From a secret location, in the backass woods of Maryland, I am enjoying a cup of coffee with the fine company of 2 large dogs all while listening to birds chirp and cars drive by.
I'M FINALLY IN THE STATES BITCHES!!!!
Well, we've been in the states for 5 days now, but I have barely been standing still since Friday evening. Which found me on a flight to Miami to retrieve and drive Mac's Passat home, while my brother-in-law drove my PT Cruiser. What a long strange journey that became. Which ended with (a) the Passat requiring a tow to Richmond (b) us getting lost, in the dark, after being on the road for nearly 24 hours (c) the kind of tired/crazy that happens when exhaustion would be a welcomed feeling because you've passed it about 30 miles ago.
Speaking of the Passat, he's now the property of CarMax and in his place is a 2010 lime (??) green Kia Soul. This Mommy got some new wheels!! More out of necessity and get-it-while-the-gettings-good, than anything else. The Passat, well it needed some engine work, which we got done....but the transmission was also on the way out and at over $4k to replace (fucking German engineering!!), it's just not in our budget, especially with it having over 90K miles on it. Once one things goes, the rest all start to follow. Good thing, though, the car was paid off before we left Okinawa so the entire trade amount was the downpayment for the Soul (aka Tic Tock).
And that sums up our first 4 days in Maryland. I drove the East Coast, the Passat crapped out 2 miles before reaching Virginia, we needed a guided tour to find F's house and we're now living in a commune!
Huh?? What's that? You're a little confused. Oh well, allow me to clear things up:
We went from Okinawa, an island with only a handful of chill non-asshole people on it. To Maryland, a house filled with: 6 adults (3 have since left, but there will be at least 4 again soon), 3 kids aged *almost* 5 and under, 1 infant (the best baby in the world!), 2 dogs (a husky and a 5 month old dane puppy!) and 2 cats. See?? Commune!
The beauty of the commune (I'm beginning to see the appeal of Sister Wives, y'all), is we're always helping each other out. Especially helpful, if you happen to be wicked ill from the plane ride and feel so congested you think you're actually drunk. Claire has helped Mac and I immeasurably since arriving here and it really reminded me of how much I've missed being around my support system.
And now Nixon.....oh, my poor, poor baby boy. Between the time change, the new surroundings, the having built in playmates/pseudo-siblings and Mommy gone for a day plus right after we arrived....he's a little mess. He's having a hard time learning how to fend for himself, when it comes to playing with K-bug and Peanut. Especially K-bug, who is a year younger, several inches shorter and at least 5 pounds lighter. Nixon is, and this is hard as a mom to face, a whiner. He'll cry and whine for someone to "help me" rather than realize he's bigger and can "make" K-bug leave him alone!
Nixon's the sensitive child, I remember my parents and their friends using that term to describe the bullied/quiet/ "momma's boy" in the neighborhood. Not that Nixon will stay like this, but being as overwhelmed with newness as he is, it's put a spotlight on his clinginess. I love him to death and wish like hell I could make this whole thing easier on him, but he's going to have to deal with it and figure it out on his own. I think the problem may be, I HAVE been making everything easier on him. And that's a big, ugly pill to swallow as a mom. I feel like I may have already failed him before I even knew what I was doing wrong. And now, if we don't rush to him when he cries/whines, he acts like we've abandoned him because he doesn't see we're doing it to help him. In his eyes, what I've always done, is what I should be doing now but I'm not doing it. I'm not swooping in to pick him up and I'm making him figure out how to deal with K-bug.
We're homeless at the moment, crashing in this impromptu commune, but we've ass deep in love and support!
It's good to be home. Even if we're all figuring it out as we go along.
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