DBA (Delinquent Bloggers Anonymous)

Hi, I'm Lydia.

Blogger: Hello Lydia.

It's been 16 days since I last blogged. I have been bursting with ideas and material to blog about that whole time. It's just, you see, I had to move.

Blogger: I see. Go on.

I mean, we had Christmas vacation. We actually took a vacation over Christmas, which we'd never done. It was wonderful! Then we got back and were dropped with a bombshell of news. The Embassy had made the decision to move the families in the "danger zones" to safer places. They said they wanted to get it done in 60 days.

Blogger: Yeah, like that would happen. It probably won't be done before April.

I know! That's exactly what I said! So we unpacked, readjusted to our schedule and all. Then on the 4th, they wanted us to look at some houses. Ok, I can do that; I've never been consulted on housing while overseas. I tell them my preference and they say they'll get back to us when the housing board has met and made a decision.

Blogger: Oh, a meeting. That'll take a week or so to come together.

Nay no, burrito! 24 hours later, they say we've been approved for the housing I wanted and would it be possible to send the moving company to do a pre-move survey on Sunday. (it was Thursday)

Blogger: I don't believe it!

Believe it, bloggy baby! They came to do the survey and 48 hours later, they had the move-out day scheduled for the 16th. So I had the rest of that week to kind of get some things in order before the moving crew descended. Monday rolled around and the crew shows up an hour and 15 minutes early. (they said they'd be there at 9:30 am; they show up at 8:15 am) The crew swarms in and has the living room, dining room, office & half the kitchen packed by noon.

Blogger: When was the first night you spent in the new house?

17 January.

Blogger: So how long from the first day you knew you were moving until the job was done?

13 days. And if you count from when we actually knew when movers were coming, just 6 days.

Blogger: That's not a lot of time. Not that anyone's complaining about efficiency.

Oh no, I'm not. Yeah, what kind of odds would that bet have? An efficient move executed by the government? Of all the things to complain about, who'd have guessed it?

Blogger: Definitely not me!

Thank you for listening, Blogger. I appreciate this open conversation.

Blogger: No problem. Come back anytime.

I plan to come back. I'll be here tomorrow, same time, same place.

Blogger: I'll be here.

"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'd up

Slowly, but surely, the front hall decorating is coming along. All the hooks came and I've got them up. Of course there had to be the usual speed bumps along the way, but that was expected.

I changed my favorite from this (it's color was *exactly* the same as my walls):


To this:

Much better. Due to our walls being old, stupid and made of concrete, hanging them was quite an orchestration of power tools and colorful language. I couldn't get any bolts to go in all the way, so none of the hardware is flush with the hook, but they hold weight and that's what I wanted.



You see, the root idea behind this "Wall 'o' Hooks" began with the conundrum of this awkward entryway. People needed somewhere to put their bags, etc. when they come in. I have a shoe cubby and shelf, but it's got all of our stuff on it. So most guests would just politely stash their shoes or bags on the opposite wall, on the edge of the rug or somewhere. A coat rack would just be in the way. I love that this is wall decoration is both decorative & functional. I'm all about keeping things simple, so I'm always looking for the dual purpose in everything.

Yes, we did have cardboard boxes (with food storage inside) covered with a tablecloth for a side table in college. #1 reason: Because we were poor. But I see no reason to stop that habit (the frugal, penny-pincher) just because we're not eating Ramen noodles every day. (and we still have ramen noodles in the cupboards.)

Call out the cavalry!

*shudder* I've still got the itchy cooties all over me. This is about as close to losing control as I can come. Autopilot switches on & I'm transformed. Must. Kill. Ants. My thoughts become singular in a mission to destroy the incoming army. Die you evil six-legged devils!!

How did this war begin? I was doing laundry. Yeah. Laundry. I have to go outside to get to my laundry room. I was coming back around house with our tighty whiteys and noticed how dirty dusty the house was. Now, I can't solve that problem in one fell swoop or even at all, but I can hose off the column bases & around the windows. Why not? I said to myself, I have a hose.

I left the laundry wagon & Jacqui on the sidewalk and went to turn on the hose. Water running I snaked the hose over to the front porch area and began squirting. The white was showing again & I felt pretty accomplished.

"I'm on a roll," I thought to myself, "Laundry, hosing off the house, what's next? Maybe I'll even get the laundry folded!"

