Home at Last! Phase II: May 7th - June 2nd, 2007

Our trip from Tampa to Amelia Island was relaxing. I sang at the top of my lungs to the sattelite radio and drove on the "right" side of the road for the first time in a while. We went straight to the Publix once we arrived and spent a solid $450 on groceries. Every aisle held favorites that had not been seen in a year so Goldfish and Cap'n Crunch and bagels and pretzels and refrigerated cinamon rolls were all welcomed into our overflowing buggy. How does one say no to, "Oh MOMMY, LOOK! 'Nilla Wafers!" It was almost as much fun as Disney World and not nearly as expensive.

We had a week to ourselves and hadn't realized how much we needed it. There were lots of long stretches of silence, especially for four kids 10 and under, as we all sat out in the yard or meandered along the beach. The weather was pretty stormy that week so we took long walks and hunted for the strange things that are inevitably coughed up by the sea. We cooked our favorite things every night - lots of fresh veggies and fruit, including "red broccoli" - Adelaide's stab at a word for strawberries - guess she hadn't seen one in a while! I rented as many Academy Award nominated movies as I could possibly watch and caught up on a year of missed Hollywood.

The day after Mother's Day brought Lolli, Nell (Eleanor's namesake), Chandler, Hudson and Lacy, with Byrd flying in shortly thereafter. This was a wonderful "girls" week at the beach and the kids had a blast getting reaquainted with cousins. Nell had brought the makings for a huge birthday party that was meant to celebrate all the birthdays we had missed in our year apart from one another. There were even invitations and gifts for all! Everyone felt special and loved, as Nell somehow always manages. Byrd had wisely bought dvds for those moments when the women needed some downtime. Even Chandler and I got to sneak out for a nice dinner without kids. It was a great week.

Then came Dad and Will to join us for our third week at Amelia. The kids were ecstatic to have "their men" there to throw them around in the ocean and actually boogie board. As Houston astutely pointed out, "Ladies just sit around on their chairs and miss out on all the fun." It was a quiet week of good time together. I, personally, thoroughly enjoyed my chair time.

Philip flew back into Jacksonville from Bangalore on Friday, May 25th and Chase, Katie, Alice, Mae Mae, and Liza came later that weekend. The "big" family week was loud and chaotic and, in a word, wonderful! It was so priceless to see the children pick right up where they had left off last year and enjoy each other. The new sea kayaks were also a big hit. We had a lot of rough water for the month we were at Amelia Island so we got to see plenty of wipeouts! My personal favorites involved Chase and Philip on the tandem with Dad and Will commentating from the shore..."Oh, they're going down...oh this is a big one...he's got his paddle upside down..oh no!" Laughter...then unanimously, "Oooooh, they're DOWN!" The kids also had multiple daily rides in the tandem kayak and they, of course, loved the wipeouts more than the cruising. It was truly a precious week together.

We never got tired of being at the beach, but when the time came, we were ready to go "home" to Lookout Mountain...we couldn't wait to see our friends!

Home At Last! Phase I: April 16th - May 7, 2007

Perhaps the sweetest words of our first year in India came upon landing in Washington DC's Dulles airport. After reviewing our months of travel by examining our passports, our immigration officer looked each of us in the eye and with true feeling said, "Welcome Home." I wanted to jump the counter and throw my arms around him but instead, with blurred vision, said, "thank you," and moved through the gates. What a strange, but wonderful, feeling to hear "American English" spoken all around us and to feel certain about how much money to pull out of the ATM. No one stared at us, no one tried to take photos of our kids, we were not mobbed by the crowds at the baggage belt. We were "normal." We belonged. We were home! Still the cultural differences were glaring. Trash cans winked at me from every corner and everything seemed scrupulously clean. Outside there was no noise, no horns, no police whistles, no vendors calling out services, no beggars. The air was crisp and smelled like...well, nothing. Cars were sparse on the empty roads and we flew at 60 miles an hour without one pothole-induced lurch across a vast and limitless interstate. Streetlights beamed down, one after another, perfectly lit like soldiers at attention. As we passed mecca, er, Target, I breathed a huge sigh of contentment...it would be a delicious visit home and I was immensly looking forward to this brain warp I'd heard about called, "Reverse Culture Shock."

Our time at home began with a long weekend in DC at the IJM Global Prayer Gathering. Lolli, Pops and Will came to help with the kids and to get a better feel for IJM and what we are doing worldwide. Philip was largely engrossed for the weekend as he had multiple presentaions and speeches to deliver. We battled through the worst of our jet-lag, toured part of the White House, some of us saw one of the Smithsonians, and all of us ate and ate - a recurring theme. It was really nice to see family and other friends from around the globe, but also turned out to be a tiring weekend.

The following week Philip had a conference to attend so while Pops and Will flew back to Chattanooga, Lolli and I took advantage of our free time and drove a rental car down to visit family in Virginia. Our first stop was Richmond where we got to visit with my great aunt (and Lady's namesake) Adelaide and her family: Jane, Sue and Howard...John was recovering from knee surgery. We all thouroughly enjoyed our time with them and, as usual when 91 year old, diminutive, "big"Adelaide is present, we laughed a lot!

We then drove further south to Halifax to see Lolli's first cousin Byrd, and her husband Gene. This was a real treat and the kids had a ball playing in their huge backyard. "GRASS!" was their unanimous cry that spoke volumes about our lack thereof in India. Sweet was the reunion between their bare toes and the Murray's green expanse. Halifax held many more treasures...the super Walmart, Byrd's scrumptious cooking, our favorite Lacy family landmarks and a very patient washing machine that endured about 20 loads of Langford laundry. It was a relaxing couple of days of conversation and rest before we drove back to DC to meet Philip.

Back in DC, we immediately met up with my cousin Jon LeBoeuf, who had just arrived in DC that week to begin his new and snazzy job there. We had dinner, saw his fancy new apartment and he spent the night with us at our hotel so we could visit after the kids went to bed. Jon was a huge God-send as he helped us get Lolli to her flight the next morning, held my hand as I walked through Target for the first time (a chorus of angels sang as we crossed the threshold), and then helped me and all my luggage return our rental car and get into the Dulles airport where Philip was to meet us. None of this, of course, without a fine meal of Taco Bell together, a tradition that dates back to the five star eatery's inception. It was a blur, but a sweet time with him.

Philip, the kids and I then flew from DC to Tampa where we had a fun-filled ten days planned with the Langfords and Eudalys, but not before I had the supreme privelge of using the ladies' room at the Tampa airport. I would have gladly picniced on the floor it was so clean and there was a kickin' Fleetwood Mac song playing over the Bose loudspeakers and not once did my actual skin come in contact with potty nor sink nor soap pump nor paper towel dispenser nor door handle...glorious, germiphobic America. So nice to be back.

We had a blast with Grandmommy and Grandaddy Langford as well as Philip's sister, Julie, her husband, Dustyn, and their kids, Elizabeth, Mary Ellen and little William, who we met for the first time! We got to go to a ballet recital for one of the cousins, fish, walk the dogs, have a fish fry, swim, eat out, and go to Disneyworld! It was so nice to spend extended time with them as our visits in the past have been more frequent, but shorter. We also enjoyed catching up with some of Philip's childhood friends who are still in Lakeland.

Philip flew back to India on May 7th, while the kids and I drove a rental car to Amelia Island for a week at the beach. We would see him again in three weeks.

Here are some of the photos...