Been gone for so long

I've missed blogging for the past three weeks. Even though I probably post, on average, once a week, it's been a great outlet for me and helps me collect my thoughts after a busy day with two young kids. These past few weeks have been packed; we had to move, get our visa situation staightened out (lesson: anytime you deal with the government, prepare to wait a LONG time in a very busy room), and have guests for a week. Now, the last thing wasn't that difficult -- our guests are some of our best friends and pretty low maintenance people -- but getting the house clean and arranged was time-consuming. Add my hubby's job on top of that, and it can drive a person (briefly) insane.

So, imagine my relief when a friend of ours called two nights ago, telling us there was an American Christian musician that was giving a free concert at a hotel nearby, and then offering to babysit while hubby and I had a little date. How could we possibly say no?

The artist turned out to be a fairly well-known guitarist, Keith Cooper, who was with a tour group visiting the Holy Land. He played about six songs before sharing his testimony, and I loved, loved, LOVED his blues-y, coffee-shop rendition of "Old Rugged Cross" (my all-time favorite hymn), as well as a brilliant handling of Tchaichovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" from The Nutcracker Suite. You can check it out at YouTube. Sorry I don't have the time to upload the video right now.

So, things are settling down here finally. We still need to finish furnishing the house, but we are on the downhill slope of a mountain that we felt we would never get over. The Lord has been good to us, providing for all of our needs. Also, we look forward to a visit from my mom and grandma in a couple of weeks!

If there were such a thing as a perfect day...

...today would be that day! It all started with my daughter sleeping until 7am (9-7, not bad for 7 months old). Then, we had a good breakfast, a "picnic" lunch outside, and my son has been SOOO obedient. The weather outside today is gorgeous, but not hot. So I'm hanging out laundry while my son plays (nicely) with his little sis.

The only thing that would make this day better is if our future landlord called and said our house is ready to move into tomorrow. Yep, that would make my day!

I guess I wanted to blog about this because, well, days like this come along so infrequently and unexpectedly, and I wanted to just enjoy my day of being thankful, since sometimes I struggle with this. It can be lonely sometimes over here, and there are many days I am frustrated by my (lack of) ability in the language, our house situation, and even my kids. But, like going into labor, there is always rest between the painful parts, and often the situation is over before you know it. Like labor, while you're going through it, you feel completely helpless at points and just give in to the pain. But, it's just temporary, and the rewards are worth every painful step.

A FABULOUS meme!

Dawn tagged me in a meme to talk about dream hobbies, so here's the question:
What three skills or hobbies would you learn if you had all the time, tools, and money you needed?

1. Review Hotels: Yeah, I know! Someone who gets paid to travel the world and stay at fancy hotels? Sign me up; I've done so much traveling that I should be an expert on this already. I know what I want from my hotels, as well as what other people expect. It would requite a lot of traveling, so it would be a little hard on the family, hence not realistic for my life at this point. But who knows, maybe when the kids are out of the house in 20 years or so?
2. Dance ballet: I took a ballet class shortly after a got married and LOVED it. Even though I was probably the most uncoordinated person in the class (I think I was the only one who had NEVER had a ballet class in her entire life), I definitely saw some improvement in my dancing by the end of the summer. If I could devote a couple of hours a day to this, I think I'd be pretty good in a few years.
3. Ceramics/Pottery: I like working with my hands, especially with things that won't die (like plants). I've done pottery on a very basic level, but if I could invest more time in it, I would be so happy!

So there you go. Let's tag Allison, Miriam, Kinzi, and Crabby Mommy. Keep it going, girls!

Becoming the Woman I (Used to) Hate, Bomb Scares and Racist Disney

What do all these things have in common?
Well, nothing except for the fact that they all were a part of my day.

The first one occurred while I was cooking dinner tonight. I was making spaghetti sauce from scratch, and about halfway through, I realized something: I was not using a recipe. And I had been doing that for several days now. That's right, after (almost) five years of marriage, I can successfully throw together a meal with whatever the heck I have stuck in my fridge. Now, when I first saw my mother-in-law doing this a few years back, I thought, How does she do it?. My mom is a decent cook, but she always shopped-by-recipe and had meal plans for the week stuck up on our refrigerator. I rarely ever saw her make things without using a recipe (or measuring cups and/or spoons), so cooks who could just "eyeball it" completely baffled me. But now, I can say I have joined their ranks.

