Grayson is home sick today. Poor thing is running a fever and has a nasty cough. Don't feel too sorry for him though because mostly he is sitting around relaxing, watching TV and playing with his iPad.
Every once in around he will say something random and very funny, or at least I think it is funny.
Grayson was watching TV and playing on the iPad at the same time so I asked, "Do you want me to turn the TV off?" to which he replied "Nah, I'm multitasking."
Okay then. Multitasking.
Later he was still multitasking when he asked without looking up, "Can I build a bomb?"
??!!!???
You know, all things considered I'd rather he didn't. Thankfully it turned out he was talking about a mentos and coke bomb. Still no. Ditto for the baking soda and vinegar idea.
After watching some documentary about coral reefs in Micronesia he looked up and very seriously told me, "We need to tell Dad we are moving to Pulau when we leave here."
Oh, if only bidding were that easy. It does look pretty though, wonder if the schools are any good. Wonder if there are schools.
On the occasion of me telling him he needs to take a nap because he is running a fever. "Yeah, because you are putting too much stress on me, that's what happens people get sick because you put too much stress on me."
No idea where he heard about stress, or multitasking. Exactly what is stressful about laying around watching movies and playing mine craft? Oh, and he is still going to go take a nap, I hear napping is good for stress.
Showing posts with label humor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humor. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Thursday, March 14, 2013
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.
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,
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!!"
Friday, August 31, 2012
Things Kids Say Math Edition
Mom: How much is 18-10?
Child: I don't know I don't have eighteen fingers.
Child: I don't know I don't have eighteen fingers.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
He deserves it!
Today David was running some wires in the attic to hook my TV in the kitchen up to AFN. Yes I know that a TV in the kitchen makes me a little spoiled, but I don't mind, besides I spend a ridiculous amount of time in there since there is no such thing a convince food here.
Colin was in the living room playing video games on the computer when he heard a scratching sound in the corner, he was unaware that Dave was in the attic. Then dust started falling from the ceiling as David made a small hole to pull the cable from the AFN decoder into the attic. Colin jumped up and went tearing down the hall screaming, and I do mean screaming, "THERE'S A RAT! THERE'S A RAT! IT'S CHEWING THROUGH THE WALL! I SAW IT! THERE'S A RAT! DAD? WHERE ARE YOU? DAD? IT'S A RAT!"
I managed to keep it together long enough to accompany him back to the living room with a broom to kill the rat. Colin pointed up at the ceiling just as David let out an obliging rat-like squeak. Colin about fainted. I totally lost it giggling like a mad woman. It wasn't until David started to laugh up in the attic that Colin caught on that the only rat was his dad.
He is not pleased with either of us and feels we were being unfairly mean. I reminded him of this video but somehow he feels like terrorizing his mother with a ginormous spider is not at all the same thing as the possibility of a rat chewing through the ceiling. Apparently parents should know better. I am sure we pay for this little stunt at light's out time tonight, but seriously, I think he deserved it. Don't you?
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Things Kids Say - Colin Edition
"Mom, Where is tortellini from? Italy or France?"
"Italy? Why?"
"Can we move to Italy? Please? They have good food."
We had this conversation as we cleaned up after dinner. I made tortellini with pesto cream sauce, yum! I love that kid, and Italy is OK with me. Too bad we will have to wait until this fall to find out if it is on our bid list.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Heart of a Lion
I think most people by now know that a lot of the critters in my yard scare the pants off me. Mostly they are harmless, scary, but harmless. There are lots of animals in Malawi that are really really dangerous. Some of them are small enough to slip unnoticed into someone's (my) garden. I think the animals that terrify me the most are snakes. Cobras, boomslangs, mambas, they all live around here. We have found snakes in our garden but so far they have all been the harmless can't-kill-me-except-from-a-heart-attack sort of snake.
