Life seems pretty "normal..."

I got a really lovely message from an old high school friend yesterday.  I haven't seen or spoken to her since high school, but was totally excited to "catch up" via facebook stalking...  Her message was so unexpected and heart felt.  One thing she said though,  sparked this post (Well done H!).  She said that she'd been looking through my life since high school (via facebook) and was so interested that she read this entire blog (now that's a compliment).  She went on to say that while living oversees isn't for her, she was glad it was for us and that her life seemed so simple in comparison.  And then it hit me..  life here seems pretty simple and "normal." 

Stick with me here... 

Yesterday, we woke up (A is gone for work when we get up).  We snuggled and ate breakfast (cereal and soy milk with strawberries).  The kids played restaurant while I laminate some home school stuff and we did a little mental math.  Our little friend H came over (she's a 5 month old sweetie pie and we watch her for a couple of hours a day).  We played, ate lunch (M had a hot dog with chips and P had pasta with cheese) and the kids took a nap.  I read and blogged during this rare quiet moment.  H left, we bought a car (YES), ate pizza, watched Veggie Tales, and went to bed. 

Most days are like this.  We get groceries, I do laundry, kids fight, play, and give me smooches, we have friends that drop in, I use the on-line classifieds to get good deals...  It seems simple and normal mostly.  And maybe that's why living oversees works for us.  Life Stateside didn't seem normal or simple to us in the nearly seven years we were there.  We enjoyed our time there, enjoyed our friends and family, and enjoyed the ease with which we could "get things done."  But, this just seems normal to us. 

The learning, adapting, changing, and growing that takes place so often just seems normal.  

Go back to the second paragraph and I'll rewrite it...   A is gone for work because he leaves at 6 am.  Most things start really early, including school because it is so blazing hot for most of the year that people want to get started early.  We ate cereal with soy milk and strawberries, which are SO expensive because everything is imported due to the climate ($7 a container of berries and about $5 a box of frosties [think frosted flakes]).  I borrowed a laminator from a friend because mine was left in the States due to voltage differences.  I got some lesson stuff laminated, including a set of nesting bowls that we're using for a geography lesson - the largest one has the world, next Asia, next Qatar, next Doha, next our street and my son announces, "everyone lives in Asia.."

You see where this is going... 

It seems simple to me because I just filter out the rewritten paragraph stuff and stick to the basics.  We ate, things got done..  Are we weird?..  Maybe so.  Or maybe we're just cut from a different fabric than most people...at least that's how I'd like to think of it. 

Thanks for the message H, you inspired a post and made me think!!  By the way, can you believe it's been almost 20 years???