Showing posts with label Alonzo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alonzo. Show all posts
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
I am still alive, I promise
Last you heard I was trying to purge the house of unwanted stuff, while the kids were at camp, and Murphy's law was in over drive. This week I am purging, packing, and organizing like a mad woman because the movers are arriving next week. I am on a deadline here. Failure is not an option. Actually there is no failure, everything in the house right now is heading to Oman in one big shipment so actually I could quit right now and it would all be OK, at least until I start unpacking boxes. I am setting things up so that future me doesn't have quite so many problems when the shipment arrives in Muscat, and so that things will go just a little bit smoother when the packers arrive. I keep telling myself that I will thank me later.
So what else have I been doing other than preparing the house for pack out, swearing I will be more organized in Oman (even I have to say "Yeah right!"), and pre-packing things that are really important to me? Is that all I do for the last few months at post? Not hardly.
Earlier this month we celebrated Alonzo's 13th birthday, his actual birthday is tomorrow, but since I knew this week would be crazy, and some of his friends ditched the last week of school and left post slightly early for summer in the states, we celebrated early. I can't believe he is going to be a teenager. What the heck happened, and are really going to do this teen thing again? I barely survived Dakota's teen years. Dave and I have arranged a special treat for him, but I can't tell you dear readers since he also reads the blog. You will have to wait, but trust me it is a very cool treat.
Lat month we made one last trip to Zambia for one last fabulous safari. There is nothing like camping in Africa. Was that a lion I just heard? Yep, that was a lion. Wow, the hippos are loud tonight. Ohh that elephant sounded really close, wonder what upset him? And yes the animal do move through camp, but usually not until later in the evening after camp has quieted down, sometimes the sounds are right outside the tent.
There was one really scary moment this time, but the boys handled it well. Shortly after dark, but long before the camp had settled in for the night, Dave and I walked from the tent to the bar to grab a soda (him) and a Mosi beer (me) before it got too late, and the animals started wandering through the camp. Yes, Wildlife Camp has a bar, and a swimming pool, and hot showers. We really know how to rough it. As we walked by the pool on the way back to the tent we stopped short because there was a hippo standing on the path munching away. Hippos are seriously dangerous animals and this thing was between us and our kids who we had left sitting outside the tent at our campfire.
We backtracked, alerted the staff who began shooing the hippo towards the river, and then circled waaaay around the hippo. When we arrived at the camp we found two kids sitting in the car faces pressed against the glass, and the third hiding under a picnic table. Apparently this thing walked right by the kids on it's way from the lagoon to the river. Two of the kids went "Eeek Hippo!" and ran for the car before it got too close, the third went "It's too early, its not a hippo." and stayed his ground until it was really close when he went skittering off to the nearest shelter, the picnic table. As long as he stayed quiet the picnic table wasn't a bad choice for dealing with a hippo then tend to treat large things like picnic tables and tents as if they were rocks and just walk around them. Good thing it wasn't a lion or leopard though.
We've made our last trip to the swimming pool at the Tamerind club, it's just too cold now for swimming. We've made our last trip to Mua Mission with some friends where we bought the coolest Guli Wan Kuli carving. We continue to go out Wednesday nights with friends to eat out. Tonight is Chinese food. Yummy! I'm ordering the spicy tofu and the green beans. We have already said good by to many friends, I hope that someday, somewhere, our paths cross again. There are still more goodbyes to come. SOB! We have finished homeschooling this year, although we will continue with a much lighter summer school schedule after pack out is finished. The boys are not real happy with me. Oh well, suck it up cupcake.
And now...I saved the best for last. In March David and I closed on our own little house in San Antonio. YAY! YAY! YAY! We are homeowners!!!
We are so excited. It is little and cute and in the same neighborhood as most of our friends, and some of our family. We've spent countless hours pouring over websites trying to decide what furniture we want. We finally, just in the last few weeks, have ordered the beds for the kids, the dining room set, the sofa and coffee table. We maxed out our airfreight sending mementos and stuff back to make the house feel like home.
San Antonio is our home base where we go every home leave and most R&Rs. Which means either renting a house $$$$$ or camping at a relative's house. Our family has been very gracious to put us up, but if you have ever hosted someone for an entire month, or been the guest for that long, you know after the first few days it can be tiresome and difficult for everyone. Especially if you are hosting a whole flock of people and not just one person.
Backstory for the those unfamiliar with the foreign service, R&R is a privilege allotted to those of us serving at hardship posts to allow us rest and recuperate, generally once or twice during a 3 year tour. It may be taken overseas, or in the states. There is no set time limit for R&R. Home leave is a different beast. Home leave is mandated by congress for 20 working days, in the states, for the purpose of repatriation. For both of these we receive airfare, then we are on our own. This seems reasonable until you realize we are mandated by law to take a month long vacation, every 2-3 years. Could you afford to stay in a hotel for a month? Would you want to? How about renting a car so you can get around? Rental cars and hotels are expensive. If you don't plan carefully it is easy to come out of home leave or R&R with a huge mountain of credit card debt. Often you end up camping on someone's sofa, and borrowing the family beater, like a kid home from college, to cut a few costs. No more couch camping for us! YAY!