Before we came to Malawi to help get the kids excited we let them watch hours of African animal shows on Nat Geo Wild. We took them to the zoo and looked for all the animals from Africa. We read books about African animals. Somehow the black mamba seemed to show up again and again. Well mambas and hippos, hippos scare me silly but I am pretty sure I would notice a hippo wandering around my garden before I even made it out of the door. Mambas on the other hand are long and skinny and can hide any freaking where. I saw a show the other day where one was hiding in the water tank on the back of the toilet. That's one sneaky snake.
I can't blame all my issues with snakes on Nat Geo Wild. It's nothing new, but the upgrade from rattlesnake to mamba with the added bonus of severely limited availability of antivenin has meant a drastic escalation in my level of paranoia. All the boys from my husband down think I am nuts. I think I am cautious.
Last night I had a dream a black mamba reared up in my face while I was weeding around the overgrown comfrey plant in my garden. I'm sure this nightmare has it's roots in a late glass of red wine and an unfortunate incident with a bull snake in my Aunt Patsy's bean patch one summer when I was a kid. Nothing like a five foot snake rearing up in your face to scar you for life. Chicken snakes are harmless, black mambas not so much. I woke up this morning with my heart pounding praying it was raining so I could skip the garden today. The sun was shining. I guess I was going to be gardening.
As I walked into the garden I saw a skink slither into the comfrey plant. Good! If I was seeing lizards there probably wasn't a snake in the garden. I am assuming that a mamba would eat the lizard. If I am wrong don't feel the need to correct me, let me live in ignorance, my phobia doesn't need feeding, it is doing just fine on it's own.
The plan for this morning was to clear away the dead pepper plants and marigolds and to plant some bush beans. The dead pepper plants were right next to the comfrey. GULP! I refuse to let my crazy run my life so I plopped my butt down and started pulling up weeds. Then I noticed some dead leaves on the comfrey. Heart pounding I reached down and pulled them off and tossed them into the compost bucket along with the weeds. No snake reared up kill me. Whew! It was just a silly dream.
Do you remember that skink? The one I saw when I first walked into the garden? Well I had forgotten all about it and decided to finish tidying the comfrey plant as long as I was working around it. About halfway through cleaning it up the lizard suddenly had enough and decided to confront the problem (that would be ME) head on. A six inch lizard ran up my arm, jumped off my elbow, and headed for the tomatoes. All I saw was a blur with scales. Scream doesn't even begin to cover the sound I made. The guard came running. I am not sure he understood what scared me but eventually he seemed satisfied that there was no danger and he could go back to his post.
A lizard attack and severe embarrassment, great way to start the day. Is 8:20 am too early for a drink?
This is a skink, not a mamba.
Before we came to Malawi to help get the kids excited we let them watch hours of African animal shows on Nat Geo Wild. We took them to the zoo and looked for all the animals from Africa. We read books about African animals. Somehow the black mamba seemed to show up again and again. Well mambas and hippos, hippos scare me silly but I am pretty sure I would notice a hippo wandering around my garden before I even made it out of the door. Mambas on the other hand are long and skinny and can hide any freaking where. I saw a show the other day where one was hiding in the water tank on the back of the toilet. That's one sneaky snake.
I can't blame all my issues with snakes on Nat Geo Wild. It's nothing new, but the upgrade from rattlesnake to mamba with the added bonus of severely limited availability of antivenin has meant a drastic escalation in my level of paranoia. All the boys from my husband down think I am nuts. I think I am cautious.
Last night I had a dream a black mamba reared up in my face while I was weeding around the overgrown comfrey plant in my garden. I'm sure this nightmare has it's roots in a late glass of red wine and an unfortunate incident with a bull snake in my Aunt Patsy's bean patch one summer when I was a kid. Nothing like a five foot snake rearing up in your face to scar you for life. Chicken snakes are harmless, black mambas not so much. I woke up this morning with my heart pounding praying it was raining so I could skip the garden today. The sun was shining. I guess I was going to be gardening.
As I walked into the garden I saw a skink slither into the comfrey plant. Good! If I was seeing lizards there probably wasn't a snake in the garden. I am assuming that a mamba would eat the lizard. If I am wrong don't feel the need to correct me, let me live in ignorance, my phobia doesn't need feeding, it is doing just fine on it's own.
