My mind needs a resting spot

I feel like my thoughts are all over the board right now.

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in my life.... Tom, Dad Balderree, Dad Sowards, Grandpa Sowards, and Popper.  You guys all mean the world to me and I am so grateful for such good examples in my life.

People keep asking whether I am sad or excited to leave Israel.  Well, it depends on the moment, to be honest.  I feel very busy with cleaning and packing right now.  Tom has been calling me Cinderella.  I really hope it all gets done in time.  

I am really going to miss all my friends here.  My good friend, April, insisted on watching the kids yesterday so Tom and I could go to Bethlehem together (Tom had never been!).  Our good friend, Sahar, has always been generous to show people around Bethlehem, and yesterday was no exception.  Even as we stood in a long stinky line at the checkpoint to go home, she insisted on waiting with us.  Her adorable mom cooked us an amazing lunch, even though it was her birthday.  One of my other friends who lives in the West Bank, Carolyn, sent me the sweetest email today wishing us well.  I hate that the busy-ness of life, and a big cement wall kept me from seeing her more.  Two good friends, Wendy and Beth, just had baby girls and I am so happy for them, but wish I was going to be near them longer to help them out.  They have both been so good to me.  Analyn is pregnant but we'll be many states apart by the time she has her baby.  Erika served in the Primary presidency with me and made me meals when my back went out.  Four other friends, Brooke, Alexandra, Melyn, and Judith are already gone and are currently in Italy, Chicago, D.C., and Germany.  I miss them already.

The list goes on and on.  I have good friends whose husbands work for the State Department, some are wives of professors at the BYU-J Center, and then there are the service couples.  They have all meant the world to me.  Truly.  They have each made my time here so much more meaningful.  I feel like I could write a book just talking about the great relationships that I have made here.

But as I was doing one of my last grocery shopping trips today (walking to and from the store in 90-degree weather), I couldn't help but be excited to not spend 2 dollars on roughly 1 cup of cottage cheese, or 10 dollars for a pound of beef.  My days of spending close to 2 dollars on one cube of butter are almost over.

As I did my makeup this morning I thought about how nice it will be to restock my dwindling makeup supply when I get home, but this time I'll walk out of WalMart after spending maybe 30 bucks, instead of walking out of a pharmacy spending 100 bucks.

We're going to sit on couches, lay on the carpet, and walk on the grass when we get home.  I'm going to hug my siblings (and siblings-in-law), play with their kids, and try not to steal Kristin and Tara's cute babies from them.

I'm going to go on a date with my husband.  Enjoy air conditioning.  Drive a car.

See?  I need a nice big branch for my thoughts to land on and stay a while.

I'm tired.