Better Late than Never!

Yes!  I know my vast audience has been eagerly awaiting my next post and months have past!!!
I have no excuse other than life just happened as it always does!
So . . . Better late than never . . .

Yesterday, here in the USA was Groundhog Day.  We pin amazing, weather forecasting capabilities on to a rodent!  The most famous groundhog is Phil and he "predicted" six more weeks of winter.  Apparently, badgers and sometimes hedgehogs were used in Germany and England by farmers to see how long winter would last. If you look at Phil's statistics - they are not great!  He gets it right just under 50% of the time!!! I'm thinking that just maybe… Phil is seeing his shadow from all the cameras aimed at him and he is more afraid of that than his shadow. . . just saying!
Anyway, it does look like we are in for more cold weather though.  Texas (Houston area in particular) is experiencing weird weather.  It seems to be colder and wetter than usual.  The temperature also is fluctuating wildly!  It was actually muggy & warm the other morning and then yesterday, with the wind chill, it felt like my face was going to freeze solid on my walk!!!!  Strange weather!

I learned something yesterday while researching Groundhog Day.  I'm not Catholic so forgive me if you already know this. February 2nd is known as Candlemas.  It is a Christian celebration of three events:  the presentation of Jesus in the temple, first time Jesus is in the temple and Mary's purification.  For those who call December 25th, Jesus' birthday, then February 2nd is forty days from his birth.

In John 8:12, Jesus says,"I am the Light of the world"(NIV)

For Candlemas,  Beeswax candles are blessed and a candlelit procession leads into Mass.  These blessed candles are used in the church and sometimes in homes throughout the year.

Candelaria is what Spanish speaking countries call Candlemas.  Remember the King Cakes that came out on Epiphany?   If the baby was in your piece, then you are responsible for bringing the food the the Feast of Candlemas.  I'd always thought it was Mardi Gras.

Another sign associated with Groundhog Day and Candlemas are the flowers  called Snowdrops.  Sometimes, these flowers are called Candlemas bells.  In the northern hemisphere, these are some of the first flowers to bloom even through snow.  They are thought to purify the home when brought inside on Candlemas.

I found all this information on the internet.  I believe that I went to reputable sites.  I didn't go deep to verify the information.  I found it interesting so that is why I'm sharing.

Have a fantastic day!

November and TIME

November is my favorite month of the year!

Yes  - One can have a favorite month!

It is autumn.  The leaves are changing color. The temperature has finally cooled off.  Soup is a daily meal.  I'm most likely wearing jeans.  Thanksgiving is approaching.

November is my birthday month!  I have been known to use the entire 30 days to celebrate my birthday!  I'm already amazed that today is the 5th, so that will not be the case this year.  I believe that I will just celebrate the day.

What has thrown me off this year is TIME.  It all started with the time change.  In the USA, most states follow the Daylight Savings Time schedule and this past Sunday we returned to Standard time.  Singapore, with its proximity to the equator, has no need to observe daylight savings as there are almost 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness year round.  Belgium is so far north that even on standard time there are very few hours of sunlight in the autumn/winter!!

I usually look forward to the return to standard time as it usually means getting an extra hour of sleep.  However, as one gets older, this is NOT the case!  All week my body is still thinking it needs to wake up at my regular time!  You would think I would use this extra hour in the morning wisely and get lots accomplished.  So far it has meant me lying around in my pajamas an extra hour and another cup of tea before I get around to starting my day!  So I have NOT benefited from this extra hour!!!!!   Worse yet, I feel I have lost the critical hour in the evening before supper!!  We don't eat supper until 6:30 or 7pm because I like to eat together as a family and the Engineer  has a horrible commute so he doesn't arrive home till then!  This week, by the time I have supper on the table, it is totally dark and feels like 10:30pm and that the kids should have been in bed hours ago!!!!  You also might think that I would be wise and go to bed on time as it already feels like midnight, but NO!  Last night, the TV sucked me in with election results!  I kept saying I'll go to bed after the next polls close!  Ha!  It was ridiculous as they were just predictions and not official results.
So MoustacheMan will ask me what this has to do with repatriation and I'm going to say nothing really other than I didn't have to deal with this on my last expat assignment - Daylight savings or election results as we mailed in our ballots and Singapore TV didn't cover moment by moment election results! 

