The Weather

So yesterday morning, we woke up at five o'clock and I thought Tommy was switching the lights off and on.  Tommy doesn't actually switch the lights off and on (that would be Lulu) but he does wake up at five o'clock lately (we need to invest in black out blinds for their room), so it wasn't completely irrational.  I would actually say that it was a fairly respectable thought process for so early in the morning, honestly.  

Anyway, it was actually lightening!  And there was thunder!  And it was raining!  Hard!

So, TAISM canceled school.

I was supposed to get my driver's license, and so we piled the kids into the car and set off.  I'm not scared of rain, you see, as my childhood in Seattle proved to me that I do not melt.  (It just really makes my hair look bad.)  We got out of the Wave to the first roundabout, and guess what? It was flooded.  I was following Eli who fearlessly and rather quickly plowed through it, so I did too even though it was deep.  I had the radio on and Chris Fisher In The Morning was schooling us all on driving with ones' headlights on rather than ones' hazards (the use of hazards in Muscat is ubiquitous and most commonly means "I am slowing down, please slow down too so that you do not rear-end me") because when you use your hazards, my fellow Muscat drivers, nobody will know if you're going to turn because you can't indicate.

And I actually said aloud to Chris Fisher In The Morning, "MY GOD, you are totally right.  Good point!"  (Note:  I already had my headlights and not my hazards on, so this was a bit wasted on me.)

The driver's license didn't happen because none of the guys actually made it to work, so rainy was it, and so I took the kids to the grocery store and came home to hang out for the rest of the day until we went for a walk and saw a rat climb up a palm tree.  Awesome.

This morning, I looked at the newspaper (yes, we bought a subscription and yes, we recycle it unread except for the front page every day), and imagine my surprise when I read the beginning of an article about the weather:

Following the rains of yesterday and the last few days, people here hope like last year extended winter weather in the Sultanate is in store for all.  After the recent rains in different parts of the country in general and in the Muscat governorate in particular, the city wore a cheerful look with a sense of palpable excitement everywhere in the air.  With the recent onset of springtime, the incessant showers and hopes of extended winters, people are in a mood to celebrate life and hence one can see families returning to picnic spots.

!!! While those sentences are about as far from clear as a writer could get, it is, I think, undeniable that the author means to convey a sense of joy and happiness due to the rain.  I have two comments.

First, this Seattle girl lacks that feeling in her emotional vocabulary if you will.  Rain in April means you feel sad.  (Though you save your deepest sadness for rain in July.)

Second of all, these people are only happy because nobody goes to work when it rains.  (And possibly because it feels a bit less oven-like outside.)

Tommy's Publishing Party (updated!)

On Wednesday, Tommy's class had a publishing party for the books they have been working on.  It was really fun to have Tommy read his book to me, and then to hear some of his classmates read their stories as well.  Here is Tommy's book.

(I really love this illustration of Eli.)

(Do you guys think Tommy might like his dad just a little bit?)

And here is Tommy reading his book!

Wadi Shab (The Best Thing We Have Done In Oman)

Today we woke up early and went to Wadi Shab.  It was hard to decide to do this because last Friday we had an amazing day at the beach (one of the deserted ones near Yiti) and it was tempting to do that again.

But we had heard many rave reviews of Wadi Shab, and we all had such a great time today.  It was amazingly beautiful, if really hot hiking into the pools (definitely in the mid-nineties).  I had moments of worry that we had not made a great decision and would later have kids suffering from heat stroke.  (I'm happy to report that we do not.)

We spent a happy couple of hours swimming and jumping into the pools.  Eli thought to bring the kids tubes and it was perfect to have them.

For those considering a visit to Oman, we will definitely take you to Wadi Shab, we promise.  Eli and I both jumped from a place that felt very high, but there were many that were higher...

This is right next to the parking lot, and you must cross it to get on the trail.  We took a boat on the way there and waded on the way back.  It was muddy and gross and I would pay the twenty-five cents for the boat next time.

It is not the greatest place to hike with young children, but as long as you have a 1:1 ratio it's fine.  

If you squint, you can see someone bravely jumping.

