Since I've Been Home...

I love this photo.  It reminds me of that connection we feel to home, and that, no matter where we are, we carry that connection with us.

We will call this a "catch up" post...

I'm not sure why, but my recovery time since arriving home from California has been especially long.  For nearly 2 weeks upon my return I was completely unmotivated to do anything productive.  I forced myself to put away the Christmas decorations, which took 3 days, a little here and a little there.  The irony is that I was very amped when I put them up, and did it all in 1 day!  If anyone has an explanation for that, I would love to hear it.

Part of it, I think, is going from 3 weeks in a situation where I was not in my own house and didn't have to think about laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, and pets, to suddenly having to get back into the mindset of taking care of a home.  But rest assured, the CA trip was busy and taxing in other ways.  It has been a little strange, though, because I have had to almost reteach myself my systems for doing certain things.  ("This is your system for laundry," "This is your system for timing dinner just right," "This is the way you normally schedule your day.")  I'm big into systems.  I try to be flexible within them, but I like having a certain way of doing things.

And, I was given a new calling at church.  Relief Society (ladies' organization) secretary.  I was happy to accept the position, but sad to give up my previous calling, which was giving a monthly lesson in Relief Society.  I loved that calling.  Being secretary has a host of responsibilities, all of which require a lot of attention to detail and plenty of time on the computer (very much my thing,) but there is a learning curve, definitely.

Then, suddenly, a few curve-balls came into the mix.  None of them happened directly to us, but there has been a lot of tragedy in the lives of people we are close to.  In the last month and a half, five families we know have lost someone, plus a high school friend died after a battle with cancer.  I can't say I knew all of the people who passed away, but knowing people who have been affected has been draining.  No one likes to be reminded of our mortality, but it seems like we have been forced to think about it again and again recently. (And constantly trying to counter-balance that by being thankful for our blessings and our marriage.)

One of these losses prompted my husband to get on a plane and go out of town for a few days.  I completely supported the decision, but it gave me a chance to see things from his end when I'm visiting my family in CA.  It was kind of weird being in the house alone (with the pets) for 5 days.  I made chef salads each night for dinner and basically lived in 4 rooms of an 11-room house.  Let's just say that I was very glad when he came home.

Despite the oddity of being the one left behind, there were things to keep me busy each day.  Book Club, helping a friend use her iPad and computer, making dinner for a couple in our ward who needed some extra help for a few days, and catching up on some of my British murder mystery shows.  And Downton Abbey, of course.

And now I'm looking ahead to the end of January and the beginning of February.  The first week of next month already has 4 events, which is usually the way things happen. A party, a church meeting, a church activity, and a piano recital.  Something tells me that week is going to fly by.

So, even though there have been some bumps, and it has taken a while to settle back into my routine, things feel back to normal now. That's OK.  We like normal.  Normal is good!