All in all - I just feel short on time.  I need more time to cook, clean, plan, organize, exercise. . . . . just to live life!  It just seems as if I've been robbed of it!

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

The Autumn Update

Autumn officially started back on September 21st or 22nd - about a month ago!    I will excuse myself for failing to document this in the blog because I live in Texas!  Correction - I live in Southern Texas! Autumn doesn't occur in Texas until late October and possibly not until late November.  This year it might actually be starting now.  We have had a few cool mornings where it starts off in the low 50's F.

Fall is my very favourite time of the year!

As an expat in Singapore - I missed the Autumn season the most!  For those who don't know, Singapore is 90 miles from the Equator and doesn't ever experience seasons other than the monsoons which just means more rain.  The lowest temperature ever recorded in Singapore was 70F!!!!!

I don't know what it is about a cool, crisp morning, but it wakes you up and makes you feel energized and ready to conquer anything.

There are some things that mark this autumn and make it unique for our family.

We have been in this house a year now!  If feels weird to say that.  In some ways, It seems we've been here a looonnnngggg-long time, but in other ways, it was just yesterday we were in Singapore. I'd like to think that we are settled, but we aren't quite there!  Last year, at this time, I was surrounded by towers of sea shipment and storage boxes trying to figure out the best place for all our "stuff" in this brand new house that still was somewhat under construction!  Believe it or not - I STILL have contractors coming to my house to fix the things that weren't done properly.  However, I can honestly say that I have opened every box and though I may not have a place for everything, I do have a goal that by next summer I want to be settled. Don't ask me to define - settled! I am told I have 2 years to get settled!
I have a YLP list and the Engineer has a spreadsheet.  Both, I would say have 3/4 of the items crossed off so I believe next summer is an attainable goal!
The pool and the landscaping are finally done.  

Autumn is also hunting season for those who don't know.  Mine was marked with the acquisition of the deer mount of the the buck from last season coming home to hang above the fireplace in my new home.

Beautiful isn't it???!!!!

I am told that I am a wonderful, understanding wife.  I suppose I am because my neighbour isn't so lucky.  All his mounts are hanging up in his garage and I am amazed that they are still looking good with all the heat and humidity in southern Texas!
For those of you ladies who are married to good ol' boys, there is an awesome book titled The Antelope in the Living Room by Melanie Shankle.  It is a good book that finds the humour in marriage and life in general.  I laughed out loud several times and thought, "She must be a fly on the wall in my house, this has happened to us!"  Incidentally, Melanie also has a blog titled Bigmama that I find quite amusing.  I learned about it from the Pioneer Woman's blog.  Both women are close to my age and I find I could easily be best buds with them! We just haven't met yet!

October 5th was Chewbacca the wookie dog's 1st birthday.  No  - I didn't make him a cake or anything.  He got bacon in his bowl!  He's a good dog.  Still cute, and knows it!  He is the great lizard hunter!  Such a gross past time, but he's so proud of catching them.  He also likes dragonflies, but they are way too fast for him.

Autumn means planting mums and dianthus!  I'm not ready to take on fall vegetable gardening yet.  That will be a next year thing - after I'm settled!  But look what I found crawling around the air conditioner.

I've never seen such a big caterpillar!!!!

Okay - Looked him up online - This big, green monster is the caterpillar of the Luna Moth.  How cool is that!  The Luna moth is about the size of a sparrow.

Autumn also means wearing jeans & boots!

Autumn also means cooking!  Soups, Gumbos, stews!  Acorn & butternut squashes!  Brussel Sprouts, rutabagas and parsnips.  Baking - Pumpkins, apples & pears.  Cranberries - Oh, I LOVE cranberries.
These are all things that make your house smell so good and yummy.  It makes you want to invite people over.  

This weekend I made homemade cranberry bread.

I also made roast - recipe from Finecooking.com  Pot Roast with Fruit & Chipotle Sauce.

These were gone before I remembered to take pictures for the Blog. - Still learning . . .

What I love about Autumn is it makes me grateful!  I slow down . . . stop . . . look around. . . and appreciate all the things great and small that God has blessed me with.

 . . . STOP. . . 

look around you 

take a moment

to

appreciate

someone or something!

