Thankful Tuesday: Adjustment and the Hope of Normal

Today is election day in the US and I know a good blogger would have something really meaningful to say about that. But today, I’m going to have to send you elsewhere for your meaningful election posts, because I’m obsessed with the fact that we’re in our new apartment! I’m still operating without Internet so my sole communication with the outside world has been radio and Twitter on my phone. (My phone is pretty lame so my tweets are barely-tweets.)

Those things don’t really matter though because when I move I turn into Crazy Move Micha who cannot do anything other than unpack. This version of myself is the most driven version of Micha that exists. Understand, I’m not very organized. I’m not high-strung about much. But there is one thing I care deeply about: Where my stuff goes. And how quickly I can put it there.

I do not like unopened cardboard boxes. I do not like to be more than two days in a house without feeling like it’s my home. That’s why the moment we move into a new place, two things happen: 1) Chris gets out of my way, and 2) Chris takes care of the children. Because Crazy Move Micha has a really hard time listening to and/or stopping her wild pursuit of unpacking whenever a child asks for a cup of water or wants to eat some lunch. Crazy Move Micha loves her children but she is incapable of hearing their cries until the dishes are in the cabinet, you see.

That’s why we’re all thankful that Crazy Move Micha can usually accomplish the unpacking of our entire house in superhero time. And that’s why I’m able to write this post on Monday night, because that woman has already gone far far away and hopefully she will not show up in my life for a very loooooong time because we will not move again for a very loooooong time. Okay?

So, Happy Thankful Tuesday. I’m thankful…

•  For how we’re all adjusting and for how happy August is especially. His feeling normal here makes everything hopeful.
•  How not having the Internet forced me to spend last night actually reading a real book because I couldn’t read other blogs or watch new episodes of New Girl on Hulu.
• My husband’s ability to get home from work in time for dinner
• Watching the boys play with play-dough together at the little kid table
• The newly renovated playground next to August’s school and how amazing it is to let the boys play there every afternoon with so many of August’s new school friends
• That every one has to go to the playground in the city. I love the forced community of the playground and the necessity of giving our kids a place to run. I love how I’m having conversations with other moms at his school and also running into friends from church at the same park. I love how small this city feels sometimes.
• I’m thankful for friends who helped with the boys during the move. Leah taking my boys and her two girls and her sweet pregnant belly to the park while the movers were at our place. She’s a rock star. And for Katie coming over yesterday to help me move and vacuum rugs and cut down boxes and generally keep me company.
• I can’t tell you how constantly thankful I feel for the friendships I moved back into. It is an amazing gift to have people here who want to be part of our lives, who want to help me, who already love our boys. I’m overwhelmed by it and deeply grateful for it. I know what it’s like to move without a community nearby. I know the dark loneliness of having a kid and trying to find friends in a world that is not looking for you. So coming here and reentering into our church and our friendships continues to astound me.
•  I’m thankful for cabinet space in my kitchen
• For sweet bedtimes with the boys
• For the first night of Standard Time and the coziness of the sun going down early and all of us sitting down to dinner. (I know I’ll be complaining about early darkness soon enough, but last night, I loved making dinner when it was already dark.)
• For a good, long phone conversation with my grandmother on Saturday
• For my new icon I picked up in Rome that depicts Christ’s life. I’m looking at it right now and I can’t wait to show it to you sometime.
• For my longsuffering cat who has adjusted (once again) to a new house and who just lies there and takes it when the boys snuggle with him and coat him in snot and lay their bodies on his belly. He’s a good cat.

Happy Election Day to all the USA-ers out there. And happy Thankful Tuesday to all of you. What are you thankful for, friends?