We will have one week to turn an empty house into a functioning vacation home. Why one week? Because we signed all the kids up for camp that first week back in the states. While they are at camp we will be unpacking, assembling, and shopping. I am giddy at the prospect. When we had our house before the FS it was sort of put together haphazardly with hand-me-downs and bargain clearance items. It was what we could afford back then. This time we have been able to piece together a look that reflects who we are now, not what we can afford. Don't get me wrong we have a budget, a really tight budget, but we have managed to cut corners here so we can splurge there, and it all seems to be coming together nicely. Now all that remains is to see if what I am picturing in my head really works when it is all in the room together. I will post pictures later.
So what else have I been doing other than preparing the house for pack out, swearing I will be more organized in Oman (even I have to say "Yeah right!"), and pre-packing things that are really important to me? Is that all I do for the last few months at post? Not hardly.
Earlier this month we celebrated Alonzo's 13th birthday, his actual birthday is tomorrow, but since I knew this week would be crazy, and some of his friends ditched the last week of school and left post slightly early for summer in the states, we celebrated early. I can't believe he is going to be a teenager. What the heck happened, and are really going to do this teen thing again? I barely survived Dakota's teen years. Dave and I have arranged a special treat for him, but I can't tell you dear readers since he also reads the blog. You will have to wait, but trust me it is a very cool treat.
Lat month we made one last trip to Zambia for one last fabulous safari. There is nothing like camping in Africa. Was that a lion I just heard? Yep, that was a lion. Wow, the hippos are loud tonight. Ohh that elephant sounded really close, wonder what upset him? And yes the animal do move through camp, but usually not until later in the evening after camp has quieted down, sometimes the sounds are right outside the tent.
There was one really scary moment this time, but the boys handled it well. Shortly after dark, but long before the camp had settled in for the night, Dave and I walked from the tent to the bar to grab a soda (him) and a Mosi beer (me) before it got too late, and the animals started wandering through the camp. Yes, Wildlife Camp has a bar, and a swimming pool, and hot showers. We really know how to rough it. As we walked by the pool on the way back to the tent we stopped short because there was a hippo standing on the path munching away. Hippos are seriously dangerous animals and this thing was between us and our kids who we had left sitting outside the tent at our campfire.
We backtracked, alerted the staff who began shooing the hippo towards the river, and then circled waaaay around the hippo. When we arrived at the camp we found two kids sitting in the car faces pressed against the glass, and the third hiding under a picnic table. Apparently this thing walked right by the kids on it's way from the lagoon to the river. Two of the kids went "Eeek Hippo!" and ran for the car before it got too close, the third went "It's too early, its not a hippo." and stayed his ground until it was really close when he went skittering off to the nearest shelter, the picnic table. As long as he stayed quiet the picnic table wasn't a bad choice for dealing with a hippo then tend to treat large things like picnic tables and tents as if they were rocks and just walk around them. Good thing it wasn't a lion or leopard though.
We've made our last trip to the swimming pool at the Tamerind club, it's just too cold now for swimming. We've made our last trip to Mua Mission with some friends where we bought the coolest Guli Wan Kuli carving. We continue to go out Wednesday nights with friends to eat out. Tonight is Chinese food. Yummy! I'm ordering the spicy tofu and the green beans. We have already said good by to many friends, I hope that someday, somewhere, our paths cross again. There are still more goodbyes to come. SOB! We have finished homeschooling this year, although we will continue with a much lighter summer school schedule after pack out is finished. The boys are not real happy with me. Oh well, suck it up cupcake.
And now...I saved the best for last. In March David and I closed on our own little house in San Antonio. YAY! YAY! YAY! We are homeowners!!!
We are so excited. It is little and cute and in the same neighborhood as most of our friends, and some of our family. We've spent countless hours pouring over websites trying to decide what furniture we want. We finally, just in the last few weeks, have ordered the beds for the kids, the dining room set, the sofa and coffee table. We maxed out our airfreight sending mementos and stuff back to make the house feel like home.
San Antonio is our home base where we go every home leave and most R&Rs. Which means either renting a house $$$$$ or camping at a relative's house. Our family has been very gracious to put us up, but if you have ever hosted someone for an entire month, or been the guest for that long, you know after the first few days it can be tiresome and difficult for everyone. Especially if you are hosting a whole flock of people and not just one person.
Backstory for the those unfamiliar with the foreign service, R&R is a privilege allotted to those of us serving at hardship posts to allow us rest and recuperate, generally once or twice during a 3 year tour. It may be taken overseas, or in the states. There is no set time limit for R&R. Home leave is a different beast. Home leave is mandated by congress for 20 working days, in the states, for the purpose of repatriation. For both of these we receive airfare, then we are on our own. This seems reasonable until you realize we are mandated by law to take a month long vacation, every 2-3 years. Could you afford to stay in a hotel for a month? Would you want to? How about renting a car so you can get around? Rental cars and hotels are expensive. If you don't plan carefully it is easy to come out of home leave or R&R with a huge mountain of credit card debt. Often you end up camping on someone's sofa, and borrowing the family beater, like a kid home from college, to cut a few costs. No more couch camping for us! YAY!