Repatriation Vacation

Alrighty then!  I know it has been almost two months since I've posted anything, but I was busy - really!
Almost a month of my absence from posting was spent on our first vacation since repatriating.  The rest of the time was to deal with both kids going to Junior High - that's a blog for another day!  I have several points to make, but hopefully they won't get lost in the rambling that goes along with blogging. 
As expats in Singapore, we took many vacations (holidays).  Singapore is a relatively small island filled with 5 million people.  There were many days where I felt a desperate need to GET OFF THIS ISLAND BEFORE I HURT SOMEONE!  Okay, it may or may not have been that bad!  We went all over S.E.Asia visiting several different countries.  It sounds exotic and amazing and for the most part it really was! Our family has been truly blessed by the experiences and I think we are richer for it. --- It built  a lot of Character!!!  Since returning to the USA, the Engineer and I have realised that our children know VERY LITTLE about their home country.  We started to feel some guilt that though they have seen the Great Wall and the ruins of Angkor Wat they have not seen many of the USA's national treasures.  They need some help in US geography because although they can tell you where Laos is,they were a bit unsure about where Wyoming is located!  
The Engineer felt we needed to be in nature - My Louisiana country boy is still recovering from living in a metropolitan city for years!  He decided we needed to show the kids Yellowstone National Park before something happened to it and it was lost forever!!!  (WittyGirl was distressed about this because she did a research project in Singapore on volcanoes and discovered that Yellowstone is really a super volcano that can explode at any moment in the next 100,000 years)  My parents had taken me there oh so many years ago, but of course, I was way too young to remember it!  I looked into cabins and hotels - consulted Trip Advisor, tried to determine a route to take.  The Engineer spent one Saturday on the computer and by supper time announced he had the trip all planned out and MOST importantly it was on a spreadsheet!!!  He didn't consult my notes or anything!!  I was miffed!  He proceeds to explain the details of the trip . . . WHAT??!!!! . . . We are renting an RV???!!!  In true Engineer fashion, this trip was planned in the most economical and efficient way possible - - -It is all on the spreadsheet so you can check your work!!!!
I was VERY skeptical about this, but in hind sight, I have to say this was the best way for our family to see Yellowstone Nat'l Park.  The Engineer was right!- see Honey, I put it in writing, in my blog, for all to see - you were right!  I am so VERY thankful that he didn't make us tent camp!!! The only thing is we rented a VERY LARGE 30ft RV!  The Engineer also expected me to drive it some . . . . . (See earlier posts about my truck driving skills). . . . .

I did indeed drive this big thing - mostly on open highway, but I did drive in the park one afternoon!

This is Yellowstone Canyon.  This was taken on my iPhone  - can you believe it!  Absolutely gorgeous!

 I am disturbingly close to this bison!

 The animals are part of what makes Yellowstone unique.   These two fawns were with their mother but only about 30 feet from WittyGirl & me!

Old Faithful!

Incidentally - We hiked 2 1/2 miles to a geyser called the LoneStar geyser.  It isn't on a regular pattern like Old Faithful, but it shoots steam about 30 feet into the air and you can get quite close to it.  There were probably only 10 other people who made the hike out to the geyser and waited around for it to explode.  I enjoyed it much more than Old Faithful!

These are the Grand Tetons - just south of Yellowstone Nat'l Park - I cannot count how many times we pulled the big RV over to take yet another picture.  

Whether you are an expat, native or foreigner visiting -  Yellowstone National Park is truly a treasure and a place I would recommend everyone to see. 

Some things I have noted about a repatriated vacation:

*It was really nice to be able to get a room that all 4 of us could stay in without having to explain I have 2 children and they can't possibly sleep in a single bed together or in another room across the hotel from us!  It was also nice not to pay extra for having a 2nd child!  Didn't matter during the time in the RV.

*Most hotels in the USA provide a light breakfast for free - granted it isn't the sumptuous feast that a Marriott resort lays out, but it is free - no vouchers needed.  We cooked our own meals in the RV and dined with bison in the background.

*The flight was quick to me - didn't get to finish a movie or read even a quarter of my book.  Still no leg room.  Americans are NOT nice travellers!  No offence!

Plan to visit some place in your home country - maybe even in your home town!

Mahjong Reunion

There are some things from expat life that you miss and if you try to recreate it for repatriated life it doesn't quite work the same.

Mahjong is that thing for me.

Let me try to define Mahjong for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about.

