Home part 1: Funny Things to Notice

Funny Things to Notice. Well, we are home. Back in the Good Old USA. Back in Minnesota. We arrived a few days ago and plan to stay for 5 weeks! We are so excited to spend time with family and friend, go to the cabin, do some shopping, hang out in the backyard, BBQ, ride the boat, etc, etc, etc! To put it simple, it feels great to be home!

After living in Amman for 2 years and being away from home for a year, there are a few things that I notice as 'funny' because they are things that would normally go un-noticed.

1. No dust. None on the furniture. None on the floors. None on the dashboard of the car. No dust to be found anywhere. Love it...and honestly...jealous.

2. Water in the toilet. Why is there so much of it?!

3. Green is everywhere I turn. Green trees. Green bushes. Green grass.

4. Space. So many wide open fields and yards to let the kids run freely.

5. Smiles. Smiles on family. Smiles on friends. Smiles from the cashiers at Cub Foods, Starbucks, the gas station, smiles from the people waiting in line. Smiles everywhere. Smiles give one such a warm, welcoming feel.

6. Carpet. What's that...soft squishy carpet under my bare feet?

7. Rain. Rain is falling every morning. The first rain was a shock..."It's raining in summer?!"...then I remembered..."Of course it is, it's Minnesota!"

8. English. Really, English is music to my ears. One gets so use to hearing the little understood language of Arabic, that one forgets how nice it is to understand everything you hear.

9. Lakes. Minnesota is the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" and here we live in the "Brainerd Lakes Area". Need I say more?

10. Organization. Everything is structures and organized...just how I like it. Even flying over Minnesota, you can see the structure of farm land to be in organized squares of color, the streets are parallel with an occasional street cutting over in a 45 degree angle, and the homes follow the same.

11. Flat terrain. Driving in Jordan is sometimes like riding a roller coaster, because there are so many hills and mountains to drive up, down, and in between. Here, everything is flat.

It's great to be home, the kids are loving it, and we will be savoring every minute of it!