We will have one week to turn an empty house into a functioning vacation home. Why one week? Because we signed all the kids up for camp that first week back in the states. While they are at camp we will be unpacking, assembling, and shopping. I am giddy at the prospect. When we had our house before the FS it was sort of put together haphazardly with hand-me-downs and bargain clearance items. It was what we could afford back then. This time we have been able to piece together a look that reflects who we are now, not what we can afford. Don't get me wrong we have a budget, a really tight budget, but we have managed to cut corners here so we can splurge there, and it all seems to be coming together nicely. Now all that remains is to see if what I am picturing in my head really works when it is all in the room together. I will post pictures later.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Science Lessons
On of the tough things about homeschooling in Malawi is science. More specifically shopping for science lessons. Basic things like balloons or modeling clay are either impossible to find or ridiculously expensive. We needed balloons for something, I forget what, but we went to 5 different stores before I found balloons. I was all excited and grabbed the package. Dave stood there looking at the price, until finally he asked slowly, "Are you really going to pay 10 dollars for a bag of balloons?" Sigh. I guess not when you put it that way.
Anyway, the two older boys have started working out of their chemistry book, yes I have both boys working out of the same book even though they are different grades. I don't remember much from junior high science, do you? I have yet to be able to find everything needed for any of the experiments, and the boys and I were getting really frustrated. Yes we have been able to watch the experiments performed on Brain Pop or Discovery Streaming, but it really isn't the same as doing the experiments yourself.
Finally I had an epiphany! Last Christmas Colin got a super-duper huge electronics set complete with teachers manuals and student learning guides. Out with chemistry, in with electricity. Looking at the first few lessons had me trying desperately to remember the difference between series and parallel circuits. I know one of those is the reason when one Christmas light goes out on the tree they all flipping go out, but I don't know which or why, and actually I don't much care. I finally asked Dave for help. Mr."I-did-advance-electronics-in-the-navy" has taken over the science lessons for the Alonzo and Colin. Yay!!
Now I am sitting here with my feet up listening to him drone on and on about protons and electrons, charged particles and switches. The boys are totally enraptured. They're happy they are learning "real" science. Dad's happy to be involved in the homeschooling and teaching something he likes. I am happy. I'm relaxing with a beer. Now all I have to do is find someone who wants to teach the boys reading, or math, or writing.
Anyway, the two older boys have started working out of their chemistry book, yes I have both boys working out of the same book even though they are different grades. I don't remember much from junior high science, do you? I have yet to be able to find everything needed for any of the experiments, and the boys and I were getting really frustrated. Yes we have been able to watch the experiments performed on Brain Pop or Discovery Streaming, but it really isn't the same as doing the experiments yourself.
Finally I had an epiphany! Last Christmas Colin got a super-duper huge electronics set complete with teachers manuals and student learning guides. Out with chemistry, in with electricity. Looking at the first few lessons had me trying desperately to remember the difference between series and parallel circuits. I know one of those is the reason when one Christmas light goes out on the tree they all flipping go out, but I don't know which or why, and actually I don't much care. I finally asked Dave for help. Mr."I-did-advance-electronics-in-the-navy" has taken over the science lessons for the Alonzo and Colin. Yay!!
Now I am sitting here with my feet up listening to him drone on and on about protons and electrons, charged particles and switches. The boys are totally enraptured. They're happy they are learning "real" science. Dad's happy to be involved in the homeschooling and teaching something he likes. I am happy. I'm relaxing with a beer. Now all I have to do is find someone who wants to teach the boys reading, or math, or writing.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Homeschooling Day 1
Today we are supposed to start homeschooling. It is now 9 am. Only one of the boys has had breakfast. No one's bed is made. the books are still in the cabinet. Two boys are fighting, one is crying, the other is smirking because he made his brother cry, and one boy is hiding in his bedroom as far from the other two as possible just in case some of the blame for the bad behavior should spill over one him. Great start.
Today's plan was to start slow. List what everyone, including mom, hopes to study this year. Look over all the new books. Do a little math, a little writing, and work on a daily school schedule. I am having a few problems figuring out how to school 3 kids at 3 different grades all at once. I expect we will work it out eventually. When I home schooled Alonzo year before last it took about two months to settle into a schedule that worked. Hopefully it will go faster this time.
In addition to the academic basics of reading, writing, math, science, and history, I really want to teach life skills like simple cooking and the basics of sewing and most importantly MANNERS. What skills, academic or otherwise, do you think are essential for kids to learn?
 |
| They finally quit fighting and are checking out their new math manipulatives. Things are looking up, fingers crossed. |
 |
| I set out all their books on a blanket for then to look at but they just grabbed the math stuff and took it to the table to play with. |
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Book Week 2012
Today the kids were supposed to dress up for book week. Colin and Grayson after some serious thought decided to choose characters that would allow them to dress as regular kids, no uniforms. I think they may be sick of uniforms. Grayson chose Horrible Harry, and Colin chose to be a moron from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Alonzo decided on Malfoy. Most kids would choose Harry Potter, but Alonzo chose the villainous Malfoy. So I have a Horrible Harry, an unnamed moron, and Malfoy. I am so proud.
Choosing costumes was tough. Grayson wanted me to run right out and buy a ready made costume. I tried explaining that there are no costume shops in Malawi so that would be a bit difficult. He was ready for me though. "Mom, you are supped to hire a tailor." Ummm...Yeah. Perhaps it might just be time to look at a DC posting. I think baby boy has been overseas a bit too long.
A moron, Draco Malfoy, and Horrible Harry. That's a whole lotta trouble on one couch.
Reading selections.
Apparently the choice of moron was related to hair length. I did offer to cut his hair so he could be the main character Greg, but he declined. I guess as long as he is happy, I'm happy. In any case he is at school and I can have some coffee in peace and quiet. Ahhh...Life is good.
