My Kingdom for a Cuppa

There my boxes of tea sat next to my coffeemaker, nearly undisturbed, for 10 months. Clear in my mind's eye, they taunt me now in my hour of need: jet lag. I know, of course, that to sink heavy and warm into dreamland at 7:43 pm would be a mistake, and that an equally dangerous indulgence would be a cup of coffee at this hour. And so I blinkblinkblink at my screen, wondering if, had I not taken my tea for granted, I might have brought some along to be sipping at this very moment.

My lack of tea... that is the only thing wrong with this picture, and thanks to the presence of the Maxima XXX supermarket a few blocks away from our temporary residence - the U.S. Embassy Vilnius - it is one that is easily remedied.


Once the kids wake up. Which could be tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon, or 2:00 am tonight. You see, tiny kids do not observe the rules for overcoming jet lag. Tiny kids don't push themselves to stay awake until their usual bedtime (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). Tiny kids don't set alarms to wake at a decent hour in the morning, or force themselves up from naps after 2 hours so they can get back to sleep at night. No, tiny kids do what tiny kids do best - whatever the heck they want.




Tiny kids waking at 11:00 pm and staying up past 2:00 am notwithstanding (yeah, that's when I remembered she has a Kindle - glorious invention, that), all is quite well with the Roaming Reynolds.

Our permanent residence here in the capital of Lithuania will be ready for occupancy in about a week, which is shockingly quickly considering the work that goes into the preparation. Until then, we're living on the embassy compound itself. Nick's office is down the hall, providing him with the world's shortest commute. We have a view of the Russian Orthodox Church located a block away, which is lovely, and we have air conditioning in our bedroom, which is clutch. Someone very clever packed Evelyn's favorite pillow and blanket from Virginia, so she's happily sleeping in her new bed, and there's a crib set up for Zoe, who didn't even give it a second thought as a safe place to sleep.

Why yes, we do have dogs! Well remembered, you. Moki (MOH-key), our 35 lb. Zimbabwean Jack Russell/something cross, has made her second international journey easily, and is happily lying on the clothes in my open suitcase as we speak. The one report we received of her during our travels was that she was being "extremely cute." Kiro (KEY-roh), our 80 lb. Nepalese Tibetan Mastiff, is, alas, still at doggy summer camp in Virginia. Due to a Lufthansa pets-as-cargo flight embargo during the current heat wave in the DMV area, his arrival had to be delayed until the middle of next week - just in time to adjust to our apartment before moving again.



Truly though, we have had nothing but positive experiences thus far in LT. The embassy staff is efficient and welcoming, the Americans are in high spirits, and the groceries are inexpensive. I even saw hot air balloons out of my kitchen window last night! We have a lot to see, do, and learn, and we're all looking forward to exploring this new world. To quote Evelyn: "We're having an adventure!"