Moving Day...

Well, we're still here. Except here, now, at least, has a house address. After three weeks in a hotel we had all had enough and we were all tired of not being able to eat a real meal at home. ( In theory, the hotel had a full kitchen. In practice, there was one semi-sharp paring knife and a few dishes...making it impossible to do more than boil water for macaroni and cheese, make a sandwich or pour a bowl of cereal.)

Everyone keeps asking us why we aren't buying a house. Interest rates are incredibly low and it is a buyer's market. The answer? Too permanent. Renting lets us keep our options open. Who knows where we may end up in the future?? (hey, we never imagined we'd live in India, either...) Honestly, most days, we still aren't sure which end is up! I do feel, however, a bit like we just graduated from college, just got married and are searching for our first place...with the exception of the two kids who won't let us stay out late, sleep in, or check out that "cool new band..."

That being the case...we started moving into "The Rental House" (as Owen calls it) on the 16th. When the humongous moving truck arrived, our new neighbors came out to watch, commenting, "That's an awful lot for that tiny house!" It was a bit like an archeological dig, being that we had little recall as to the items in our storage. Here's a tip for future reference: KEEP LESS STUFF.

By the way...Did we sell any of you our DVD player when we moved to India? We can't find it. Can't remember anything about it. No? In that case, I've got a fine assortment of assorted and mismatched dishes and towels we've had for 15 years, which, apparently, we could not bear to part with. Hmmm.

O and G spent most of that first day opening each and every box that was labeled "kids" or "toys"....therefore, their new purple room (the half story of the house) is strewn with a mix of puzzles, books, and O's toddler toys, which he is entirely confused about, "Mama, where are all my big kid toys from storage??" Ummm. Honey. You don't have any because you became a "big kid" while living in India...

"oh."

Yes. Oh. Time has a way of slipping haphazardly past us...

We remedied this situation somewhat by the purchase of a t-ball set that has an automatic soft toss and pitch and introducing both boy and bat to the new back yard...

I'll bet you didn't know that herpetologists have incredible eye-hand coordination??

Yessssssssssss....ssssss. According to Owen, there might be a speckled cobra in the overgrown garden. Maybe.

Now for the sea shipment...but just where we're going to put THAT, I have no idea!

The Fischers

here and there and everywhere

The Current State of Affairs...

So, this photo (from a sign located in Palm Meadows) pretty much sums it up...I think.

I sat down to write and wrote a page of drivel. Really. All the prophetic and wise things I want to say began to sound like this: "Like Sands Through The Hourglass, These Are The Days Of Our Lives..." Which is pretty much already taken.

I wish I could put into words what being back in the U.S. really feels like. What being out of India, REALLY feels like. I can't. Perhaps it's too soon. Perhaps the words will flow once we stop living in a hotel room. Once I have more than 2 pairs of pants and 1 sweater to wear. Once the sun comes out, stays out and forces the god-forsaken temperatures to RISE. UP. Once every Indian-English inflection that comes from our children's mouths doesn't feel so...like home. We feel uprooted. Unsettled. And that, ultimately, is nearly impossible for me to describe in any way that doesn't sound obnoxious or self-absorbed.

So...anyway. We're here. We've rented a house for less than our previous mortgage (good.) Apparently, we've bought a mini-van (good?) Bob has located his express-bus route to work, which he starts again on Monday. (I'll be driving him till we move into the house...around the 15th). We've seen a few friends. The kids have played with a couple of good, old friends, (really, really great.) We have an official membership to The Children's Museum and have been to the library (oh my, have we missed THAT! Great Libraries are like the soul of a community...) Last weekend we took a trip up to Duluth to see Bob's parents and reconnect with our long lost dog, Coltrane. Grayce ended up staying the week after which she informed me, "mom, it was a good thing you missed the blizzard!" (Yep.) We've been to Target twice, where I had a difficult time assimilating. 15 brands of stawberry jam pretty much put me into a 2 day overload trance. 15! Why? (After near 2 years of stumbling across Bangalore looking for a variety of items...it. just. seemed. like. overkill.)

Lastly, I've decided that the Universe has a seriously mocking sense of humor. Upon driving from our hotel parking lot on a particularly difficult day, I noticed that the new shopping construction next door is called, "The West End" which just happens to be the name of the hotel we stayed at for 2 weeks when we first arrived in Indian and went to brunch at numerous times. Next to that is a restaurant: A Taste of India. Coincidence? Or The Law of Attraction? Cosmic-cold-snowball-hit-precisely-on-the-back-of-the-neck? You tell me...

Thanks (ahead of time) to every single one of you who has to put up with our nuttiness and hasn't blocked our mobile number...yet.

The Fischers

One foot out and one foot in...

Minneapolis, MN, USA