Busy busy busy

Just hopping on quickly, after a very late lunch. The countdown to maternity leave is now on - We leave Malawi exactly 2 weeks from now. So as you can imagine, things have been pretty busy with trying to get all my work done, pack up the house, and still do all my usual mama/wife/friend activities. Jorge recently started taking a few online classes too, so I have had to take on a lot of the child-caring and home-management responsibilities for him as well so that he has enough time to study.

I had a nice trip to Ethiopia, but unfortunately I was sick for most of. Apparently my immune system has decided it hates me, and I think I have not had more than 3 or 4 days in a row when I was not sick since the end of June. It's one thing after another - the never-ending cold, a bacterial infection last week, stomach troubles. I spend so much time at the doctor's office I should get a plaque on one of the chairs.

Oh, and I suppose I have not mentioned that my grandfather is very ill as well, and I am deeply concerned for him.

Some days I feel so overwhelmed I think I could just sit down and cry.

But alas, even if I had the time, I never was much of one for wallowing.

Jorge and I take it all day by day for now, squeezing in the last-minute dinners and visits with friends, sorting and packing and selling when we get time, studying and parenting together as much as we can, and I have become quite adept at saying "no."

We're not heading straight back to Seattle this time around - we've decided to break up the trip on the way home and stop in Paris for 6 days. As usual, we haven't planned a thing, but we figure we'll just book a hotel last-minute, then spend the week walking, eating, and going where the day takes us. I'm particularly excited about all the yummy cheese options awaiting me :-)

Then on October we will be back HOME, and when I say home I mean it, back to the house where I spent the first 18 years of my life, with its obstructed view of Mount Rainier and its big sloping backyard, perfect for energetic little boys to tumble around in. Only this time instead of one little baby, we will end up having a houseful of kids - Milo, his nearly-one year old cousin Oseia, and the soon to be born little sibling. Throw into the mix one mom on maternity leave and two stay-at-home dads, and it should really be an interesting time! My sister, our gracious host, is going to have her hands full.