you just call on me, sister, when you need a hand

Monday, 12/07/15, 8:33am

My sister and her family are leaving for South Korea today for about 2 months. My brother-in-law, Peter, has to go there for work, and they figured out a way to get the whole family there. They'll be staying in a tiny apartment in Daejeon, about an hour train ride from Seoul. Peter will be working a lot of hours, Audra will be trying to keep her older son caught up with schoolwork. It should be a really exciting and educational, albeit a little stressed, experience for them.

I'm going to miss them. Nasser's going to miss them. RG and TK are going to miss them. We've been living in close proximity with my immediate family for quite some time now. We originally moved to Colorado from California because Nasser was able to transfer with his company here, and my sisters were both living here, and both pregnant along with me, so it was a no brainer to move closer to them. I shared both my pregnancies with Audra. With RG, Vida, Audra, and I were pregnant all at the same time, our children due within 3 months of eachother. Then with TK, Audra and I, again, and this time, our brother's wife, Carmen, were all pregnant and due within 6 months of eachother. It was and is pretty special.

I'm close with all my siblings. Audra and I have been especially close since I moved to Colorado. So far, each of the times that I've been home with my kids, Audra also has. So we ended up spending a lot of time together and we formed many of the same friendships with other families. Since I've been home lately, she's been my go-to person. We get together several times each week for playdates for our boys, workout classes, running dates, Costco trips.

And Audra is definitely a big support person in my depression.

It's really going to be hard losing our routine, even if it's only for 2 months. We plan to do video calls and have the kids send postcards or letters back and forth, but TK and I, especially, will need to step out of our comfort zone. I'll need to start planning things more with my other stay at home mom friends. And TK normally goes to school with D, his cousin, one morning a week. D won't be there of course, and he'll need to start interacting with the other kids and make some new friends.

It's certainly not the end of the world, but the ease of the transition into "stay at home mom" for me has been easier with Audra around. I'm a little worried that reality is going to hit me a little more these next 2 months. I've got to rely on myself more, as well as start expanding my close support network a little more. Thankfully, I've been already doing that lately and I've made major strides just in the past week with my blog.