Back to Normal
I never really traveled abroad when I was younger. I did go on one high school trip to Paris, but I (of course) did not appreciate it. I had fun, but mostly thought about going home to see my boyfriend at the time. I was silly and 17. I did make some fun memories with my friend from high school that went with me; like grocery shopping and not really knowing what we were buying. Or yelling “un homme verte!” when the light switched to the walk signal when we were crossing streets.
I would love to go back. I kept fighting the urge to speak French when in German-speaking Switzerland. While on my recent vacation to the Swiss Alps, I realized that I knew a whole lot more French than I did German, but I did take 5 years of French (high school and college) and only 2 weeks of German (off a CD I listened to in my car).
But now I am back in the US and am finally adjusted to the time and the heat! It was 109 degrees this past weekend, it was just deadly out! I would go out for a few minutes to take Cali to the bathroom and would be sweating by the time we got back in the house. But now that my body has adjusted and caught up on sleep, the temps have dropped and Ryan is home (yay!). I did not realize how much I missed him until I had to live alone in our house for one whole week. This morning I finally finished the last of five loads of laundry that he brought back. Now I am enjoying the FC Torino scarf and purse he brought back from Italy. I got another purse from his mom as well, so now I am all set with beautiful, genuine leather hand bags. I was very happy to see Ryan, but nothing beats getting a new hand bag (or two).
Cali was more than a little excited to see Ryan release her from her cage Sunday night. She could not contain her excitement AT ALL! She was literally bouncing off the walls. Ryan brought her home a stuffed cow, which we have officially named ‘Cowli2’. Cowli1 was a totally different stuffed cow I had brought home for Cali, but by the time Ryan returned, Cowli1 was missing it’s bandanna, 1 eye, both arms and legs, tail, and all the fluff that made it so squishy. Now Cowli1 is just a carcass: skin, 1 eye and a huge hole in its butt. Cowli2 has been under close surveillance by both Ryan and myself to ensure that it does not endure the same painful massacre that Cowli1 did. So far, Cowli2 is not missing any limbs, eyes, or tail. But Cali does nibble on the soft fur of Cowli2, as well as whip it in the air and catch in her mouth.
Sunday night, we all got in bed after Ryan unpacked and Cali was at her usual spot at the foot of the bed. Then after the lights went out and we were starting to drift off to dreamland, Cali stood up and crept towards us, then stretched out and laid down, her head on my pillow—a mere inches from my face! She let me cuddle with her like she was a teddy bear, with her back to me, facing Ryan as if to keep an eye on him. She was not going to let us out of her sight this first night back, all three of us in bed together again. I’m sure she thought it was too good to be true.
