How we're doing now, April 6th

Updated the "How We're Doing Right Now" section with the following:

April 6th, 2009
Oh man, moving back home has been quite a transition!  For Regin especially.  It has taken him three months to return to being fully, or almost fully, potty trained.  But we're home and happy to be with friends and in an environment where things are easier.

But of course, not everything is easier.  George's first day back to work he learned that the company was exiting the business and he and all the other people that work on that product (including all those people he trained in Penang) were told to look for other jobs.

His last day was March 31st.  No time for that cozy little 'sabbatical' though; after he finished his last day of work, his family called and told us they are coming (from Florida) for a visit on the 10th!  This would be no big deal (other than being terribly exciting) if we were fully moved back in, but of course, until now, we've had VERY little motivation to fully unpack!  So now we're preparing the house at warp speed!

You know, I do miss Penang.  Hard to say what I miss exactly, because I know it's more than our friends there, but I feel a certain pang.  And all the time we were there, other than missing family, friends, easy living, and snow, I never once actually missed 'Colorado.'

When we got back to Colorado, I expected to have a new and complete love for the place.  I do appreciate some things a lot more, especially visual things.  I see beauty where I didn't before.  But it hasn't been the feeling of home that I expected, and I still have some of the same issues with the place.  But what I do love IMMENSELY and will always love IMMENSELY is the people we have here.  And it's been absolutely amazing to see how Regin has picked right back up where he left off with his loved ones here.  There's no doubt in my mind that he somehow remembers them.

How We're Doing Update

I just updated our "How We're Doing Right Now" with the following:

December 1st, 2008
We finally started traveling in neighboring countries, or 'country' rather, a few weeks ago.  We went to Thailand and had a nice time.  Since we got back two weeks ago, my hypoglycemia has been out of control.  I've been to see a doctor, a dietitian, and an endocrinologist.  I have had all sorts of tests and further tests and things are planned.  I have mixed feelings about whether or not they can help me.  For one thing, hypoglycemia is completely unheard of in Malaysia.  Add that to the fact that I am still struggling to feed myself using what's available to me locally, and I'm starting to feel like it may be time for me to consider cutting my trip here short.

There are so many things here that I have come to love, and I'm afraid I will regret a decision to leave early, but my illness affects everyone around me, and I simply can't let it go on the way it has.  At least not without trying as hard as I can to make sure everything has been investigated and everything tried.  Poor Regin has been stuck at home alone with an angry and not-fully-functioning mamma, and George has had to miss work to come home and take care of me when it's gotten really bad.

Some days I'm not sure if it's because of the illness that I want to go back or if it's because visiting Thailand has released me from my need to stay (because I haven't totally wasted my time here now that I've officially traveled), but I can tell you that I am absolutely through dealing with things like ants taking up residence in my kitchen scale, cockroaches wandering in and out of my mixing bowls, and geckos pooping on our clean silverware.  These things can be resolved with some fumigation, but that's hard for a toxin-avoiding ecophile to agree to. 

George is already talking about places we'll live in next (after some time in Colorado).  Naturally, with his Miami upbringing, he wants more of this kind of climate.  I don't.  I don't want to live somewhere where I have to choose between losing my sanity and pumping my world full of nasty chemicals.  I am also having some trouble with the lack of seasons now.  There are no cycles or feelings of conclusion and beginning.  Life is an endless, ongoing stream of consciousness with few mile-markers to let you know how far along you've come.  I suppose that must be part of why it's so hellish to live in the far north with six months of day and six months of night.  So I suppose places like that would be out for me too.  Still, they seem so romantic to me now as I close my eyes and dream of vast landscapes covered in snow and ice.

How We're Doing Update

I just updated the "How we're doing right now" section with the following:

October 3rd, 2008
I'm really feeling settled these days. Life here doesn't seem that unusual anymore. I'm starting to understand the appeal of the run-down look a little more (authenticity, history, colors, nature/chaos prevailing over man-created order, etc..) I have totally fallen in love with some aspects of life here (beautiful scenery, lots of holidays, exposure to diverse and rich cultural traditions to name a few).

But you know what? I am just now starting to possibly feel the first pangs of home sickness. I think it's because living here has really become solidified now. It's like, OK, so this is really my reality. But wait! I miss my old reality!

But the one negative that dominates for me is our ant/gecko/roach infestation. I can't see ever being content living here for that reason. I rarely see the geckos, but they are still leaving poops inside the kitchen cabinets. The roaches only come out late at night, and we rarely see full-sized ones. They're mostly these minuscule little things. The ants, however are an unbelievable nightmare and if I could choose to depopulate the entire globe of ants to be rid of them forever, I absolutely would. I don't care how 'green' and worried about animals I am.

We have at least two colonies permanently camped out in our walls. I know this because both colonies moved locations recently and we saw them, with eggs and everything in tow, right before we killed as many as we could.

They don't just show up where there is food, they have NUMEROUS scouts in EVERY place. They're in our kitchen drawers, on our clean plates, cups, and silverware, and I have even seen them crawling up and into our apparently not-so-air-tight, glass, drinking-water containers.

It's so bad that even I, the complete chemical phobe who makes all of her own household cleaners herself, am seriously considering fumigating the place.

Other than that, we're dandy!
How are you??