The plan for this morning was to clear away the dead pepper plants and marigolds and to plant some bush beans. The dead pepper plants were right next to the comfrey. GULP! I refuse to let my crazy run my life so I plopped my butt down and started pulling up weeds. Then I noticed some dead leaves on the comfrey. Heart pounding I reached down and pulled them off and tossed them into the compost bucket along with the weeds. No snake reared up kill me. Whew! It was just a silly dream.
Do you remember that skink? The one I saw when I first walked into the garden? Well I had forgotten all about it and decided to finish tidying the comfrey plant as long as I was working around it. About halfway through cleaning it up the lizard suddenly had enough and decided to confront the problem (that would be ME) head on. A six inch lizard ran up my arm, jumped off my elbow, and headed for the tomatoes. All I saw was a blur with scales. Scream doesn't even begin to cover the sound I made. The guard came running. I am not sure he understood what scared me but eventually he seemed satisfied that there was no danger and he could go back to his post.
A lizard attack and severe embarrassment, great way to start the day. Is 8:20 am too early for a drink?
This is a skink, not a mamba.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wild Alligators In the Bathtub
On Wednesday I posted a picture of an alligator in the bathtub.
For those of you that asked, No it's not real, it's one of the boy's toys that has been periodically scaring the pants off me for years. That thing is at least 15 years old and yet every time I catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye I jump. I used to feel pretty silly about it until the boys left it on the back step in Jakarta. Dwi, our wonderful pembantu, came to me in a panic, "I think there is a snake by the backdoor!" I peeked out the back window and for a moment my heart began to race and then I realized what I was seeing was the tail of that stupid plastic alligator. We had a good laugh.
I didn't stage the bathtub picture. I think Grayson left it in the bathtub, although it is possible that one of the older boys was deliberately trying to scare me. If so, it worked. I walked by and out of the corner of my eye I saw the alligator. For a second I totally panicked. Then I dissolved into almost hysterical laughter even before I realized it was just that stupid plastic alligator, again. All I could think was where did Colin find THAT thing? You see just a few days before that picture was taken I had posted this comment on Facebook,
To which the fabulous Donna replied,
Not only is she a talented writer but apparently she can predict the future. I'm just glad the croc was fake, this time anyway.
For those of you that asked, No it's not real, it's one of the boy's toys that has been periodically scaring the pants off me for years. That thing is at least 15 years old and yet every time I catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye I jump. I used to feel pretty silly about it until the boys left it on the back step in Jakarta. Dwi, our wonderful pembantu, came to me in a panic, "I think there is a snake by the backdoor!" I peeked out the back window and for a moment my heart began to race and then I realized what I was seeing was the tail of that stupid plastic alligator. We had a good laugh.
I didn't stage the bathtub picture. I think Grayson left it in the bathtub, although it is possible that one of the older boys was deliberately trying to scare me. If so, it worked. I walked by and out of the corner of my eye I saw the alligator. For a second I totally panicked. Then I dissolved into almost hysterical laughter even before I realized it was just that stupid plastic alligator, again. All I could think was where did Colin find THAT thing? You see just a few days before that picture was taken I had posted this comment on Facebook,
My kids have decided I am the meanest mom ever! I have declared a technology vacation today. No wii, no iPads, no computers. I expect them to go OUTSIDE and play, or play boardgames TOGETHER.
To which the fabulous Donna replied,
Somehow I sense your next blog post will tell the story of how they get back at you by releasing some sort of a wild alligator in your bathroom. You might want to give back that iPad before it's too late.
Not only is she a talented writer but apparently she can predict the future. I'm just glad the croc was fake, this time anyway.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Good Friends Who Make you Laugh Are The Best!
One of my best friends anywhere, on any continent, is Monica over at A Day in the Life. We were friends long before either of us had ever heard of a blog, never mind began authoring our respective blogs. We were pregnant together (there's a bonding experience for you) and raised our babies together before Dave and I decided to up and move our family all over the world. Our two boys are still best friends and spend every second together when we are home. Last summer I overheard the two boys plotting for Colin to live with them, or for M. to come live with us for high school. Maybe Monica and I can just send the two of them off to boarding school together.
