Adventure Girls and Ferd

T. left on Wednesday in a swirl of last minute panic from Covid tests, $400 in extra luggage fees, and near-missed connections. He is now quaranting in his 2-bedroom apartment with balcony in Stuttgart Mitte. There is a beautiful church across the street and the church bells are driving him crazy. Our previous quandary over which neighborhood to live has quickly turned into wherever is farthest from the church bells!  B. and I are adjusting. In some ways this feels like another deployment or active duty stint. On the other hand I am trying to declutter an overstuffed 1400 sq ft house, with full basement and garage. On my own. While working as a nurse. During a pandemic. While homeschooling my child. Here's how I copied with his departure:  The world's best $7.50 vegan milkshake from Strong Hearts Cafe in Syracuse. Emotional eating at its best.  

This evening was our Auf Wiedersehen dinner with my parents. As soon as we left T. turned to me and asked, "We're doing the right thing, right?" Then he proceeded to list off all the reasons why this feels like the right life-changing decision: new job for T., great school for B., opportunities for B., potential to travel across Europe, career advancement for T.  The most difficult part and the only reason we question this new adventure is leaving my parents. They have such a close relationship with B. They have been such a huge part of her and our lives for the past seven years. They have been our primary babysitters and go-to caregivers when ever we needed help. They kept and cared for B. for 2.5 months during the initial lockdown when we were concerned about potential exposures from my work as a nurse. We are so indebted to them and yet I know they would do it all again in a heartbeat.    My mom gets sad when she goes more than 3 days without seeing B. I am not sure ho...

Why the blog name change? Well, I'll tell you. The blog was previously named, "In Pursuit of a Family" and chronicled the loss of our daughter, considerations of adoption, and ultimate NICU experience with B. We have our family now, though we are always considering expanding the family but won't be doing that biologically and have ethical and moral concerns about spending $50,000 on an adoption but I digress...so we have reached our goal of a family. It is small. It is far from perfect. But it is ours and I am happy with it.  But Adventure Girls and Ferd? Who is this Ferd character? B. loves imaginative play. One game we like to play is, "Adventure Girls".  She and I get to go off on adventures. We have binoculars, field notebooks, and adventure bags. Normally we just play Adventure Girls when we go on hikes but sometimes we use the promise of an adventure to help soften a potentially scary or anxiety-inducing situation. Another thing B. loves to play is fam...