Warning: this post is pretty much all complaining

You guys.  This post should actually include a movie of Lulu singing "Let It Go" because it is something so amazingly cute that I will never stop thinking it is special and wonderful.  This morning she was singing it as I brushed her hair and her daddy even came in to listen (her back was turned to us) but she got a bit shy when she realized we were both smiling at her.  I will work to take a secret movie so that you too can experience this amazing thing.  (Her pitch is better than you would expect from a four-year-old but it's still not what one would describe as 'pretty' singing.)

The other bright spot in my life is that a pack of workers descended upon my house yesterday afternoon and scraped off the horrible paint mess (made by a different pack of workers).  I was very impressed with these fellows.  And now I don't have paint on the door frames or glooping down onto the tile.

I am unusually grateful for the above two things, because I have spent much of this week feeling frustrated or angry.  That is a somewhat horrible thing to type but I'm not going to delete it because it's the truth.  One of the reasons I'm worked up is that I took my car in to have a couple of minor things fixed and it has been diagnosed with a huge AC problem.  We are going to Dubai for a long weekend in May, so we have no choice but to fix the AC because how horrible would it be to have it break completely on that long drive?  THEN, when I sent Eli to pick up the car, after 5pm yesterday, when Mohammed had promised it me would be ready, it wasn't ready and Eli was stranded at the Hyundai place.  But you see, this is a novice mistake.  No Expat who was using their brain would assume something would be done when promised here.  Why was I such an idiot?  INFURIATING.  In fact, the reason I am typing this post right now is because I am stuck at school all morning because I have no car.

Another problem is that the flight we take from Muscat to Dubai is canceled the entire week of June that I want to travel, so I have to spend the whole night in Dubai with the kids before boarding the flight to Seattle.

It is now time to stop whining.  I shall sign off and hit publish but only because it's the end of the month and I haven't written 10 posts in April.  Otherwise this would sit in the pile of 50 draft posts I have going.

A Pack of Whitmores Come to Visit

A while ago, my Aunt Sue started sending me emails suggesting that she and my Aunt Betsy and cousin Josh might make a trip to Muscat on their way back to the US from Ghana (where Josh does some impressive work).  Eventually, they booked tickets and we were all so excited to have more people come see us in Muscat.

On Friday morning, I headed to the airport.  This is important because I've never actually done an airport run by myself and I was consequently shocked when I got there and the backup out of the parking lot was huge.  I drove around the airport once, looking at the parking lot the whole time, and decided that it was not worth waiting in the line to enter as there didn't appear to be any parking places in the spot anyway.  Cars were parked in places that were clearly not official parking spots, and the cars that had made there way into the lot had not escaped the line, they had just moved a bit forward.

Anyway, I got to the airport an hour before they came out and in that time I became panicked that they were not coming out because they were waiting for me in the airconditioned terminal building (it has become very warm here lately).  SO.  Because I could not even enter the parking lot, I pulled over to the side of a random road in the airport, put on my flashers, and went into the airport.  In the US such a thing would be unheard of, but so would having a parking lot that was so inadequate, so I decided it was fine.

And I got a damn parking ticket.  So that's two tickets in Muscat so far.

LUCKILY, this bit of bad luck did not set the tone for the weekend.  Nope, it was a lovely visit and we were all so happy to have them.  In fact, I have just come from a conversation with my two children wherein they explain their sadness as due to 'missing Josh'.  (Lizzie even calls him 'Joshie' but it sounds like 'Jossie' and I'm pretty sure she made that up on her own.)  We did a lot of just hanging around, but they got to see a bit of Muscat and definitely tried all our favorite places for take-out (as will anyone who comes to visit us because I am only half-way good at menu planning).

It's funny because I didn't spend lots of time with the Whitmores when I was growing up, but somehow they still really feel like my people.  Tommy, as he looked at Aunt Sue, said, "well, she does remind me a bit of Grandma Nancy, that's true."

Here are the only photos I took but perhaps one of them will have taken a great one and send it to me.

Eating dinner the first night.  This is not a great photo of anyone but
nobody else looks so desperately in need of a hair wash as I do.

Walking to the souq.

My aunts spent a fair bit of time working on my yard - which was lovely!  (Aunt Sue went ahead and 'thinned out' some of the
plants lining the street and planted them in my yard.)

Want to see something cute?

In our house, you have to start writing your own thank you notes (not just signing notes that I write) when you reach first grade.  This isn't my favorite one, but I forgot to take a photo of that one...

Trip wrap-up plus cute things my kids are saying these days

Oh, hi.  Welcome to the most random blog post ever.  It's not easy, trying to top myself in this category, but I'm pretty sure today's post will do it.  The kids are two days into having no grandparents within reach and they are not yet used to it.  Yesterday, Tommy refused to go to school until "Grandma and Grandpa come back, and that's final!"

***

Last night, as he was climbing into the bath, Tommy said:  "You know what? Alejandro told me something crazy.  He said when you hold up this finger [the middle one], it means the f-word.  Isn't that nuts?"

Me, smiling:  "Well, actually, it does mean that."

Tommy:  "I can believe what I want to believe, and it doesn't mean that!"

