honestly

The thing is, I had honestly forgotten how to log in to the blog.  No joke.  We've kind of had this wild swirl of activity in the last 7 months.  Undefineable ups and downs.  Serious downs with some peaks really.  Then the computer crashed- which is the high tech version of your dog eating your homework.  And here we are.  Good news, apparently my resurrected computer and my new start page from google really want me to blog because it puts it front and center and somehow I'm already logged in- which is probably a security problem. 

So let's start for today. I've had this stomach ick for about 3 months.  And its the burping, I'll save you the details but I could make high school boys fully loaded with carbonated drinks blush.  I sound awful.  So I've been flipping through my head and my diet and my diet isn't great.  I just need to do better.  The months of highs and lows have been months of highs and lows in the diet too.  I cook a ton but I'm baking more than I'm stir frying.  Meatless Mondays have become "I'll remember that next week."  I have started green smoothies and I think that has staved off worse problems.  I'm going to try to buckle down a little this week, buy some brocolli and tempeh and make a stirfry with rice. 

We've also been kicking over every rock we can find for a visa.  Now, folks, visas for us are like kryptonite, we can't touch them but they strip the life right out of us.  I'm praying for some serious long term victory in the visa department but I'm clinging to hope.  Its never good to be skin of teeth on hope. 

Oh and we moved.  We moved about 10 times in the last 7 months to be exact- no kidding.  Several of the moves were shuttling between hotel rooms.  The next 6 months looks to be more of the same, less hotel rooms hopefully.  But probably a whole house move. 

So welcome back to disconnected blog chatter, I've missed you.

scouting

At the beginning of the school year the local boy scout leaders came to the school and led an assembly for the boys. They got the boys all hyped up about scouting and the wonderful times of campfires and camping that they would enjoy. @ came home on cloud 9 about scouts. "All the boys are going to be scouts, Mom." After checking his backpack for a note about the scouts and finding nothing, I asked how he knew all about scouts. "Oh, they had all the boys come to the gym and they told us about." and he rattled on about the wonders of scouting. Jonathan and I chatted about it and Jonathan, who had a good scouting experience as a boy, said maybe, we'll see. A day or two later we got a packet about the scouts and when the information meeting would be. So the boys went and @ came home a scout. It wasn't expensive and Jonathan said he had made it clear we wouldn't be selling anything (Jonathan and I aren't into kids selling stuff because it normally is parents selling stuff). We went around to the boy scout store and bought the uniform and generally enjoyed looking through the store. And I kind of sold myself on the wonders of scouting- envisioning father son camping trips back home in Asia.

Over the months scouting has been fun for @ and a constant source of mystery for me. I put scouting under Jon's responsibilities knowing that come a new baby my memory for extracurriculars would be gone. So I've never really kept track of the meetings or the details of scouts. Jonathan is in charge of scouts. I've sent the cookies and the drink and gone to a few pack meetings. That has been nice.

Last weekend they organized a bowling trip. Jonathan and I were really pleased because that was something we had meant to take @ on while we were in the states and had forgotten. @ and Jonathan had a great time bowling and we agreed we'd do it again before we left the states. The troop leaders wanted the boys to go to a radio station. The radio station they wanted to visit didn't return phone calls and they wanted to get it done before the awards banquet. Thursday we went out and the boys got a tour of a small town radio station. Fortunately Jonathan's brother had worked in radio during High School and College so Jonathan asked some leading questions to extend the tour to 15 minutes. The boys liked making there voices sound funny.

Our troop leaders are two moms that are exceedingly kind and patient. They've organized good lessons for the boys while not entirely understanding the details of scout structure. Scout structure seems to be and enigma to everyone except that insurance and scouting rules mandate lots of strict training for parents- to protect boys from predators. Those are good rules but they can be a little confusing to follow. We have a den where the dads are always able to be with their son and so the rules are a bit easier to follow.

