Purge Update

So far I have no idea how weight much I have gotten rid because the scale is broken.  The generator ran out of fuel and the washing machine broke. The generator has been refueled and the broken washing machine replaced although he broken one is still sitting in my kitchen waiting to be picked up and removed for repairs.  So how is your week going?

Green Camp and the Great Purge of 2013

This week the kids are off at Green Camp.  In many, many ways Green Camp has been the highlight of our time in Malawi.  It is, I am almost certain, one of the things the kids will remember long into the future.  This week they will be celebrating all things nature, as well as preparing for the upcoming Earth Day celebration at Four Seasons. They will have a busy, fun-filled week, and I am happy for them.

In the meantime I am alone in the house, completely alone for the first time in months.  The house is eerily quiet.  For the moment I am enjoying a blessedly quiet cup of tea, but in just a few minutes I will be even busier than the kids.  This summer is pack out.  That means packing everything we own and preparing it to go to our next post in Muscat, Oman.

The movers will show up sometime in June and everything we own will swathed in miles of paper and bubble wrap, sealed in mountains of boxes, and loaded onto trucks.  If everything works the way it is supposed to we will see our stuff again in about 4, maybe 5 months at our new house in Oman.

That does't sound too bad does it?  It sort of sounds like the packers will do all at the hard stuff. Of course there is a catch.  There is always a catch.  The trick is that everything we own must weigh less than 7200 pounds.  Everything including clothes, toys, books, towels, any furniture we own, dust collectors, pots, pans, cutting boards, and everything else  that turns an echoing house into a functioning home must weigh less than 7200 pounds.

This week I will be going through every closet, box, cabinet, and drawer purging our house of all that is needless weight.  FUN!  More fun than you can imagine.  It is both totally necessary and totally incompatible with homeschooling, so it must be accomplished this week.  While the kids are at camp.  So much for my dreams of hours of reading, lazing about enjoying the quiet.

I will be posting the weeded out weight each day.  I know you are thrilled to know how much trash, junk and broken toys I manage throw away each day.  There you have it, the oh so glamorous life of the foreign service spouse.  Jealous?

Things Diplo-Kids say

I was watching an episode of House Hunters International on AFN this afternoon. It featured young newlyweds moving to Spain so the husband could teach English.  The boys were a riot.

First they seemed puzzled as to why the show kept repeating how hard it was to move overseas to a country where they didn't know anyone.

"What's so hard about that? We do it all the time" 

Finally they allowed that it would probably be harder if there wasn't an embassy community waiting at post with CLO events so they could meet other kids. They still thought they were making too much of it.

There several comments about how maybe we should think about bidding on Spain because it looked cool. Don't even talk to me about bidding until we get to Oman and have unpacked our HHE, please.

The kicker was at the very end of the show when they reviewed the 3 apartments featured, in the end the young couple didn't choose the expensive but cute apartment in an area of town where there were lots of expats, not did they choose the cheaper beachfront apartment with no oven and a long commute.  They smartly choose the cheapest apartment, in walking distance from his work.

The apartment came complete with very funky old tile floor that clashed badly with the aging sofa, a giant dining table in the middle of the living room, and seemingly endless halls between rooms.  In short not exactly their dream home but practical, leaving them money to explore the country of Spain.

Alonzo almost jumped up and down as he yelled,

"It's perfect, it looks just like a diplomat's home!!"  

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Anniversary Babe! Fourteen Wonderful Years!

Cape Town - Day Six

We spent today at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. What a magnificent setting for a garden.  Lush green gardens surrounded by towering mountain peaks.  Just gorgeous.  I enjoyed the plants, Dave enjoyed the walk in clean air, the boys enjoyed the animals: birds, butterflies, frogs and a leopard tortoise completing our Little Five (Rhino  Beetle, Elephant Shrew, Ant lion, Buffalo Weaver, and Leopard Tortoise).  It was a good way to round out a wonderful week of vacation.

Today is our last day here in Cape Town.  If I have my way we will be back again someday.  It is currently my number one dream post, who wouldn't want to live here?!!?  Since it's our last day the kids are watching a movie while Dave and I try to stuff everything we brought,  plus all the stuff we bought in our suitcases, so I am not going to take the time to try uploading pictures tonight.  I will try to post some pictures tomorrow when we are back at home in Malawi, assuming the internet is actually working.

