Hello, Texas!

I'm confident my mother has single-handedly spread the news across the US, but just in case you haven't heard, the Deans of Singapore will once again become the Deans of Southlake this summer. We confirmed a couple weeks ago that our expat adventure here will end in a few months. For me, "mixed feelings" sums it up well.

This past year has provided plenty of uncertainty about our plans, as we went back and forth between moving back to the US and being tempted to stay in Asia. In the end, staying here longer would have required a significant shift towards making Singapore our long-term home. And while it would have been wonderful for our children to continue at the Singapore American School, there were too many other reasons to decline.

We haven't set our departure date yet but the girls and I plan to be back in the US by late June. Brian intends to fly home with us and help us get settled before returning to Singapore to finish his project. Hopefully our family will be back together for good in September.

When we told the girls, 9-year old Megan immediately sent emails to her grandmothers and closest cousin announcing the news. I took that as a good sign. Of course, by bedtime that night, she was in tears about leaving her friends and the school she loves. The mention of Chick-Fil-A was enough to make her feel okay about the move again. That's my girl! Undoubtedly Megan will not be alone in experiencing a wide range of emotions over the next several months.

Elizabeth composed a catchy tune with the lyrics, "I don't want to go back to America." Her major concern is the well-being of her hamster Angel. We already have a couple leads on a new home for Angel and I promised Elizabeth I would confirm with Singapore Airlines that they will not allow Angel to fly home with us. If the customer service desk hands out awards for the craziest question of the day, I'm a winner for sure.

Emily, our little Singaporean, doesn't show much preference either way, as she really has no clue what awaits her back in Texas. When we rode bikes last weekend, she wore leggings and a sweater because she was cold. It was 85 degrees outside. I predict she has the hardest time adjusting to the winter weather back home.

When I shared the news with friends here, I told them that I feel excited about moving home, even though I can logically list a hundred reasons why I love living in Singapore. I think am just relieved to know WHAT we're doing after months of speculation and contingency planning. I also feel like I've been on vacation for the past few years and maybe it's time to join the "real world" again. That feeling will likely last until I do a weeks' worth of laundry for the family.

My mind has been in planning mode since finalizing the decision and it has reminded me of exactly how I operated 3 1/2 years ago while organizing our move here. Once I know where we're headed, I generally focus on the positive aspects of the changes ahead.

Of course, life back in Southlake won't be the same as when we left. Megan and Elizabeth will attend a new elementary school that opened last year. Emily was still a baby when we moved away. She will turn 5 years old this summer. We decided to hold off on Kindergarten for her this year so I experienced the challenges of school shopping with a 14-hour time difference. Emily will also attend a school that's new to us and I pray it's a good fit for her because I didn't exactly get to tour it firsthand. I was pleased to hear that her new teacher intends to add Singapore to their "Countries of the World" unit.

I'm excited to be back in our house again where we will enjoy space that was sorely lacking here. We can welcome a dog into our family again with that big back yard! I'm looking forward to decorating the girls' rooms to suit their current ages and tastes and finally updating the kitchen. Our house is a huge source of excitement for me surrounding the move.

Of course, having extended family in the area will be a nice perk as well. The girls' grandparents have all retired while we have been away so we will enjoy having more flexibility about when we spend time with them. I'm excited to live closer to my siblings again and visit them without crossing the entire Pacific Ocean first.

So, for now, I will focus on those benefits of being back in Texas and try not to dwell on the loss of foot massages, spontaneous weeknight dates with my husband (who doesn't travel here), an amazing school environment (and glorious uniforms), morning runs along the river (and those delicious smoothies) with friends, a top-notch airline and airport, ability to ignore US presidential election nonsense, pulling out our passports for travel every other month, swimming year-round, the fact that someone else is cleaning the condo while I type this post...

Yes, it's best if I concentrate on what we're gaining rather than what we're leaving behind.