There's No Place Like Home

Going through old pictures is fun, and I enjoyed looking for Daphne's "Costumes of Halloweens Past" for the mosaic I added a couple of posts ago.  The Dorothy one is the only one I didn't "make" myself.  (I use that term loosely.  Princess Leia was basically a robe and some duct tape, so I can't really say I made it.  But I didn't buy it in the costume aisle at Target).   "Dorothy" was purchased at the very last minute.  Um...in the costume aisle at Target.

At the time, we had just arrived in Virginia, and we were living in a terrible apartment with terrible loud neighbors and the most uncomfortable couch in the history of furniture.  Daphne was a handful, I was desperately homesick, and Kev was starting a new job.  We were also trying to sell a house 1000 miles away and buy a house in a place we didn't really know anything about.  So, making a Halloween costume wasn't gonna happen.

Those were hard days.  I missed my family and friends and knowing where I was going.  Everything here was confusing.  I didn't know which way was North or South.  I didn't know how to get back to our apartment if I ventured very far away from it.  There were many tears.  So, Kev got me a GPS.  That helped a little.  I am thankful for my GPS.  Eventually, the GPS helped me find Trader Joe's.  I am VERY thankful for Trader Joe's.  But mostly, in those days, I spent a lot of time sitting around feeling sorry for myself,  knitting on the terrible couch, watching marathons of old Project Runways and wishing we could go back to Texas.

Fast forward to now.  We found a great house in a great town.  We have actual real friends.  My family is here!  Kev's job is stressful but secure.  Daphne is happy and slightly less of a handful.  And I still knit and watch Project Runway, but on a comfortable couch, and not whilst full of sorrow.  And I am so thankful for all of that.  I appreciate how lucky I am, even if I don't always say so.

For the record, I still rely quite heavily on my GPS, but that's OK.  I can find Trader Joe's without it now, though!