Bedhopping

If you're reading this in hopes of a cheap thrill you will be sorely disappointed. Perhaps it is wrong of me to title this in such a way as to mislead, but it is accurate. For the past nine years, I have been a bedhopper. Sometimes, I sleep in as many as four beds a night. Yes, it is exhausting and many a morning I wake up wondering in who's bed I've been. Thankfully, I have a very understanding and forgiving husband. He knows no matter how many different beds I sleep in I'd rather be with him.

Now, I've gotten my parents involved. After forty seven years of marriage, they are now bedhoppers. Sick, you're thinking. Even more so since there are children involved. Ok, enough is enough.

As much as it may come as a surprise to some, my children are spoiled in every conceivable way. Since birth, they've been coddled to the point where they will not sleep by themselves unless bribed, coerced or drained of all energy. Nightly bedtime battles to change this routine have ended in tears and frustration. I remind myself and Larry that they will not be little forever and eventually they'll grow out of this stage. Nine years and counting. Deep in my soul I know they can sleep by themselves, but the effort outweighs the reward. With Larry away so much, my need for a bed partner has squelched my plan for cutting the apron strings. Often times, all four of us sleep in Katie's bed and even though I complain in the morning about being squished in between a kicker and a slapper, I wouldn't change a thing. Rosie, the kitten, even manages to find some room under the covers.

Since our arrival in the States, my parents have joined in the nightly rotation. Two weeks in and we've kind of settled in to a schedule. An adult in each room lessens the likelihood of cries in night and the need to switch beds. Next week, we're headed to the upstate and will be staying with friends. They are newlyweds with kids planned for the distant future so I'm not so sure they're ready to join the musical beds game, but who knows. They may wake up one morning with Sarah snuggled against them.

Family

Can I just say that I love my family? I know I'm stating the obvious, but seriously, my family is fabulous. Living abroad really puts things in perspective. With Larry travelling so much, our chats on Skype have become something to which I look forward. Our girls are becoming so technologically savvy, IM and email are second nature to them. We've chatted with my brother and his family a few times over the course of the year. One of the major goals of our visit to the US was to see them. It had been five years since we'd seen each other. When we found out Larry was only going to be here for a week, we really fretted as to how to make it happen. My brother made sure it did.

Mark, Lory and Jonathan (Chris flew down a couple of days later) drove over a thousand miles to spend the week with us. Unfortunately, Julie couldn't come because she is an Orientation Ambassador at Roger Williams College and there were still a couple of sessions left. I'm so proud of her, being an Ambassador is a great way to make money, meet new friends and impress all those incoming students and parents; a task in which I'm sure she excelled.

The girls immediately attached themselves to Jon. And when I say attached I mean that literally. He and Sarah were inseparable, whether he liked it or not. It was like a starfish to a rock. He got a few minutes reprieve when Chris arrived. My two nephews were amazing with the girls. Mark said he bribed Jon with a test drive of a 2011 Mustang, which they did their last evening here. But to watch them, bribe or no bribe...I felt my heart crack.

We had a great time together. Memories of cocktail hours in the evenings, seafood lunches overlooking the marshes, and a trip to Tybee Island beach, which left us all windblown and microabrased from the sand will stay with us until the next visit. Hopefully, it won't be another five years.

Coming "Home"

Once again, words of wisdom from my parents have come full circle. As a child. I moved across the country and back, from east to west back east and then down south. Each move brought new friends and new experiences, but also a new heartache as old friends were left behind. My parents told me, though, I can never go back. Not that we can't visit, but things will never be the same and people are never the same as how they were when we left.

Larry and the girls are Seneca natives. The move to China was difficult enough on me, but I had some inkling as to some of the pains of relocation. We've definitely had some transitional issues, but all in all, I think we've fared well. All of us were eagerly anticipating our trip back to the U.S. Unfortunately, Larry was granted only a week's vacation due to the plant's scheduled (hahahhahaha....breath...hahahaha) opening in August. What we didn't anticipate was that how life goes on despite our absence.

My parents' wise words resonated with Larry, as he returned to Seneca last week. He visited his daughter and new granddaughter, who is now three and half months old. He also stopped by to see his golf buddies and played a round with them. Driving through town, he spotted some old friends having a party in their backyard, but he didn't stop. I think it hit him that folks were having a good time, a good time without us. Even though he'd spent his entire life in Seneca, the town has managed to survive without him. I'm not trying to be harsh, but it's a tough pill to swallow when you realize the world doesn't revolve around you. He said to me, "Everyone seems different, I don't see us moving back there."

It's hard to say where the change has occured, but given the past year's experiences, I'll say our views have definitely expanded.