The thing I haven't loved about scouts is the by products of being in a testosterone fueled environment. @ has learned to be crude. Fart jokes and burping. I know that sounds like a mom, doesn't it? And @ was bound to learn those things anyway, maybe, maybe not. But scouts certainly seems to encourage it. Oh, and my favorite thing he could learn, how to objectify women. The first pack meeting I went to, for the entertainment portion, the Webelos had a top ten list of boy scout pick up lines. No kidding. 8 yr olds with pick up lines. Most were light hearted fun. The stand out of the evening "I know 100 ways to tie knots." think about it a minute. @ didn't get it, he didn't get any of them fortunately but I don't want to explain that to my 6 yr old.

So last evening was the banquet. I'm a little confused why the end of the year banquet was in February but not a big deal. @ got his belt loops. He has done fairly well. This morning as we were going through the belt loops he had earned we saw the good manners belt loop. For the most part @ has Good Manners but the last week he's been a bit of a creep so Jonathan and I held back the Good Manners belt loop. We told him he has to earn that one back. The creepy behavior really has nothing to do with scouts, just being a 6 yr old checking boundaries. Still if we can use scouts to rid the house of creepiness, so be it.

my nook color

I've been asking/ telling my husband that I thought he needed a kindle/ nook/ ereader for over a year. I had read a little bit about this "miracle of technology" (i'm sure someone has said that before me) and knew this was the destiny of my husband's book habit. See, he is a voracious reader. He reads anything. He has preferences certainly but when push comes to shove, really he'll read anything. Normally he wants a rarely heard of much acclaimed author or for fun a Tom Clancy or David Baldacci. But I've seen him reading my how to be a good christian mother books or how to be a good homeschool mom books. Needless to say, when we start buying books to feed his appetite, we also start needing to buy furniture to keep some of these books in. Some of the books we can let go of but he is an english instructor so some books he does need to keep for teaching. The last bookshelf we bought was actually listed as a shoe cabinet but it was way better as a bookshelf, unless you're Amelda Marcos. That purchase brought to light another fact, we're running out of space in our home for bookshelves. And again I suggested an ereader type device. My husband continually said there was no need. I sighed and wondered how we could strap a bookshelf to the ceiling or if one could pull up out of the floor.

Then my friend Lisa showed us her Kindle. We were at a conference together and Lisa pulled out her stylish machine. I sat next to her during a session and distractedly looked at her glide through pages. SO COOL! Lisa's a voracious reader too and so we talked about it. I was sold. Jonathan needs this machine. "Oh, no. I really don't, " said Jonathan. Sigh...

Then we came back to the States. While in the Barnes and Noble, I stopped at the Nook booth. Just curious to hold one and I really wanted to hear the sales pitch. Sometimes a good pitch helps talk me out of things as well as anything else. I know when I'm in over my head with technology and that is typically the juxt of a sales pitch "Oh, just look at the technology. All you need is to learn to do 27 new things with words that you don't know what they mean and then you can use this little lovely." Well, the nook booth lady wasn't young and she didn't tell me about cool technology. She simply slid around to a book and I knew all the words she was talking about. Sold. Then I started thinking about my homeschooled son with a literature based curriculum and I thought about the bill for shipping all of these very cumbersome (by weight) books. Sold again! Now how to sell my husband.

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"nesting" and why I don't really believe in it

Tomorrow is my technical "due date" for baby. But I don't believe in due dates either. No one really delivers on their due date or at least very few. And I'm no exception to the rule. Tomorrow's my due date but we're going to have to see a lot of action for that to happen.

I don't believe in nesting either. I haven't been nesting. Jonathan suggested I might be and he was greeted with scorn. Its not nesting to put away the laundry. Thousands of people do that everyday. Its not nesting to realize that your floor hasn't been swept in awhile and someone should really get on that before your family shows up. My sister came from New Orleans last weekend and it occured to me that maybe she could sleep on fresh sheets- not nesting, hospitality. My mom is planning on coming to stay with @ for a few days while I'm at hospital, should I clean out the fridge of the scary stuff? Basic human kindness, not nesting. I ad matched and couponed at Target for a morning for the toilet paper, paper towels, detergent, soap, etc. I know Jonathan doesn't really want to do that (he would if I asked) and maybe I don't want to take newborn 35 minutes into Indianapolis to do that job. Not nesting, just getting life done. The fact that all of these things happen to fall within the same week might lend itself towards nesting but it has more to do with the fact that I've taken sometime off doing those jobs previously and really needed to get back on the stick.

