Spring!

Last night there was an amazing full moon, and today is the first full day of Spring! The days are longer and the sun is warmer. Its all good, and very welcome. Last week was stressful for me, on a couple of levels, and the time to think and relax this weekend was so welcome and needed. I have moved back into a job at Sweetser that is very similar to the job that I had before I left, supervising case managers. I like my job, and I am always grateful to be working. That doesn't mean that it doesn't get stressful sometimes. I am spending more time in a vehicle than I have in probably close to three years, and I have to say, that as much as I have always loved driving, I really don't seem to like it as much as I used to. For so long, and the whole time I was in Moldova, I spent most of my time walking, or riding on public transportation. Maybe it would be a little less stressful if I had a vehicle that I loved to spend time in, but I am not convinced that it would even make much of a difference. Walking just seems to be my preferred way to get around now. Oh, it would be wonderful to have a job that I could walk to everyday!

So, the past week was stressful. Driving, combined with the weather, which was not Spring-like at all, worry about the sorry state of affairs all over the world, worry about Japan and the feeling that Armegeddon is near, all contributed to a really stressed out kind of week. By Friday afternoon, after being tired and grumpy for a few days, I was ready to just collapse. I spent the evening totally alone in my own home....something that has not happened for over three years. It was heavenly!! It was an opportunity for me to remember how wonderful solitude is for my soul. I love my life, my family, my man. I need quiet to restore my energy. I had spent time being upset that I felt that I was not being included in an activity that I thought I wanted to participate in. My emotions had been feeling hurt. People at home were not treating me as I felt I needed to be treated...what I came to realize in my solitude is that what I needed was not to be with others, but to be good with myself. Its good when you get what you need for yourself. So now, the beginning of the first week of Spring. New growth, new life, warmer sunnier days on the horizon. All is good in the world, or at least in this little corner of the world. Hope all is well with you! xoxo, Jami

Where to begin?

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon, the first Sunday in March, 2011. This week it will mark a year since I have been home, a year of change back to my "normal" life, and a time of re-adjustment back to my familiar routines. I last wrote on here just about 10 months ago, in the middle of May. After coming home, I spent a little over two months living with Bob, and his family, on Bailey Island, before being able to move back into my own home. We went hiking, took long walks and spent an unseasonably warm Spring enjoying life along the Maine coast. By mid-June, I was back at work with my previous employer, this time as a per diem Assessment clinician. The Summer and Fall were punctuated by visits from my PCV friends, Macie and Craig in early July, and Renell in mid-September. Fall went by quickly, with LL Bean seasonal work, third shift as a "picker" to accompany my regular work, leading to the holiday season. The first Christmas home was poignantly sweet. It was everything I had missed over the previous two Christmases'. There was no special gift, either given or received, that could replace the happiness of being home.

January and February have brought nothing special to write about. The days are getting longer, the sun is higher in the sky, and I am now a full-time, salaried employee, back doing the work I was doing for the same organization as I was when I left three years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same. But, I have changed. I have been writing to the new volunteer who is placed in my old village in Moldova. I have a new friend who just left last week to start his Peace Corps service in Madagascar. I am proud of my service. I am even happier to be done with it and home than I had imagined I would be. I am wondering what the next adventures might look like. I am back to writing, and hope that I will be able to do this more consistently. Keep in touch. xoxo, Jami