Choosing costumes was tough. Grayson wanted me to run right out and buy a ready made costume. I tried explaining that there are no costume shops in Malawi so that would be a bit difficult. He was ready for me though. "Mom, you are supped to hire a tailor." Ummm...Yeah. Perhaps it might just be time to look at a DC posting. I think baby boy has been overseas a bit too long.
Apparently the choice of moron was related to hair length. I did offer to cut his hair so he could be the main character Greg, but he declined. I guess as long as he is happy, I'm happy. In any case he is at school and I can have some coffee in peace and quiet. Ahhh...Life is good.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Hey Jude
This evening as I walked down the hall, past the bathroom, I heard something that just made me smile.
Alonzo was singing in the shower. Even better he was belting out Beetles tunes. He has always liked music and playing piano, but he has never been one to stop talking long enough to listen to music on the radio and actually learn the lyrics. Lately though, he's been on a Beetles kick, listening to a song over and over until he can sing it all. I am loving watching him develop his own taste in music. Even better I am liking that he is choosing classic music instead of just going with what is popular now.
Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
Alonzo was singing in the shower. Even better he was belting out Beetles tunes. He has always liked music and playing piano, but he has never been one to stop talking long enough to listen to music on the radio and actually learn the lyrics. Lately though, he's been on a Beetles kick, listening to a song over and over until he can sing it all. I am loving watching him develop his own taste in music. Even better I am liking that he is choosing classic music instead of just going with what is popular now.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
We Survived
Last week David went to Frankfurt for training. I didn't blog about it at the time because according to Donna's sacred rules of FS blogging rule #2 it is better to blog about events afterward rather than announcing to the world in general that David will be flying internationally on Friday on Ethiopian Air and that the boys and I will be home alone all week. So I held my peace and mentally wrote smart-a**, tongue in cheek, dark humor type posts dealing with driving in Malawi and my reaction to Dave texting me pictures of his dinner at Koh Samui, my favorite Thai restaurant. Hmmmph! They would have been funny posts, in a very sarcastic way, but then yesterday happened. We survived is probably the best I can say and I am thankful to be able to say that. So what happened? Well pull up a chair, have a sit, and let me tell you. This is going to take a while so choose a comfortable chair.
Sometime before 5 in the morning on Friday I was awoken for the second day in a row to the sound of a smoke alarm complaining of a low battery. You know the sound a slow steady and yet oh so loud BEEP.......BEEP.......BEEP......BEEP.....David's reaction to this is usually to pull the offending alarm, remove it's battery thereby shutting it up, and go back to sleep. Sadly I am not as tall as Dave so even with the tallest stepladder in the house I can't reach the alarm. I took a deep breath and acknowledged that sleep was over and I might as well get up. I was more than a bit pissed because maintenance had been out the day before to look at the alarms and replace batteries after the beeping woke me up at 4:15 on Thursday. Turning on the light I was relieved to see the alarm was a little later today and it was almost 4:45 so that wasn't too bad. I was planning to make popovers for the kids last day of school before the holidays and needed to get up early anyway.
Popovers cooking, drinking a hot cup coffee in the quiet peace before the kids awoke I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had stayed up late making cupcakes for Grayson's party, slicing mounds of vegetables and making homemade ranch dip for Colin and Alonzo's parties. I had left the kitchen a mess the night before but that wasn't going to be a problem. I had plenty of time to clean the kitchen, take a shower, make cookies for the Christmas party at the ambassador's in the afternoon, and if all went well I would even have time to give myself a pedicure before Dave's plane landed at 12:30 so that my toes would be pretty at the party. Things did not go well.
It started off well enough. The popovers popped beautifully and the kids were happy to have their favorite breakfast treat on a school day. I managed to get everyone dressed and out the door with backpacks, water bottles, party treats, and 100 kwacha each to pay for being out of uniform. Yes the school makes you pay if you were civilian clothes on special party days, seriously.
I glanced at my watch it was now about 5 minutes before the bus should arrive. We were slightly ahead of schedule. I decided I had just enough time to call in to complain about the beeping. Yes the alarm was still beeping. BEEP....BEEP.....BEEP....after a bit you just tune it out, or go crazy, whichever. I told the kids to wait by the gate and I would be right out. I called the poor soul that mans the phones after hours for the umpteenth time in a week. I could almost hear him thinking "You again!" Dave goes out of town and everything breaks, usually after hours. While I was on the phone I hear a blood curdling shriek. Recognizing Alonzo's voice I ignored him because this child will scream like a banshee and swear he is bleeding to death from a paper cut so I figured if he was screaming he was still well enough to breathe and breathing is a good thing. Right?
By the time I hang up he has stumbled in the house and is laying on the floor sobbing. I look him over, don't see any blood, and he did make it into the house on his own power so he couldn't be hurt too badly. Right? Without a whole lot of sympathy I ask what's wrong and he sobs louder. If there are words in the sobbing I can't tell it. His brother appears to tell me he fell out of a tree. Big deep breath, I can feel my head trying to explode.
"Where are you hurt?" I manage to asks with out screaming "Why the BEEP were you up a tree when I said to wait by the gate?" although I promise you I thought it, loudly. He sobs something that might have been a word.
The bother chimes in "I think he broke his arm." Great, just dandy.
