Derailed

At least I'm blogging today. It's one of those days. How does the saying go, 'The best laid plans, something something. ' The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. That's a good summary of the day so far.

We got back from Thailand Friday night. The same night, we find out that while we were gone, the Embassy made the decision to move all the families in our area for safety reasons, which I completely understand. But there is a timeline and it's chugging right along.

This morning, I went to wake up Grant and Jacqui for school. Jacqui rolled over and her cheeks were speckled with bright red dots. Those dots continued down her neck, chest and tummy. Ok, guess she's not going to school. I got the kids off, got ready and waited for the Health Unit to open. They had an opening first thing, so we got in the car and took off. Right before we got to the Health Unit, the management head walked by in the hall and asked if I had a few minutes after my appointment to talk about the move. Oh yes, I have all the time in the world for that! We saw the doctor who prescribed some antibiotics, (he thinks it's a strep rash, will know more after tests confirm/deny). Then my little buddy and I headed across the hall to discuss our future housing.

Fortunately, they are being extremely accommodating, considering the amount of families to move and the time frame they have to do it in. In about an hour, I found myself driving to two different housing complexes to see what could be our future residence. I'm torn. It's going to be a tough decision. It will be smaller, in comparison to what we have right now, but there are other pluses. So that's how it got to be noon and none of what I had planned to get done is done yet. I have to decide by weeks end. Wish me luck!

Oh, and not to leave anyone hanging, here's another Thailand picture!

These are little statues at the Big Buddha shrine. I likey.

"O" is for October

"O" is for 'October' and 'October' is for 'Order'!

That's what my mantra is for this month. I have made it through almost a month of school. (yipee) A rhythm of life is beginning to emerge. We're still getting some of the extra-curricular activities nailed down, but things are pretty smooth. For the Mama at home, some days I can hardly keep my head above water, and others I actually have time to myself! I have many interests, goals and hobbies. I actually have my own "space" in this house. The problem is that "my space" is a disaster.
It is: my office (i have my own desk & computer)
the sewing room
craft central
resting place of my guitar
and the last refuge of anything that doesn't have a place.

If you break this last year down we have: August to mid-November: get to Bahrain, wait for our stuff; Mid-November: get our household goods & start a new job the same week; Mid-March: Evacuate to the U.S.; End of June: Get back to Bahrain; July & August: Keep 4 kids & 2 adults sane through the sweltering heat of a Persian Gulf summer. Lo and behold, here we are, one year later!

I have had to "re-find" things because I forgot where I put things when I unpacked. And then we come to my office and there are things that really haven't been unpacked. I wish I could get over my pride and show you a picture of the disaster that is "my space", but I can't. I can say that I am sick of rifling through piles of bags & boxes. I can't do anything until this space gets whipped into shape. So that is my goal for October; order.

Hook me up!

I have to be flexible with what I have. The walls change about every three years, so I can't make a wall grouping specific to that wall. Believe me, I'd love to. I just make sure all of my "decor" goes well together. I do have my "Middle Eastern Stuff" that I group together and can usually find a space.

I'm struggling with the front entryway/foyer. It sounds too ostentatious to call it the 'foyer' (i hear 'foy-yay' in my head whenever I say it) but 'entryway' is too small a word to describe it. It's bigger than the girl's bedroom. Also that monstrosity of Middle Eastern bling, a.k.a. the chandelier, is quite distracting. We walk through it multiple times a day; we cross it to go from the living rooms to the bedrooms, or bedrooms to the kitchen. The bathroom we use the most is also off this area. I'm slowly figuring out how I want it, but I need to get a move on, in just 7 days, we are nearing our 1 year arrival anniversary.

The long awaited hooks came! I didn't get a good picture of them all; little thieves absconded with a couple, in-between me laying them out on the floor, getting my camera, taking the picture, then realizing a few were missing. Oh well, it'll make the reveal all the more exciting.

