Preparing

The weather here is finally starting to shift into proper autumn mode. It’s cool and crisp and breezy right now and I would’ve relished the walk to drop Pippa off at school. But of course I managed to drop one of our Halloween decorations on the way out the door, so Alan drove her in on his way to work. He offered to clean up the shards of plastic skull, but I couldn’t see the point in him being late when I don’t have anywhere I need to be on time.

I’m still having a rough time. I don’t love living here, partly because I feel like I’m in a little box, disconnected from the larger world. I miss the military community. It’s weird taking Anika to dance and so many of the other moms grew up in town and know each other by family even if they’ve never met. I had that growing up, too, but living away from it for so long now, it seems weird.

We’re also preparing ourselves for the possible end of Aladdin’s life. He’s 13, and while many cats live much longer, I can’t help thinking that his time is coming soon. He was vomiting bile for a few days and he’s been very quiet. I thought he was just particularly irritated by the fleas, which had renewed vigor with the warmer weather. Both cats did that back in Washington before we got the fleas dealt with properly. Sort of holed up under the bed and in closets and didn’t come out much. But he’s lost some weight too. He’s still eating and drinking and using the litter box. And yesterday he came out and slept on Anika’s bed with Karma. The vomiting has been better too, or else he’s vomiting in the litter box when we’re not around to hear that hacking sound. He’s always been rather fastidious and I’ve seen him go to the litter box to throw up before. We’re waiting on a call-back from the vet. He had pancreatitis a couple months ago, but recovered nicely. I honestly have had a feeling that this was his last PCS though. Even if he gets another couple years, I’m not sure he could handle the stress of another cross-country move. Or a transatlantic move and quarantine if we ended up OCONUS. We would likely see if my parents would be willing to take him in that situation. And if that happened, I might leave Karma behind too. I don’t know that they’d separate well. Still, that’s years away regardless of what happens between now and then.

In the meantime, we have a Halloween “dance” at Pippa’s school tonight. She and Anika really want to go, although I honestly don’t think I went to a single similar event when I was little and in school. Pippa is far more outgoing than I am.

Pippa is doing very well in her gymnastics class. She’s been working on handstands at home and getting quite strong. She was dealing with some teasing in her last class. The other three girls were calling her “small” and she didn’t like it. I reminded her that she needs to tell them that, instead of just getting upset. I also reminded her that she’s younger than every single one of them and that for her age she’s actually quite tall. Of course, facts don’t matter much in the moment. She’s doing well and has good friends at school though. And despite the fact that I’ve seen some signs of ADHD, it has yet to make a serious impact on her school work. She does have trouble focusing, but her natural inclination is towards pleasing her teacher, so it balances out. She works hard. And she gets enough active time to help keep her fidgets under control. I see a big difference when she watches too much TV and doesn’t get outside though. Walking to and from school helps a lot.

I worry sometimes about what will happen when Anika starts school. Things come very easily for Anika in a way that they don’t for Pippa. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started reading at about the same time. Pippa is starting on sight words, but Ani isn’t far behind. And Ani wants to do everything Pippa does. Everything.

Anyway, I need to start a load of laundry or five. One of the other things I hate about this apartment is that I don’t have my own washer and dryer. I just keep telling myself that it’s only a few years out of our lives. And the girls are happy here, even if I’m not

~Liz