Two Weeks in the House

I can't believe it, but we have been in country now for just shy of a month and in our new home for two weeks. It's been a whirlwind. For the amount of time we have been here, we appear to be very settled. Most of our furniture is where it should be. Our kitchen cabinets are stocked with our plates and cups and the like and the bedrooms are set up. And for us, one of the most important things is that our pictures and paintings, for the most part, are hung. This always makes us feel good because each one reminds us of places we have been or people we know. We have also met some great people thus far. We had a very nice couple over on Friday night and we really hit it off. They have two kids and the husband is in the US Navy and his wife is a Naval reservist working on her Ph.D. Very nice.   Our great neighbor and her daughter also joined us, and we had a fun night.

It is only natural, however, that settling into a new life in a new house in a new country should take some time. Our phone situation is not satisfactory. Jess has a pay as you go phone, but later this week we'll get her a smarter phone. I have yet to get a personal phone and need to. Our home phone, which is supposed to allow us to call back to the States for free after 5 pm on weeknights and all weekend is not allowing us to make any calls so we have to figure that out. But unfortunately, the operator who comes on when we dial incorrectly speaks in French so we do not know what we are doing wrong. And best of all, we have a mole who decided to move in with us. As I type this, I am looking at two or three new mounds he created since last night.  We'll see who wins that battle.

It's funny. We can't put a finger on it, but we're not quite there in terms of feeling totally settled yet. (Maybe it's the rain the last couple days affecting our mood after weeks of pleasant sunshine, or the fact that we didn't travel anywhere this weekend.  Or maybe it's that we still could use some furniture (tv is on the floor) to populate the house.  Perhaps we need the smell of Jess' homemade bread traveling throughout the house.  Regardless, we'll get there.  Thankfully the boys do not feel the same. We are so impressed at the ease with which they have integrated into their new life in a new country. It's almost as if they haven't skipped a beat. We hope that trend continues!