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.

Weekly State Department Blog Round-up or WSDBR

WSDBR. Hmm. Did you know you can type that acronym with one hand? I know you all are trying it. It's ok. That's my job. To point out the obscure.

Weird Fact about Me #3,476: I have a Note in my iPhone dedicated solely to 'Words you can type with one hand'. Sub-categories: Right Hand & Left Hand. An emerging parallel category: Words you can type on the Top Row.

Ok, back to the real reason you're here. The Weekly State Department Blog Round-up! Optional Theme: What traditions have arisen in your life because of the State Department?

I know the theme of traditions is a bit early, but we like to do things well in advance in the Dep't. Like ordering our Halloween stuff at the beginning of September (or end of August. I saw a display in Target just days before we left) And getting our Christmas presents ordered by October.

That's one thing that has changed. My husband. Mr. I'm-leaving-for-Best-Buy-on-the-night-before-Christmas-Eve. Our first year overseas, his name on Christmas was Mr. Your-present-will-be-here-right-after-New-Years. Being overseas hasn't changed my Christmas habits. I'm more aware of them, but I always like to have Christmas presents at least decided by September.

The tradition that sparked the reason for this theme is our Thanksgiving Tradition. In Egypt, our kids went to a British School. We were introduced to new holidays such as Guy Fawkes Day or Burning Night. They had a big bonfire & burned little effigies of this guy that tried to blow up parliament over 500 years ago. One day that we knew would not be celebrated was Thanksgiving. For obvious reasons, but I don't blame them. The first year we made a decision; the kids will stay home & celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. And in the Middle East, the weekend is Friday & Saturday, so no school to go back to on Friday.

Some people would just have Thanksgiving dinner in the evening, after school, and that's fine. But for me, Thanksgiving day is a whole day event. Turkey goes in the oven no later than 8am. Morning is consumed with food prep, board games and light snacking. Dinner comes at 1 or 2pm. Movie screenings happen in the afternoon during the post-turkey buzz. We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on AFN. It works out nicely that it starts at 3pm. Dessert & pies are available for consumption. And 'It's a Wonderful Life' will be watched at one point during that day; usually post-dessert.

In such a peripatetic life, our kids need some sort of constant. I hope (though it sounds romantic) that maybe my kids will look back on their formative years and say, "No matter where we were, we always celebrated Thanksgiving." And in a world with many things out of control, traditions are one thing to which we can hold tightly.

So, in no particular order, I present a wonderful summary of traditions that, I hope, we can appreciate, learn from and, if it suits us, STEAL!!

Sara of Wife-Mommy-Woman is just beginning in this odyssey of foreign life. She and her hubby live in Costa Rica and have two children. They have some traditions 'in the works' as this is their first assignment. I won't spoil her post by telling you what it is!

Connie at Whale Ears and other Wonderings (ask her how she came up with that name, fun story) is a real pro at life on the move. She & Brad live in Amman, Jordan with their two chili beans. We were fortunate enough to be with them for 4 years in Cairo. I love love love Connie's tradition & want to steal it! They take a family vacation. Sounds simple enough, but really, what do you do with your summertime R&R? Travel, see as many family members as you can, cram in as much 'America' (or whatever your home country is) as you can, then come home in a whirlwind of jet lag, unpacking & starting school in a week. They take time for just them. And think it's high time we did, too.

Shannon at Cyberbones (I *so* want to know the meaning behind that name) is in Malawi with her husband & boys. She shared some weekly traditions they do & honestly, she's super-mom! I need to do more of that; dessert night, movie night, etc. And if you want to see some 'bone-achingly' (ha, get it?) cute little tadpoles & lizards, take a look at her Wordless Wednesday posts.

Becky at Small Bits of our FS life is in Mexico with her husband & children. Let me tell you, she has got it! She's realistic about expectations & knows that traditions just don't pop into existence. They evolve. That's the kind of attitude to have when you're in this line of work! Her kids get swimsuits at Easter & flowers on Valentines! Click on over there for the scoop in her own words!

And one more that I decided to add, even though she didn't email it to me, but I think it fits well. I hope it's okay!

Zoe at Something edited this way comes is in Italy. I haven't read much in her blog yet, but her post for today was a last minute addition I wanted to include. She wrote a wonderfully relatable post about how resourceful we FS people have to be. Getting ready for Halloween found her cannibalizing a Hannah Montana microphone and carving styrofoam to create the perfect Statue of Liberty torch. If anything, in the sense of tradition, it's something predictable in our house as well. Finding new uses for odd things because we either can't find it locally or forgot to order it.

That's all folks! Thanks for joining us this week for the Weekly State Department Blog Roundup. Also thanks to Kolbi at A Daring Adventure for keeping the cogs in this Roundup machine turning! The calendar says that Kamilla at A Junket Tale is hosting on October 22nd. Check the calendar for future roundup locations & to sign up!