If you squint you can see someone even more bravely jumping.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Wadi Shab is that we didn't see even close to all of it!  You can swim along the pools and swim underneath a waterfall into a cave.  But, we have little kids who can't do the necessary swimming.

Now We Are Six

When I was one I had just begun
When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me
When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive
But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever;

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

- A. A. Milne

It must be so confusing

Pretty much since the moment I met Eli, it has been clear that when we are going to a new place, he is the one who can get us there.  His sense of direction is superior in every way to mine.  He always knows which way is north, he knows with absolute certainty which way is left and which is right (I prefer to stop and think for a moment before committing) and, perhaps most incredibly to me, he remains oriented while he is in a building (even if there are no windows in a room) so that he can always tell you which way is north, for example, or which street we would be looking upon if there were a window.

When I started my job at Thelen, it made Eli feel CRAZY that when I arrived on my floor, I didn't know which way to exit from the windowless elevator bay before locating the fire alarm which was conveniently on the same side on each floor.  He, in a voice that sounds like his Oliver-Walter-imitation voice, would say, "well, you know which way you were facing when you got into the elevator, right?"  But somehow, I would have forgotten.

Interestingly, I have mentioned this ability (Eli's) and disability (mine) to many, many other women and all but one have said that this is true in their own relationships as well.  (Not the ridiculing; that's unique to Eli.)  We had friends over recently and somehow this came up and the woman admitted that her sense of direction isn't as well-developed, shall we say, as her husband's, and Eli looked at her and shook her head and said, "It must be so confusing!"  I didn't say anything at the time but somehow this remark really sticks with me and so imagine my (completely internal) reaction to my husband when two days ago he said, "I really think that for our next move you won't be as anxious about driving and finding your way around.  Don't you?"

I won't tell you what I thought-but-did-not-say because it would be completely inappropriate to post here, but I'm sure you can imagine.

And he turned SIX!

The sweetest little boy in the whole wide world is now six.  Holy guacamole.  I am obviously officially old because I am yet again yammering on about how time flies.

But listen.  If your kids live with you for 18 years, then WE ARE ONE THIRD THROUGH OUR TIME LIVING UNDER THE SAME ROOF AS TOMMY.  And honestly, if I could take back that realization and go back to thinking he would live with me for what would feel like forever (because five o'clock in the morning is very early, to everyone in our family but Tommy), I would be so happy.  Since stumbling (stupidly) upon this calculation, I do believe I know how it feels to have your heart ripped out.

Yesterday Lizzie and I slaved away in the kitchen and made cupcakes and frosting from scratch. Then, at three o'clock we went to TAISM and celebrated the birthday with Tommy's class.  That candle you see burning is a 'SIX' candle that Grandma Nancy gave me a few months ago.  I lost it during this time at TAISM and so we didn't get to use it again today.  Boo.  He had a great time and the cupcakes totally turned out even though they had little tiny black specks in them from the vanilla bean (it's actually not so bad to use those beans instead of extract).

Do you see Lulu's legs in the back there? Sitting in a stroller? She fell asleep in the car and was in a terrible mood for most of the event.  She was also decked out in her flower girl dress from Andy and Katherine's wedding, so she got a lot of attention from people wanting to compliment her on her princess dress.  Since she was in a bad mood, these compliments didn't go over so well.

But, even if Lulu was a grump, somebody loves her.  Look what I found in Tommy's backpack when we got home.  It says, "Who is your best friend?" He writes, "Lizzie" (with backward zs).  It asks, "What makes them so special?" He writes, "funny, cutie pie".  (See why I am sad that he's going to move out soon?)

So then this morning we woke up very, very early to open up a bunch of Lego.  He was thrilled.  We had to dash off for his first golf lesson (I know!  But the golf course is very convenient and seems like a good way to do an extracurricular activity without making me drive all over Muscat), then to sign up for swimming lessons at school this term.  I'll post some golf pictures someday because it's actually very cute, but I might see if we can get the grip down a little better first :)  

After our errands, we met Eli back home and headed off to the mall to play in the arcade.  A good time was had by both children and Eli and I survived.  Those places are just so loud!  