So tomorrow, when you hear that I've cleaned the bathroom, picked up a stack of papers or mopped the floor, let's chalk it up to deciding not to be that scary hoarder person you see on TV, not so much nesting.

summer

We'll do a little recap of the things going on in my brain over the last few weeks.

- America is full of hand sanitizer. And its in some really illogical places. Some good ones, like next to the computer station at the public library. Some less clear, inside and outside the hotel entrance. Leaving me wondering which one to use.

- America is full of surveys. We've been buying a fair number of things this last month as we try to put together a house, maternity clothes, back to US kind of things. Every reciept begs the honor of my opinion, for which Target, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Land's End, Walmart, Sears, Kohl's, CVS, Walgreens etc would like to pay me.

- Since coming back to the states, I've longed for a clothesline. I got one put in and when I'm home to do laundry, its rainy and overcast.

- We have been on the road a bit in the month of July and we're hoping to settle down a bit in August.

- I have misgivings on a daily basis about putting @ in school this year. I liked Sonlight SO MUCH and I know as a statistical reality that it was a great schooling program for @. I'm ordering the sonlight catalog anyway because we'll use those as our family read alouds this year.

- Not knowing what school @ is supposed to go to only makes the school/homeschool problem worse.

- Americans are gloomy these days (or at least the national projection is). And that is too bad because good ole' America is still doing ok. People are still basically good. They are generous and kind. They are clever and smart. They still have alot even if it isn't in the way of jobs and money. Cheer up America, you still have a lot left you in. That's the kind of girl you are.

- America is hot. I love going places and there is free wireless everywhere- and its unlimited service.

- My bananas go bad to quickly in United States. And I know how to be choosy about bananas. sigh.

- I love cereal choices in United States. I really could just eat cereal everyday and be a happy girl. And with coupons and adverts, I get to make lots of choices.

I think I'll go make a cereal choice just now.

in which i rattle on

I haven't really thought about much lately. Not to sit and notice the world. My brain has been kind of absorbed on the incessant queasey feeling in my stomach. Trying to figure out why it is queasey and how I could avoid that in the future. Its really not getting many anywhere. I've slogged through meal planning and frugality because I really don't feel like it. I've done ok at prepping homeschool everyday because I really can't get in the mood to be excited about anything when I'm queasey. And I'm bothered by that. I like frugality, meal planning and homeschooling. But March has been a protracted break.

Today I thought about homeschooling math programs. @ may very well be in a school building next year but I think he would still have fun with Miquon Math. And it would keep his head in the game for homeschooling when we return here.

I was proud of myself for thinking through a spreadsheet problem patiently.

I stood in line for 20 minutes at the KFC mostly because I was too lame to solve the dinner problem after being at dance in the afternoon. At the KFC I was the oldest person in the room by 15 years. It seems KFC is a choice afterschool hangout here for the teen set. Would I ever think that the KFC is a place to hang out?

Jonathan has been teaching a film class. Its all he really talks about. He gets excited when he gets to teach something new. I think it makes teaching the other old subjects more fun for him. But the film class is something that @ gets to participate in too. This week Jonathan needs to review "The Wizard of Oz" before teaching on Thursday. So @ is suggesting things for Jonathan to teach his students, questions to ask them. Some of them are very insightful questions.

I haven't drank coffee in a month and I'm sorry about it. I miss it a bit. Not because I'm having withdrawal just because it seems such a friendly routine. Actually Jonathan commented on how nicely I've stopped drinking coffee. It was just all of a sudden one day I didn't make coffee. Mom says drink tea. Tea doesn't seem as friendly of a morning routine for me. I put my morning glass of milk in a coffee mug this morning. Maybe I just need the mug. It helped a little. The mug is familiar. I think I'll be able to go back to it in another week or so. Maybe I'll try it with with milk. I take my coffee black but I can be flexible. Its decaf for heaven's sake, obviously I'm willing to make due.

the culture of swimming lessons

Some months ago we had talked about putting @ in swimming lessons. He's so assured that he can do it by himself that he really won't let us help in the water for more than minute. The problem was that we were anticipating a trip out for visa work and then as the visa work dragged on it took a life of its own. Swimming lessons floated to the background.