Truly Outrageous

I have an announcement.
*clearing throat*
Today, the 14th of October, 2010 the temperature in Bahrain was 89F.
Oh, and humidity was only 48%.
It has been hovering between 98F & 105F for the last few weeks and 65-85% humidity. Before that, well, it was just hellish. There is not better description. You know when you open the dishwasher & stick your face in too soon? Glasses fog up. And you know when you open the oven & your face is too close? You feel blasted & your eyelashes may stick together a bit b/c your mascara melted? Combine those experiences & you know what it's like to walk outside when the heat index is 135F and humidity is at +80%.

For the first time in almost 8 weeks, I felt a cool breeze.
For the first time in 8 weeks, I *wanted* to be outside.
For the first time in 8 weeks, the air conditioning felt too cold.**
This afternoon, Grant said,
"Hey Mommy, It's not hot or cold, it's just (gesturing with open arms) this."
Yes, for the first time in 8 weeks,
I did not feel weighted down by just stepping outside.
It feels good.
It feels like freedom!

**speaking of being too cold: ironically, yesterday we had the power out from 4am to 10am & a busted central a/c. we camped out in our bedrooms by the wall units & made quick, furtive forays to get food from the kitchen. the a/c's compressor was shot. they fixed the central AC on this day, the day i turned it off. Oh, and 4 hours before this whole mess began, Spencer left on TDY for the rest of the month. Hoo-rah.

Oh, and don't forget, tomorrow is the Weekly State Department Roundup. I've only had two submissions so far. There's still time!

YouTube Tuesday: Juvenile

I stumbled upon this gem just a few days ago, through a friend of a friend. (of a friend) I just love the Old Spice commercials. And the spoofs that have spawned.

Here's the Grover version:


Here's the BYU version:


And the good ol' original:

Yee-haw!

*image from zazzle.com

I am swimming in new waters, people. I decided to be "social" online and am hosting the Weekly State Department Blog Roundup which will take place HERE on Friday, Oct. 15th.

Here's the deets. There is an optional theme that you may write on, if you so choose. I think I get to choose, so my 'theme' is:

Traditions: What traditions have arisen in your life because of the State Dept?

Do you always hit the beach on Valentines day? (depending on your locale, some people can) Or do the kids get new outfits for air travel on R&R? Something that is completely normal for you now, but wasn't before the State Dept.

Another 'for example', my two middle children had just gotten back from a grocery run with Daddy. He had gotten them each their own bottle of flavored sparkling water. My 8 yo, Mairyn, exclaimed, "I love this stuff! I'm going to save some of it so I can take it on the airplane with me!" Then my 6 yo, Grant, volleyed back, "No! No you can't, Mairyn! No liquids on the plane! The security mens says so!" True, so true, my young padowan.

So get thinking! I already have mine prepared. (in my head) That's the advantage to hosting the Roundup. If you want to host, go here. A Daring Adventure is quite the lady; she has the calendar for hosting. For examples of previous Roundups, go here. My good friend, Connie, at Whale Ears and other Wonderings, hosted last week.

*If there is any cloudiness to my explanation, please let me know & I'll explain better*

You can email me the blog post you want included in this Friday's Roundup or leave the link in the comments for this post.
--> lydia (dot) penrod @ gmail (dot) com.

Ten, diez, yol, ashara

This idea isn't really well formed. It's more out of a weird feeling of obligation that I post today. It's 10-10-10. I feel like I should have some clever thingy to do or make. I mean, it's 10-10-10. I know that a lot of people are probably getting married. I mean, a friend or two did it on 9-9-09.

I could think of a top ten list. Or ten things I want. I know that a ten sided figure is called a 'decahedron'. I like the twelve sided figure's name better; dodecahedron. It's just fun to say. Dodecahedron.

That's a decahedron.

I found a book on Amazon called '10-10-10'. Something about life-transforming ideas. I wonder how many people started reading it today at 10:10 am/pm. Apparently The Savoy in London had the same idea. Not to read the book, but to reopen today at 10:10am on 10-10-10.

Ah, and digging a little further, 10.10.10 global is cutting carbon 10% at a time this Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010 'A Global Day of Doing'. It will be the ' . . largest day of positive action on climate change ever.' Did you hear that? Ever! I think I celebrated by doing 5 loads of laundry and keeping my A/C on all day. Seeing as how the heat index was 106F today, it was just an act of preservation.

There's also a boy that turned 10 at 10:10 am today. I remember there was a kid in my school that had a sibling born on 8-8-88. He stretched it so far as to say he was born at 8pm, but I have to doubt that part.

What was I doing 10 years ago? I had a 10 month old baby girl and uh, we were dirt poor living in married student housing at the university. 10 years before that? Uh, I'd rather not reveal my age.

Well, that's only 6 or so factoids and/or random info on 10-10-10. I'd like to lose 10 pounds! There, that's another, 7. And something completely unrelated to the number 10, I'd like to share a clip from my favorite show on earth, The Soup, since I didn't share a clip last week for YouTube Tuesday. Enjoy!

Halloween Time

You can tell it is definitely Halloween time when the JibJab themed videos are out. Word.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!