Connecting back home

As a mom you just want your kids to be happy and healthy. Thankfully both boys have avoided Chikununya and any kind of cold or flu. So that just leaves happy.

Both boys are generally happy. Aiden has made some friends here but not like back home. He has had a couple of Skype calls from friends back home, but he (and I) had been missing one in particular. Yana and Aiden are like two peas in a pods. They both love being outside and don't mind getting dirty  and wet so long as there are things left to explore. I adore Yana and her family they are just so down to earth and the kind of people who when they say drop by they mean it. We had been having trouble hooking up as they are Mac and we are PC- it feels like those awesome commercials Apple does. But we finally realized we could do Facetime on Brent's ipod.

So today Aiden got a call from Yana and Tatia (sorry I know I probably misspelled that). Aiden got to see their new puppy Fisher and hear about what they were doing. And of course show her our view and the bananas and anything else he could think of.

He had as big a smile after her call as when For the Love of Music played his request at Le Phare Bleu. It is so nice to see him genuinely ear to ear happy.

Of course when we get calls from home it brings up both really happy emotions and really sad ones. Aiden was torn all day about whether he wanted to stay until July or whether he would be happier if we came back in March.

Missing friends and family is a good part of this process. I am definitely more cognizant of the fact that I really loved my tea time with Erin or Alistair and that seeing Nelly would make me happy for days. Thanksgiving isn't the same without Jay and I am not up-to-date on my friend Trish's new man. So I am definitely missing all my girlfriends this evening and will be setting up a big dinner party at my place when we get home with good friends, good food and good wine (I have a book out from the library- How to Love Wine) and lots of laughter. Jay we have a date (hopefully for October).

I also realized I miss the kids friends too. I miss Max, Noah, Georgia, McKenzie & Mykala, the Geens boys, and Jade they are all such great kids. I can only imagine how much they will have grown and changed by the time we get home.

I would be remiss not to note that I am lucky to have made some really good friends here too. I try not to think about the ones I will leave in Grenada; and am happy to have a couple new ones in Toronto thanks to Cuso.

Being grateful for what you have is an awesome benefit of volunteering! If you  are missing us too and want to Facetime or Skype just send a message and we'll figure it out.