So- we all arrived where we needed to this morning. Somehow.
I got up extra early to take the dog for a nice stroll on the esplanade and was again amazed at how busy it already was at 6am. Adjusting to the fact that we will really not have alone time outside for a few years could take a bit…! I don’t mind having company at all times- it’s just different.

The kids took the drop-offs today harder than we’d hoped, and I did the classic cheese-ball 50’s housewife move and included a smiley-face heart-filled picture in each of their lunch boxes last night, with the hopes that that might provide a bit of a lift at lunch time today….

We were really worried about Eli as he was pretty upset, even after riding his strider bike to school today (which Brett had to carry back to the apartment as there’s not storage space there either. damn).
He emailed the director and she wrote back this heart-wrenching, but appreciated note. I’ve read it about 86 times and it still gets me…

“Eli is doing well today. Tomorrow he will probably be extremely upset when he realizes he has to stay here without you again. Day by day the center will look better and better though. I’ll try to be in Eli’s class in the mornings to help him transition more easily.

We acknowledged that he is sad and told him that it is alright to feel that way. He drew a picture with a sad face for you, but he said he will draw a picture with a happy face before you return because he is feeling better. We told him that you are sad also because you miss him and that made him feel better.

This is the tough part, but soon he’ll be really enthusiastic about coming! Check in anytime you would like, I hope this report was helpful!”

Milestone milestone milestone.

Our stuff arrived Saturday and my amazing Aunt and Uncle spent the day with us. Not only was it helpful, but it was comforting to have their familiar faces here with us, so quickly after we’ve moved here.

We’ve got the apartment at 85% functionality (the last 15% is reserved until our damn bikes have storage outside of the living room and the remaining 3 cupboards that are overflowing can be properly ‘container store’ organized by me….

Last night we celebrated (maybe we’re rewarding ourselves too much for these little milestones- i’m not sure) by ordering in Lomardi’s pizza and watching Muppets Take Manhattan. That is still a quality movie, i insist. Pretty neat watching it IN Manhattan.

And now- we are at work. Real live work.
We likely will be fairly nomadic in here until we move to the new office space in November, so this week I’m camped at someone’s desk who likes Vans, Scotch, and Costa Rica. It’ll work…

Feels a bit like a calm before the storm of work once people realize we are here for real and functioning, so trying to brace for that…:)

And repeating the mantra ‘I can do this.’ A lot. To silence the ‘WTF are we doing?’…