"Hi Ashley, this is Dr. F-. We just got your CT results this morning and it looks like everything is clear. I hope your have a good Easter!"
And with that phone call, the next five weeks changed from a medical emergency to five weeks of... waiting. When I told the children, their first question was if they had to fly back to Dushanbe. I laughed and told them that no, they didn't have to go back because we would have enough time to get over jet lag, pack up the house, and then fly right back. And also, I didn't have a spare $16,000 to spend on plane tickets.
So now we are squatters in my parents' house, eating their food, driving their car, and messing up their house. They have been very gracious and keep insisting that really my kids aren't bothering them - too much. Better parents have never existed in this world.
We didn't bring any school books with us - I didn't think that I would have time to run school while dealing with whatever - so there's a lot of spare time on our hands. My mother has borrowed four bikes from various friends and Kathleen has had a taste of the delicious freedom of being a child with a bike in suburbia. We have gone to several parks. We've gone to the library. We've gone to visit friends - twice. We've helped my mom with yard work. And we still have four more weeks to go.
I've told my parents that we are happy to take an educational trip when seven other people in their house gets to be a little much, and they have left us this week to spend time in the Outer Banks, so hopefully we can make it through our togetherness without any permanent loss of good feelings. But still it is a long time to live with someone else.
I can't help but wish that we were back in Dushanbe - a thing that a friend still there couldn't believe - and in my house and with my husband and finishing up the last week of school before getting ready to pack out. Brandon tells me that my flower beds are really starting to bloom and the apricot tree has leafed out. I wish that I could be there to see them. I'm sad that we missed spending a week in London with friends. May is a nice time to be in London.
It's funny how great it is to be in America, but I'd rather be in Dushanbe looking forward to America instead of idly filling my time here. I think we can never be quite satisfied.
But the important thing to remember is that I'm filling my time and not looking forward to surgery or something even worse. And that I'm grateful for.
So now we are squatters in my parents' house, eating their food, driving their car, and messing up their house. They have been very gracious and keep insisting that really my kids aren't bothering them - too much. Better parents have never existed in this world.
We didn't bring any school books with us - I didn't think that I would have time to run school while dealing with whatever - so there's a lot of spare time on our hands. My mother has borrowed four bikes from various friends and Kathleen has had a taste of the delicious freedom of being a child with a bike in suburbia. We have gone to several parks. We've gone to the library. We've gone to visit friends - twice. We've helped my mom with yard work. And we still have four more weeks to go.
I've told my parents that we are happy to take an educational trip when seven other people in their house gets to be a little much, and they have left us this week to spend time in the Outer Banks, so hopefully we can make it through our togetherness without any permanent loss of good feelings. But still it is a long time to live with someone else.
I can't help but wish that we were back in Dushanbe - a thing that a friend still there couldn't believe - and in my house and with my husband and finishing up the last week of school before getting ready to pack out. Brandon tells me that my flower beds are really starting to bloom and the apricot tree has leafed out. I wish that I could be there to see them. I'm sad that we missed spending a week in London with friends. May is a nice time to be in London.
It's funny how great it is to be in America, but I'd rather be in Dushanbe looking forward to America instead of idly filling my time here. I think we can never be quite satisfied.
But the important thing to remember is that I'm filling my time and not looking forward to surgery or something even worse. And that I'm grateful for.
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