Getting Excited

Okay, I admit it.

I'm getting excited about Indonesia.

We've been connected to a handful of people now, and they all seem very warm and welcoming.  They all seem happy.  We've received our housing assignment, and even seen a blog posting with photos of the interior.  We've been reading, and both the history and the region are wildly interesting.

These are all good reasons to be excited.

But here are the two reasons I am the most excited.

#1 - A housekeeper and a driver
We have already bought a car and hired a driver.  He comes very highly recommended.  In fact, we were first keyed into him because a friend said I think her driver is looking for work.  Do you want me to connect you?  So many people have commented on how good he is.  Having a driver is lovely.  Traffic in Jakarta is said to be amazing - a huge time suck.  Being able to amuse myself and be present with my family during the hours we spend in the car will be such a gift.

We have not yet hired a housekeeper, although we're chatting with a few folks.  But we will have a housekeeper.  And that means that all of the mundanity that fills up my days... well, a lot of the mundanity that fills up my days will be handed off to someone else.  Sigh.  I'm feeling relaxed even thinking about it.

#2 - Feeling at home again
We were cleaning up this evening, and I put the homework stuff away in the homework box.  The homework box is a flimsy canvas carton that belongs on the floor near the dining room table.  It holds all of the girls' workbooks, their pencil and marker boxes, and some basic art supplies.  It is a poor substitute for a desk.  But in a few short months, once we've moved into our new home and received all of our things, we will once again have a place for everything.  We will eat off of our own dishes and find a place for all of our kitchen tools... inside the kitchen.  We will have our books on the shelves, instead of in neat piles next to the bed.  We will build our home rather than deal with our hotel room.  Our hotel room is lovely - I've no complaints about our lodging these 8 months.  But it hardly feels like home.  I'm looking forward to being at home.