Seven and a Half Weeks Later

Home Sweet Home. Today, seven and a half weeks after pulling eagerly out of the drive at Casa Doyle, we pulled back in and were greeted less than a minute later by our third grade neighbor Tess who must have been watching for us from her window for hours or even days. She was quickly joined by her sister and they both helped us haul things out of the car and into the house. I was very glad to see our house. I really love it and I even welcomed the insect colonies who had taken up residence in our absence. Chris has declared Casa Doyle a no-pet zone for now but surely our bug volunteers don't count.

I went for a run to get the blood moving after three days in the car and when I turned the corner back into our street, I saw Chris talking to our neighbor Dolores. I firmly believe that everyone should have a Dolores in their life. She is the very best neighbor and friend a person could have. She took a quick walk with me and then split her dinner with us, throwing in breakfast for tomorrow and some fruit for good measure. I love her.

So, I find myself--happy to be back. It's hot. Very hot. But I think we can make it until the tide turns and the winds blow cool. We had a very good ride home. We listened to an excellent book on CD that everyone followed except maybe Ella (The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby--highly recommend it.) We took a little field trip and then today, a trip through Beaumont, visiting some of our old haunts. We hardly recognized our old house. It had been repainted and the red door I loved so much was gone. Nothing about it was ours anymore. Chris always remarks about how amazing it is that we ever lived in Beaumont at all. As for me, I am proud that I made it through. After crying several times on our house-hunting trip about having to live in the ugliest place in the USA, I determined not to leave Beaumont until I could say I would miss it. And I did. I do. I made some amazing friends there. I learned to teach my kids "under bubbles kick" and we found Sophie the best godparents ever--who, by the way, just moved to Houston! Yay! We'll spend the rest of our time here making memories with them.

And did I mention the Dave Matthews concert that we'll be at in less than two weeks? Just another thing to get excited about!

And on that note, ciao for now!

We stopped by Rogers Park which was within walking distance of our old house.

I took the girls to play in the fountain there very often.

Ella preferred to stay dry

Nothing better on a hot, hot day