to what I want to do while they are in school and I have yet to decide.  I want to be available in the AM to get them ready and off to school, then home when they are finished with school and present in the evenings.  Maybe I will go back to teaching or maybe go back to school for another degree.  Who knows!?  It's nice to have options.  Right now finding a house has kept me pretty busy.

My husband enjoys his new job here.  He is busy working.  The other morning he left early to help out with an arrest.  My girls were surprised he was already gone to work but my youngest was even more surprised when I told her that their dad was out "catching bad guys" because she didn't realize there were bad guys here!  Sweet girl.  Just because we aren't talking about bombs, terrorism and walking past guards with AK-47's...she doesn't see or feel the crime and that is OK with me.

It is so nice to be living near our families.  We celebrated my husband's and youngest daughter's birthdays since moving here.  It was so much fun to be with family.  I surprised my husband by inviting his parents to visit during his birthday week.  My youngest had all her cousins over that live in the area.

Daddy and his birthday girl!  She chose The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

Super fun pool party plus 3 more cousins were there but not in this photo.

Life is wonderful.  My daughter was asked to write about something that they did this past summer and she said that she couldn't think of anything to write!  She asked me to help her remember what we did because she could only remember going to the local children's museum (this past Saturday).  I just looked at her in shock and said, "Well, you have had a very big summer:  We vacationed in Paris and London, then we moved from Cairo, Egypt, to the United States."  She said, "Oh, yeah, but I just put the museum."  Whatever you want kid, whatever you want.  They have adjusted well.  I guess our life in Egypt and recent travels are just a distant memory!