Me:  "Okay, just don't do it to anybody, okay?"

***

Lulu's best friend Grace is in Scotland for a couple of weeks and we are both really missing her.  Today in the pool, I wasn't swimming but I had to play Grace's part in all the games, so we had conversations like this.

Lulu:  "There's a sign that says 'No going in this area because there's a polar bear and it might bite you!' and now you tell all the children to watch the polar bear do her tricks and what do you want my name to be?"

Me:  "Um..."

Lulu:  "I'm done with the polar bear game.  What game should we play now?  How about a whale game?"

***

Eli had to go to Doha last night, and when Tommy came home from school, Lizzie told him that Eli was gone.  Tommy replied, "seriously.  There are too many people going!"

***

Ollie and the kids really enjoyed walking to the beach for a swim.  

In the women's prayer hall at the Grand Mosque; my phone was stuck on black and white.  

The Party!

We had Tommy's party the day after his birthday, because the kids were on spring break and I thought more kids would be able to come the day before they had to go back to school.  I was mostly wrong -- lots of kids didn't make it -- but Tommy didn't seem to mind at all.  He was thrilled to spend his birthday with a few of his favorite friends and he loved the soft play area that we had the party.  Lizzie had just as much fun.  (We are lucky to know a lot of families with similarly aged kids so she usually has a playmate, and our very favorites have a boy Tommy's age and two older kids who play with Lizzie so sweetly that I ignore her completely when they are around.)

In case you were wondering, I made the cupcakes and they were overbaked.  Nobody complained, thankfully.

Lucky Number SEVEN!

Tommy turned seven today.  It was one of those up-and-down birthdays, during which he seemed happier than I ever had seen him most of the day but then also had two meltdowns during which he reluctantly told me that it felt like the worst birthday ever.

As he gets this birthday weirdness from me, I cannot complain, not even a tiny bit.

Anyway, he got one million new Lego things all of which he managed to build today with Eli's help, and he had pancakes for breakfast with Nutella on them, and we went to Shang Thai for lunch and then to see Rio 2 (I fell asleep; that movie is so boring) and then we had pasta with pesto for dinner and a delicious carrot cake made by Grandma Sid for dessert.

He also chose to wear a bright green shirt with bright green shorts and a first aid kit on a belt around his waist, and when Eli said, "you know Mommy's going to object" he said, "yes!  But I'm not changing because it's my birthday and I can wear whatever I want!"

Not to make it all about me, but how did this happen? Seven? 

Nizwa Fort

Eli took a few hours off on Tuesday and we drove to Nizwa, where there is a wonderfully restored fort and a souq.  It's quite a drive down and back, but it was well worth it and is something we have always planned to do.

Nizwa is atop an oasis -- you can tell from all the green.

We had lunch at Pizza Hut.  Isn't that embarrassing? 

The Souq

I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger!  Sid and Ollie have been here for a week now and I have been busy!  One morning, the kids and I took them to the Souq.  We all had a lot of fun.  Here are Lulu and Grandpa Ollie with a pretty part of the Souq ceiling above them.  She enjoys being on his shoulders because he is so tall!

Ollie wanted a kuma (the Omani hat), Tommy needed a new one, and Lizzie wanted this head piece because one of her classmates has one.  They really shook me down at the souq; they also each came home with a magnet.

These photos (except for the top one) were taken along the corniche - you walk back into the buildings to the left of the Mosque to get into the souq.  Tomorrow's post will include some photos of Grandma Sid.

On Books and Empathy

The kids' school has book sales which look very much like those I remember from my own childhood except that the books are far more expensive and there is a mixture of British and American books.  Otherwise, same experience.  They send home a pamphlet that is the main entertainment for the few days we have it before the order is due, the kids each pick out a book or two, I pick out a book or two and then we deliver it to the library.  A couple of weeks later, the book orders are sent home.

The book orders were sent home yesterday in Tommy's class.  I discovered this when he burst off the school bus with the very saddest face you've ever seen.  This is abnormal for such a cheerful guy, and imagine my shock when he said, "EVERYBODY except me got their book order today!!!"

I knew I'd placed an order and quickly remembered that I had put Lizzie's name on the order, because I pick her up every day and Tommy takes the bus.  It seemed more considerate not to weigh him down with books when I could put them in the car myself.

It turns out that this attempt at consideration was quite hurtful.  I apologized and told him I'd never make that mistake again, and I thought we were mostly over it until Eli came in while I was reading to Tommy and asked him about his day.

"Well, there was one horrible part, but don't make Mommy feel bad because she already really does, but everybody else in the class got their book order but not me because Mommy had it sent to Lizzie's class but her class doesn't get their orders until tomorrow."

Eli turned toward me to tease me and started saying, "OH, MOMMY" in a shocked voice but Tommy sat up and said, "No!  Don't make her feel bad!"

Don't you think I have the sweetest kid in the whole wide world?  I totally do.

(And also, don't you think it's hard to predict what things are going to feel really important to kids? I like to think I'm pretty good at it, but sometimes I blow it completely.)

(Also again, Sid & Ollie arrive late tonight. They are currently flying over Romania.)