We spent a day at the pool with some friends and @ really wanted to swim with the big boy. He borrowed goggles from friends and tried everything the big boy did. He continued to talk about it the next several weeks so for christmas, @ got goggles with swimming lessons tucked inside. We've been talking about swimming lessons since christmas with the idea that after the new year we'd go around to some of the local pools and find out details.

Understand I knew things wouldn't work like traditional summer swimming lessons in the states. I think with that you sign up at the pool. Its so many mornings/ week in the summer. They put the kids in the class based on age and ability. And its a set cost, paid upfront.

There is no real summer here. There is the end of school break in June/July but kids don't take lessons then, they go on holiday. Kids take lessons all during the school year. For all kinds of things. For swim lessons, you go to the pool of your choice (we have 3 within a mile of us) and find out the details of when the swim teacher comes. I checked into 2 different pools. At Royal Family (its the name of the housing complex, we'll come to the funny at another time), you pay the entrance ticket to the pool and then you pay the swim teacher/ month. At SMG Beautiful (translation), its the same deal. But any arrangement for the lesson is made with the instructor, not with the pool.

We decided on SMG Beautiful. They have a better pool for lap swimming, it provides some shade, and its a bit cheaper of entry. We watched a young man give lessons for about 30 minutes. He was kind, got involved with helping child position his body, gave feedback as the child went along. Mostly, he seemed to have a kind happy face. We spoke with him for a while in Local language and found that he was able to respond a bit in english. A definite plus as @'s language is still very basic. And @ will begin swimming lessons next monday afternoon at 3:30. Swimming lessons are always in the afternoon here. Locals would never swim in the middle of the day- too hot, too sunny. Lessons are always after school, normally starting around 3 or 4 and kids will take lesson into the evening hours 7 or 8.

Thus the culture & language lessons of swimming lessons

between thanksgiving

yesterday we had thanksgiving with friends up the mountain. its lovely to go there because they have a house with a lovely tropical garden cut out of the jungle. and you sit in front of the picture window with a cup of coffee...its terribly relaxing. i brought the turkey and (for my own future reference) we packed it in a rubbermaid box. Carboard lining, then the Illini fleece blanket, then a layer of newspaper. turkey wrapped double in foil. then wadded up newspapers. i also put in the broth from boiling down the neck and a separate container of dripping from the bottom of the turkey pan. also for future reference a 16lb bird shouldn't be put in a large cooking bag- it needs the fuller sized turkey bag if its available. it did ok but more room is really needed.

today i went around to market, bought 6lbs of potatoes, 2lbs of green beans, 2lbs of onions, eggs, celery and bread. i made 2 pumpkin pies, cleaned the green beans and washed the potatoes. we dug out the serving dishes, wiped them off. found the extra plates and silverware. wiped off the glasses. cleaned up the kitchen a dozen times and washed dishes at least as many. went to get water. i did as much prep work for tomorrow as i can really get away with.

tomorrow we have somewhere between 6 and 16 people coming for thanksgiving. we're pretty sure we're going to hit 12 but everything is soft until you see the whites of their eyes. lunch isn't until something in the ballpark of 3ish so there isn't a big rush. i'll need to wash out the fridge after taking out the turkey. its a drippy thawed out mess in the crisper drawer at the moment. i need to do something about cleaning out a few million plastic containers but that will come as lunch prep comes together. jonathan will be in charge of peeling potatoes and i need to think of some locally inviting way to make green beans. i suspect it has something to do with oil and chilis but i wish there was a way to make locally pleasing and healthy. probably not going to happen.

but now i'm off to rest. i love having people over but turkey is stressful. there's to much "not killing your guests" talk associated with it. that isn't something i normally have to factor in to having people in for dinner.