I manage to get him to stand up and stop sobbing quite so loudly. I ask if he wants to stay home and go to med to which he responds between gasping sobs "I d-d-don't want to m-m-miss the p-p-party." and to which I thought, but didn't say, "Then you should a stayed out of the BEEPing tree."
I tell him if he wants to go to the party he has to stop crying and go get on the bus which apparently arrived as he fell out of the tree and is now honking a bit impatiently. Can't really blame the driver there. I get the boy loaded on the bus and head back in for more coffee, I really need more coffee. That wasn't going to happen. About the time I finish stirring in the cream the doorbell rings. SIGH! I set the cup down without taking a sip and go see what's up. It's the guard telling me the bus is back. Of course it is. Alonzo is crying again and now no longer cares about the party. He wants to go to med. Great that means I will have to drive. I don't drive here, ever. The steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car, the cars are on the wrong side of the road. Toss in my total lack of a sense of direction, all the pedestrians, gas lines, minibuses, and non-working traffic lights and we have a problem Houston.
I call med to let them know what is up and then manage to get to the embassy with killing myself, the car, or any pedestrians. Whew. We meet with the folks at med who send us off to Partners in Hope for x-rays. Having never heard of this place nor having any idea where it is I manage to convince them it is important, that in the interest of not wrecking the car and creating more work for med, that I have someone from motor pool drive us. Good call! Motor pool drops us off. The x-rays are taken, payed for (with money I had to borrow from med), and processed. Film in hand I call motor pool to send a car to retrieve us and we head back to med. Med looks at the film and confirms the kid is broken. They are surprised he wasn't casted there and ask what the doctor said.
"Ummm....I didn't see a doctor, just the technician who took the x-ray. When he was done he gave me the film and said to go back so I did." Apparently I was supposed to see a doctor and misunderstood what I was supposed to do when he said "Go back" I was supposed to go back to the front desk or possibly go back to sitting in the chair in the waiting room, but I was not supposed go back to the embassy. CRAP!
Med quickly reassures it will be OK and then they spend a few minutes formulating a new plan. They also reassure me that they have contacted the management officer (MO) and the community liaison officer (CLO) who have made arrangements for my kids to go home with the CLO's kids so they will be fine after school. Not to worry.
The new plan is for me to go to ABC Clinic for casting. We call for another car from motor pool and are promptly told there are no drivers available. By this time I am thinking if I can just hang in there until 12:30 Dave will be home and I can have a nervous breakdown while he deals with all of this. I have never missed the ER at Methodist Children's Hospital so much in my life. One stop shopping for all you emergency needs.
After a quick call to the MO he manages to produce a driver and car from somewhere. I didn't ask where, but I almost wept in gratitude, and we are off. I meet with a lovely British doctor who reviews the films and talks to me and Alonzo about how we should cast this. Then we meet with the guy who actually does the casting. He has a different plan called a backslab. He and the doctor disappear for a bit and eventually reappear to tell me he will be getting a full cast to above the elbow. Ok that's great. At this point I just want it to be done so we can go home. The doctor leaves to see another patient and the guy doing the casting does a backslab cast anyway. This is just a piece of plaster that runs along the back of the arm like a splint and is held on by an ace bandage, it is not a full cast.
The doctor returns, takes in the situation, and decides that maybe this is fine. Alonzo needs to return on Wednesday anyway when the orthopedic doctor comes his visit to make sure all is well.
We are finally on our way back to way back to the embassy when I get a text from Dave. YAY! He's back! I tell him to meet me at the embassy. He tells me he is in Lubumbashi. WHERE??? He is supposed to be here NOW! How can I have a nervous breakdown if he isn't here to take over? Besides we have to be at a party at the ambassador's residence in like three hours, I am still at Med with a broken kid, I still need to make cookies, I've only had one cup of coffee today, I never did have breakfast, and I getting pretty light headed
Med finally releases us after feeding us both yummy granola bars from a personal stash. I manage to get lost between the embassy and the CLO's house which wouldn't be so bad, but it's not that far from the embassy, and she lives really close to my house. And still I managed to get lost. The kid in the backseat with the broken arm is the one who has to give me directions to get me unlost. When I said I had no sense of direction I wasn't kidding.
I walk in the house and my friend looks at me and ask if we have eaten. I say no and she starts cooking quesadillas even though she is in the middle of coordinating the Christmas party at the ambassador's residence that will take place in just over two hours. We all need friends like that! I inhale my quesadilla and so does Alonzo, I don't know that last time food tasted that good. I collect my children and manage to make it home with our getting lost again.
Fast forward two hours I have managed to unearth some snickerdoodles from the freezer, those will have to do for our cookie contribution. The kids are cleaned up to a level that is mostly presentable, and I am dressed and almost ready to go. I get a text from Dave saying he has landed, in Lilongwe this time, and should make it home in time for the party. Things are looking better. Finally.
We have a nice time at the party. Alonzo enjoyed showing off his war wounds. We sing carols and take pictures with Santa Claus. When we arrived at the party Dave handed me glass of wine and told me to relax. I did. When he noticed I was out of wine he handed me a cup of hot mulled wine and managed to keep that cup full the remainder of the party. Do you remember what I have to eat today? One granola bar and one quesadilla. Drinking on an empty stomach is a bad idea. Drinking on an empty stomach at a party at the ambassador's house is a really bad idea. I don't think I did or said anything too stupid, at least I hope not, I'm not exactly sure. If I did please don't tell me, I don't want to know. My head was really spinning when we left.