I turned around and just about jumped out of my skin. Ants were swarming up the wall from some unseen hidey hole!! Of course, I screamed. Then I ran pell mell into the house to grab my mega-huge bottle of Raid & a broom. Wait! (i said to myself) Nobody's going to believe this. (Well, they probably would) I grabbed my camera because pictures always illustrate the moment better. (I can *say* that I found a gecko in my bathroom sink, but what does it *look* like?)



After a few quick pics, I went to town. I sprayed & sprayed & sprayed & sprayed & sprayed & sprayed. Ew, they were just pouring out of that unassuming crack in the step. No previous sign that pure evil lurked under that marble. Once they were adequately under control, I grabbed the hose and began some serious sheeting action to sweep those piles of carcasses out of sight.

This isn't anything new for me, we get ants inside the house. I put ant traps at the junctions of frequent sightings and along with a big bottle of Raid, we keep them under control. There is a bathroom that seems to attract them, but we just don't use that one anymore. At least until the weather gets colder (relatively speaking). The locals say that the ants go away during the "winter" months. What I witnessed was not unlike a scene straight out of Arachnophobia, but the ant version. (not that I've ever seen arachnophobia. don't want to, never will) I still can't sit still. My skin is crawling, ew ew ew . . . I've got to go shower. For a very. long. time. I don't even know if I can keep these pictures on my computer. I guess this is what I get for trying to be ambitious . . . As the old saying goes, If you give a moose a muffin . . .

Victory!!

I don't even know if this video works or my hyperventilating can be heard. I won't watch it.

Precedence in Rebus

If they can put one of these . . .



in every one of my . . .


Is it that hard to put one here?

That may just have to be a question for the eternities . . . .

Welcome to Manama!

Wow. We are here. I don't know where to start. 'Hot' seems like too miniscule a word to describe the H-E-A-T. 'Heat,' is considered a four-letter word now in this house. Imagine your entire body wrapped in Saran Wrap and then being immersed in lava. I've never felt the sensation of being instantly wet; palms, arms, face, etc. upon walking out the door.

Here is the current weather update as I type this. (It is 5:30 pm)

Sunny

Temperature:

99°F

Feels Like: 125°

My thoughts are quite jumbled & disconnected right now. Thank you, jet lag. We are all doing better though, this will be our 5th night. Everyone slept through the night last night, so we are on track for readjustment. Though I fear Sunday morning will come all too early for the school-going members of the family. The bus arrives to pick them up at 6:50 am. Yipee. Thankfully the bus stop is right outside our house.

Oh yeah, house. Lovely Manama House. It is more than I could have imagined. I fear I may be in danger of actually having some empty storage shelves. I do have to go outside to do the laundry in a non-air conditioned room. And I seem to have a grouping of geckos that like my laundry room. As long as they keep staying out of my way, I'll be happy. I have noticed an absence of ants & cockroaches in the walkway to the laundry room.


And another one that likes to frequent the ceiling of Mairyn's room. I did not want to influence the children with my abhorrence to all things creepy crawly, so I told them geckos were good. They don't have any teeth, they're not poison, no claws & don't bite. They eat bugs we don't want in our house. And then that's when they named him, Hector Protector. (and just b/c he's a gecko, I kind of want to change the spelling to Hektor Protektor, but then I decided it looked a bit German in spelling, and that wouldn't make sense for a Bahraini gecko)

Whoo-boy, if you can't tell already, I am wiped. I will wrap this post up, but don't worry. Now that we have internet, I will be giving very frequent updates. We have a lot of things happening this next week; first day of school, first grocery shopping trip, etc. And of course, I'll have more pictures.

What $13 gets you . . . .

This is what $13 at Deseret Industries get you. A whole lotta good!

Deseret Industries, or D.I. in local speak, is a tight-wad's dreamland. It's kind of like a Goodwill store. They are nonprofit and accept donations. When I was too lazy to organize a yard sale, this is where I took 6 van loads of "stuff", i.e. out-grown clothes, toys, and assorted junk. Junk to me, but treasure to someone else. You know the saying . . . I have fond memories of D.I., we bought our first couch there for $35. I got a pair of jeans there for $3 that lasted me 3 years.

I went to D.I. with a purpose; to find frames. I have a wall that is nothing but frames. My dream is to have a nice, unique collection of just frames. Actually, it's singular right now: frame. I saw this online at Ikea about a year ago.

I had such visions and daydreams about this frame. Such beauty and splendor would have a place of honor and nothing, n-o-t-h-i-n-g will be in it. This piece of art is the centerpiece. My wonderful sister-in-law, Chelsey, snagged it for my birthday last year. It was too cumbersome to ship and so it waited in her guest bedroom until we arrived in Virginia to collect it. And it was the sixth passenger in my van, carefully tucked out of the way of flailing feet. 'The Frame' was one of the first things hung up on the wall.