why i'm not a happy housewife

So normally @ calls the shots on breakfast. Sometimes his ideas are thrown out on account of time or availability but for the most part he chooses within given choices. So today he called out waffles. And we all like waffles. I had come back from an early successful bike ride. I was feeling good (and already you know what we're in for). So i set about making waffles from a fellow blogger. The recipe looks lovely and you put everything in the blender- perfect for borderline carpal tunnel girl. I've made this recipe 5 or so different times- its always given me trouble but the last 2 batches from each recipe gives perfect beautiful waffles. Thus i persist in trying. So today i loaded the waffle iron with extra oil and set the timer. The waffles were so badly stuck that it pulled the griddles out of their locked position. Jonathan and i each took a griddle and started scraping. @ ate the bowl of crumbs. I poured in more oil to the freshly washed, reheated griddles. Slightly better, the scraps retained their waffle shape but without a middle. The project i started at 7:00a.m. has yeilded 4 waffle scraps and the need to rewash the griddles and its 8:30a.m. I haven't showered or started homeschool. Past angry, the waffle batter becomes pancake batter. The pancakes sticks to a well heated Teflon pan- no kidding folks. Now there is no happy housewife in me, there's is crazed manic killer housewife with a vendetta. And thus, the recipe is in the trash. And no i'm not going to link to it. Generally I like people, I wouldn't wish this on you.

the goings on

-School has started for the kids around town again. All except my @. We're both eager to start school but we really can't start yet- not officially.

-We have guests who have had a baby-lots of back and forth to the hospital for me. They are thinking on leaving here around 15 August. Good and Bad. Good: they need to get home and settled. Bad: its been nice having them around. But everyone needs to get back to real life eventually.

-We have guests leaving on Tuesday- lots of good-byes and "one lasts" in store for the next few days.

-Jonathan has the mumps. Lots of wait in see with this one.

- I need to have a conversation with my houseworker about housework. I think I'd rather do the housework myself than have another conversation where she looks at me like I'm crazy. I think its her way of understanding my language but it doesn't make me feel smart or good.

-I'm reading a wonderful book Wild Swans. You should read this book. Its your responsibility as a world citizen. Go to the library now and get the book.

-I need to work up a budget for 2010. That has to happen this week but after the guests leave on Tuesday.

- My husband made a dentist appointment for me. My teeth aren't bothering me. I don't feel the need to go to the dentist. Especially on Monday. The day before the guests leave and he is supposed to go to see Harry Potter. He says I should have a check up. I don't really want a check up- I don't know what that means. When I go to the dentist they make my not hurting teeth, hurt.

-I need to buy replacement rechargeable batteries. I use them non-stop and the 10 I have presently all seem to be dying at the same time. Probably because I bought them all at the same time and thus they are all dying. With the power outages I find myself in more need of batteries.

-I'm really eager to start homeschooling. I have a schedule that says I don't need to start until 22 August but I think we'll start before. After I get things figured out...

right now

I've got a few things going on right now:

- My national helper just sms'd. She isn't going to be able to come to HEC this week because her son has the mumps. @ spent several hours with her son on friday night (he developed the fever on Saturday/ Sunday) and so now i'm looking up "mumps" on wikipedia.

- I'm also thumbing through @'s baby book health record to see when he had that MMR shot and see when the booster is due (guessing age 5 which is 2 months away).

- I'm looking up leg problems in Mini Pins (the dog breed) to see if there is something genetic. A friend left her dog in the care of another friend. The dog has been getting shots for mange (which is something the breed is prone to) and has since developed an on again off again limp. Very odd.

- I'm directing the interns as they make banana cookies for HEC. One of them has never cooked at sea level- she's from Denver.

- I'm printing nametags for HEC.

- While going back and forth to the water cooler and checking on cookies, i'm balancing an apple on a spoon, practicing for tomorrow's relays.

- I'm paying our credit card bill and checking our bank balance.

jonathan keeps tapping his feet

I'm waiting for the day to start. I'm conscious of the fact that I haven't had this kind of quiet morning since @ was a little baby and I'd steal his sleeping in byblogging in our cool office. The office was cool in the morning and when the window was open the smell of the honeysuckle vein wrapped precariously around our steps would come in the window. This office has no honeysuckle smell but there is a promise of a container garden in the side yard once the wall construction is finished. And a litchi tree. We planted 4 litchi bits a week ago not thinking they would really grow. But alas there are starts in the pot. I checked wikipedia about litchi's. If we let them grow for a hundred years they will take over our neighborhood- the trees are absolutely huge! But I think we'll be safe through the term of our lease. Next I'm going to start coffee plants. I think I tried once in Africa but it didn't work out. Hope springs eternal, as does the litchi tree.