One of the reasons I adore Monica is she gets my quirks, and has a few of her own. One of my quirks is the fear that someday something will creep up the drain pipe, into the toilet bowl, and bite me on the butt while I am happily doing my business. I know it seems irrational, but everyone has heard the urban legend of finding a snake in the toilet and I'm not convinced it's just a legend. In fact I cannot go to the toilet in the middle of the night without turning on the light and checking the bowl before I sit down. A habit that drives poor husband nuts since it is now combined with the fear that a black mamba is lurking just waiting to kill me. Hey! I live in Malawi, it's not that far fetched. Anyway I have to turn on the lights before I can set foot in the bathroom, which means that every time I go to the bathroom at 2 in the morning he gets a woken up by a blast of light as I scan the room for a wet mamba slithering out of the toilet bowl. It's good thing he loves me!
As it turns out Monica has the same quirk. The toilet thing, not the mamba, so far as I know she doesn't have major snake issues. Who knew toilets were so scary? If you want a good laugh go read her newest post "Why is there a machete in the crapper?" I laughed harder than I have in ages. Another thing I adore about Monica is she is one funny chick who can almost always make me laugh. No, I am not going to spill the beans, you will have to go read the post if you want the answer to her question. I am, however, going to add to her toilet issues just a bit.
Today I was cleaning the toilets and after I finished brushing out the bowl I flushed the toilet. Seems pretty standard, right? Clean, scrub, flush. Except this time when I flushed something long and black started coming out of one of the little holes at the top of the bowl, you know the little holes where the clean water comes from? Yes, I know that those holes are too flipping small for a mamba to come slithering out of, but when I saw something moving I screamed down the house. Dave and just arrived home from work and came running. This would have been a great except he took one look and started laughing. It wasn't a mamba. It wasn't even a snake. It was a worm. A worm. In my toilet. It came out of the clean water holes. In my toilet. I may never go to the bathroom again.
Even better I am going to have to apologize to the kids. They know darn well I am scared of something crawling up and biting me on the bum. I have found several worms in toilets over the past few months. I blamed the kids. It seemed reasonable, after all they are the ones who carry horrible spiders around the house, and leave little plastic bugs and rats in dark corners to scare me. The last time I found a worm one I told all three boys that if I found another one they were all grounded for week. They all swore up and down it wasn't them. SIGH! I hate when I have to apologize for accusing them of doing something they didn't do.
In a bizarre twist Karey, a good friend of both Monica and I, recently found a squirrel in her toilet. A squirrel. In her toilet. I am laughing just typing that. Squirrels are funnier than snakes and worms. I really hope she jumps on Monica's band wagon and blogs it. Please Karey??
Oh and one more thing. As I read this post out loud to Dave before I hit publish he informed me that it was two worms, not just one. Two worms in my toilet. Count me doubly horrified!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Flight nightmares
By this time tomorrow I will be at the airport waiting to board the flight that will take me and the boys back to the states. OK, so we will be waiting board the flight to South Africa where we will switch planes to board the flight that will take us back to the states. I'm ridiculously nervous. It's my first time flying solo with the kids. Always before I've had Dave and Dakota or Teri and Dakota to help corral the three little one on international flights. This time it's just me. And the three boys. SIGH! Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it.
Just about the time I thought I was all organized and had everything under control David decided to caution me to make sure I got on the right flight, there are three leaving at about the same time. Apparently some guy a few weeks ago got on the wrong flight and ended up in Nairobi instead of Johannesburg. His luggage and connecting flight were all in Johannesburg, South Africa but this poor guy was stranded in Nairobi, Kenya. I have no idea how he got home. The buzzing in my ears as I had a total panic attack drowned out the sound of Dave's voice. I thought this was why your tickets are always checked right before you board, to make sure you don't end up on the wrong flight. Then again this IS Malawi.
