Staying at (a new) Home

Changing rentals during Stay at Home orders doesn't mean a lot except that we have new scenery indoors.  We left our AirBnB for a townhome in a different part of the Woodlands.  It's a bit smaller but better laid out and more modern, so it's been a great home.

Our open living area and kitchen are bright and cheery.  Even though we don't have any outdoor space, we look out on to the wooded common area which is lovely.

Plus, I ordered a window bird feeder which has been lots of fun.  Within hours, we had a pair of cardinals (with a bald male, so we can always recognize it's the same guy), wrens, chickadees, and a titmouse.

 And we love our adventurous squirrel Earl, who has tried every day to get on that feeder but finally resorts to eating the seeds I leave him on the windowsill.

We were able to create nice work areas for each of the kids.  Alex got a little computer desk and gets to stare at himself in the mirror while he works.

Ben opted for a table in the closet so he could set up his Nascar steering wheel as well and do some virtual racing after school.

He and Matt figured out how to race together across the miles, so it's been a fun activity for them to share together/apart.

Ben waited very (im)patiently for the new iPhone SE to be released and spent his own savings to order it the minute it was released.  He was a very happy guy when it arrived!

Because of the age of his old iphone and the difficulty of using a US sim card on his Indonesian phone, he's always carried around two phones when we're in the States.  It was a happy day when he was able to consolidate everything onto one phone that could do everything!

We've done some baking at home, like these fresh soft pretzels....

...and our first shot at a chocolate souffle.  Delicious!!

In Pandemic times, grocery shopping has been fine for the most part but I kept swinging through the cleaning aisles in hopes that real cleaners would show up again.  This was a memorable morning!

Pandemic life also includes drive through Covid-19 testing.  Things I'd never thought I'd have to do in my life!  My antibody test was negative so apparently our travel hygiene was effective.

Staying at Home (Wherever Home May Be)

After our long trip, we spent our first week at our AirBnB in the Woodlands working through our jetlag and getting our fridge and pantry stocked.  HEB curbside for the win! Stay at home orders for the county went into effect and I only shopped a handful of times for necessities at essential stores that remained open, and Amazon was a lifesaver.  We were really pleased with our little house on Sandpebble and it quickly became a happy home.

We rearranged the living room and created an awesome couch bed.  Many an hour was spent here watching the Goldbergs together.

We were also so thankful that the grandparents were just 20 minutes in either direction.  On one grocery run at Target I was able to pick up the quarantining expat starter kit - folding chairs for the trunk.

We loved being able to make socially distant visits to the grandparents!  Sad to not share hugs but so happy to spend an hour together outdoors.

We even got to celebrate Grandma's birthday with her!

The Mitchell Nature Reserve was nearby and it was terrific for a longer hike in nature once or twice a week.  On Fridays and the weekends it was packed, so we would avoid it.

Puzzles were for sure a quarantine must. They were completely sold out in most stores but we were able to borrow several from Grammy.

I bought a little vacuum for quick, daily cleans and Ben became obsessed.  I couldn't have been prouder!

Once I was able to locate clippers and scissors, these guys got awesome, free haircuts from Mom.

Not the best, but better than nothing.

I think they'd grown a little furry!

Ben learned how to restring his guitar by himself after one of his strings broke.

Alex spent hours assembling a marble race kit.

 The highlight of each day was 6pm when we'd have dinner while Matt had breakfast in Jakarta.  Our standing date meant we spent a meal together at least once a day and really kept us connected.

 The boys had a 2-person Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  50 eggs went a long way between just two kids!

The golden eggs were tricky but worth it - each one was redeemable for a slice of cookie cake (thankfully considered an essential business!)

Easter morning looked a little different than usual, but we can celebrate from the couch in our PJs just as easily as in the sanctuary in our Sunday best!  Even better, Matt was able to catch the same service at 7pm in Jakarta so we were together/apart watching church.

It's been so great having the spring weather to get us outdoors and enjoy some fresh air at least once a day.  And thank goodness we brought those ripsticks! 

