Back in Muscat

We walked into our house in Muscat at 2:00 am on Tuesday morning (the 27^th of August).  Our fourteen-hour flight from Seattle to Dubai went amazingly well.  The kids were so good, and we all slept a fair amount (the only problem being that Lulu was partially on my lap and somehow this resulted in my having very swollen feet and ankles, ouch and yikes).  We had a three-and-a-half hour layover in Dubai, which was okay but a bit less amazing than the flight had been.  The airport was fairly empty, so the kids could run around a bit, but it felt long and then Lulu ate an unwrapped chocolate that had been sitting on a seat and in my supremely exhausted state I convinced myself that she had surely ingested something horrible and would shortly become very ill or die.  (She did not.  And, once I remembered that she is a thumb-sucker who rode the Tube in London regularly and has not yet come down with something horrendous, I calmed down.)  We finally boarded our last flight and Tommy fell asleep immediately.  The flight from Dubai to Muscat is less than an hour so shortly we disembarked in muggy Muscat.  Other than a long-ish wait for our bags, everything was perfect there and we walked out into the arrivals lounge to loads of men making kissy noises at Lulu (this is very normal here; also normal is the fact that she ignores them completely).  Eli was waiting for us (yay!) and we piled into the car and drove the ten minutes home.

Our house was sparkly and Eli had bought some flowers and it felt lovely to be home, but I still was on the verge of tears because sometimes in our lives we make choices that are right (in all ways) but which still make things harder for ourselves.  And deciding to go to the US for ten entire weeks is one of those choices for me. 

I don’t regret for a moment spending the summer with so many family and friends, but my gosh, it sure makes it harder to reenter my real (or is it?) life.  Sigh.  All this to say that it’s hard to be back and that I am grateful for the sweet emails so many of you have sent to me even though they are making me cry randomly.

Eli took the day after we got home as a vacation day which was such a nice surprise and made me feel better.  And then yesterday, we got to see Leigh and Grace for the first time and it was so nice.  (God help me when they aren’t back in Muscat next autumn because they have moved back to Scotland.  And that right there is an example of the ‘glass is half empty’ part of me that I cannot seem to squash.)

***

The jet lag has been okay.  On the first night, Tommy slept only four hours and Lizzie slept seven (as did I).  On the second night, both kids slept from 7:30 pm to 6:00 am but I slept only 10:00 pm to midnight (and yes, I was a wreck yesterday, if it was possible to be more of a wreck than I already was).  Last night (I’m writing this at 5:00 am), the kids both fell asleep at the table and then slept from 7:00 pm until nearly 4:00 am. 

Friends, I am hopeful that this round of jet lag will be better than our adjustment to pacific time back in June.

(And, here is my solemn promise to quit complaining about my transition on this blog.  I am very nearly over myself.)

Last Day

We fly back to Oman this afternoon.  The thing is, we could be flying to paradise and I would be anxious about it, because six and three year olds are unpredictable and never fun airplane companions.  A fun airplane companion would bring chocolate chip cookies and their favorite novel for me to read and then offer me the aisle seat.  My kids do not allow my happiness or comfort to flicker into their consciousness unless I cry (which has nearly happened once).

I had such a great summer and I loved being with so many friends and family for an extended period.  It makes returning so much harder!

See you all in a few months and feel free to send an email or two.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxo.

Over and out.

Laramie!

The final stop on our trip was Laramie -- at Sid & Ollie's house.

I love going to Laramie for these reasons:
* It doesn't take longer than ten minutes to get anywhere.
* I don't usually have anything to do other than visit with my in-laws and I learn really interesting things such as the fact that my mother-in-law won a medal for archery when she was 11, and my father-in-law had a horse that poked his head in the kitchen window for treats.
* When I run five miles at 7000 feet, I feel really, really impressive.
* When I run early in the morning (which happened only once on this trip), I see antelope and deer (sometimes this is a negative if they get too close because I am a city girl).


What to know why Tommy and Lizzie love Laramie?  Mostly, for this field:

Eli and me standing on the bridge over the train tracks.

My mother-in-law in the co-op.  I wish Eli had taken a photo of the lettuce and herbs growing out of the wall.  (Perhaps I ought to take my own photos?)

Reading on the porch.

Ollie on his bike and Tommy with the wagon in the field.  Tommy's favorite was riding on the handle bars with Grandpa Ollie.

Grandpa Ollie is a good sport

We are going home to Oman on Sunday, which means I am in a strange state of mind (to be specific, I am overly sentimental which I find very irritating).  It is always dangerous to post on days like this because once I hit the publish button, my external processing is there for the world to read and I prefer to be thought of as sarcastic and a bit tough (never mind that time I cried when Tommy's teacher told me her daughter (a girl I had never met) was going away to college).

Sigh.

Anyway.  All this to say that while I disapprove of too much gushing over ones spouse/partner on ye old internet, I do believe that you, my sweet and faithful readers, know that I married well and that I know it.  I happen to have the best husband of anyone I know.

What you may not know is that I also married into a pretty amazing family, and this post is about the tallest member of that family.

(But first, one more aside which is that my kids have such amazing grandparents and they are so lucky and I hope that they have them as long as I had my amazing grandmother.  The end.)

SO SENTIMENTAL.

