the making of me {chapter 9}

as we got to talking to our new found friends this sunday we eventually set off to our car and back to our "new home".

s.mac informed me that we had been invited to dinner with some students and their families that were attending the medical school. i thought it was so nice that a woman would open her house last minute at the happenstance showing of this new family to the ward.

he told me they lived right across the way in our apartment complex. they had a daughter "winds of love's" age and she was expecting a little boy in a few weeks. they also invited another couple over, which ironically enough, turned out to have utah connections also. this couple had seen our moving truck and our trusty ford taurus with those utah plates that boasted the golden arches and that night had brought my husband dinner. so, i knew this dinner invitation was going to be flowing over with good people.

we were able to go over, eat a wonderful stew from todd's mission, spain, that he made. we were able to talk and enjoy their company. the little girls took to each other quickly. poor bud "e" was in an ear infection kick for about 8 months of our time on the east. this night we found him starting to show all the signs of an unhappy baby and excused ourselves early. on our way out we bumped into more familiar faces we had seen from church that day and realized that where we were living was the mormon mecca. why, in one 4 plex alone there were 3 mormon families. there were playgrounds in our complex that were always laced with the shrills of delight from hapy tots.

we ended our social night with tension thick at our house. s.mac was to start school in the morning and i had scarcely made myself familiar with the town. i was incredibly nervous, 3 days wasn't enough for me to feel confident on my own.

how could i live in a place i had to put a bar on the steering wheel just to park at the grocery store? i was determined to make this place our own. i started mapping out saturdays and where we would explore. s.mac had raided the local welcome station's magazines and it soon became my hobby finding a town to explore and a little local favorite to grab a bite to eat. it was my salvation the first few months.

s.mac did this wonderful, fabulous thing for me in grad school. he committed himself to our little family from 5 to 7 every night. i promised to have dinner ready and he helped bath, read books and put the children into a fitful slumber. he then returned his focus to studying efforts from 7-10. he wanted also to dedicate his weekends to us. he felt strongly about not abandoning his wife once school started. it was a most lovely schedule. he was rewarded in his priorities with his test scores and the ability to be able to meet the schools standards. and so the week went. and then turned into months of that rhythmic schedule.