There's No Place Like Home

We came home to our apartment Monday night after the spa. As we had planned, there had been no sirens in Haifa for 24 hours. That was my minimum condition for returning and it was very nice of the Hezbollah to respect our plans.
I cried a lot when we came in. A mixture of pent up emotions released. Hormones surely played a role as they always do now but it wasn't just that. Sometimes you get so used to holding a stiff upper lip that you don't even realize it until suddenly you're home, the door is closed, and you can grab your kitty cat tight and just bawl and rage and get all blubbery. I felt like I'd been a horrible Mommy to leave Koshky at home all that time, though she was fatter than ever, happy and loving. The house was very stuffy until we opened all the windows and turned on the ceiling fans. I lit some incense. I cleaned the fridge again which had gotten a little mildewey and we set to getting it to work. No go. Adi called his father who came and fiddled with the outlet and somehow got it working again. I did mounds of laundry and started unpacking. I realized that I have a lot more energy (physically) than I did before we left. Seems I've gotten to a more comfortable phase in my pregnancy that way.
More energy is good but it takes me some time to recalibrate. More does not mean unlimited and I quickly got tired and frustrating trying to do EVERYTHING including clean up clutter that has been building since the wedding filled our house with beautiful gifts we have no place to put.

Disgruntled, I shuffled off to the post office to pick up packages waiting for weeks now. The post office was closed. Not because of the situation, just because they work half-days in July. The streets seemed semi-normal, semi-deserted. The city of Haifa and many individuals hung Israeli flags from lamp posts, windows, even on bushes. Someone put a collection of hand-written signs with messages like "ALLA TAKE NASRALLA!" over his balcony.
The cafes, normally full, were only half occupied, one of them by members of a TV crew. There was a semi-musty smell in the air, as though like our apartment, the city had been only half-lived in lately.

Still, it was good to be back. There is no place like home.