I thought the day was done with us. The kid was broken, my husband ended up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when I needed him at home, I had to drive, and yet we had still made it to the party, even if I was a little drunk. We had survived. HA!
The day wasn't over yet. I sat down to send my mom an e-mail and realized three things:
What a perfect way to end a perfectly crappy day, but we survived.
Sometime before 5 in the morning on Friday I was awoken for the second day in a row to the sound of a smoke alarm complaining of a low battery. You know the sound a slow steady and yet oh so loud BEEP.......BEEP.......BEEP......BEEP.....David's reaction to this is usually to pull the offending alarm, remove it's battery thereby shutting it up, and go back to sleep. Sadly I am not as tall as Dave so even with the tallest stepladder in the house I can't reach the alarm. I took a deep breath and acknowledged that sleep was over and I might as well get up. I was more than a bit pissed because maintenance had been out the day before to look at the alarms and replace batteries after the beeping woke me up at 4:15 on Thursday. Turning on the light I was relieved to see the alarm was a little later today and it was almost 4:45 so that wasn't too bad. I was planning to make popovers for the kids last day of school before the holidays and needed to get up early anyway.
Popovers cooking, drinking a hot cup coffee in the quiet peace before the kids awoke I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had stayed up late making cupcakes for Grayson's party, slicing mounds of vegetables and making homemade ranch dip for Colin and Alonzo's parties. I had left the kitchen a mess the night before but that wasn't going to be a problem. I had plenty of time to clean the kitchen, take a shower, make cookies for the Christmas party at the ambassador's in the afternoon, and if all went well I would even have time to give myself a pedicure before Dave's plane landed at 12:30 so that my toes would be pretty at the party. Things did not go well.
It started off well enough. The popovers popped beautifully and the kids were happy to have their favorite breakfast treat on a school day. I managed to get everyone dressed and out the door with backpacks, water bottles, party treats, and 100 kwacha each to pay for being out of uniform. Yes the school makes you pay if you were civilian clothes on special party days, seriously.
I glanced at my watch it was now about 5 minutes before the bus should arrive. We were slightly ahead of schedule. I decided I had just enough time to call in to complain about the beeping. Yes the alarm was still beeping. BEEP....BEEP.....BEEP....after a bit you just tune it out, or go crazy, whichever. I told the kids to wait by the gate and I would be right out. I called the poor soul that mans the phones after hours for the umpteenth time in a week. I could almost hear him thinking "You again!" Dave goes out of town and everything breaks, usually after hours. While I was on the phone I hear a blood curdling shriek. Recognizing Alonzo's voice I ignored him because this child will scream like a banshee and swear he is bleeding to death from a paper cut so I figured if he was screaming he was still well enough to breathe and breathing is a good thing. Right?
By the time I hang up he has stumbled in the house and is laying on the floor sobbing. I look him over, don't see any blood, and he did make it into the house on his own power so he couldn't be hurt too badly. Right? Without a whole lot of sympathy I ask what's wrong and he sobs louder. If there are words in the sobbing I can't tell it. His brother appears to tell me he fell out of a tree. Big deep breath, I can feel my head trying to explode.
"Where are you hurt?" I manage to asks with out screaming "Why the BEEP were you up a tree when I said to wait by the gate?" although I promise you I thought it, loudly. He sobs something that might have been a word.
The bother chimes in "I think he broke his arm." Great, just dandy.
I manage to get him to stand up and stop sobbing quite so loudly. I ask if he wants to stay home and go to med to which he responds between gasping sobs "I d-d-don't want to m-m-miss the p-p-party." and to which I thought, but didn't say, "Then you should a stayed out of the BEEPing tree."
I tell him if he wants to go to the party he has to stop crying and go get on the bus which apparently arrived as he fell out of the tree and is now honking a bit impatiently. Can't really blame the driver there. I get the boy loaded on the bus and head back in for more coffee, I really need more coffee. That wasn't going to happen. About the time I finish stirring in the cream the doorbell rings. SIGH! I set the cup down without taking a sip and go see what's up. It's the guard telling me the bus is back. Of course it is. Alonzo is crying again and now no longer cares about the party. He wants to go to med. Great that means I will have to drive. I don't drive here, ever. The steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car, the cars are on the wrong side of the road. Toss in my total lack of a sense of direction, all the pedestrians, gas lines, minibuses, and non-working traffic lights and we have a problem Houston.
I call med to let them know what is up and then manage to get to the embassy with killing myself, the car, or any pedestrians. Whew. We meet with the folks at med who send us off to Partners in Hope for x-rays. Having never heard of this place nor having any idea where it is I manage to convince them it is important, that in the interest of not wrecking the car and creating more work for med, that I have someone from motor pool drive us. Good call! Motor pool drops us off. The x-rays are taken, payed for (with money I had to borrow from med), and processed. Film in hand I call motor pool to send a car to retrieve us and we head back to med. Med looks at the film and confirms the kid is broken. They are surprised he wasn't casted there and ask what the doctor said.
"Ummm....I didn't see a doctor, just the technician who took the x-ray. When he was done he gave me the film and said to go back so I did." Apparently I was supposed to see a doctor and misunderstood what I was supposed to do when he said "Go back" I was supposed to go back to the front desk or possibly go back to sitting in the chair in the waiting room, but I was not supposed go back to the embassy. CRAP!
