Lilly stayed home sick from school last week. She never mentioned any symptoms and she never complained. She simply slept. Usually the first one to wake in the mornings, she couldn't lift her head to eat her breakfast, so we kept her home. She stayed so exhausted for 3 full days. For whatever reason, the poor girl needed some rest. After her week of sleep, she is back to waking before anyone else in the house.
I often feel that this is my time of rest. Life in northern Virginia has been surprisingly easy, and peaceful. So far, each of our schools and all of our teachers have worked out well. Each of us have made friends easily. We happened upon a fabulous and energized church (amusingly, it is also in a time of transition). We can communicate simply with our family, by quick phone calls or text messages. We've had visitors - loads of visitors. And they only stay for a few days at a time. We have very little extra money, which means we spend a lot of time cooking at home and we frequent the many parks in the area.
Life is busy. No doubt life is busy. Annika and I spend a lot of time in the car, ferrying around her big sisters for their varied school schedules and playdates. Things will only become busier in a few weeks when Lilly will add soccer to her schedule. Dave continues to work long hours. But as a junior officer, he benefits from comp time. Now that he is within sight of finishing this his first post, he is taking comp time whenever he can snatch a day. This means plenty of 3-day weekends, adding to the leisurely feel of our time these days.
And as Dave prepares to transition out of this job and into language training, he looks at a more regular schedule and shorter days. He feels some anticipation toward going back to school - studying language full-time is difficult for anyone, but especially for adults who are used to leading and succeeding. Language training is a trying time for most FSOs, from what I hear. School starts for Dave in May, and so do shorter work days and longer evenings. We are looking forward to a quiet summer within swimming lessons and lots of evenings on the back porch, eating something off the grill.
While Dave will continue his schooling into the fall, Sophia will begin kindergarten at the local public school. She will be full day, and will be in the same building as her big sister. Annika and I look forward to walking the girls to school in the morning, walking again to pick them up in the afternoon, and possibly not picking up the car keys all day long sometimes.
Life in China became routine, but it never became peaceful or simple. Here, I know how to solve most of my problems - and that brings a certain sense of calm. Crime continues to escalate in Venezuela, and the political situation is currently interesting but could become quite tumultuous in the next year or two. I do not expect life to be peaceful this time next year, and it was certainly not restful this time last year. Life tends toward the boring in our house, which is not a way I would want to live forever. But for a season, I've no complaints. For this week, this month, and for the better part of this year, my soul is at rest.
