The Gild is Coming off the Lily

I guess it was only a matter of time before I got some real for-true homesickness. Not just the "I miss the parts of my life fitting together" unsettledness (although there's been a bit of that, too), but honest-to-goodness "I miss my old life" sadness.

It was coming back from Christmas break that did it, I think. Until now I've always had the next trip "home" planned - so it was always just a "see you in a few weeks!" And those trips home were frequent enough so that I managed to delay the inevitable. In fact, given that I was more deliberate about connecting with people and that we got to church almost once a month, it was kind of like commuting back and forth.

But now it feels like we're officially here. I've heard that culture shock takes somewhere between 4-6 months to set in. I'd say that fits my experience; the madness of the move gives way to the excitement of rebuilding which in turn gives way to a sense of loss as one realizes that despite knowing it can never be the same, one has been attempting to recreate the old life and simply cannot.

And then all the cultural differences, which seemed so minor before, really start to hit home. Doesn't help that it's an election year - everyone seems caught up in discussing exactly what's wrong with the country in order to somehow garner support for their own version of a fix-it.

Blech. Can you tell that the sun hasn't shone in a week and The Husband is out of town? Hopefully the pity party will end soon and I can get back to enjoying all the things that are really good about this move - two great jobs, a great school for our kids, and a cute little house in a great neighbourhood.

But until then, a list of the things that I miss about my old life (and about which a few tears slipped out the other day):

- More than one babysitter so I don't have to scramble when she invariably has a conflict
- Feeling like I actually knew how to do my job (and even how to do it well)
- Heading straight to the next cubicle with my coffee as soon as I got into work to complain about whatever terrible and horrible event had befallen me the previous evening
- My fireplace
- The division of church and state
-Universal healthcare
- A shared belief that the previous two things are good for a country, not tools of the devil
- Pronouncing the word "roof" correctly
- Bilingual cereal boxes