Recovering

I know it's been almost a week since my last post. It's amazing how a move like this one affects you. I feel like I've been on an emotional roller coaster for the last week.

We thought everything was going so smoothly up to the day we were to leave Vilseck. We were flying out on the same flight as our best friends, so we decided to share a rental van to the Munich airport. Well, when the guys went to get the van, they found out that it had broken down and was still in Grafenwoehr. This was 11:00 a.m. So much for our plans to be in Munich by early afternoon. So a couple of the guys went to Graf to pick up the van while we waited with the kids at the playground outside our hotel building. We had already checked out by this point, so there wasn't much more we could do. At least the kids were able to play and use up some of their energy before we got in the van.

When we finally got to the airport, we decided that we needed to get an extra piece of luggage because the weight limit has been reduced from 70 pounds to 50 pounds per piece. We had already mailed quite a bit of our things ahead to keep from having to take so much with us on the plane. The thought of having to claim 8-10 pieces of luggage (each passenger is allowed 2), go through Customs and then check them again didn't sound very appealing. But we found out after we had mailed all our extra luggage that the weight limit had been reduced, so we had to buy another piece.

The morning we left everything went fairly smoothly...except for the fact that P. had neglected to pack one of our Leatherman tools. He had gone through his backpack and simply missed that one. They tried to talk him in to checking his backpack, but that wasn't an option. So they had to confiscate the Leatherman. He said he wasn't that upset about it because it was mine instead of his. Figures.

Fast forward to the end of our flight after we landed in Atlanta. We were being rushed through Immigration and Customs, and everything just seemed to be rush, rush, rush. Not exactly the "Welcome Home" you hope for. So we were pretty irritated at that point. We also knew that the time to part ways with our best friends and traveling companions was upon us. We got on the subway connecting the terminals, and our terminal was before theirs. We all got off together and said goodbye. That was the hardest part of the trip up to that point. I was just a mess the rest of the day. Even when I said hello to our families, which I was very happy about, I was still crying about leaving C.

We have spent the last few days catching up with our families and trying to recover from jet lag. I have to say that although I wish they would sleep later than they do, it's probably a good thing that my kids are such early risers because it has forced me to adjust more quicly to the time difference. I'll probably be doing pretty well in a couple more days. We have found a house that we really like that we're going to try to rent. I'll be so happy to have a place to settle in to. I know my mom's place is available for as long as we need it, but there is definitely something to be said about having a place of your own and not having to live out of suitcases.

It is nice to be home, but I do miss Germany and all of my friends. Maybe I'll be better once I've had a chance to adjust and calm down a bit.