Guess what!?!  We looked up one day and saw the moon, full and white-bright and stunning.  We were excited that the sky was so clear that we could even see some stars!! And what’s more thrilling was the moment when we realized that we are STILL on planet EARTH!!!  As far as I know, it was Earth’s moon – it was instantly recognizable to me – I’ve spent many hours staring at and revering that “fairer sun”.   Was wonderful to see “The Man in the Moon’s” familiar swiss cheese face!

Other clues popping up now and again make me think that we might be slowly getting our groove back… that we might actually, eventually be okay here…

Like the day that Caleigh came home with a book (an ENGLISH book!!) from a LIBRARY (something that is very rare outside of an institution of learning here).  A Roald Dahl book, “Danny, The Champion of the World”.  Caleigh adores this author and thought she had read all of his books.   Such a happy surprise to discover this unread book in her school library.   Our routine has been to head for a swim after school, and on this day it was a bit cooler and the hot tub was looking a lot more appealing to all of us.  We managed to tear her away from her book long enough to go upstairs to the pool, where she sat on the side with her toes in the warm water and opened her book and picked up where she had left off.  I was SO happy.  She was once again lost in a good book.  Haven’t seen her do that for at least a month now!

And of course, with kids, the obvious clue that we’re returning to “normal” is the reappearance of the bickering.  I think it is an indicator of comfort – when they start to feel familiar and okay in a situation, they start to pick at each other again.  That said, there are clues that lead me to believe that they will champion one another, that they do, deep down, care about each other.  Listening at their door at bedtime one night, I heard all their little voices chiming, “Have a good sleep.  Love you Mansell, Love you Caleigh, Love you Hudson…”

We are listening to music again – I was horrified when I realized we had not listened to music for almost a month!! I honestly can’t remember ever going that long without hearing any music.  The tone instantly became relaxed the weekend morning I put on some background tunes while everyone was getting ready to go to the dining room for breakfast.  Since then everyone has been playing with Apple Music (Thank you Aunt Sara and Uncle Shamus!) to create playlists.  I’m so sorry, Music, that we had shelved you for so long.  You have helped the kids get to sleep at night when they are freaked out; you have added a spring to our step and a dance to our days, and the coolest alarms to wake us in the morning (Hudson’s current alarm is AC/DC Thunderstruck!)

And CBC radio!  I am a self-professed addict of talk radio and didn’t realize the withdrawal I was experiencing until I recently downloaded the CBC radio app and started listening again.   I have some catching up to do!

Oh, and our Rosie is back with us!  Which means we are walking her again, which is something I’ve always loved about having a dog.  She makes us get out and get moving.  Can’t wait to take her around our new neighbourhood – the few times we’ve toured the community to see the house, I’ve seen many people out walking their dogs.

Another thing that indicates that we might actually be enjoying a better “normal” than before: Daddy’s new hours and limited commute allow him to be home for breakfast and dinner with us each day!  We are spending more time together as a family.  🙂  Mansell is getting really involved in school: he’s on the Debating Team (which is such a positive natural outlet for his need to argue!!) and Swimming and will be competing in a tournament in the Spring! We are all learning Spanish, which is proving to be fairly easy for the little brains in the family, and will be beneficial to the older brains in the long-term.  There are a lot of opportunities we didn’t know we needed popping up and we’re doing our best to jump in, both feet!

As much as so much has changed for us, Mom recently reminded me that we are still the same people, deep down, and that we will get our groove back soon.  We are still supported and loved from afar.  Our “peeps” are rooting for us, and from that we can glean strength to face the challenges that lay before us.  Baby steps forward toward a new life here.

Patience…