This is home

Candle.  Coffee.  Stack of books.  Reading chair.  Soft, thick blanket.  To me, that’s home.  Since returning a week ago I’ve spent a large majority of my time right here.  And an embarrassingly large majority of that time in pajamas.  The past couple days I have changed out of pajamas to work out (which, after six weeks of leisure and eating out is quite the painful experience).  Then I shower.  Then I put pajamas back on.  I just thought I’d give you a real glimpse into my life.

One of the few things that have coaxed me out of my warm apartment and cozy reading chair is a visit to the orphanage.  I was quite excited to get back to the kids and see how much they had grown in the past six weeks.  This time the toddlers remembered who I was and greeted me with grins and open arms.  This response was quite a change from their usual tears after the strange foreign faces show up after a long time away.

As if that reaction wasn’t enough to make me giddy with happiness, the workers passed along the news that five of the kids had been matched with their forever families.  After no adoptions in the past semester, this news was such a joy to hear.  I’ve had the privilege of feeding, rocking, singing, playing and loving on most of these kids since they were tiny little babies and I’m thrilled to know they’re finally headed home in the next few months.

However, I was too enamored cuddling cuties like this little guy (who we’ve nicknamed Benjamin) to take many pictures.  Doesn’t he just melt your heart?

One more travel update to come once I get the pictures sorted and loaded on flickr.  In the meantime, it’s time to go put pajamas back on and settle into my reading chair.  One week until I’m back in the classroom!