Our last night in 23 Harbledown Road...

Hello my very sweet friends and family who are filling my inbox loyally and probably think I am not even reading the messages.

I am.  I am reading my email.

You are all so nice.

It's just that I'm so overwhelmed and busy!  Mom and Dad have been so amazingly helpful but there is just so much that is up to me and me alone.  But, here we are, Wednesday night with the packers due to arrive tomorrow between 9 and 9:30.  And mostly, I think I'm ready.  (That sentence there reminds me that Tommy admonished me last week that one never, ever begins a sentence with 'and.')  So there's that.

But can I also tell you something else? I found out on Sunday night that I lost the case I've been working on so hard.  It is killing killing killing me.   Whenever I remember, I feel physically ill.  I also feel fairly sick about leaving my job at this point.  (But I feel better when I look at the pictures Eli took of the beach in Muscat (it is looking fairly certain that we are going to Muscat).)

Also.  What about how Eli won't be home for a whole week?

Also again, how can I be out of photo space? I just got a message that I can't put any more photos onto this blog until I give google some money.  I don't know how this type of issue works in your houses, but this is solidly an Eli issue.  It would be very convenient at this moment if Eli actually read my blog because then he would know and he could put this on his to do list.  Instead, I have to remember to tell him.  What this means for you:  no photos for a while.

I had a parent-teacher conference for Lulu on Monday and one for Tommy this evening.  They are both amazing (of course), but (of course) this is a mixed thing for me at this particular moment -- as we are leaving their schools and their teachers and their friends and everything else.

Over and out.  I promise to write better posts soon.  When my brain is capable of focusing.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are not celebrating today but we are still thankful for...

Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's arrival,

Baking (see below), 

 Big Ben (and Elizabeth Tower), and

 Studying Van Gogh while we live in London and can go experience it first hand.

We are thankful for many other things as well but I don't have any other good photos on my phone so you're stuck with this list.

But you guys.  Please eat some pumpkin pie for me.  I really love pumpkin pie.

We're okay over here

I wanted you all to know that I am doing just fine.

Eli and I spent from noon until 10pm on Sunday sorting through our belongings and putting things into three categories:  throw, take, and take NOW.  You see, we'll be living with a very small percentage of our things while the rest are en route to our next destination.  We will also travel with a MOUNTAIN of luggage.  I hate doing that because I have some anxiety about accidentally leaving a bag at the airport.

Then, on Monday morning bright and early, Eli left and late on Monday night, he arrived safely in Muscat.

Work is slower this week, and I'm getting lots of jobs done.  Mom and Dad come tomorrow and I have a list of things for them to do this week already.

And hopefully, we'll be in really good shape early next week so we can go see this.

T is for Transition

On Sunday, our landlady confirmed that we could not extend our lease until the end of December and that we needed to be out on the first of December. (They have found new tenants.)

So on Monday our lives were turned upside down when Eli was told that if he doesn't get put on the Muscat job by sometime in December, we'll be sent back to DC to await a different project. (It is apparently cheaper to move us all back to DC than to let us live here in London.)

Also on Monday, Eli was instructed to travel to Muscat from November 19 until December 5.

On Monday, Mandy was sick and Eli and I both went to Lulu's school to pick her up (don't ask, it's about Eli not thinking he would make it and then not being able to get in touch with me while I was on the Tube) and Eli presented me with this news and I immediately burst into tears.

And I said I thought he should quit.

He said he felt close to doing just that.  (There's a really nice house in my parents neighborhood on the market and it has us both daydreaming a lot.)

But then I said, well, maybe I should take the Washington bar BEFORE we move to Seattle.  (Does anybody know if they will let you have a mortgage if you don't have a job? Seems tricky.)  I then pointed out that I love, love, love living in London and I might be able to handle a few weeks of stress in exchange for the 2.5 happy years we've had here.  So I have resolved to finally weigh in on whether he should quit in six weeks.

So I emailed my mom and dad and they are coming to help me next week and staying through the move.

Since receiving all this news, Eli has secured a temporary flat for us in December, we have bought our plane tickets to Egypt for Christmas with Hanh and Eleanor (we need a bright spot as I feel despondent about possibly moving back to DC especially when it's going to be cold), and the movers are all set to come on the 29th and 30th (in fact the guy came this morning to do the inventory).

I have a hearing tomorrow and then my very busy and hard time at work will be winding down.

In other words, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  But it might not be in Muscat.

Now, who wants to buy me a drink?

