Christmas

So, I guess we are ready for Christmas. Tree is up. Cards are sent. Presents are hidden. Santa has been visited. Santa, same as last year, arrived on a camel. Big thrill for the kiddos. Santa gave Kyra a Barbie car and Blaine got the board game Sorry! that he has been asking for. In-laws are arriving next week to spend the ho-ho-holidays with us.

Look! Pictures!

If you know me, then you know who I'm voting for

If you don't, well it's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, here's a few pictures for you (all borrowed from punditkitchen.com). I think it's pretty clear who I'm supporting. If I can manage to vote via absentee ballot from the Middle East, then all of you in the states have no excuse not to cast yours - no matter who you are voting for (but I hope you are voting for the guy I am!)

I have lost my mojo

Blogging mojo, that is. Not that it was previously all that great or prolific. But now, I just don't have that much to say. Well, that's not exactly true. I always have something to say, but not so much on the internet anymore. I don't know why - maybe because of my lack of internet at home. Really, you don't want to get me started on that particular sore subject, but in brief - we had to move to a new house in Oman and it's been 3 months and we just got a home phone installed, internet is probably another 3 months away. Imagine me. Imagine me dealing with this without my head exploding multiple times. Yeah. Next subject.

It could have something to do with how I have to edit and re-edit and re-re-edit my posts to make sure that they are vague enough. Our virtual world is growing smaller and smaller and I am an American who lives in the Middle East and it's just makes sense to be fairly cautious about what I put out here for the masses (all 3 or 4 of you...hi mom!)

But in all honesty, it's probably just a combination of laziness on my part and lack of awe about where we are living. Oman is fine and blah blah blah, but (as you might be able to tell from the "blah blah blah" part of this sentence) it's just doesn't set me on fire. Sure, maybe it was all fascinating and interesting and had that "oh wow" factor the first few months that we lived here. But I think a combination of the heat and the dust and the dust and the heat, not to mention the heat and the dust has just worn me down. Plus having to move to a new house, lack of phone, lack of internet, and various other things - I'm just done. Ready to move on. Of course, that won't happen for a while yet, so as my very funny husband loves to say "here's a straw...suck it up!"

So I'm sucking up and doing all I can to enjoy the rest of our time here - we've been on Dhow cruises, we're visiting museums, we're going dune bashing and turtle watching and travelling around the region. But in a way it seems a bit forced and so I don't feel much like writing about it. That's not to say I won't write more at a later time, or won't start up a new! improved! blog when we get to our next post (no, we don't know where we are going yet). But for the time being, posting will continue to be sporadic if at all.

But hey! You can always call me! I have a phone now!

Does this pyramid make my ass look fat?

Hi. How are you? It's, uh, been a while. I have no excuse, save for sheer laziness. I honestly don't spend a whole bunch o' time on the computer these days and that's a good thing for me and for my family and for my poor pasty, indoor-all-the-time complexion. But it's not so great for the whole blogging upkeep.

So, since my brother thinks I fell into a sand dune and asphyxiated, I thought maybe it was time to post a wee update. Let me see if I can cram 2 or 3 months worth of "OMG what the hell have you been up to?!?!" in one post.

To start with, Blaine healed magnificently from the lip/lost tooth bike trauma. He was a champ. Unless he smiles and you see the big gap in his mouth, you would never know that he had eaten pavement. He is doing awesome in school. Had a perfect report card. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's only Kindergarten, but I'm wallowing in the good grades now just in case we have trouble in the teen years.

Kyra is still my number one hooliganka. She actually calls herself "GANKA!" as she runs hari-kari through the house on a mission to destroy something else. She's talking more - of course her favorite things to say are more like missives to her adoring public than general conversation, but hey, I take what I can get. So when she looks at me and demands "mower miwlk" I request that she adds a "pwease" and then I go get her more milk. Or juice. Or water. Anything that she can drink is called milk. She also refuses to say her name these days. If you ask her to say Kyra, she will look you dead in the eye and say sweetly "BABY!" She's a hoot.

Dave is still travelling hither and yon for his job. His brother and sister-in-law just came and visited for a week. They left on Saturday and David left on Sunday for a 2 week trip. Whee. Same as it ever was.

I am still working part-time. I like my job quite a bit but it can be demanding and stressful and sometimes I get worn out trying to juggle everything - Blaine's school, single parenting when David's gone, working, and still have time for myself. I'm lucky though. I have a great nanny - and before anyone says "oh, must be so tough to have a nanny" I have to say "you move to the other side of the world, away from all of your extended family and friends." It's a trade off, you see. I live in a place where the majority of public restrooms consist of a hole in the ground. Therefore, I get to have a nanny. That's my logic.

Another benefit of living overseas, having a really good nanny and having a husband that travels frequently is the ability to sometimes join your husband on his trips. Dave spent a few weeks in Cairo earlier this month and I flew out, by myself, to join him for a few days. Cairo was awesome. Sitting poolside at the Marriott, having ice cold strawberry daiquiris delivered to me from the staff, and not having to constantly be on full alert (because kids + pool = disaster, at least in my world) was, in a word, AWESOME.

