Early Reflections and Ramblings....

Well, it is definitely nice to be back in familiar surroundings. Houses with carpet, hot and cold running water, etc, etc… Jet lag is definitely a pain, especially on infants…which in turn makes it harder on 40 year old parents too. We have been back for one weekend, albeit a very busy weekend, and still are trying to get our hands around the changes. The family appears to be happy their grandbaby is back…probably us too. It has been a whirlwind of activity, so I am going to try and document it so that our daughter will have it for prosperities sake.

After about 26 hours of travel from Nairobi to Dallas, we finally arrived, a bit haggard, relieved to finally be home. Flying with an infant is a bit of a challenge, no way around it. We have been really blessed with a happy baby and all things considered it was not that bad. This time around, British Airways was not that bad and actually helped quite a bit. We never had a problem with the on-plane staff and, as usual, they were awesome. My wife had a business class ticket due to spending our points…me, I was back in cargo, er “World Traveler” class. Without asking, the staff upgraded me to Business…man, I could and cannot thank them enough. We had a cabin to ourselves with a basinet so it made things really easy. Also, the five hour layover in Heathrow is definitely bearable when one can take advantage of the BA Executive club. Aside from one episode, it was a very uneventful flight home. Captain Dumbass (that would be me), left his laptop on the airplane upon arrival at DFW. Now, in all fairness, getting off a plane with all ones crap, their wifes crap, and their daughters crap (including stroller) is a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, the dudes cleaning out the airplane were honest, found my laptop and returned it to baggage claim and we were off!

Because we had planned on being in Kenya a bit longer than we ended up staying…we had a TON of baggage. Showing up at the airport in Nairobi with nine overweight bags and trying to get them all shipped out was a real challenge. Normally, in Nairobi, one can flash a few bills and get a lot of things done. It is pretty much like that everywhere there. One can actually get used to it after awhile. Can’t get a seat at a restaurant? Flash some cash. Don’t want a speeding ticket? Flash some cash. Got too many bags and don’t want to pay the fees…seems they want a LOT of cash. Fortunately we were able to get it all on but we did draw some suspicious glares upon arriving at DFW. Loading up three luggage carts, all over stacked and over loaded…hey, we made it home, right? That is what I was thinking…

Because the in-laws brought two vehicles (they had to because of our luggage), I got to drive home from the airport. It was a bit unnerving after so many months driving on the left side of the road. Also being used to just pulling out in front of someone when you want to go or want to change lanes makes for a bit of a challenge too. It works freaking great on the freeway driving my Avalanche. Some butthole doesn’t want to let me in? I still remember 9th grade geometry stating that no two points can exist in the exact same place at the exact same time. That seems to apply to vehicles on the freeway too!!! Just move like you don’t care and they will make room for you. I have learned to ignore “hooting” (honking ones horn) and can just smile as I drive along. So, if you are driving in DFW, you see a silver Avalanche with its turn signal on…don’t be a butthole. I’m coming over one way or another and I’m willing to test that point/time/place theory.

After arriving at my in-laws house, the chaos started. We have three; very cool nephews aged 11, 7, and 4 that were really happy to see their cousin return. We were completely shot after traveling and unloading the luggage yet again and struggled to hang out and be sociable. Our time clocks were still telling us it was around 3:00am…our faces looked like it was nest week. Our poor daughter had circles the size of hockey pucks showing but she was a real trooper. By the time we got all our ducks in a row, visiting done, and ready for bed, it was pretty much 8:00am for me and there was no sleep in the immediate future for me.

FRIDAY! No “Thank God its Friday” here…Friday sucked! Seeing how we sold our house to move to Kenya we were officially homeless for the first time in our lives. Fortunately, we have a great friend that offered us his home to “squat” in until we find our new home. He is currently working on a military assignment in California (Engineer) so it worked out really, really well. Moving our crap…that is another story. While my wife worked diligently to get our daughters first birthday party ready, I was moving previously mentioned luggage back and forth to the new pad. Add to that we had no food, toilet paper, soap, nothing. Running on vapors, we managed to get all of our stuff done and moved into our new temporary home…just one thing. THE FREAKING AIRCONDITIONING BROKE! Ok, we have been living for the past four months without air conditioning…shouldn’t be that big a deal, right? September in Texas…someone did not get the message that summer is over! It has averaged 95+ degrees with God knows how high of humidity… Constant sweat running down ones butt crack is pretty special as is sleeping in a pool of liquid-like sheets. Add to this that we do not have television service or Internet service installed yet and I begin to wonder if I am back in a really, really hot and uncomfortable Nairobi? We did get a window unit for the bedroom finally, but the rest of the house just plain sucks right now.

Saturday was the BIG DAY! Our daughter’s first birthday party, being held at my wives friends house, was to start at 1:00pm. We had grandparents in town, 20+ friends and family showing up, cakes ordered while still in Kenya to pick up, a big honking bounce house to coordinate and we are walking around like “Night of the Living Dead”… All things considered, it was a smashing success. The cake, that my wife obsessed over for about three weeks slaving online, hours of international phone calls to bakeries, and thousands of pictures compared…ended up being very, very nice. The bounce house, which I initially scoffed, was a big success with all the kids…who woulda thunk it? I took the easy way out and manned the grill, cooking hamburgers and hotdogs…that was definitely the safest place for me. It was great catching up with friends and family, seeing familiar faces made being home all the more special. Sunday, we had a second birthday party for some other family members that were not able to make it Saturday and an opportunity for us to be able to catch up a bit too. That was an evening party, got started a bit late and ended up getting home around midnight that night…sleepy baby in tow. Needless to say, Monday we did not get a whole lot accomplished

Tuesday was the BIG DAY! My wife started her new job. The upside is having a job setup to come back to so quickly, the downside is having a job you have to go back to so quickly. Considering the jet lag, long weekend, no air conditioning, and the baby she was going to have a tough go of it. With her having to get up at 3:30 in the morning to make a 6:00am flight sucks as does getting home at 7:00pm that night. I don’t know which was harder, her having to go to work or her having to live with me taking care of our daughter all by myself. I don’t know if she was expecting to come home to a wrecked house, Rayna walking around with a day-old diaper hanging precariously by a single strap and covered in food and dirt… She probably had good reason to be concerned all things considered. However, I think she was pleasantly surprised arriving to a house that looked pretty much the same as when she left and a baby that was clean and happy to see Mommy home. The next big step will be Mommy being gone for two days starting Thursday morning…overnight and can Daddy bathe, feed, keep up…again, she probably has reason for concerns but this author feels it can be handled.

All in all, we have not had a lot of time to reflect on being back…and that is good. Being busy helps get on with our lives and assimilate back to the hectic pace that is living in the U.S.A. Where we were going bananas in Kenya not having anything to do, not knowing many people, and wondering what to do with our time; now we are having time blaze by and not able to keep up with the things we want to do, need to do, and even expectations of others...what they want us to do. Looking back, I do not think I necessarily miss living the “Hakuna Matata” lifestyle in Kenya…yet. I am, however, very glad that I had an opportunity to do it and just may look forward to reliving it in the future. Maybe the 2nd birthday? Time shall tell…
Peace,
Dude
FBO