Med quickly reassures it will be OK and then they spend a few minutes formulating a new plan. They also reassure me that they have contacted the management officer (MO) and the community liaison officer (CLO) who have made arrangements for my kids to go home with the CLO's kids so they will be fine after school. Not to worry.
The new plan is for me to go to ABC Clinic for casting. We call for another car from motor pool and are promptly told there are no drivers available. By this time I am thinking if I can just hang in there until 12:30 Dave will be home and I can have a nervous breakdown while he deals with all of this. I have never missed the ER at Methodist Children's Hospital so much in my life. One stop shopping for all you emergency needs.
After a quick call to the MO he manages to produce a driver and car from somewhere. I didn't ask where, but I almost wept in gratitude, and we are off. I meet with a lovely British doctor who reviews the films and talks to me and Alonzo about how we should cast this. Then we meet with the guy who actually does the casting. He has a different plan called a backslab. He and the doctor disappear for a bit and eventually reappear to tell me he will be getting a full cast to above the elbow. Ok that's great. At this point I just want it to be done so we can go home. The doctor leaves to see another patient and the guy doing the casting does a backslab cast anyway. This is just a piece of plaster that runs along the back of the arm like a splint and is held on by an ace bandage, it is not a full cast.
The doctor returns, takes in the situation, and decides that maybe this is fine. Alonzo needs to return on Wednesday anyway when the orthopedic doctor comes his visit to make sure all is well.
We are finally on our way back to way back to the embassy when I get a text from Dave. YAY! He's back! I tell him to meet me at the embassy. He tells me he is in Lubumbashi. WHERE??? He is supposed to be here NOW! How can I have a nervous breakdown if he isn't here to take over? Besides we have to be at a party at the ambassador's residence in like three hours, I am still at Med with a broken kid, I still need to make cookies, I've only had one cup of coffee today, I never did have breakfast, and I getting pretty light headed
Med finally releases us after feeding us both yummy granola bars from a personal stash. I manage to get lost between the embassy and the CLO's house which wouldn't be so bad, but it's not that far from the embassy, and she lives really close to my house. And still I managed to get lost. The kid in the backseat with the broken arm is the one who has to give me directions to get me unlost. When I said I had no sense of direction I wasn't kidding.
I walk in the house and my friend looks at me and ask if we have eaten. I say no and she starts cooking quesadillas even though she is in the middle of coordinating the Christmas party at the ambassador's residence that will take place in just over two hours. We all need friends like that! I inhale my quesadilla and so does Alonzo, I don't know that last time food tasted that good. I collect my children and manage to make it home with our getting lost again.
Fast forward two hours I have managed to unearth some snickerdoodles from the freezer, those will have to do for our cookie contribution. The kids are cleaned up to a level that is mostly presentable, and I am dressed and almost ready to go. I get a text from Dave saying he has landed, in Lilongwe this time, and should make it home in time for the party. Things are looking better. Finally.
We have a nice time at the party. Alonzo enjoyed showing off his war wounds. We sing carols and take pictures with Santa Claus. When we arrived at the party Dave handed me glass of wine and told me to relax. I did. When he noticed I was out of wine he handed me a cup of hot mulled wine and managed to keep that cup full the remainder of the party. Do you remember what I have to eat today? One granola bar and one quesadilla. Drinking on an empty stomach is a bad idea. Drinking on an empty stomach at a party at the ambassador's house is a really bad idea. I don't think I did or said anything too stupid, at least I hope not, I'm not exactly sure. If I did please don't tell me, I don't want to know. My head was really spinning when we left.
I thought the day was done with us. The kid was broken, my husband ended up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when I needed him at home, I had to drive, and yet we had still made it to the party, even if I was a little drunk. We had survived. HA!
The day wasn't over yet. I sat down to send my mom an e-mail and realized three things:
- The alarm was still beeping and I never called to cancel the maintenance guys who probably showed up only to find I wasn't home and they were wasting their time. David fixed that by yanking the alarm down and removing it's batteries. Silence, blessed silence.
- The internet was down, nothing unusual in that, and hopefully it would be up soon.
- The computer was dead. The nice, relatively new iMac with the 21inch screen, the computer the kids use for homework, the computer we use for Skype, that computer was deader than a doorknob.
What a perfect way to end a perfectly crappy day, but we survived.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
He's Eleven
Yesterday was Alonzo's birthday. He is 11. How the heck did that happen? Surely he was only like 6 last year. Although there was no party I believe he had a great day. Dave was able to to take most of the day off, he had few things at work that couldn't be avoided, but was able to get back home quickly so he and Alonzo could hang out together.
We went to African Habitat gift shop where he picked out a a cool little statue of a woodpecker, then out to lunch for pizza. For dinner he requested Dad's special chicken nuggets, the ones that taste like Chick-Fil-A only better, and fresh green beans cooked so they taste like the canned ones. I am guessing I'm not the only one missing convenience foods. I make almost everything we eat here from scratch. My sister-in-law called to ask what kind of foods we were missing so she could stock the pantry for our visit and my answer was anything that comes in a cardboard box from the freezer section. Fish sticks and tator tots, Yummy!