My father-in-law retired from his post as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming last month.  It is not appropriate to congratulate him because while he elected to retire at this time, he does not understand what exactly there is to congratulate.

He loved his job, and I also loved his job because let me tell you there is nothing in this world more fun than stories about university professors behaving badly and if I caught him in the right mood he would usually tell me one of these stories.  (And then I would feel like corporate America might not be so bad after all, for a brief moment.)

I'm certain that a Dean has many more responsibilities than convincing highly educated adults to share and be nice, and it is clear that my father-in-law was good at all of these other things as well.  Want to know why I'm so certain of this?  Because a (retired) US SENATOR wrote him a letter congratulating him on his retirement (this aversion to congratulations hasn't been widely publicized).  Isn't that impressive?  I was around when Ollie opened the letter, and I said something about how now I could never feel successful because there is such a minuscule chance that I will receive a letter from a senator upon my own retirement (and yes, I'm painfully aware that as of this moment, I have no career from which to retire) and you want to know what Ollie said?

"Wyoming is a small state."

But luckily he has a crazily enthusiastic daughter-in-law who wouldn't let him get away with that crap.  I mean, really.  Then I demanded permission to put the letter on my blog and he said, 'alright'.

Great Grandma Ruth

On the third night of our trip back to Laramie from the lake, we stopped in Lander to visit Great Grandma Ruth.  She is excellent at making people feel welcome and appreciated, and we had a lovely visit with her.  I was amazed that she does not look a minute older than she looked when we last saw her in 2011, and she won't mind my sharing that she is 91 and 2/3 years old.

Here is the four generations photo:  Great Grandma Ruth, Grandma Sid, Eli, Tommy and Lulu (who is showing her face!).

The kids had a great time in Lander. They played at a fun park and we went to the sinks -a pretty spot where a river goes underground. A few minutes' drive down the road, it comes back up.

The horrible noise you heard this morning

I have other posts I ought to be working on but wanted to alleviate any concern you may have regarding the horrifying screaming heard across the country this morning around eleven am (pacific time).  Really, it was nothing to worry about -- my kids had pediatrician visits and they also have a very stupid mother who informed them prior to the appointment that there would be immunizations administered.  They were wrecks for the whole appointment and the nervous energy/fear had to go somewhere!  Sorry, and excuse us.  Tommy's off the hook, immunization-wise, for a while and frankly, he was the one who got us all worked up so next August is looking a bit calmer.

For those interested,
* Lulu weighs 29 lbs (!!) and is 36 and 3/4 inches tall;
* Tommy weighs 52 lbs (!!) and is 47 and 1/4 inches tall;
* Dad got off to Australia just fine this evening though he was dreading the flight.

Yellowstone is SO AMAZING

I bet you don't know that I had never visited Yellowstone before last week.  Isn't that unbelievable? I am married to a guy from WYOMING, and I had never been to Yellowstone.  (Or Jackson for that matter but that's another trip.)  I really wish I'd taken a photo of the arch that is at the North-something (west?) entrance of the park because it's just so charming but there were busloads of tourists lining up in front of it and I have two small children and one day to see the whole deal.  So we skipped it.  I'm sure you can find a better photo than Eli could have taken on google if you want to see it.

So, here, my friends, is the yellow stone.  Get it?  In moments like the one in which I realized that of course there must have been a reason for the park's name, I wonder why I don't pay attention more.

 I feel like this is a typical family picture these days.  Tommy is attending to something else entirely and Lulu is refusing to show her face.  (I promised her that I would show this faceless series to her first boyfriend but for some reason she was unmoved by the threat.  Here, however, my promise is memorialized and I shall pull up this post in twenty years when she is permitted to speak to boys other than immediate family members.)

Another in the series of faceless family photos.  I might use this one for the Christmas card.  You saw it here first.

At the 'boiling mud pops' as Lulu says...

 Do you see the Bison which is FAR closer than park rules? We were one of the first cars to pull over, so we got a couple of good photos (some parts of Yellowstone are irritating).

 Old Faithful!  It is actually as impressive as I had imagined.  Really.  But, we had to wait thirty minutes for it to erupt.  (I don't even know if erupt is the correct word, but you know what I mean. Explode.  Whatever.)

 The lodge by Old Faithful.  SO amazing.  But also seems to be a fire hazard?

This is where we stayed after Yellowstone.  It's VERY sweet and I really liked it.  This is possibly because everyone prepared me for it to really suck? I'm not sure why? But, when we arrived, I was impressed and I really enjoyed eating dinner with a pretty view of the Grand Tetons.

After dinner, Tommy was bored by his dining companions so sat at the bar.  The bartenders were very nice to him and when we told him it was time to go, everyone around called out, "bye, Tommy!" so we knew he had been charming.  (He really is quite charming.)

 At breakfast, Tommy got hot chocolate.  Look at his sunny, cheerful mood.

 And check out my daughter for whom mornings are a bit more difficult.  (She takes after her mama.)

 Again, cheerful:

 So grumpy and unwilling to eat that she doesn't even get her own breakfast -- she just takes whatever she will deign to eat off the plates of others.  Carbohydrate + fat + sugar = Lulu's ideal way to start the day.  Sigh.  (To be fair to Lulu, her Grandpa Ollie likes to get on the road so she was awakened, and didn't even have time to brush her hair before breakfast!)

 The place we stayed, isn't it quaint?