First Post

Well, I thought I'd outgrown the need for a blog, what with moving back stateside and therefore being able to use my words to communicate with the general populace. But, tamed though we may be, this is an exciting (and trying and happy and frenetic and frustrating and wonderful) time in my life so I want to keep documenting it. But this time more for me than for the baby book.

Rewinding a bit, husband, baby, dogs and I left Germany after a 20 month stay last August to move here to Nashville. I miss Germany more than I thought I would. It was unimaginably lovely there and life removed from most everything and one you know has its benefits in its simplicity. I am currently someone who is readjusting to an American landscape, often filled with strip malls, billboards, jumbles of electrical wires, and other eye sores. And I am becoming, against my will, the horrible ex-expat who bores people with my snooty and idealized comparisons of life here versus life abroad. But I have faith in life's ability to help you adjust your point of view to appreciate the good around you - and there is really so much good here in Nashville. And I believe that if I embarrass myself enough times, eventually I'll learn to pipe down so I can make a friend or two. Okay, that one is more of a "hope" than a "belief."

So, yes, we are here! Will, tireless human that he is, started work as a first year professor a mere 2 weeks after arriving. In the first month, we bought 2 cars, 1 house, a fancy washer/dryer set, chose insurance plans, became Costco members, and, above all else, stayed hydrated. Sweet fancy Moses it is HOT in Tennessee in August! And September! And a little in October. The mosquitoes finally died in November.

Now we are very proud homeowners of the dang cutest 1920s cottage ever. It is still very much in-progress. And sometimes I sigh extra hard as I set my glasses atop not a bedside table but a plastic storage bin. But mostly I am excited and happy making lots of lists. I don't show these lists to my husband because that's love. Also, I am trying to lull him into a false sense of security so I can blindside him over his holiday break.