Home Again

I am once again back in Wisconsin and I have to say it feels wonderful. It is such a great feeling to walk through the door of your own place and sit on your own furniture. I'm so glad that this time I have been able to return with J.R. as well.

Speaking of J.R., he has been rather entertaining to watch. Since October of 2005 he has barely been inside the apartment. Add in the injury and the meds and his memories of the apartment are very limited. He no longer remembers what he owns and where it's located within our home. To fix this problem he has opened every box and dumped the contents on the floor. Needless to say I can no longer walk through the apartment or see the carpet. But I'm ok with that. It's just nice to finally have him here in the apartment with me.

Since J.R. has taken over every room I have been living in my safe haven of my kitchen. It is the only room that he doesn't dare touch as he knows I will chase him out with whatever kitchen utensil happens to be in my hand at the time. I enjoy cooking and since it's the only room I can move around in, I've spent most of my time making more food then we will ever eat in ten days. I have a feeling my neighbors will have full fridges when we go back to D.C.

As long as we are on the topic of neighbors, I have to say that I'm very excited to have another young couple living in our building now. They moved in to one of the upstairs apartments about a month ago. Tonight they are coming over for dinner. I'm buying a new grill today so we can enjoy the deck and a nice evening outside.

In a quest to find Monday's paper I also met the neighbors next door. Larry is 91 and Betty is in her early 80's. I was shocked that as soon as I knocked on their door they knew who I was. We had a very lengthy discussion about J.R. and how he is doing since the accident. I also found out that Larry is a World War II vet. He has some amazing stories from his time in the military. I have a feeling there will be many more visits with Larry and Betty in the future.

I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for Friday. I know it's going to be a mixture of so many feelings when J.R.'s unit walks off the bus. I'm so excited to see them all return to their families. I made sure to buy some waterproof mascara. I'm hoping that by using it it will be that Murphy's law kind of thing. If I didn't wear it I would be doomed to cry and have makeup running all over my face. So by taking a small precaution I'm hoping that I wont even cry at all and it never would have been necessary. It's a nice thought at least.

I believe it's time for me to go attempt to wake up J.R. He's been telling me all week how we have to go shop in Eau Claire. Now I just have to wake him up so that we can make it over there before the shops close! Wish me luck.