I hardly slept at all last night worrying about ending up stuck in Nairobi instead of winging my way home to the states. Then I had a flash of brilliance, I actually sorta-kinda know people in Nairobi, in a bloggy sort of way. So you FS bloggers in Kenya if you get a totally hysterical e-mail from me sometime tomorrow afternoon could you pretty please come rescue me from the airport? Thank you! I knew I could count on you. Now does anyone know any bloggers in Addis Abada?
Friday, June 10, 2011
Slightly Confused
Grayson is wandering around the house singing very loudly and off key "Country roads take me home to the place where I live."
In an attempt to share a bit of musical interesest with his baby boy David pulled up John Denver on itunes and played the original Take Me Home Country Roads. Grayson enjoyed it but when it was over he insisted that John Denver had the words wrong. Quote, "He doesn't know the real song does he, right?"
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Cultural Differences
One of the great things about living overseas is experiencing different cultures, and for me that often takes the form of food. So far I haven't had much experience with Malawi foods. Okay, that isn't totally true. I have had some utterly delicious meals at Nature's Gift Permaculture center when I was taking classes out there. They really need to convince Carol to start offering cooking classes, I would be first in line to sign up. Otherwise, I haven't really had a chance to try much in the way of Malawi cuisine.
To be honest after I found one of the guards collecting these for lunch one day,
and different guard collecting these for dinner one evening,
and my maid collecting these for dinner tonight,
I'm really not all that anxious to experience more of Malawi food.
Call me chicken if you want, it's all right with me. After all you are what you eat, and I had a very nice roast chicken for dinner.
To be honest after I found one of the guards collecting these for lunch one day,
and different guard collecting these for dinner one evening,
and my maid collecting these for dinner tonight,
I'm really not all that anxious to experience more of Malawi food.
Call me chicken if you want, it's all right with me. After all you are what you eat, and I had a very nice roast chicken for dinner.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
A Gift For Who?
I opened my dresser drawer this week to find a package with a Victoria Secret's label on it nestled in with my bras. Picking up the package I wondered what it could be. It was too big for underwear and the wrong shape for a bra which are the usual things I would expect to receive from that particular store. Opening it I found a nice halter top. What a nice surprise! David often surprises me with little presents. He is a pretty wonderful husband.
Today I got around to wearing the new halter top and I am really wondering just who this top is intended to be a present for. I am feeling somewhat...ah, um....exposed, shall we say, and David has had trouble meeting my eyes all day. His gaze seems to be somewhat south of my eyes. I don't know if I am embarrassed or just flattered that after 4 kids and more than a decade of marriage David still seems to be enjoying the view.
Update: After reading this David said I should have posted a picture. Ain't gonna happen, sorry.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
A Diet, a Birthday, and Some Humor
* Note: I started this post last week and it then sat in "drafts" until I remembered about it today, so it isn't exactly current. I have been just a little busy dealing with two huge boxes of mangos before they all went bad. I now have a quart of mango syrup, twenty five quarts of sliced mangos in the freezer, and 8 half pint jars of mango jam in the pantry. I sent a bunch home with the gardener, and a bunch ended up on the compost heap because they got squished at the bottom of the boxes. I am done done done with mangos until next mango season!
This week marks the start of Malawi Meltdown 2011. I have been weighed, and my BMI calculated. No, I am not going to post my weight, but I would like to loose about 15 pounds this year. My BMI is in the healthy range, but just barely. I am officially on a diet. Okay, not so much a diet, more working on changing bad habits and making better choices. To start with I am keeping a food log and writing down every little thing I eat or drink. Nothing takes the fun out of eating quite like having to stop and write it down. I also need to start exercising again. My original plan was to start with the 30 day Shred but my knee isn't cooperating. Last time I tried the Shred I had to abandon it around day 19 because my knee started hurting too much. Instead I am doing about 30 minutes of yoga each morning. I get up way too early and tune into to AFN for Nameste Yoga while David takes care of the morning routine getting the kids fed, dressed, and loaded on the bus . I'm not exactly working up a sweat but it is a starting point I suppose.