Also awesome were the pyramids. For those of you who are friends and family on my flickr account I have finally uploaded the photos. For those of you who aren't here are a few (plus a few gratuitous shots of my kids because they are so cute).

So there you have it. See you back here in a few months!

With our friends on horseback at the pyramids. Heidi and I were NOT thrilled with Dave's suggestion to ride horses. But, dammit, we did it.

Cairo's version of "Hey does that thing have a hemi?"

Easter photos. Yes. It has been that long since I posted pictures of the kids. Blaine and Kyra totally dig the Easter Bunny. Who wouldn't? The guy brings free chocolate!

Boy vs. Pavement

Blaine had a little accident the other night. He was riding his bike, his friend was on the scooter and they collided. Blaine went head first off the bike. His friend managed to stay upright and had no damage. But, as you can tell from the photos, Blaine used his face to break his fall. He knocked out one tooth, ripped the inside of his lip open with said tooth and generally skinned his face up. He was wearing his helmet - he always does and now he knows exactly why. Without his helmet on I am sure the forehead would have cracked open as well.

We went to the dentist this morning. All the other teeth are fine and the lip is healing well. According to the xrays, the dentist said that Blaine probably would have been losing that tooth in the next 6 to 12 months. The adult tooth is perfectly positioned to come in and has no trauma from the fall, so it's all good.

The best part for Blaine? The tooth fairy hooked him up. She gave him bonus money for having the tooth forcefully ejected. And then she had a drink. Or two.

The Sorrow

I've been trying to write this piece for a month. I keep putting it off. Maybe, in some way, I know that posting it makes it real. Makes it final. So instead of trying to write, and rewrite and procrastinate more, I am just going to post it.

My grandpa died last month. He was 98, and had outlived almost everyone he knew, including his wife of 70 years, my beloved grandma who died almost one year ago. We were all really surprised that he lasted as long as he did after grandma went, we all figured he would go within weeks, if not days of her.

I took the kids and went up to see him when we were in the states in June/July of this year. I said my good byes. He had a few lucid moments while we were there - asked me about David (who couldn't travel with us to Alabama at the time) and how I liked living overseas. He played with the kids - he could wiggle his ears and it used to amuse the hell out of me when I was little and it was no different for Blaine, he thought it was a riot. The day we left, he hugged and kissed me and told me how much he loved me and then said "I don't expect to see you again". He was my last living grandparent. I was so lucky to have been able to know him and my grandmother as an adult and to have had such a wonderful relationship with them both. I'm not a big believer in God, but I do believe that my grandmother was waiting for him because their souls are destined to be together. I'm glad he is out of his pain and suffering - the last few months have been very hard on his body. I am glad he is at peace. But as glad as I am that the suffering has ended, I'm still sad and weepy because he's gone.

The hardest part of him being gone is that it is truly the end of an era for our family. Every summer vacation was spent on the farm. The past few years have seen my parents going to the farm a few times a year (a 14 hour drive) because of my grandparents' poor health. But even when my grandparents started failing (to use a very southern term), their house was always a vibrant gathering place. Friends, family, neighbors - the word always got out when my mom was in town and everyone would come to sit a spell and visit. Even after my grandmother could no longer whip up a feast that she would modestly call "Sunday supper" everyone would still come down. Only now, it was usually my dad doing the cooking. My grandmother loved it when her son-in-law was in the kitchen - she loved it when he cooked Thanksgiving dinner for them.

So many memories, so much history, so many wonderful times. All of them happened in that small, green country house. Now all that's left is the empty house and what I hold in my heart.

And now is the time on Muscat Love ven ve DANCE

Rock on, little man. Rock on.



Blaine Rocks Out from dogzilla on Vimeo.

The joy

The joy is Kyra. Our wonderful, sweet, adorable (and only occasionally evil) daughter celebrated her 2nd birthday yesterday. We had a small, quiet celebration at our home and today we had the big party at a local children's play place called Busy Bees. Kyra and 10 of her friends had a blast.

Having Kyra is amazing. She's so completely different from Blaine. She's much bolder. More fearless than Blaine, but also much, much more cautious. She takes more risks, but they are calculated risks. I'm frequently asked something like "is that your daughter standing at the top of the tall slide?" I just nod and smile because I know she's fine. If that had been Blaine at the same age, I would have been hovering beneath, waiting for the inevitable fall.

She still has problems expressing herself. We are working with her and the speech delay. It's fun to see her learning new words and trying out new signs. Her sign language skills are amazing and she is using her signs as a bridge to language. She now can say "dog" and "cat" but only if she is making the sign at the same time. My dad likes to say that I would be mute if you tied my hands behind my back, so I guess Kyra will be following in my footsteps and will be a very visual speaker, using her hands to get her point across. Make no mistake, however. She has no problem getting what she wants when she wants it. She may not be able to speak the words, but she knows how to make herself understood.

She is still our Princessa Hooliganka and we wouldn't change a thing. She brings such joy to our lives everyday. Pure, unadulterated joy. Happy birthday baby girl. We love you.