What a wonderful place for a vacation.  If you are FS who will have to transit Jo'burg on you way to post or back the the states you should really consider cost constructing a week in Cape Town as part of the deal.  It is SO completely worth it.  The cottage where we stayed (The Tarragon) is fantastic! I will have more up about it sometime next week, or you can contact us for more information.

Cape Town - Day Five

Today started with really cool cars, the kind most of us only dream about.  Franschoek Motor Museum exhibits 80 cars at a time, although that have many more in their collection, everything from the earliest model T's to Formula 1 race cars. As an added bonus the museum is in the stunning grounds of a vineyard. Gorgeous.

Then we stumbled across Butterfly World which had butterflies, lots of gorgeous butterflies, but also monkeys, birds, and reptiles.  One of the birds stole the button off the top of Colin's hat but gave it back when David held out his hand and sternly ordered the bird to "Give it back!"  I wish the kids listened as well as that bird.

Next came Cool Runnings dry land luge where all the boys felt the need for speed. Ok so maybe the parents did too.

We ended the day with dinner at a beach side restaurant. The wind was really blowing so we were glad to be able to eat indoors out of the wind.  The boys were hoping to play on the beach afterward but trying to walk on the beach was like getting sandblasted so the walk didn't last long.

Cape Town - Day Four

Today we were supposed to go diving with the  sharks.  I say "supposed to" because mother nature didn't cooperate.  We woke up to a rainy sky and quickly received a call canceling the trip due to high sea states.  The boys were upset and some tears were shed, but frankly I was a bit relieved. I have a history with sea sickness, and somethings time just doesn't ease the memory.  As cool as it would be to swim with the sharks, I'm sure me barfing or dry heaving the entire trip would put a damper on things.

Instead we headed out to Imhoff Farm.  It didn't exactly match the pictures we has seen online.  Dave and I were a bit let down.  The boys were happy with the reptile exhibit; Colin was thrilled with the kudu and ostrich biltong (jerky) he bought in one of the shops; and lunch was really good too, so I guess it was worth the trip.

Everywhere we have driven outside of town we have seen sign after sign warning about baboons.  The funny thing is we haven't seen a single baboon.  We've seen lots of "caution baboon" signs, a few baboon rangers (says so on their jackets!) and some baboon poop (as identified by Colin), but no baboons.  I'm afraid of baboons, but at the same time I always enjoy seeing them, from a safe distance, or from inside my car.  Maybe we will spot some tomorrow instead of just more baboon signs.

We stopped at Long Beach to watch the surfers.  It was the first time the boys or I have seen surfers in real life before.  I would love to learn to do that, it looked like so much fun.  Although maybe I would want to surf someplace with warmer water.  Grayson bored of the surfing quickly and found a friend to play with while the rest of us were checking out the action on the waves.

In the afternoon we headed out to the beach.  Boulders Beach.  The thing that sets Boulders Beach apart is penguins.  We stopped there earlier this week on the way out to The Cape of Good Hope to get a quick look at the penguins, but the boys wanted a chance to swim there.  Good decision, it is a sheltered beach with calm waters. There are boulders to climb on, sand to dig in and every once in a while a penguin swims up to see what you are doing. It made for a great afternoon.

Cape Town - Day Three

Today we woke up to rain.  So instead of heading to the beach we headed into Cope Town down to Two Oceans Aquarium.  So did everybody else in town.  It was seriously crowded but we had lots of fun anyway.

By the time we left the aquarium the weather had cleared, so we grabbed some lunch then headed up on the ferris wheel to get a look around.  I don't like heights so it took me a while to actually open my eyes, but I'm glad I did.  It was a great view.  There were some parasailers out by table mountain, don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon, but it was cool to watch.  And while we were up there we were able to spot our next destination and figure out how to get there.

We wandered around playing tourist, watching the street performers and acting goofy.  Grayson was even drafted by a troop of dancers and acrobats to do a bit of fire dancing.  We did a lot of window shopping and a little souvenir shopping.  Colin finally found something to spend his Christmas money on, he is now the proud owner of a furry hide.  It's antelope of some kind, I can't remember which one - springbuck maybe, but it doesn't really matter because he is happy with it.  In fact he is asleep in bed under it right now.  LOL!