Then, we came home to build some more Lego, have some ice cream cake and eat some Thai food for dinner.  By dinner we were all pretty tired thanks to the early wake up and no napping.  Tommy talked to his Auntie Em and Uncle Sid, and to his Uncle Brett.  It was a really great day.  For a really great kid.

* I will post a couple of cake photos as well as a couple of arcade photos...

Baked Oatmeal -- I love it

Something surprising, I'm sure, to my ex-roommate Sarah Wedemeyer who sweetly endured garden burgers every other Wednesday (roommate dinner night), is my addiction to food blogs. I have two problems, however: first, I don't normally choose healthy recipes to try and second, I can't buy vanilla extract here (luckily I have vanilla beans and surprise, surprise, you can use them instead!).

This is my latest obsession - we are on our second Friday morning eating baked oatmeal. I have used skim milk both times and I think it's fine (but maybe if I'd tried whole milk before I wouldn't):

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2013/03/we-have-rhythm.html

Weekends

So yesterday I got a text message from Eli telling me that as of May 1st, the weekend days will be changed from Thursday and Friday to Friday and Saturday.

And this, my friends, is what makes the Middle East (I would limit it to Oman but I am assured by many that this is common to the region) such a crazy place.  I mean, just pause to consider what number of things this change will affect, starting with the already-published-calendar for next school year.  And then remember that the first of May is three-and-a-half weeks from when the Sultan (or his guy) made the announcement of the change.  It's just like the program where the Sultan announces holidays a day before they are occurring.  My Kent-brain can't fathom how such a system is truly workable, but here we are.

I will keep you posted.

* As an aside, I am happy for this change as having Saturday equal Monday has been pretty mind-boggling for me.

My kitchen window

 

 

My new personal challenge

Guess how popular this guy is? See the towel underneath? This clever purchase of mine is killing me. The silver lining is that Lulu is learning how to wipe up her spills very well.

 

Lately...

I have been a long time between posts but for an amazingly good reason:  I have so many photos I want to post and we are having some complications.  My network guy works six days per week and when he gets home I'm reluctant to complain that things are too complicated for me.  But it's true.  Things are complicated and I haven't exactly figured out where my photos reside once I take them off my phone.  (If you think this is pathetic, you should her me 'discuss' our finances.)

So.  The kids are on holiday from school which is killing me.  They are lovely children but it is now in the 90s and so it's hot at the playground.  We usually go to the playground and then they sit on the ground with their magnifying glass to find bugs.  There's not loads of exercise other than the scooting or walking to the playground.  We are going to go to Leigh and Grace's pool today at some point, I think, which is nice.  And, tomorrow we are going to go to the really nice beach but only if the tide is low.  I also plan to take them to the Muscat Children's Museum.

On Saturday morning, the kids both got haircuts.  They look super cute, both of them -- Lulu got some layers and it's almost silly to see her hair look so styled.  The woman who cut their hair just sort of randomly looked at me and said it would be cute with layers because it would make it even curlier.

We are a couple of weeks into having a cleaning lady three times per week.  It is much dirtier here than the US, and it seems like a layer of dust settles quickly, almost as soon as she leaves.  Perhaps this is why I love having her so often. She also, as I mentioned earlier, really helped me get the house unpacked quickly and that was so helpful.  We are getting closer with that project -- the kids' books are in their new secondhand bookcase.  So we really just have two rooms to sort out, and one is the office where we never go.  I had planned to post a couple of photos because it's looking pretty nice in here, but then I ran into my technical difficulties.  Anyway, we also have nothing on the walls yet, and it will be nicer to take photos when that is done.

Lib's little baby is here and it's a girl called Amelia.  She's very cute and I will post a photo here one of these days.  I am very sad that I can't hold her today.  Or when she was still super duper fresh.

For my second-to-last random thought I will tell you that I woke up about a week ago and realized that I don't dread driving anymore.  I mostly can get where I'm going and I'm not so terrified of the driving culture here.  (I am glad I have a big car, though.)  It feels good.

Finally, if you were me and had two children, and when you asked the younger of those children to do something and then she asked her (amazingly sweet and kind) big brother to do it, would you let him do it? Or would you tell her that it's her job and she had to do it?  Is it appropriate or even good for a three-year-old to be honing her 'managing up' skills, or is it naughty?