The Good –
Well, first thing that comes to mind is that everything is
really close. I mean, within a 5-10
minute drive in any direction, I can find a Wal-mart, Target, and HEB. That’s all three within minutes in any
direction! Pretty amazing. Did I mention how much I love HEB tortillas?
Also, this suburb has a super cute little downtown area with
shops and restaurants and just fun, fancy places to go. Not that I get to do it much, but knowing it
is there in case I do get a date night - or a visitor - or anything is just exciting.
Oh, yeah, that’s a better-than-good part of it... My
babysitters! My family is close by and
are always begging to take the boys. It’s
nice knowing that people who love my kids as much as me are close by.
A few more “good” things come to mind – fast internet, at
home and on my phone; a huge backyard to play in; a great neighborhood with
parks and pools nearby; so many fantastic churches that we can’t even make up
our minds where we belong; and a job for Stephen that doesn't involve much time
away from our family. Its been a while
since we had that.
But you know there is The Bad, too –
The traffic is awful and Stephen has to fight a commute each
way every day. Everyone in Houston
likes to drive, so there isn't much of a public transit system. What is in place now is mostly buses and
well, that doesn't really save any time on the road, you know? BUT... we were living with one car since we
got back and this commute required us to purchase another so.... I GOT A NEW
CAR! Not so bad, now, huh? Remember when I sold my van? I was so sad. Well, we went out and bought the new one and
it’s even better than the last!
We don’t have any friends yet, and, as social as I am, that
is weighing on me a lot, but we will. I
know it. We will. AND... I have about oh, 3 dozen family
members all within a 1-2 hour drive, so that’s plenty to keep us busy for
now. We’d love to meet some other
families, though. All the small groups we have been a part of in the past have been really special to us.
Everything is close by. I know I mentioned this as a “good” thing, but it can quickly become a
bad thing, so I’m acknowledging that, too. It’s
so easy to run out to Chick-fil-A for lunch or just head to Target for some
browsing. It could be expensive if I’m
not careful! BUT... at least I have
everything I need. I miss the military
commissary, but only for their prices. In
Cambodia, I had to make do with whatever I could get. Here, I can follow recipes exactly as written
and make crafts just like the ones I pin on pinterest, and well, do anything. It’s not such a bad problem!
The heat is awful.
Houston is hot. Really hot. And humid.
Cambodia was hot. Really
hot. And humid. Can a girl ever get a break? Do I ever get a chance to wear my boots that have
been packed up since I lived further north?
No positive spin on this for me.... COOL OFF, TEXAS! I've been hot for like 2 years now! Even little Jack was puffing air outside a couple weeks ago and when I asked what he was doing, he said "Blowing out the sun so it won't be so hot!" Maybe we need a Rocky Mountains vacation?
OK, The UGLY.
I’d take a picture if I could, but I’m usually too busy
screaming and running to even think about a camera. Its the roaches. Ew.
They are big. They fly. They are everywhere. EEEEEWWWW!
We had bugs in Cambodia, and we even had great big roaches, but I just
can’t handle it here! I called pest
control to see if they could come and spray and the girl kindly said, “You aren’t
from around here, are you?” Well, actually I am from close by, and I do
remember standing on the toilet screaming (as a teenager) for my Dad to come
kill a roach. It’s just been a while,
and I don’t care to do it again. The
sweet pest control lady told me that they can spray, but the roaches will still
get inside. They’ll just die when they
get in. Oh, okay, ew again. Dead roaches everywhere? I just don’t know what to do.
But at least there aren’t bugs in my food. In Cambodia I often found myself just
scooping the ants out of my coffee or cereal so I could finish it. I can live with non-harmful giant monster
roaches if I don’t have to eat them.
Ha. Haha. It’s the little things...
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