Recently I was refilling hand soap pumps around our apartment from one of those large refill jugs. Then, several days later, I actually wrote "ground cinnamon" on my shopping list.I can see how these two details might not catch the attention of a typical wife/mother, but to me they almost brought tears to my eyes. You see, as an Army family, we have moved so much in the past 18 months that I have never reached the end of a hand soap pump. Instead, moving day would arrive and we would have to toss a 1/3-full one and then buy a new one at the next place. Spices -forget it! I love my spices, but moving men are insistent that they won't pack anything open or perishable - so the amount of cardamom and ground cloves I have sprinkled in dumpsters across the continental US is rather sad. But here we are - I got to use all of my own cinnamon! Nearly seven months in beautiful Germany and we are finally feeling established (it is all relative). My 14-month-old son is in a real crib and we actually have a land line for the first time since we have been married. It feels good. As we settle in for Holy Week and I pull old craft projects down off of our kitchen cork tiles to replace them with paper palms and cloak-draped crosses it feels peaceful. I feel great joy for my children and husband that the Army has granted us a few years to make our house a home.
Though I suspect there is still some sort of subconscious adrenaline-junkie lurking inside of us, because we haven't accepted this new sense of calm whole-heartedly. Now that things are finally settling into place around here, we have found out that we will be welcoming an AWOL newborn in late October! Nonetheless, what a nice feeling to be able to welcome this new baby into a home he will grow in and learn to love, rather than cradling a 3-day old while the packers tape boxes around us. Thank you, God. A blessed holy week to all.
14 comments:
Congratulations on your upcoming addition! I always seem to just start getting settled into a comfortable routine, when everything shifts and I'm off balance for a bit. I have a feeling you'll settle yourselves wonderfully no matter what comes your way.
Congratulations! This makes 2 more Builder babies in October, now, right? I'm glad you're able to settle in and hope you have a healthy pregnancy!
Great news! Congratulations!
Congratulations, again, AWOL, and a blessed Holy Week to you, too!!
AWOL, we have been married for 8 years and we lived in five different apartments before we bought our house, so I understand your feelings. Six kids, six moves, a lot of upheaval for all of us. Red often reminds me that I need to give myself time to adjust, sometimes it feels like we move again before we even get settled. I can't express the peace I feel at being finally settled for the long term now, and especially in a place that has some history for our family -- Peter had his first Christmas morning in this house, and the area is so familiar to us that it has felt like home much more quickly. To know that it is worth taking the time to paint, plan a garden and so forth is really a blessing, but it also takes patience for me -- I am used to decorating with a staple gun, and I am trying to force myself to take my time and do things properly here.
I think I forgot that you were pregnant, if I knew, so congratulations on that. I am glad that the heat is off, I felt very uncomfortable with no pregnant builders there for a few months...
Oh, and I recently finished a bottle of shampoo and felt so pulled together, it meant that I did not lose it on some outing somewhere...
Congratulations!
Mary Alice, I think that must be like the feeling I used to get when I actually got to the end of a tube of Chapstick. Making it all the way through without losing it/putting it through the wash sure was an accomplishment!
Many Congratulations! And to be selfish I would like to implore this little corner of the entire communion of saints for some prayers. I am getting ready to give birth to #4 here any day. I have to do this one with out my own tall dark and handsome soldier and am praying I go into labor on my own before Wednesday to avoid a pitocin induction for being overdue. Thanks!!
AWOL, congratulations on having a place you can make a home (we're still not exactly there yet but my heart longs more and more for that day!), and an even bigger congratulations on the new little AWOL. Nothing like Lent during the first trimester. What WONDERFUL news!!!
MargaretJDMom, prayers for you. Go girl go, on the labor, and we can't wait for news of your new arrival. God bless you.
Congrats Awol!
And as an aside, we only went about 3 weeks w/o a pregnant builder. MaryAlice gave birth in mid-late December, and we conceived our newest addition in mid January. Not bad ladies!
Margaret, prayers for you that you go into labor soon and that things go smoothly. Please let us know when the baby arrives!
Much joy on all fronts! I feel your peace, AWOL, and it is SO very good. Congrats!! I'm so happy for you and warm hugs at the news of your newest blessing. What a lucky kid!!
Margaret, you are my hero! Prayers and blessings go out to you as you conquer labor and life without your main squeeze by your side. We'll say some prayers for him as well, as I'm sure it's not easy being away from you all during this special time. I echo Red--keep us posted!
MA, you did know that I was pregnant, because you accused me of getting pregnant in order to avoid the Lenten fasting duty! All, thanks for the well-wishes. Margaret, go girl go.
Congratulations, I have delivered twice in Germany and am hoping to do it ONE MORE TIME before we leave here. I love those midwives! And I certainly know how army life is, so congrats on finishing that cinnamon, and I wish many more empty bottles for you ;-)
That sounds like something I would say...
I am pretty sure that I delivered my intellect along with child #5 and have just been surviving on instincts since then.
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