Time

It seems as if I was just sitting in the cafe in Paris writing my last note but the date counter shows it has been 6 weeks. It blows my mind...and scares the hell out of me. Next thing I know, I will be going to my kids' graduations and weddings.

Anyway, I have sat alone in our empty house in Germany for a week now as I returned from our trip to the US 10 days before the rest of the family. And it is soooo quiet - too quiet. Boredom set in the first night without toys to pick up, kids not wanting to go to bed and my wife to talk to. But I have survived by doing going to work, working in the garden which has become overgrown with roses and sage (only 2 bee stings cutting it all back) and watching a few movies.

Our trip to the US was fantastic - saw tons of friends and family and loved being back. It was hectic as we tried to see and spend time with everybody. And included its share of incidents - a car accident as the taxi pulled up to catch our flight to the US when SheWhoShallNotBeNamed mighta hit the retaining wall by our garage, traffic violation in a construction zone (not I again :)), and numerous doctors' visits for check ups and yet again pink eye. But the trip was well worth it...and I just cross my fingers that Rebecca has a decent flight back tomorrow night with the kids and is not exhausted the next day.

Its funny - every time I get a day or two alone in the house (either here or the US), I always look forward to it as time to relax a bit and catch up on things - sleep, work, whatever. However, within a few hours I find I am bored and missing the organized chaos of this household. I recently saw this comment on someone else's blog but am going to borrow it...perhaps we need some more "tiny toes" to keep things chaotic??? Not that they are becoming routine and boring but the girls often play nicely together now giving brief periods of rest. Part of me says "Yes! I would love a new little one!" while another part of me says "No way! We are past the hard part. Why start over?"