turning the corner

i think i've turned the corner. 
i'm sure it's one of many corners, one of many turns that i will make, as we wiggle around getting adjusted, and getting comfortable here.  but yesterday i woke up and felt better.  i also felt like it was time to own up- to embrace- to make this experience real.  it was time to get over the getting over it, to be done with the transition state, to jump in.  so i got excited again and about everything. 

i decided that if we were going to be with out electricity this much than i need to embrace it and buy some beautiful candles and candle sticks.  that it's time to get good at playing cards and boardgames and scrabble.  that it's time to pull out 'the joy of cooking' and learn how to do it. 
so today i made pineapple rice and chicken legs and i made it early because i could see when i cut things up and measured.

i also decided that we need to maintain and recreate our routines.  and that means date night, which we hadn't had until last night when a lovely girl volunteered to watch the kids.  it was fantastic.  we drove into the city and sat on this veranda overlooking a grassy yard and ate crocodile and wildebeest tandoori style.  and it didn't matter that we spent 2 of the 4 hours driving on unlit streets with headlight-less cars,  it was still delicious.  all of it.  the food, the night out together, uninterrupted grown-up time.  and we talked about this first month and we talked about sustainability and arranging our lives to keep it that way.  and we talked about forgiving our selves for needing things- like a night out- and for getting frustrated with the inconveniences of our life here- because sometimes you need to say it out loud- to acknowledge- before you can move on. 

and then, you can turn that first corner.