The boys had been grabbing brochures at every tourist sight in town and the one place they all wanted to see was the Diamond Museum.  It was very small but fun. Dave learned that 1 carat is 0.2 grams. The boys got to dress up as old-time miners.  At the end of the tour we were led into the showroom of Shimansky because, as it turns out, the museum is a gimmick to get you into the showroom.  Not a problem.  I love sparklies, and pretty much everything in the showroom sparkled, a lot!  If you go earlier in the day you can actually watch the jewelers and diamond cutters at work creating more beautiful sparkly works of art, we arrived late in the day so the workers had already left but the boys still spent a lot of time staring at all the special tools and work benches.  Sadly I didn't get to by anything, not today anyway.  Oh well, there is always tomorrow and think I saw some Tanzanite with my name on it.

Cape Town - Day Two

For our second day of vacation in Cape Town we headed south, as far South as you can go and still be in Africa. The Cape of Good Hope was David's choice of South African activities.  We saw so much more than we expected.  There was the ostrich we sighted on the way there and the zebra we spotted on the way out of the park.  I had no idea this trip would turn into a safari, but with my boys I wasn't much surprised. I think jet lag has caught up with me as I am too tired to deal with posting pictures.  That will just have to wait until tomorrow. Good night, y'all!

It Has It's Benefits

One thing everyone (and by everyone I mean all my girlfriends back in the 'hood) says when I am home in the states is, "I don't know how you do it, I could never do it."  By "it" they mean living overseas, moving every few years, and giving up things like pretty furniture, housing choices, and control over where we are going live next year.

*EYE ROLL*

Oh please!  Virtually everyone who said that to me could not only do this, they would do this with far more grace and far less complaining than me.  I think they just aren't willing to live with Drexel Horrible furniture.

But, just in case you, my  girlfriends back home, think this FS gig is all sacrifice and hard work interrupted by the occasional ball, let me tell you what I did today as you tried to get your kids up and back to school on this cold winter day.  I woke up late-ish to a sunny summer morning and had breakfast on the terrace looking up at the mountains.  After that we decided to go up Table Mountain, but the lines were ridiculous so instead we went to World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary which was great, well except for the monkey that peed on me and Colin (people wonder why I hate monkeys) the nasty thing snickered as it peed, I swear it did.  The birds though were amazing, especially the owls.

For lunch we went to Dunes right on the beach in Hout Bay, great view, good food too.

Then we went back to Table Mountain where the lines had totally vanished. Up the cable car we went and we spent the rest of the day there.  Amazing!

So there you have it.  Yes, the Foreign Service comes with some sacrifices and disadvantages, like ugly furniture and living a million miles away from family and friends, but it definitely has its advantages too.  Like vacations in places we would otherwise see only on the travel channel.  Tomorrow we are heading down to The Cape of Good Hope for a day of penguins, fun in the sun, and hopefully a few other surprises.

Change

I'm skipping the whole New Year's Resolution thing this year. This year I'm joining the one little word movement.  A bloggy friend introduced me to this idea. It sounds so much healthier than the annual ritual list of completely unattainable resolutions that I will never stick to. As far as I can tell all resolutions have ever done for me is make me feel bad about myself.  So why do I keep making resolutions year after year after year if it is just going to end up making me feel bad?  You got me.  When put this way it sounds a bit silly, doesn't it?

So one little word.  What would your word be?  It's hard to choose.  After a lot of thought, and possibly several beers, I settled on a word.  Change.  One syllable.  Such a simple word, but such a difficult concept.  I really, truly suck at change.  I fight against it every time.  I don't like change.  A bit ironic considering we move every couple of years for my husband's job.  Not just a move across town, across the state, or even across the country.  No, we move from country to country.  Talk about change.  New languages, new customs, new time zone.  And I fight again it every step of the way.

I want to learn to embrace change.  Big changes and small changes.  I want to be the person who welcomes the challenges of a new country, instead of being the person who skips the whole honeymoon period and heads straight into depression.  I want to hang on to those routines and traditions that work for us as a family, but I want to be brave enough to change those things that need changing.  (Is this where I am supposed to ask for the wisdom to tell the difference?) I want to look at a menu, and instead of ordering the same old thing I want to change it up and try something new.  I want to change my weight goals to true fitness goals that will change the way I feel, and the way I feel about myself.