You know how frustrating it is when you have a vision, and you know what you need, but you can't find it? That's my problem right now. So, I dove into the Frame & Picture section at D.I and resurfaced with this assortment. Some may stay in their natural beauty, others will be altered. And one or two may not even make the cut. But at $2 a piece, I can afford to be choosy! I got some spray paint and, if one is painted, it will be in burgundy, black or creme. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Tomorrow is Saturday, after all. Time for the Weekend Warriors to rise! After we sleep in . . .

Millions of boxes . . .

Boxes for me. Millions of boxes. Boxes for free. No, not really. They aren't 'for free'. They're for me. For me to unpack, sort through and toss. I am struggling through the slog of apathy and overwhelming urges to crawl under a rock and wait for it all to go away. Hmmm, can we say 'avoidance' anyone??

Here it is, the 12th of October, 6 months after we said goodbye to Cairo, and I am still stumbling over boxes. I have seen friends move after me that are more settled than I am. I should know, I stayed with one of them this summer, in their new house. I'm here, in my new house, with my husband coming home in 3 days without any room to park our car in the garage.

But really, don't worry. I just had to introduce this preface because it's how I'm feeling. I know that I will get this done. With Spencer home, we'll probably rocket through piles of boxes a day. Those things tend to happen with 2 adults around. I'm also feeling a bit guilty about not posting very often. I just don't feel like I have anything worthwhile to say nor do I have the time to compose my thoughts into anything that closely resembles structure.

We'll cover the last week in bullets: (or dashes, seeing as how I just realized that I don't have any bullets.)

-- Monday, Oct. 5th --
I drove my mom to Montana to my pregnant sister's house. We had a wonderful time together.

-- Wednesday, Oct. 7th --
I drove back to Rexburg. And jumped back into everything.

-- Thursday, Oct. 8th --
Taylor Brooke Andersen was born!!

-- Friday, Oct. 9th --
Chased my tail; ran errands that were long overdue and bought a piano.

-- Saturday, Oct. 10th --
Had all 4 kids home, as I usually do on Saturdays. So you can bet that nothing much of merit go accomplished. I went to my friend's yearly Harvest Dinner; a gourmet feast where I felt like an adult for a few hours.

-- Sunday, Oct. 11th --
Went to church, had a couple over for dinner and games. Children decided to smoke a special brand of crack and act even more insane than they really are, trying to prove the point that I really don't have any control.

And that brings us to today. Today. 2-day. to-Day!! Yeah, let's see what happens.

An Apology

This is kind of how I feel right now.

I'm sorry. There, I said it. It's kind of an apology to myself, too. I just haven't had the energy or bandwidth to blog. Too blah to blog, I guess. When is it all going to be over? Never. When will our clothes be in a permenant place? Who knows? By the time I get all of our minutia where it goes, it will be time to ship off again. When? Next summer. Where to? Well, a select few know, but that's what I'm saving for another post. A post to blow you out of the water. Really, I swear. It's not too surprising, but still exciting, nonetheless.

I do have a special visitor coming next week as well! One more reason for me to get off the computer and back on track. Will everything have a place? Probably not. Will there be a working bathroom in the formerly cavernous, unfinished basement? Yes. Yes there will.

Painting

I'm going to show a whole bunch of pictures showing the basement finishing process. Promise. It's just not how I want it yet. But . . . I can't wait to show you how the "green" color came out. It's called Rejuvenate by Behr and it's the Paint & Primer in one. I'm painting the laundry room and the bathroom this color. It will all be accented with brushed silver hardware (faucets, knobs, lighting) and dark dark wood cabinets.

And below, is the view from the far corner of my family room looking back at the stairs. Before the wall looked like this:


Now, it looks like this! Casey made this lovely cut-out for me. This will be the computer/homework corner.

Meetings

Today was a day of meetings. We were at the school by 9:30 am to meet with the kid's teachers. Turns out, there is another Mairyn in the class. Except she spells it 'Marin'. Go figure! We try to choose unique (but not too wild) names; and this is one of those reasons why. So I asked the teacher if the other little girl could go by her last name's initial. Because, really, these kids are in elementary, Mairyn P. Ha-ha! Mairyn you p! But guess what? That little girl's last name in Peterson. Greeaaat. The teacher suggested they just go by their last names; but c'mon, Mairyn Penrod just is too much on the playground. I think we've settled on going by Mairyn K. Her middle name is Kathleen; Mairyn Kathleen is quite a mouthful all at once, but I sometimes playfully call her Mairyn K. So, that's pretty much settled.