@ woke up. No idea what actually finally stirred him. But instead of talking in his bed waiting for us to come take him from his crib, he padded into the office with his "guys" - blankie, peno, whobbie, doggie, dory (a blue easter rabbit), and bunny. "I love you mom. Here's your guys" the guys become mine during the day. Now the boys are talking about fall in the US and the cold of snow and the possibility of making a campfire and the evil of forest fires...

so the day begins.

the one in which i have to say 3 nice things

Since sometime Sunday I have a rat in my house. Or maybe in and out, we don't know if he's coming and going. But for those who are unaware, I have a thing about rats, a nearly phobic kind of thing. Its kind of all I've thought about since Sunday. We think he got in through an open drain cover in the houseworker's bathroom.
The good news:
- I have a husband who has willing turned over, pulled out, cleared off, all the places I have asked him to.
- My husband bought glue traps. Not enough to cover every foot of the floor like I asked him too but still, he tried.
- I have well made kitchen cabinets out of teak wood that I believe the rat will have a hard time getting into. My very unhelpful husband very foolishly said "Oh, he could get in there." To which I gasped in horror and demanded a retraction.

My houseworker, who left the back drain uncovered (GRRRR), has not been at work in 2 days and today she didn't call to tell me she wasn't coming.
Good news:
- I have a houseworker, which I know is a blessing. I still do housework and all of the cooking but there is a lot to do here so its good to have help.
- My houseworker is trusty and normally very reliable.
- I can rearrange time to get some housework done and I'm not obsessive about everything being super clean.

@ has bronchitis again and he seems to have Jonathan's lungs (not a good thing).
Good news:
- We have money to take the child to the dr and recieve good treatment.
- I don't work outside of the home so when he needs to stay home I don't have to arrange a babysitter and worry about my job.
- The child really has a good disposition even when he's sick. He's yet to cough up a lung but I think its a close call a few times.

I think I got most of the whine out now. I'll let you know. May take sometime to think of three nice things to say though.

bad words

I really don't like to read bad words. I also don't like to hear bad words. So after reading and endless stream of status updates on facebook from a "friend" from college full of expletives, I got tired and he was "unfriended". I had tried to put limits on how much I saw of this "friends" information but it didn't ever limit the number of status updates I was reading. Thus, the boot.

And here's the thing, I understand that somedays you have a bad day and its just a bad word but after awhile my thinking is that surely there is a better, more descriptive adjective that you could use to describe your situation. By and large, I like to think of my "friends" or at least people I'm acquainted with as being fairly well educated. I think all of them have a high school diploma and most a college diploma. My thinking is that if you've earned a high school diploma (and even if you haven't) that chances are you know the parts of speech and at some point you've used more descriptive phrases to describe a circumstance. I have a 10 yr. old neice who describes her feelings about extended responses to math answers on the ISATs terribly well and she doesn't use bad words. Certainly a person with a college diploma can manage. Consistent use of bad words make me think you are very low in many ways.

I try to avoid bad words because I don't want to say them. Reading them. Watching them. I do it consistently enough and my kid is going to be saying bad words. And who wants a blond haired, blue eyed 4 yr. old saying bad words? The other week Jonathan and I watched "The Departed", a great Godfathery, Boston Cop, bad guy show. It was long but we really enjoyed it. What kept it from being a completely brillant movie for me was the bad words. And the problem is that it was technically necessary to accurately set the scene of these bad boy, godfather-esque, wrong side of the tracks, Irish Boston cops. But it was so consitent that by the end of the over 2 hr movie Jonathan and I had to watch what we were saying not to be letting the bad words fly like Irish Boston Cops. You know what I'm talking about here, right? We're better educated than that. Jonathan's got an advanced degree in English, certainly he could think up something more metaphorical to say.