Most of the day was spent playing video games. He played by himself, against dad, and with his bothers. This is a rare treat, I am usually the video game nazi queen. If the sun is shining no video games, if it is a school night no video games, if you are fighting with your brother no video games. To have all day access to the video games is a huge deal around here. The highlight of the day was finally beating a few of Dad's high scores on some of Wii fit Plus games. Dad's not worried, he says now he has something to do while we are in the states, reclaim his titles.
Of course no birthday is complete without cake and presents. Alonzo asked for a snake cake. If you do a google search for snake cakes you will come up with some very cool cakes, but I am in Africa and the confectioners sugar, or icing sugar as they call it here, is much coarser than the stuff in the states. It doesn't make great decorators frosting. It is always gritty no matter what I do. One of these days I am going to have to try making cooked buttercream where you whip hot boiled sugar syrup into eggs so I don't have to worry about finding or ordering decent confectioners sugar. It is supposed to be great stuff, but a birthday cake is no place for experimentation so I played it safe. I triple sifted the sugar and did the best I could. I opted out of a sculpted cake that I might otherwise try and stuck with a basic chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and used Wilton's decorator frosting to create a snake. The texture of the frosting was still gritty but the end product lived up to the expectations of a happy 11 year old.
After stuffing his face full of cake he finally got around to checking his e-mail where he got happy birthday messages from family and found an e-mail from dad.
Yep! Alonzo will soon be the newest member of the Cyberbones toe shoe club.
We went to African Habitat gift shop where he picked out a a cool little statue of a woodpecker, then out to lunch for pizza. For dinner he requested Dad's special chicken nuggets, the ones that taste like Chick-Fil-A only better, and fresh green beans cooked so they taste like the canned ones. I am guessing I'm not the only one missing convenience foods. I make almost everything we eat here from scratch. My sister-in-law called to ask what kind of foods we were missing so she could stock the pantry for our visit and my answer was anything that comes in a cardboard box from the freezer section. Fish sticks and tator tots, Yummy!
Most of the day was spent playing video games. He played by himself, against dad, and with his bothers. This is a rare treat, I am usually the video game nazi queen. If the sun is shining no video games, if it is a school night no video games, if you are fighting with your brother no video games. To have all day access to the video games is a huge deal around here. The highlight of the day was finally beating a few of Dad's high scores on some of Wii fit Plus games. Dad's not worried, he says now he has something to do while we are in the states, reclaim his titles.
Of course no birthday is complete without cake and presents. Alonzo asked for a snake cake. If you do a google search for snake cakes you will come up with some very cool cakes, but I am in Africa and the confectioners sugar, or icing sugar as they call it here, is much coarser than the stuff in the states. It doesn't make great decorators frosting. It is always gritty no matter what I do. One of these days I am going to have to try making cooked buttercream where you whip hot boiled sugar syrup into eggs so I don't have to worry about finding or ordering decent confectioners sugar. It is supposed to be great stuff, but a birthday cake is no place for experimentation so I played it safe. I triple sifted the sugar and did the best I could. I opted out of a sculpted cake that I might otherwise try and stuck with a basic chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and used Wilton's decorator frosting to create a snake. The texture of the frosting was still gritty but the end product lived up to the expectations of a happy 11 year old.
After stuffing his face full of cake he finally got around to checking his e-mail where he got happy birthday messages from family and found an e-mail from dad.
Happy Birthday !!!!
They will be waiting for you at Uncle Danny’s house
Yep! Alonzo will soon be the newest member of the Cyberbones toe shoe club.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Overheard Conversations
As I was cooking dinner the boys were huddled in the corner heads together. They weren't fighting for a change so I thought I should leave things well enough alone. A few minutes later I wondered if I should have investigated the situation just a little sooner as a bit of conversation drifted my way.
"Just eat it, it tastes like sweet milk.""You should kill it first.""Yeah! Kill it so it doesn't wiggle around when you eat it.""I always kill them, I like my termites dead."
After I finished gagging I managed to put dinner on the table. Termites must not be very filling because all three boys ate like pigs. However just thinking about eating termites will keep Mom on her diet.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Cyberkid Blogging
My son Alonzo has finally launched his very own blog. I thought about forcing him to password protected it and allow access to only to family and a few trusted friends, but since I have plastered his face all over cyberbones for years it seemed a little pointless. Also these are the same people I started cyberbones for and they are some of my least faithful readers.
I will leave it open to the public for as long as people play nice. Be warned trolls I can and will delete any inappropriate comments without mercy. As with everything else relating to my children's computer experience I am watching and monitoring every keystroke. So is Dad. That's what parents do.
To the rest of you feel free to stop by and leave nice comments cheering him on. You all know how good it feels to get comments. Since his parents blog is cyberbones, he is Dave's mini-me, and he really likes creepy crawly critters it, is only natural that his blog has been christened cybersnakes. Slither on over and show him some bloggy love.
I will leave it open to the public for as long as people play nice. Be warned trolls I can and will delete any inappropriate comments without mercy. As with everything else relating to my children's computer experience I am watching and monitoring every keystroke. So is Dad. That's what parents do.
To the rest of you feel free to stop by and leave nice comments cheering him on. You all know how good it feels to get comments. Since his parents blog is cyberbones, he is Dave's mini-me, and he really likes creepy crawly critters it, is only natural that his blog has been christened cybersnakes. Slither on over and show him some bloggy love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)