Stone Soup

Jacqueline's kindergarten class had a Stone Soup Feast for the parents. She was very excited for the whole shindig. They even went shopping at a store for the vegetables and other ingredients.

They made invitations and Jacqueline was tickled pink that she got to deliver them herself. The class made the place cards and place mats for their guests. They also made corn biscuits and butter! Yes, their own butter; shaken in a jar & everything.

The soup was . . . interesting. I couldn't get past the whole "children prepared this" part and politely stirred my soup around and pretend sipped. Bless their little hearts, but I can't account for where their hands have been. It's the Monk-ish part of me.

Thanksgiving

This year was the first in a long time of Thanksgivings that we haven't had people over for dinner. We even did it last Thanksgiving, amid boxes and unpacking. I just wasn't feeling it this year.

We still had a great time. The kids are getting old enough to engage in games the whole family can enjoy. Mairyn & Eliza honed their chess skills. We all played Apples to Apples Jr. and Farkle is always a sure bet for fun!

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy having a holiday that isn't celebrated by the country I am living in? That means if I forgot the ice cream or run out of milk and butter, the store is open and fully stocked. On Thanksgiving morning, we indulged in an old tradition of doughnuts and milk for breakfast. Spencer & the kids went out to Krispy Kreme (yes, they have that here!!) while I put the turkey in the oven. We couldn't accompany the tradition with the usual Macy's Parade, but we had plenty of other things to do. We had dinner about 2 pm. The weather was gorgeous so we took advantage of it and played outside. The evening wrapped up with the traditional watching of "It's A Wonderful Life". The younger two lost interest after the first 45 minutes or so. But the older girls finally can appreciate more of the message and minutia that is a fine Jimmy Stewart show. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.

Insert Good Excuse Here

If feeling in the Christmas spirit was hard in Cairo, it's even harder here in Bahrain. Oh hi, it's me again. I've had my internal dialogue on all month, it's your fault you can read my mind! I've had a major case of the "I don't cares". The sick cycle of guilt has been rotating on me. It goes something like this:

"Crap, I haven't blogged in a few days. Oh well."
"I haven't blogged in a week! Double crap! I'd better make the next post really good."
"Crap-ola, this is a record, two weeks! I'll do . . . ooo, something shiny!"
"Whoa, over three weeks. *BAM* (that was the sound of Thanksgiving hitting)"

And so it would continue; the feeling of duty to blog, then guilt over how long it has been, followed by the knowledge that anything will be inadequate to make up for the lost time. Finally the avalanche of all insurmountable odds to right my blogging wrongs buries me and I crawl under a rock.

Well no more, my friends. I know, you're all shaking your head going, "Yeah, we've heard this one before." I can't promise the world, but I can try. I've got a backlog of pictures that need showing and the holiday season coming up. I need somewhere I can procrastinate my time away while I should be doing other duties.

Here is a shot from yesterday when we went to the Bahrain Fort. This is why someone always lugs the tripod around on our outings. And that someone usually ends up being Spencer, bless his heart. And he loves the fruits of my hobbies just as much as I do!