All of that to say, unless you are an Irish Boston Cop or work for the Godfather, I expect more from you.

wild blue hairs

When I was little we went to a church that had several ladies that for some reason chose to dye their hair blue. It wasn't silver, it was pastel blue. And you could tell when they had just had the color done. And although it was pretty, well, it was odd. Jonathan and I were talking about this phenomenon (ladies somehow getting it in their head that blue is really close to their natural hair color), and Jonathan coined the term "wild blue hairs".

Our 1st year of marriage, I was working for a co-op school district and one day when I went to the restroom to wash my hands I remember very clearly a white hair staring back at me in the mirror. I was 23 and I felt rather surprised by the whole thing. Now I'm 32 and I have a good parcel of whites and they all congregate in the front middle of my hair. I've had Jonathan look around back and they aren't back there, just in the front. Every now and again I'll realize that there population has taken a jump and it normally coincides with a series extremely stressful days. The last month has been no exception.

Exhibit 1: A motorcycle hitting our borrowed truck. A week of hospital work and another week of car repair ensues.

Exhibit 2: High tide combined with heavy rain makes for area wide flooding of all roads leading to our home. We nearly float the truck (remembered BORROWED) twice trying to get to a place within walking distance of our house to leave the truck so we can wade through the water. This water should never be thought of as safe to touch your body.

Really I'm lucky. My mom has very good coloring to her hair. She thought it was getting to grey and began coloring it but really it was in good shape. My sister hasn't been as fortunate. She really was getting a good deal of grey before she got to her 20s. I think I'm taking after my mom more and my hair color will hold on for a bit longer. I was in at the hair salon some months ago getting a more aggressive haircut than I realized and the young man suggested I could color my hair. We had been talking about my grey's and his idea was that I could go purple or blue. But not the silvery blue of old ladies. His idea was more rock star blue/ purple than old lady blue. I appreciated the thought. Really what's the sense in trying to match the color when we all know its a dye job. Maybe I'll go rock star. But maybe later. After the stress of life really sends the color over the edge.

the back burner

Two weeks ago we were in a car accident. It looked nightmare-ish but it came out loads better than it could have. Long story short. Jonathan was waiting to U-turn. Motorcycle sees stopped vehicle, and turning signal in the lane closest to oncoming traffic. Motorcycle decides to pass into the incoming traffic lane to pass as Jonathan is beginning U-turn. Motorcycle hits front quarter panel of the car and slides landing on his arm on the pavement. You're getting the nightmare here right? Motorcyclist has broken arm, Jonathan escorts him to the hospital and we begin what is to be a two week journey through paying for an accident we didn't cause. Understand he admits that he broke the rules of the road but thanks to a great system commonly practiced here "larger vehicle pays" and we are responsible for the accident. 1 week is spent working out the details of paying for the hospital bill and his motorcycle. 2nd week is spent gathering reports, letters and waiting for our vehicle to be repaired. We just got it back this afternoon. Sigh...

What happens when you have an accident 2 weeks before christmas is that everything goes on the back burner. And the back burner is not where you want to have hopes and dreams of a family christmas. @ was supposed to get a bicycle. The family was supposed to get a new computer. Today was the first time we've had much of a chance to look at doing any of those things and neither of them happened. Jonathan went to buy @'s bike this afternoon and got there as a family was paying for 3 bikes- including the one we had eyed for @. Maybe tomorrow we'll get to the other store on the far side of town before someone buys all of the bikes there. And I'm only being a little dramatic- its a group effect to wait till the day before christmas to start shopping- kid you not. So of the 5 million people in this town- most of them are starting tomorrow. The family computer is of less concern because the software for it will come from the states with a friend in a few weeks- can't really do much without software, and you really don't buy software here. Pirating pirates of pirates I think is how you would most accurately describe it.

The problem is too that I dropped the ball on our families too. I forgot about my sister and her family... its less of a thing because Hanukkah is a forgiving holiday that lasts a week. I arranged a phone call with my mom. I don't think our families have christmas cards or much notice at all.

In truth none of this stuff is a huge deal. Christmas comes and goes without presents and that's fine. To some extent over the years I think I've replaced our being present with our family with presents- its what I can do from a world away. So not getting that done feels a little sad to me. And the thing that I'm probably most erked at, is that I HAD 2 WEEKS. Would someone please give me back my 2 weeks! But its what happens every year on our anniversary/ birthday - the world starts falling apart and needing rearranging. Maybe there's hope for next year, but I don't think I'm getting out of bed.