This week also marks the end of my annual torment by David. There are only two months difference in our ages. I am the older one. Every year from the last week of November until last week of January David takes great pleasure in telling everyone that he married an older woman and that I am a year older than him since I was born in '67 and he was born in '68. His usual line goes something like "Shannon is already 43 but I'm still 42. I won't be 43 until next year." We have an agreement, he can be a jerk for two months then I better not hear a word about it for the other 10 months of the year. To celebrate the end of the torment for another year I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. For presents Dave received a brand new tripod for his camera and some special gifts the boys made just for him.
Sorry David holding the cake upside down does NOT make you 34.
And now for a little humor. I may have mentioned that we have guards at our house. The guards take their job very seriously and we are thankful to have them. The one thing that cracks me up is the saluting. Every time we go through or even near the gate, or sometimes if I am sitting out by the pond drinking my morning coffee (note to self: no more drinking coffee outside in pj's) the guards will salute. Basically the thought of anyone saluting me on a regular basis cracks me up, I'm a civilian through and through. However that isn't what is funny. When we arrived most of the guards just snapped a basic salute as you drove past, but there was this one who would do this foot stomp thing as he snapped to attention. Now it seems that all of the guards are doing some sort of fancy foot stomping salute, some stomp once, some stomp twice, some seem to specialize with the straight leg stomp or the high knee lift stomp. So far I have managed to refrain from bursting into laughter in front of the guards, but it is a close thing sometimes.
Update: Since I wrote this last week I have dragged myself out of bed at a quarter of six everyday to do yoga. How I managed to get dressed and functioning well enough to exercise prior to coffee I am not sure. One morning I had a hard time figuring out how to put on my exercise shirt. David came in looked at me struggling and after he finished laughing, he told me I had it on backwards. If you are a girl and you can't figure out that you have racer back exercise shirt on backwards you probably need one or more of the following: 1. Serious psychiatric help 2. More sleep or 3. COFFEE!
I was feeling stronger and more flexible until I managed to loose my balance yesterday doing triangle pose. Somehow in the process of falling on my butt I managed to pull a muscle in my thigh. Today's workout was all based around the warrior poses. If you are not familiar with yoga the warrior poses use the thigh muscles, A LOT! OUCHIE! Hopefully tomorrow's workout will be based around down dog, or cobra, or really anything but warrior. My personal choice would be child''s pose, but I suppose that wouldn't be much of a workout, more of a nap.
It has been a week so I got on the scale today and found I had lost 3 pounds in a week. YAY! Twelve more pounds to go. WooHoo!
This week marks the start of Malawi Meltdown 2011. I have been weighed, and my BMI calculated. No, I am not going to post my weight, but I would like to loose about 15 pounds this year. My BMI is in the healthy range, but just barely. I am officially on a diet. Okay, not so much a diet, more working on changing bad habits and making better choices. To start with I am keeping a food log and writing down every little thing I eat or drink. Nothing takes the fun out of eating quite like having to stop and write it down. I also need to start exercising again. My original plan was to start with the 30 day Shred but my knee isn't cooperating. Last time I tried the Shred I had to abandon it around day 19 because my knee started hurting too much. Instead I am doing about 30 minutes of yoga each morning. I get up way too early and tune into to AFN for Nameste Yoga while David takes care of the morning routine getting the kids fed, dressed, and loaded on the bus . I'm not exactly working up a sweat but it is a starting point I suppose.
This week also marks the end of my annual torment by David. There are only two months difference in our ages. I am the older one. Every year from the last week of November until last week of January David takes great pleasure in telling everyone that he married an older woman and that I am a year older than him since I was born in '67 and he was born in '68. His usual line goes something like "Shannon is already 43 but I'm still 42. I won't be 43 until next year." We have an agreement, he can be a jerk for two months then I better not hear a word about it for the other 10 months of the year. To celebrate the end of the torment for another year I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. For presents Dave received a brand new tripod for his camera and some special gifts the boys made just for him.
