Life

Our life has changed quite a bit since Elena graced us with her presence. For some reason, last week I was feeling very... anxious I guess, about our lack of life 'excitingness'. Friends were going to pubs, taking trips to Switzerland, enjoying long, quiet nights of sleep (okay, that's not exciting to most, but to me...!) I was feeling a bit down in the dumps.

And it didn't improve with the weekend. I can't remember what we did on Friday night, but on Saturday we did the usual. Nate took Elena on a hike, I cleaned the apartment, and then we went downtown after dinner to look for a Stuttgart-area hiking book. Book in hand, we strolled down Koenigstrasse, holding hands and chatting. It was nice, but very... unexciting.

On Sunday we went to church and ended up chatting for quite a while with some other couples with kids. Really, I learned, you get bored too?!!! Things were looking up. We went home and Nate cooked lunch while I fed the babe. Chicken a'la King, strawberry shortcake, freshly whipped cream. Sigh. When our food coma ended we took the train to Heslach and walked from the station to a local lake, the Baerensee. There's a small castle (really more like a lodge) along the lake called the Baerenschloessle that serves cakes, German pizzas, schnitzel and the like. We sat outside on a bench with schnitzel, biers, and a piece of rhubarb cake. Elena kicked on a blanket, flopped over and discovered green grass. The sun shone.

On the walk home I had to think that life really wasn't that bad. Maybe we're not jet-setting anymore, not meeting friends out on a whim, and maybe we're a bit lonely from time-to-time, but we are adapting to this new phase of life. I suppose that most people go through an adjustment from 'couple' to 'family of three'. I just need to keep my head up, ears open, and a smile on my face. I've got everything to be thankful for.