For the first few months of home assignment, all my time, energy and brain power is used up just getting our family into a routine, helping things to be familiar and our home settled. Just to live life daily feels like a big accomplishment. And it is.
Today, with a little extra available brain power we tackled a few piles of old receipts, documents and papers from our last home assignment that were in storage. Getting 3 stacks of files situated, one to leave here, one to use while here and then toss, and then one to take with us; helped me feel a little more on top of life. Granted there are still things to do and things to decide, but the piles are not so high and daunting.
We came across these ancient passports. These pics are pre-wedding. Are we cute or what?
Usually the first half of our home assignment is spent moving in and the second half is spent getting ready to move out. Sound crazy? Yes, but true. My missionary friend back in Japan talks about how the first half of a 4 year term in Japan is spent accumulating needed things to set up that particular house. Then her mindset changes at the half way mark. She then tries to see what she can make do with realising that she will soon have to toss or store everything.
Well, we are on the verge of that switch. Although yesterday I did buy a new clock for our living room. We'll enjoy it for another 4 months, but then it will get packed away and stored with the rest of our household items until our next home assignment in the U.S. We are eyeing those creaky dinning room chairs of ours. (We only let house-guests sit in certain ones, since we are afraid they might fall right through to the floor.) These chairs have been re-covered multiple times and repaired and re-repaired even more times. I don't think they will make it to our friend's barn for storage this time around. We'll have to make due for now and then have less to store later!!