Mahjong is a game that originated in China.  It is played all over Asia and especially in Southeast Asia!  The actual game play is somewhat similar to playing Rummy.  It is a game of skill, strategy and calculation.  Instead of cards, the game is played with tiles with Chinese characters and symbols.  It is typically played with four players representing the four winds, but you can still play it with three players. Engineers tend to play well as they can hold numbers in their heads, calculate and remember what has been played/discarded!  Ordinary mahjong is easy to learn.  It is more challenging when you branch out and play other hands and I think there are hundreds of hands.  I play by the International Rules of Mahjong.  I have Singaporean friends who wanted me to play their version of Mahjong.  I was always a little skeptical as they played for money and I would have had no idea if their hands were real or not.  Let's just say if you play Mahjong with a person of Chinese decent the game is a little different.  For the Chinese, the symbols on the tiles and each of the hands have meanings.

These are the three suits in Mahjong.

Characters

Circles (Stones or Coins)

Bamboos

Other tiles are:

The Dragons:  Green, Red, & White

and

The Winds

This is an example of a winning hand of Ordinary Mahjong

For ordinary mahjong you need four pungs (3 of a kind) and a pair of the same suit

OR

 you need 3 pungs (3 of kind), 1 chow (a run of 3) and a pair in the same suit.  Pungs in winds and dragons are acceptable.

Now that you have the idea . . . . .

I LOVE to play Mahjong.  It could have become an addiction for me if I was a weaker person!  I love the challenge of trying to win with difficult to get hands. It is one of those things that is mindless and engaging at the same time.  The AWA (American Women's Association) in Singapore would have Mahjong every Monday at the club.  I restricted myself to only playing once a month with the Company's Spouses group.  I think it is like the Bridge groups of the 1960's here in America.  Groups of women get together to play and the social aspects are nice too.  Anyway, for a couple years a foursome of us would get together once a month on our own. We would gather in the morning and play until we had to catch taxis to beat our kids' school bus home - some days were close, especially if it was raining!!!!  The four of us are very different women in very different stages of life, but we each had a special relationship with each other and then as a foursome.  Anyway as life happens, expats get new assignments or repatriate and our little foursome was split apart.  I had the great joy this week of hosting a little Mahjong reunion for our foursome.  It was a fantastic day!  We all just fell into place and it was as if we had never been apart!  We had not played as a foursome in three years.  We had such a great time!

I have taught my kids to play so I can play Mahjong on family fun night and I am about to teach my parents (they need something mentally challenging to do).  I continued to play mahjong with the spouses group in Singapore until I repatriated and really enjoyed it.  However, the foursome can't be replaced and it is somewhat bittersweet that we have moved on in life.
I do hope to have another Foursome of Mahjong gals someday.

Treasure your friends as life moves and changes quickly!

Officially Summer

Allrighty, then!  As of Saturday, June 21st it is officially - SUMMER!

It amuses me to no end that the newscasters tell you to dust off your BBQ grills and get them ready for use now that it is officially Summer . . . . .

If you live in the South - - -  the BBQ grill has been in use since Spring Break and if you live in South Florida the grill is in use year-round!

For those of you who live in the NORTH - I feel for you!!!! By all means, DO dust off the grill and get to barbecuing!

So this is our first official repatriated Summer.  Last summer was when we actually repatriated, but it doesn't count as we spent the entire summer trying to find a place to live.  I was jet-lagged and ornery, the Engineer was jet-lagged, ornery, and trying to acclimate to a new job assignment.  The kids were just dazed and we were ALL living with my folks.  I didn't have a car or phone.  These were DARK times!!!!!

This summer is going so much better although it is weird and is taking some getting used to!!!  Usually by the end of June, I am just getting over the jet lag and emerging as a human being again.  I am usually shopping for clothes, shoes and all the items to take back overseas that either are too expensive over there or can't be found.

This summer I am getting adjusted to carpooling kids to different summer camps.  When they aren't at camp they seem to be on the computer thus, taking over MY computer time.  So I only have time to blog at 6:30 in the morning and most of the time I am not coherent at 6:30 am so THAT is why there have been a shortage of posts lately.

For our big summer plans:

The Engineer has decided we need a pool in our backyard.  WittyGirl is a mermaid so she agrees.  