I traced a paper shape of each hook and am playing with the arrangement. I'm a master at this staging process. I have two huge paper guitars on the wall in the living room, still waiting to be replaced by the real things. It's just that when you have concrete walls, the hanging process is more permanent. No changing your mind or backing down. Also, the whole drilling process isn't the easiest either. I have a cement drill bit, but the problem is the depth of the holes. It's very inconsistent, some can go as deep as I need it, other times I can only make a very shallow hole that won't hold the hardware I need to use. So then the whole arrangement has to be re-done. You can see why it takes me so long to commit to something. I have to have a couple of workable scenarios. Anyways, I'm at the paper shape stage. Let's see if I can get them hung before the end of Ramadan!

I'm hooked

I know I keep teasing with promises of vacation photos, but there are just so many shiny things in the world, I have a hard time concentrating on just one thing.

For example, *clearing throat* I have decided what to do with the giant expanse of white in my front entryway.

It's kind of like playing that game where the picture is all scrambled up & there's just one empty square; shuffling all the pieces around until it can all fall into place. Well that one space by the bookcase has been my 'problem place' until now. I have been scouring etsy for old, unique, vintage hooks. I began this train of hunting with the intention of putting together a hook wall in my room. But with all the cool ones I've found, I feel I just can't hide it away in the back room.



So I'm going to put an arrangement of hooks in the entryway; serving a dual purpose in A) looking really nice and B) someplace people can hang their handbags & jackets. It will look somewhat like this:



That's the 'visual area' it will take up and works very nicely in the Handy, yet Dandy category. And they'll be high enough up that the children won't be able to use them to drape any and/or all of their stuff on them. Sweet. Totally.

Ooo, pretty colors!

I picked out some colors!!
Though only accent colors for art pieces and maybe a closet door,
they will transform my slump!
I am *so* excited! Just 2BD per liter!
(go figure it out on xe.com)

Unsure

I've had this topic sitting in my "Edit Posts" section for some time. I've been adding to or subtracting from it occasionally. You know, between painting a wall or rummaging through boxes. The main idea, though, is a subject I've been wrestling with for a while. Trying to figure out what I blog about and who I blog for. I don't consider myself to be some author with a wide readership and countless scores of strangers waiting with baited breath for my next publication. I also won't belittle the family and friends and the random lurker that will read what I put out there. But finding a subject that satisfies ME is what I'm getting at.

Some things are too mommy-ish. But Mommy things are intertwined with my daily goings on. I do have an opinion, but I don't want to be too political or polarizing. So what to do? It's difficult to have a separate identity from the 'Mommy stuff' because that's my life! I like being a Mom!! I've thought of having a separate blog, I just don't know what I'll accomplish. Sometimes there are things I KNOW that just my friends will find funny, but my Mom won't and vice versa. (nissan versa, boop boop, uh, yeah, i'll explain another time) See what I mean??

Should I just channel my writing itch and write a book? No, too ambitious. Or maybe do a themed blog, like my current projects or a Julie/Julia project. No, stupid, already been done. Not that I would care if anyone ever liked it. I don't think the world needs ANOTHER pointless book or blog. Not that I'd try to make it pointless, it would just turn out that way. I'm way too spread out in my interests. Blame it on ADD. Everyone else does. I started this blog to keep connected with family and friends while we're far away. And I've ended up liking the blogging part a lot more than I thought. Yeah, go ahead and laugh, I don't care. I enjoy making time for it and I get a little thrill from every. single. comment. 'Cause seriously, who doesn't want just a teeny bit of recognition for all the hard work that goes into composing a well written story? And also, to be perfectly honest, yes, blogging fills a little narcissistic pleasure corner of that gray matter between my ears.

As long as I'm being completely honest, I like blogging/writing so much, I have even gotten out of bed to go finish writing out a thought that kept banging around in my head and wouldn't let me sleep. I know, interfering with sleep, crazy!! Not because I think it'll wow anyone or get me a Pulitzer or even a thousand hits in an hour. But because I like it. I love it. I want some more of it. (there's a little bit of Tim McGraw for ya) I read other peoples ouevres and feel a tiny knot of, I don't know, jealousy? No. Envy? Maybe. Desire? YES!! YES!! Desire to create something that I enjoy and for someone else to enjoy. So here's to branching out, cutting back or whatever the heck I decide to do!