Driving By...

Last week Danny and I made a trip to Bettendorf to go to our dentist. (This is a side note, but for those of you who think we are crazy to keep going back to Bettendorf for our doctors and dentists, I must defend our behavior...first, there is a pretty good chance we will end up back in Bettendorf and since we really like our doctors, we want to stay current with them. Plus, can you imagine toting all of our records to and from different doctors, especially Coop's book??  Also, it gives us a good opportunity to visit the town we consider our US "home"!)  Anyway, while we were in town, we couldn't help but drive by our two houses that we had lived in.  First, we had to discuss what we liked and didn't like about what the current owners had done, then we began reminiscing about everything that happened in those houses.  The memories brought both laughter and tears and a desire to have our house back again.

During my time back in the US I have had many moments where I just want to go back to the way it was...I want to go shopping at HyVee and Target every week, I want to wander Sam's aisles looking for samples after church on Sundays, I want to drop my lovely children off at school and preschool and meet my friends at the Coffee Hound for coffee and gab sessions, I want to be indecisive about what color to paint my bathroom, I want to watch the kids playing in the backyard from my kitchen window while I make dinner, but reality hits and I realize I am going back to China this week and these things are not going to happen there.  I think I'm normal to want things I can't have and to want to go back to when things were "easier".  I'm anxious to get back to our current "home" and the life we have built there for our family, but I may miss the US even more this year - I'm just not sure what to expect.  I am happy that we have a wonderful group of friends waiting for us to return, which we did not have last year!  I also know where to buy meats, milk, and imported goods straight away (as Eens would say!) when we return.  I'm looking forward to seeing our ayi, I really missed her this summer!  I'm excited to work a little this year because all three little ones will be in school.  So, there is much to look forward too and I must keep this in mind, but it doesn't make leaving the US, our family and friends, and the little things any easier!!  Who knows, maybe in a couple of years when we are back in the US, I may want to go back to living in Tianjin (probably not, but one never knows!!)!