The bomb scare happened while I was watering my garden this morning. Usually, this is a pretty peaceful and painless procedure, but right in the middle of dousing some Birds of Paradise with the hose, I heard bomb sirens go off ALL OVER THE CITY (haven't heard those since the good ol' 80s). And I thought, oh crap, who's bombing us now? I ran inside to find the Dean of Students on his way outside, and I frantically asked him what was going on. To which he replied, "It's just a drill." Good grief, why couldn't he have warned me about that when he first arrived? We don't have a television or anything, so there was no way we could have known. And one minute later, my neighbor calls to assure me everything's OK. Thanks.

Number three was during our evening movie time. While the students are in class, I usually have a movie or some sort of distraction to keep my son entertained, since he's holed up in the guest bedroom with us. Tonight's magical presentation? Dumbo. Yes, a movie fraught with drunkenness, racism and physical abuse. The ACLU and Animal-rights activists should be all over this one. Cracked blog has a hilarious list of the history of racism (or racial stereotyping) in Disney's Cartoons. I'm not sure if it's really funny or really sad. Maybe a little bit of both.

I feel like a moron

Why, do you ask?
Well, it all started while I was getting my daughter ready for bed on the floor in our room. She was grabbing my face and my glasses, so I took my glasses off and set them aside, then continued to dress her. During this time, my son comes over and begins playing a little too rough with her, so both hubby and I tell him, "Get on your bed and leave your sister alone." Brother stays there for about 20 seconds, then proceeds to get off of his bed and move towards sister again. Hubby gets up and bounds after him, then I hear a crunch.
There go my glasses.
Oops.

Why No Easter Post?

Well, over here, most people (with the exception of the Western church, i.e. Roman Catholics and possibly Anglicans) celebrate the Eastern Orthodox Easter which, for reasons unknown to myself, is on a different date. Usually the two are not very far apart (a week, maybe two), but this year it's a whole month! And with all of our family and friends in the States having their Easter holiday this past weekend, we felt a little left out. However, some of our friends here decided to go to the Anglican church about an hour away from our house, so we accompanied them. It was all in Arabic, but who cares? We're both in a position in Arabic where we can understand most of it, and since it follows a set (written) liturgy, we can at least join in on things like the Apostle's Creed and Lord's Prayer.


Don't the kids beautiful in their Sunday best? Sorry the picture is blurry but I took it right as my son did something to make her laugh. I think it's a good picture because it shows the flurry of activity in our house. And how some days I feel like my life passes by in a blurry whirlwind of activity.

After that we had a WONDERFUL time at the beach! Our son was so excited to go swimming, and I was so jealous because I couldn't. (My swimsuit is in a warehouse in Jersey somewhere, waiting to be shipped).


Don't worry, he looks alone but he's not. My hubby is out there, just beyond the scope of the camera. It was super hot outside, so afterwards we went to a little cafe for cold, refreshing drinks.

So, Happy (belated) Easter to all my blog-buddies out there! May the Lord bless you as we celebrate His victory over the grave.

Games Girls Love

This is an interesting article I saw online today that talked about girls playing video games; more specifically, women over 35 that are gamers. As someone who grew up in the 80s (and early 90s), exposure to video games was rampant and I remember us fighting over who got to play Super Mario Bros. next (My mom, the smart cookie that she is, gave us time limits to ensure we all had a chance to play). But alas, I am only in my late 20s and don't fit the marketing profile. However, the girls who were teens in the video-arcade days of Ms. PacMan and Galaga are, so it only makes sense that this is an up-and-coming market. And the fact that these women are "casual" gamers (as opposed to those who like to play for hours on end, or "obsessed") doesn't surprise me either, as most of these women are probably moms who don't have 10 hours a day to play video games. Anyway, here's a clip from the article:

It turns out boomer women do play computer games.

And do they ever. The business of cranking out casual games--snack-sized alternatives to time-consuming fare like "World of Warcraft"--is mushrooming. Consumers paid $2.25 billion for such games last year, and the demand for titles like "Diner Dash" is growing 20% year-over-year, according to the Casual Gaming Association.

And another disturbing article about tweens, teens and gaming. Make sure to read the bottom story, Barbie is the Least of My Problems. What is this going to look like in 10 years, when my daughter is at this stage?