Gelatin

So Jonathan is thinking alot about marshmallows. You can't buy them here (and probably never will be able to) because Marshmallows are not Hallal (nor would they be kosher). Most Marshmallows are made with gelatin which contains pork products. Little did we know this until some friends told us about it. We had always thought it was the problem of living in the tropics- things turn to goo whether they are supposed to or not in this heat. Hadn't really put alot of thought into it.

Anyway, Jonathan is thinking about marshmallows and I started surfing through some sites and I come to the problem - what is measurement of a package of gelatin? Recipes that use the words "1 package" or "1 can" drive me nuts. Some things I buy here are out of the US market but most are made for Asian markets which usually means different sizes and recipes.

Thanks for your help enabling our gluttony.

rainy season has arrived

I know because so have my allergies. I think the thing we've tracked down for sure is that I'm allergic to the months of October, November and to a lesser extent December here. So my drip is in full swing at present. Its survivable.

I also know its rainy season because I'm bumping down the road much more than before. Most of the roads in our neighborhood have been raised. Some just a few months ago, some a few years ago, but they are all a foot or more up from their previous level. When the guys come around to raise the road they pull up the cement curbs. Pull up the brick (most around here are brick). Smooth the road bed. Dump several truck of dirt or sand. Smooth the fill. A little more cementy sand. Then relay the old bricks and curbs. Its a quick process. But what we are learning is that the roads become washboards when the rains start. All of that new dirt and sand has to resettle. So I'm driving a little slower these days and trying to dodge the motorcycles dodging the puddles and pot holes.

Today as I was taking @ to school, I noticed a earthmoving shovel dredging out the canal on the artery road near our neighborhood. He was scooping out the huge amounts of oily, trashy filled debris that is the drainage canal. SO NASTY! But the yuck is all going on the curbs bordering the road. Nice. And you can imagine the smell. I scoop out the drainage canal in front of our house every so often and its filled with the same stuff. But without dredging it, the streets flood and the mosquitos breed. So we dredge. The good news is that, while it does set off my allergies, I can smell it.

meal plan

This is way late in the week but I promise I wrote the meal plan, just didn't get a chance to sit at the computer a lot. We're doing thanksgiving on sunday the 9th so the meal plan revolves around me having no refrigerator space because there is a 6.4 kg turkey in it.

Menu Monday noon: Delicious Chicken Bits, Rice, Spicy Green Beans
Menu Monday pm: Leftover Beef Parmesan and noodles for the boys, my favorite Ramen for me
Menu Tuesday noon: Malai Kofta, Naan
Menu Tuesday pm: leftovers & take out pizza
Menu Wednesday noon: leftover Malai Kofta and Naan
Menu Wednesday pm: Oven BBQ Chicken, Baked Beans, Fries
Menu Thursday noon: leftover BBQ Chicken and Rice
Menu Thursday pm: Beef w/ Onion & Green Pepper, Malai Kofta and Naan
Menu Friday noon: Orik Arik & Fried Tempeh (delicious), Rice
Menu Saturday: Tuna Burgers, Mac N Cheese & Brocolli

Tuesday I had better plans but the meal plan was a bust. The Malai Kofta was a link I had found online and I was way excited about it. It took me 4 hours to make and was a complete cooking disaster. It tasted good, just I had to make so many modifications to the recipe it became a new thing. Way too much frustration! I'll be taking down the previous links. Especially the one for homemade Paneer. I simmered the milk for 3 hours and it finally turned to paste- nothing like cottage cheese. ERRRGGG! Then I had a student show up needing to talk about her univ. course work plan and reading her housing contract. So by time dinner came around there was monsoon like rain and we knew the electricity wouldn't last long so the pizza delivery boy got an extra tip for braving our street.

Turkey cooking starts on Sunday morning.

about turkey

So tell me about your experiences baking a turkey for 8 adults, 1 child and then taking that turkey an hour and a half to the sight of the actual thanksgiving dinner. How do you travel with cooked turkey? Is that a problem?
Begin.