Sorry David holding the cake upside down does NOT make you 34.
And now for a little humor. I may have mentioned that we have guards at our house. The guards take their job very seriously and we are thankful to have them. The one thing that cracks me up is the saluting. Every time we go through or even near the gate, or sometimes if I am sitting out by the pond drinking my morning coffee (note to self: no more drinking coffee outside in pj's) the guards will salute. Basically the thought of anyone saluting me on a regular basis cracks me up, I'm a civilian through and through. However that isn't what is funny. When we arrived most of the guards just snapped a basic salute as you drove past, but there was this one who would do this foot stomp thing as he snapped to attention. Now it seems that all of the guards are doing some sort of fancy foot stomping salute, some stomp once, some stomp twice, some seem to specialize with the straight leg stomp or the high knee lift stomp. So far I have managed to refrain from bursting into laughter in front of the guards, but it is a close thing sometimes.
Update: Since I wrote this last week I have dragged myself out of bed at a quarter of six everyday to do yoga. How I managed to get dressed and functioning well enough to exercise prior to coffee I am not sure. One morning I had a hard time figuring out how to put on my exercise shirt. David came in looked at me struggling and after he finished laughing, he told me I had it on backwards. If you are a girl and you can't figure out that you have racer back exercise shirt on backwards you probably need one or more of the following: 1. Serious psychiatric help 2. More sleep or 3. COFFEE!
I was feeling stronger and more flexible until I managed to loose my balance yesterday doing triangle pose. Somehow in the process of falling on my butt I managed to pull a muscle in my thigh. Today's workout was all based around the warrior poses. If you are not familiar with yoga the warrior poses use the thigh muscles, A LOT! OUCHIE! Hopefully tomorrow's workout will be based around down dog, or cobra, or really anything but warrior. My personal choice would be child''s pose, but I suppose that wouldn't be much of a workout, more of a nap.
It has been a week so I got on the scale today and found I had lost 3 pounds in a week. YAY! Twelve more pounds to go. WooHoo!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
The Day After
The Day After
It’s the day after Christmas and we are hanging out relaxing. The boys are watching National Geographic, David is talking to his sister on Vonage, and I am blogging and drinking a beer.
Kuche Kuche Beer, the Pride of Malawi, the name makes me giggle every time.
It’s the day after Christmas and we are hanging out relaxing. The boys are watching National Geographic, David is talking to his sister on Vonage, and I am blogging and drinking a beer.
Kuche Kuche Beer, the Pride of Malawi, the name makes me giggle every time.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Kindle, Computer, Camera, Contraband
This weeks round up is being hosted by Jan at Ogles and Observations. Click over there on Friday to check out the happenings in the FS world. The topic is birthdays in the foreign service. I didn't intend to write anything this week since I am going slightly crazy trying to write a novel (or a novel length collection of gibberish) in one month, but then Donna wrote something and I just had to response and happily my response fits the topic, more or less, of course it is going up so late that I don't know if it will make the roundup.
I posted a comment about my sad situation on facebook
Just found out that David was getting me a kindle for my birthday! Yay! Also just found out that the pouch refuses to deliver to deliver it and it is getting returned. Boo!
I got lots of comments including this one from Donna at Email From the Embassy.
Do you have a DPO? I just ordered a new computer; can't remember whether it was thru pouch or DPO. It hasn't arrived yet - now you have me worried.
Uh Oh! A bit later she posted more comments.
Ay yai yai. I guess I'd better check. I know people who've ordered computers, ipods and kindles without a problem, so it never occured to me to worry.
We have pouch and DPO. I just went to the mailroom and inquired, and they said there are no rules for either system prohibiting computers, etc. So these rules must be brand-spankin' new if they haven't heard of them yet. Hopefully my computer is really on its way here. What a hassle. Oh, and p.s. my husband's new-since-June Kindle just broke.
For the rest of the story you will have to go to Donna's blog. She has written one of the funniest, posts I have ever read. Really click over to E-mail From the Embassy now.
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