Our New Backyard

As foreshadowed in my post of several months ago, we are beginning the next chapter of the Geipel Adventures. As with most of life’s transitions, coming home is bittersweet. We had over two fantastic years living as ex-Pats and exploring the parts of the world that were closer to us there than they are to Zionsville, Indiana.  But, we are also happy to be back on more familiar territory and to reunite with friends and family.

With the routine parts of life like grocery shopping, determining clothes sizes, visiting the orthodontist (Dr. Toll in Germany could have easily warranted an entire blog post!) and even parking the car back on “auto-pilot,” I feel like I have more time and am more productive. That said, knowing each day will bring something new to learn and some new adventure, however small, is a great thing for a while. It takes you back to how the world feels when you are 20 and exploring new things for the first time: college, new cities, new jobs, new friendships. But, even back then, if I remember, it was nice to eventually find a “comfort zone.”  We are back in ours with a store of fantastic memories and a yearning to continue the explorations and adventures regularly!

Gary, for one, will continue with the regular international travel in his new role at Lilly. He returns later this Fall to the position of Senior Director, Global Oncology Corporate Affairs. How’s that for a long job title that tells you very little in the end if you are an outsider?!  The short description is that he will be responsible for helping to influence the health policy and reimbursement “climate” for new and existing oncology drugs in the European and Asian countries as well as Australia. Helping in the effort to assure patient access to oncology drugs is an inspiring goal.  On a much more personal note, this new role also means we can count on his travels for keeping us flush with frequent flyer miles for future family trips!

In the meantime, while Gary survives in a tiny, rabbit-hutch sized studio apartment for another few weeks in Frankfurt, those of us here are overseeing the start of our home-building. At the moment, it means frequent trips to see a large hole in the ground! Though we had a beautiful Fall, the recent spate of regular rain has kept it looking like we are building a swimming pool, not a house and progress has stalled just as it was getting underway.  This is not all bad, however, as I still have final decisions to make and details to plan and the slow-down gives me some breathing room to do that.

Audrey and Ethan have settled in to their respective schools – Audrey back at her old school and Ethan at a new high school. Both are happy and continue their participation on tennis and basketball teams. I have been lucky to renew some of my freelance writing relationships and continue with an eye out for others.  I have also launched myself back into school!  With a first, web-based course (except for exams which are in-person!), I have begun work on a tourism and travel planning certificate  from  IU. With notions of a possible retirement business for Gary and me, I decided the background and expertise might come in handy. And, perhaps I’ve become more reliant than I realized on that regular supply of new challenges that being an ex-pat supplied!

Our young but extremely handsome and
gifted building supervisor!

So, life readjusts, adventures change and we look forward daily to the next chapters as they are written. But, some chapters are less “bloggable” than others!  We decided that our family record of the home building process would be the old-fashioned kind: we will keep a scrapbook of pictures, stories, and memories.

So, until the annual Holiday Letter – Auf Wiedersehen !

Tsuess!
Kris