A few weeks ago, they broke ground

They have been working on the plumbing and electrical stuff while they wait for the gunnite to cure.  The Engineer and I have been doing exciting stuff like picking out rocks . . . .  We also are working on choosing tile.  Once again, I will note that my husband is THE ENGINEER and a perfectionist.  To me, a rock is a rock is a rock, but not so to the Engineer.  Since I have absolutely NO IDEA of the structural soundness or working of the pool system,  I find myself just nodding in agreement to so much of what the Engineer says.  I did have a say in the tile - I hope that is the one they go with.  I'll update the pictures as new stuff is added.

The Wookie dog isn't too sure what to make of the monstrosity that has taken over his backyard.  I think he has decided he likes the stuff to explore.

I think he will like the pool when it is finished and will probably swim or sit on the first step.  He's already wandered down in the pool to where the rainwater is trapped.  

Gross - I know!  Combine that with "Eau de dead frog".  He thinks he's awesome.

He proceeded to eat "dead tree frog"  NOTE: tree frogs are toxic to dogs!!!!  I got to spend the next 48 hours cleaning up the vomit & poo caused by toxic tree frog!!!!  DUMB DOG! (where are these "responsibility" learning kids of mine - ASLEEP - it is summer!)

In exciting news, the Wookie dog graduated from obedience school!

I'm not sure who got trained?  He will perform any task for a treat!  He snorts at you and looks like "Do I HAVE to do this?"  He loves going to Petsmart though.  He'll be sad when we don't go every week now.

We had steak for supper last night.  Yum!  USDA Black Angus Ribeye steak, aged just right.  The Engineer picked the meat out for me and he has been teaching TechSavvySon the "Art of Mastering the Grill" - it is a right of manhood I think?!
In Singapore, a good steak was hard to come by without breaking the bank.

The last thing I'll mention about summer in the USA is the fruit!  While I love the tropical fruits that were abundant in Singapore - Mangosteen, mangoes, passionfruit, dragon fruit . . . 
I absolutely LOVE fresh peaches!!!!  The peaches we got in Singapore never tasted quite right and were outrageously expensive!!!

I made peach and blueberry pie to go with our steak.  Yum!  Delicious!

Here are the pictures of the process:

The Engineer wants to know why this can't be a breakfast food.  I don't know - too much sugar for that early in the morning???

DUST OFF YOUR GRILL

 DIVE INTO THE POOL

 AND MAKE A PIE

IT IS SUMMER!

Repatriation Anniversary

YES!  This week marks the year anniversary of our repatriation to the USA!

What a year it has been!  I have not been on a plane in one full year!!!!!  No jet lag to deal with.  I am sooooo thankful for that!

I may or may not have unpacked the last of the boxes.  The year anniversary of being in our house isn't until October so I have time yet.  Even so, I think you have 2 years to settle into your new place!!!!  Right??? RIGHT!!!!

This week is also the first official week of Summer for our family.  WittyGirl & TechSavvySon finished school last Thursday.  They both did well and we are pleased with how they made the adjustment from an International school to American public school.

We shall see how they make the adjustment to regular American summer life ( If there is such a thing)

Anyway, I laid out some Summer Expectations for my kids.

Here is my thinking on the matter:

I want my kids to learn a certain amount of responsibility.  As expats, one's ability to have teachable moments through common household activities is severely limited.  Most expats employ a maid, most expats live in rental property, drive rented cars, don't have yards.  As a result, you don't ask your kids to do things like cook a meal for the family, do laundry, help plant and weed the garden, paint a room, help dig trenches for a sprinkler system, change oil in the car and other odd jobs that come about!

So this is the first summer that we are in our OWN home where OUR rules apply and our house is at risk.  We aren't in a resort, or hopping from a friend's home to a relative's home.  I'm NOT being a mean mama!  I'm just asking them to learn a few skills needed for life.  So I shared these expectations with the kids and they both fairly melted to the floor with dread.  

I'm not fooled.

They even tried to say, "No one asks their kids to do this!"  My reply was that maybe no one in Singapore did, but in America that's how we do this!  I may or may not have thrown in - "It builds character" and "When I was your age …"

So WittyGirl cooked supper this week for the family and TechSavvySon learned to do laundry.  TSS also helped fix the sprinkler system and install a ceiling fan (under supervision from the Engineer Extraordinaire).  

I think by the end of Summer the kids might be begging for another expat assignment.

I'll update you on their progress.

For those of you flying around the world … prayers for your safe travel and hope for speedy recovery from jet lag.