PS:  The title of this post reminds me that while we were in Belgium, Tommy got mad and said "B is for Bad Leon!" and it made us all laugh.

PPS:  Guess what Tommy has been working on for about a month? Whistling.  He's awesome.

Photos for you

Catching up -- we saw Santa (aka Father Christmas) on Friday and I should really put that photo up here so I will one of these days.  Tommy asked for a Lego X-Wing Fighter, and Lulu asked for a chinchilla (thank you, Diego).  Santa looked at me and said, "What?"  And of course Lulu is only three and she doesn't speak perfectly clearly but you can't blame him can you.  Luckily, I have since discovered that it is a stuffed chinchilla she wants rather than a real one.  So odd.

Lulu love, love, loves babyccinos:

 Eli and I had a lovely dinner with Sid's sister, Shobana:

 Playing in Bishops Park on an autumn day with pretty afternoon light (this photo isn't as pretty as I hoped it might be):

 Riding a cat.  This is the weirdest thing at this new park.

 At a birthday party.  Super fun:

 LULU'S FIRST MOVIE -- Madagascar 3.  She suggested going home a few times but we bribed her with chocolate. She really really likes chocolate.  (She's not three yet, but we thought English movies in Muscat would be hard to find.)

Where's Lulu?

 Packing for Belgium.

 Harry Potter, OBVIOUSLY.

 White bunny wabbit (as she calls herself):

 Today we went for a walk and bumped into Eli's friend Mo.  Mo has a vespa and let the kids sit on it.  VERY fun.

Knokke, Belgium (Post 2)

We spent lots of time at the beach, even though it was cold.  We still had a great time.

 One afternoon we rented this thing for the kids.  They totally loved it although Tommy and Leon fought a bit over who would be the driver (only the lefthand steering wheel worked, of course) and Julian felt sad that his feet couldn't reach the peddles (he would like to be as big as the older boys).

 This was an amazing part of the trip.  Down the street from Valery's father's house is his uncle's house, behind which was built this dragon.  The tongue is a slide, and the whole thing is actually a house that one can live in with a bathroom and kitchen.  It's AWESOME.

 I include this one so that you can see how big the dragon is in relation to the house.

 Inside the dragon:

 Some summers artists would live in the dragon and I bet you can tell one of them from the photo below.

Finally, I offer you this video.  Listen carefully to hear Tommy accuse Leon of being 'as bad as a woman' as regards his driving.  I know, awesome.

Knokke, Belgium (Post 1)

I made a friend on my second or third day in London, in Stanhope Garden.  Her name is Valentine and at that time she had a two-year-old and was pregnant.  We became friends and so did Tommy and Leon (that e should have an accent, his name is pronounced 'leh-ohn', not 'lee-on').  Anyway, for a while we have been talking about visiting them at the seaside in Belgium because Valentine's husband's father has a big house there.  We finally went, and we had so much fun.

Here are Tommy and Lizzie the first morning there, checking out the sheep:

 The back of the house:

 At the beach on Saturday morning; really cold and obviously a storm was coming.

 That building behind Tommy and Eli is full of bikes so Tommy gave it a go (but did not learn how to ride a bike over the weekend, sadly).

 This is Tommy and Eli and Valery and Leon (dads on bikes and boys in bike seats) on a path through a block.  The bike paths in this town are so so so adorable.

 Tommy eating a waffle enthusiastically.

 Lizzie and Julian (Leon's little brother).

 Here I am for the first time riding a bike in years, with Lulu in the bike seat.  It freaked me out for the first thirty seconds or so then it was fun.

 I hate blogger for putting this picture here when it was meant to be first -- leaving on the Eurostar from St Pancras.

Brussels

On Monday, we left Knokke (that's my next post) and took the train to Brussels.  From there, we were taking the Eurostar back to London.  We had two hours to wander around and were directed to see the Grand Place and it was really amazing.

 Eli was there, too:

 If you're not careful, Lulu, your face will get stuck like this:

 Belgian waffles.  We had, I think, more authentic ones in Knokke but these were pretty good.

Happy Halloween!

As I worked very late on Halloween, it was all up to Eli and he killed it.  The kids (that is, Harry Potter and the bunny rabbit) had a great night.  Tommy even seems to have forgiven the rest of us for having Lulu dress as a bunny rather than Hermione...

He lost his wand during trick-or-treating but did not lose the Sword of Gryffindor (which used to be filled with jelly beans and on which Eli has had to re-glue the fake jewels more than once).

We're quickly moving on to Christmas, as the only appointment I could get to see 'Father Christmas' this year is next Friday...