Saturday, June 22, 2013

Four Weeks Since Haiti

I've been home for 4 weeks now. I can't say that it has been an emotional or easy transition. I'm still the crazy cleaning lady and its not finished- not by a long shot. I'm still dealing with the shock and sadness of my dog dying.  I've visited my dentist and doctor. I've walked and I've shivered, I've sat in sunshine and next to the fire place. I went to my daughter's Portland State graduation. I've been cooking- and made some pretty tasty meals.  I got my computer repaired but lost all of my photos, music and documents. I'm still working on  attitude adjustment.
Monday we will drive to Kettle Falls to visit with my mom for a few days. Weather forecast calls for rain. Hopefully, that will change too.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Leaving Haiti

It was an emotional couple of weeks. Closing up the guest house- packing all of the household items to move to storage, telling the staff goodbye, leaving my dog with Andy all left me exhausted and tearful. I wonder where this emotional stuff comes from. I will be back in a few months when the new guesthouse is finished. I'm sure that it is an accumulation of emotions- probably years actually. I've decided that a break will be good for me and I should take time to reflect and reenergize. I will take time to re-connect with family and friends and enjoy the time together that coming for a week or 2 vacation does not allow. And I still have to do some work.

Reintegrating and adjusting:  After being away for the better part of 4 years, my Portland house is more like what you'd imagine a bachelor pad to be like. So while much of the first week at home was cold, gray and rainy, I turned into a crazy person wanting to get everything clean and organized. It wasn't enough that I could flip a switch without thought that a light would shine, that I could step into the shower and it would be hot and soothing. It wasn't in me to sit back a watch a basketball playoff game and relax. I worked through the emotions by purging more tangible touchable stuff. I went through closets and dressers, filling paper bags with clothes and stuff to give away. There are all kinds of books about organizing and storing, heck there is a television show about hoarding...but I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to get 30 years of accumulated stuff sorted any faster or easier than 4 years of Haiti emotions or vise versa.