One little word.

Change.

Home in the 'Hood

Happy New Year's!!  This is going to be a short post because for the first time in 7 years Dave is cooking for a neighborhood party with all our friends in the 'hood.  We were fortunate to live in the most amazing neighborhood for 7 years.  What made it amazing wasn't the houses, it was the people, the community.  The kids playing in the park, in driveways, in front yards and back, and even in the street (much to the HOA's annoyance) while their parents talked, laughed, and got all caught up what was going on.

I am incredibly thankful that we have been able to spend the holiday season with these friends, who have over time become the sisters-of-my-heart. At the same time I am a bit sad to realize that it will probably not happen again for a long long while.  Drat I've gotten all teary-eyed writing that.

Tonight I am going to focus on the fun, not the sad.  I am going to eat my husbands brisket cooked on our old pit that now lives at his brother's house.  I am going to gorge on all the yummies cooked up by friends.  I am going to toast with champagne, beer, soda, or sweet tea which ever is in my hand when the time comes.  And most of all I am going to savor every single minute of it.

I hope where ever you are when you ring in the New Year I hope you find something special about the moment to treasure and someone to share that moment with.

 Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Eve

This is the first Christmas home in the states in seven years.  It has been a crazy ride. Arriving two days before Thanksgiving. Staying first at my Mom's, then at Dave's brother's.  Packing, unpacking, repacking, trying to not be that guest that overstays their welcome.  Homeschooling on the road.  Dealing with unexpected medical issues like ringworm, and no, FS friends, no one threw a cat in my car! And bilharzia.  Always fun when your kid starts peeing blood and it turns out to be some weird tropical disease the doc can't even find a lab able to perform the test to verify the diagnosis. Now the mountain cedar season has started in Texas.  Itchy eyes and stuffed up noses.  So. Much. Fun.

There have been days that I wondered why in the world I thought this extended holiday trip was a good idea.  All our Christmas stuff, all the traditions we have created during Christmases overseas, all left behind in Malawi.  We are missing lazy weekend days laying by the pool in the mid-summer African sun. Missing board games with friends.  Missing the holiday party at the Ambassador's residence and seeing who played Santa this year.  Missing throwing  our New Year's Day, black-eyed peas for good luck in the New Year party.

This week reminded me why I came home for the holidays. It has been the absolute best.  Girl's night in playing Quelf.  I must get this game.  With three boys still at home I really really need a game that may require you to be a sad weeping willow every time a "4" is rolled or it may require you to give yourself a wedgie, and if you "De-wedgify" yourself at any point during the game you have to pay a 2 space penalty.  Take note, only play this game with people you are totally comfortable seeing you making an idiot of yourself.  These particular girlfriends have known me forever. We saw each other through pregnancy, morning sickness, potty training, and the first day of kindergarten.  They are sisters of my heart, so giving myself a wedgie in front of them was no problem, but there will be no wedgie pictures posted here.  Sorry.

I took Grayson to his first live theater experience with bunches of other kids from the 'hood. We saw Junie B. Jones, Jingle Bells Batman Smells.  He loved it and now can't wait to read the books. We even got to meet the whole cast and take pictures afterward.

We went to the tree farm and cut our own little tree.  We used to do this every year. The boys have seen pictures of Dakota cutting the tree, but the younger boys are too young to really remember those annual trips. They only remember the fake tree we ship from post to post.  This morning we went out to Mom's house to decorate the little tree.  And if a live tree weren't enough we set up a white Christmas tree at my brother-in-law Paul's house.  Due to his tree hating cats it is outside on the porch, but that is OK, it does double duty as yard decor.  That's it at the top of this blog post.  I love it.

There has been so much more this past week than I can even write about. Zoo trip, shopping and not on Amazon, River walk boat cruise to see the lights, hiking at Lost Maples State Park, attending a surprise party that was actually a surprise, cruising for Christmas lights, fire pit and s'mores at two different friend's houses on two different nights, basketball in the park, Christmas Eve dinner at Danny's (another brother-in-law) followed by tamales, dessert, and fire pit at at Ms. A Day In the Life's house while the kids zoomed around the cul-de-sac on rip sticks, scooters and skateboards.  It really is a Wonderful Life.

Merry Christmas Y'all!!  Wherever you may be!!