We rushed home to get the upstairs in order for our next meeting. My Visiting Teachers were paying their first visit. Very nice ladies and their combined total of kids came with; 4 1/2 to be exact. The other gal is very pregnant. All under the age of 5. Fortunately, I don't have anything out yet that can be broken or messed up. And if I did, Grant already broke it.

Later in the afternoon, my Hometeachers came. But, I am unique. The bishop thought that I might feel uncomfortable with two men visiting every month or when I needed help, so he assigned me this nice married couple. Hey, I actually have a chance at getting cookies from my VTs & HTs! At each visit, each companionship (of course) asked if there was anything they could do, just call. I told them I'm really in a holding pattern right now. Not much more can be done upstairs until the downstairs is done. It's like one of those 9 square puzzles that you get from a cheap arcade game. You have to rearrange the squares to make the complete picture, with only one extra space. And that's how my house is right now. The computer is displaced to the kitchen because the girls are sleeping in what will become my office, towels are still in boxes because they are being displaced by the girl's clothing which is in the hall closet which will become the linen closet, and so on and so forth.

The last meeting we had today was an old friend to me, but a new experience for the kids. Artichokes. Mairyn picked one up by the stem and asked if we could buy one. Ooo-kay, let's try it. And it was a hit. We actually had a great dinner, but it's not one that can be a regular. Menu: Fresh corn on the cob, watermelon, ripe peaches, & artichoke. And it was fast. I'm going to make it as often as I can before the wonderful summer produce disappears.

Basement Progress

I am up to my eyeballs (actually higher than that) in boxes. And sheet rock, 2 by 4s, electrical wiring and sawdust. Getting my 7,000 lb shipment and finishing my basement at the same time makes for a crazy life. Oh yeah, and throw in 4 kids that just want to find their toys amid the mountains of unopened boxes. Here's what greets me when I go to open a box:





Upon closer examination:




Uh huh, the cartons of joy are labeled in Arabic. Numbers in English, descriptions in Arabic. Then my master list has a translation in English. But usually, the contents are not accurately described. For instance, the list says, "toys, shoes" And the actual contents? Clothes and the removable shelves from the bookcase. So it's Christmas every time I rip into a box with my trusty box cutter. I had the delivery guys stack about 90% of the boxes in my garage, and arrange them in convenient to access aisles. It's like my own little Bed, Bath and Beyond! What am I going to find down aisle 28? Kitchen appliances or old socks. And therein lies the fun.




**p.s.**
btw, my internet speed ROCKS!!! i am uploading pictures faster than i have in a loooong time. i usually click the button to upload a picture and go surfing around other tabs or write more of the story and before i know it, up pops my picture!! awesomeness.
**p.s. done**

The Daze of Summer

Yeah, I'm sure no one has EVER used that comment before! I can't believe that it is the last day of July. We have unintentionally managed to cram so much into this summer. Well, into the last 3 1/2 months. Since we left Egypt, we've been back and forth across the US two and a half times, bought a car, been from as far south as Springville, UT and north to Missoula, MT, driven round trip from Rexburg to Washington, D.C. and back, Niagara, Palmyra, Mt. Rushmore and sent one husband off to Iraq.

I got the keys to my house back this afternoon. It was like buying it all over again. We've never lived in it, you know. We bought it, managed the sale and closing all long distance. Once we closed, we got a phone call saying,

"You're homeowners! Congratulations!"

Woot. We were sitting in our living room at 1am in Cairo. Not much we can do from there. This week the property managers have been doing the make ready; fixing things, cleaning carpets, etc. getting it ready for us to move in. And they finished today. I picked up my keys and felt like jumping for joy. I drove over to my house, put the key in my door and unlocked my new life. So this is what it feels like. In 10 1/2 years of marriage, to walk into my dwelling and have it be just mine. No worrying about the kids stomping over-zealously on the floors for fear the downstairs neighbors will complain; or knowing the next-wall neighbor has a cold because you can hear every sneeze. And to turn the children out in the backyard to play.

When I told the kids we would be moving into the house and showed them pictures, they asked,

"Who else lives there?"
"Just us."
"Where is the elevator?"
"No elevator."
"So we live on the ground floor?"
"Yes, so to speak. Just up the front steps and into our front door that we don't share with anyone."

Now begins the new chapter. Also, looking forward to mid-October when we can share it with Spencer for 3 weeks.