Ben heard about a new budget iPhone being released and researched it for weeks.  He set his alarm to order it the minute it went on sale and is anxiously awaiting its arrival as I write this.  It's the only thing he wants for his upcoming birthday.

 All too soon, our 4 weeks in the house were ending and it was time to make a move.  We enjoyed our last rainy afternoon there playing games and laughing together.

Besides the fact that moving is a hassle, we were all sad to leave.  Our little house was a safe haven amidst a world full of uncertainty and our time there was sweet.  But other renters were arriving and we had to move on to our next house with an open timeline.  Who knows what the world will be like in the next 4 weeks?

Heading to Texas

There were two routes to fly to Houston from Singapore because many international flights had already been cancelled.  The best choice was through Taipei and I happened to think that I should check the current travel advisories there.  At 8:30am, I realized that Taipei was closing its borders at midnight and there would be no more transiting through the airport.  By 9am, we had confirmation that we would be on the 1pm flight to Taipei to catch the connection to Houston, so we were given the ultimate expat challenge - pack up and get ready to leave the country at a moment's notice!  In 90 minutes, the kids and I had our stuff packed, fridge emptied, dishes washed, and taxi booked.  It was a little crazy but they were amazing helpers.

We arrived at a very different Changi airport from anything I've ever seen.

At the Eva desk, they knew immediately we were the last minute booking because there were only a handful of people on the flight.

The empty airport was shocking.  Even in the middle of the night, Changi is always bustling with people.  We found a quiet corner in the lounge to catch our breath, book an airbnb in Houston and a rental car on arrival.

Very thankful our flight was on time!

I love Asia so much.  If a mask is a good idea, then rain coats and full rain gear are even better!

Super thankful to get seats perfectly designed for social isolation!  With 18 hours to fly, we wanted all the space we could get.

Planes were grounded and parked all around the airport.  Again, I've never seen anything like this.  It brought tears to my eyes because I was so grateful to be heading home amidst global uncertainty.

Taipei was also a ghost town.

We disinfected a quiet corner to pass our layover hours.

We were so happy to land in Houston around 11pm on the same day that we woke up not expecting to leave Singapore!

Welcome to Houston!

Since we were the only flight arriving, things were incredibly efficient.  Immigration was barely 5 minutes and we walked into baggage claim to see that Ben's guitar was the very first piece of luggage off the plane and the rest of our bags were nearby.  We were the first people out of customs.

Service and food on the plane were very limited so we were all hungry when we left the airport around midnight and we were so happy to see that Whataburger was open.  Just what we needed!  I was surprised to see that Wal-Marts and all the other 24-hour stores were closed.

Our next surprise was that I forgot to get a screen shot of our airbnb door code and around 1am we were cruising through the Woodlands looking for free wifi because we didn't have US sim cards yet and my Jakarta sim wasn't working at all.  Thankfully we pulled into a McDonalds and found enough wifi to get into our house for the night.  We showered and crashed about 2:30am.  I was up by 5am because I was concerned about the grocery situation  and wanted to avoid as many people as possible.  At 7am, I got some essentials at Wal-Mart and picked up the breakfast of champions for two happy and tired boys.

Since it was spring break, we had no schedule or responsibilities.  We just had to try to get over the jetlag and relax at home.  It was wonderful to get to see the grandparents, but there were no hugs and we kept our distance in their driveways.  It was also great to discover that while the restaurant dining rooms were closed, most are doing curbside delivery and online payments so we were able to get our Tex-Mex fix without encountering people at all.

The spring weather here has been fantastic and we're able to get out every day for fresh air and exercise.  The walking trails are our friends right now for sure.

This is a different world than anything we've ever known.  We hate that Matt isn't here with us but he's completely holed up working and living in our house in Jakarta, safely away from the outside world, and our simple schedule means we can eat dinner/breakfast (for him) together every evening on facetime.  We're thankful for good internet to Zoom with friends.  People on the street are friendly.  Drivers are more patient.  Kids are leaving sweet notes on the sidewalk.  We're settling into our new normal and we're happy that the stress of uncertainty is gone.  School is closed for the rest of the 19-20 year so we can settle into this online life and make it work.