And They're Gone

The gang left today. After what seems to be an eternity, too.
Mom, dad, my sister (who were here for 2 months), brother, sister-in-law, and their 2 kids.
(That's Benjamin over there. I think he was confused about something)

It was swell having them here. It took some getting used to, in a way, as Kristin and I have not had so many guests at our new home before. And it has been a while since I was in a house with so many people under one roof.

And as many Malaysians abroad can attest to this, when family visits, they usually stay weeks or months at a time. My family stayed longer this time because my sister was interviewing for a residency spot here and mom came earlier with her. And things are usually pretty chaotic in the house, what with all the noise, activity, food. The law of entropy at its finest.

Despite the noise level at times (unbelievable how much noise a 2- and 4-year old can make; if only there was some way to harnest the energy!), it was nice having family here. For one, it made our large, sterile and quiet house feel much more like a home.

And it was nice to finally show my mom and dad what our new home is like. To reassure them, that I truly am ok being here (and not Malaysia) and that they shouldn't worry about us being able to take care of themselves.

True, at times the screaming kids made me want to hit my head against the wall, these last few weeks our house exuded a certain amount of warmth; walking through the doors after work and hearing those familiar sounds, smell of mom's cooking, felt like I wasn't just coming back to a house we owned, I was coming home.

Truth be told, after having 9 people under one roof in a 5-bedroom house, there is some certain amount of relief to have our personal space back. But the overwhelmin feeling right now is one of emptiness. And strange as it may be, when I got back from the hospital just now (am oncall over the weekend) the silence was just unnerving.
They left only 10 hours ago, but we're already missing them.

And though Kristin's able to study in silence now, really, we're just looking at each other, wondering what do to with ourselves. Even Chloe, our dog, seems depressed that her buddies have left.
They'll be back sometime again, I'm sure. Especially if my sister ends up in the Midwest for her residency next year.

And I sure hope they enjoyed their visit this time, especially my 2 nephews who saw snow for the first time. I was able to arrange for a tour of the hospital helipad for them yesterday, and I think the boys were in awe seeing the chopper up close.