Forrest had a Bad Day

I took Forrest to the vet yesterday because he had developed a swelling on his face. The short story is an abscess formed around a piece of cheet grass which the vet can only guess he ate. They lanced it and sent him home with an open wound. (Not something I do well with, but this story is about Forrest.) I've had to put the cone of shame onto him to prevent his scratching the open wound. To put it mildly, Forrest does not like the cone of shame. Look at this:

This is not a picture wherein I captured him in motion. No, when you put a cone on Forrest he freezes in place and will not move. He won't eat or drink or lay down. Honestly, he won't move a muscle! Poor Forrest, he had a bad day. And he's likely to have a few more while we wait for his wound to heal.

Restless

Suddenly this morning I was broadsided by my own thoughts. "Regular life is boring" is what I thought. What?! It's not that I don't understand why I think that - I totally understand it. But the timing bothers me. We just moved SIX WEEKS AGO! The kids last day of school was YESTERDAY! And I thought I was looking forward to summer vacation.

So why now do I suddenly feel bored? It could be the combination of these two facts: 1) Yesterday as I looked through Anna's school work I found a writing assignment. She wrote about her favorite place in the world. For some reason I was surprised by the fact that her favorite place in the world is Taipei. She wrote wonderful things about the weather (!?) and the color of the grass. She mentioned the bugs, but they were not enough to leave her with a negative impression. 2) This morning, before my shocking thought but for reasons unknown to me, I read a blog I haven't read since leaving Taiwan. It is all about the best places to eat in Taipei and it was my expatriate Bible. Today I didn't care what she said about food, I hungrily buzzed through the photographs searching for the pictures of the front of each restaurant, hoping I would recognize some of them. It caused a surge of nostalgia which led to my brain practically screaming "REGULAR LIFE IS BORING!!!"

Wow. What am I to do with this? A Bible verse has crossed my mind: "Godliness with contentment is great gain." I don't think contentment is in my vocabulary. Well, obviously it is not. I even prayed about these thoughts. Honestly, I have no desire for contentment. I have a desire for excitement! Any wise counsel?

So, in the spirit of my nostalgic wanderlust, I dug up some photos of Taipei. These are literally some of the first pictures I took. They were all taken from the window of the taxi that took us from the airport to our new "home". For myself I have to note: I have exactly 7 photos which were taken while I was ecstatic in my excitement over our grand adventure. After those initial 7 photos I received the phone call telling me Mom was in the hospital. That colored the experience and tempered my excitement, to say the least. So these pictures, while not good quality, are hugely important to me because when I look at them I remember the intense excitement I felt for that brief time.

The Grand Hotel.  The kids and I were so excited by the Chinese architecture.  Ethan chose to spend his birthday here.

Taipei 101 through the early morning fog. 

At 5:30 a.m. the streets were almost deserted.  I was quite amused by this man on a bike, with his Chinese hat.

I can only hope God has a purpose for this restlessness I feel. If not in my life, then in the lives of my children. Honestly, I hope they have inherited it. But I hope they recognize it at a young age and are able to channel it appropriately. I hope in their lives they travel all over the world, because staying in one place is just boring. (And hey, if they move all around the world, I can visit them!)

A few photos from our back yard:

The garden was developing quite nicely until the marmots took a liking to it. Thankfully much of it was in containers so has been moved to the front court yard. I still have to photograph that area, but I am awaiting the arrival of my refurbished patio set. Once that arrives and everything is in place I will take pictures.

Meanwhile, today is the last day of school here. It is the last day that my kids will EVER be in the same school (unless we move!) I had to mark the occasion with a picture. Summer is going to be full of activities for the kids. I am excited for it to begin!