We are on the three week countdown: three weeks until we blow this popsicle stand and head back to the good ole US of A! The boys and I fly out first, for five weeks or so with my parents, and then the husband joins us (after Ramadan, natch, so as to fully enjoy the mandated shortened work days) for another five weeks or so at his parents' house.
We've got a full summer agenda, with road trips and visits to far flung friends and swimming lessons and who knows what all, but before we swing into good time mode, we need to get through these next few weeks. And full weeks they are!
First up on the agenda are the PTO elections. Against my better judgment, I am running for Chairperson, largely to try to prevent the current (absentee, ineffectual, generally lackluster) President (we changed the name of the position when we revamped the Constitution this past month) from continuing his reign of nothingness. I would have run for something else if any of the other involved parents I know would do a good job had stepped up, but none did, at least not for the position of Chairperson (they actually did step up for the rest of the leadership positions, thankfully!), so here we are. I sent out an email to all my parent and teacher contacts and basically tried to guilt them into coming to vote, so we'll see how it goes. Right now I am stressing about the appropriate outfit to wear to an election in a conservative country where men usually lead and the women wear designer clothes under their abayas--funnily enough, I don't seem to have anything that combines the right notes of luxury with capable but non-threatening yet Western femininity! I will see what I can come up with!
Next, there is the packing, of course. This time around. we are taking quite a few things we still want but no longer need here to be stored at my parents' house. So we need to pack all that into a few suitcases, along with empty duffles to be filled with all sorts of necessities for the trip back. My list so far includes Tazo passion herbal tea (I love this stuff), black and white school shoes for the boys, birthday supplies for two themed parties, travel size toiletries (not a thing here, for some reason), beef jerky (just the essentials, right?), and teacher gifts (also not a thing here), numerous birthday gifts for the boys and their friends, and who knows what else! The list grows every day, but it all has to fit into 6 suitcases for the flight back, so there my planning is self-limiting! The husband needs some new white shirts and dress shoes in the worst way, so his luggage allowance back will probably be filled as well.
Then we have the bus to organize for next year. This coming school year our school will have two campuses, the main campus and a smaller campus for the first three grade levels, which means several families, like mine, will have children at both campuses, so I need to make arrangements with our bus company to address these changes. This is complicated by the fact that our school still has not decided when the two campuses will start and end their school days, so first I need to encourage them to get that straightened out in a timely manner (i.e. before the school year ends) so all parents can make plans for the fall. I'm having a hard time impressing the school with the urgency of these decisions, but we'll shoulder through and get it all worked out before I leave, no matter what!
What else?
We have had some changes at church, so the young women's president will be released soon, since her husband has just been put in as Bishop. So there will be some more changes with that, I'm sure, but we're not exactly sure when those changes will take place or what they will be, so really all I have to do there is watch and wait. The youth program here basically shuts down for the summer, since almost everyone leaves, so they could wait and make changes after we all get back, but we shall have to see. In the meantime, I think we are going to get as much planned and prepped as possible for whomever takes over, so there is a bit of work to do there before I go.
And finally there are some medical issues to contend with, as always. I went to see a ton of doctors before we moved here but haven't been to see anyone since, except for my ill-fated trip to the ER. But now it looks like I need to have all sorts of things tested, so I am wading back into the medical system with great trepidation. Luckily, the doctors from the husband's as yet unfinished hospital are now seeing patients at various places around the city, so I am going to go see some of them, which puts my mind more at ease about the whole process. I will be getting a battery of tests done this week (hopefully) and then following up with various doctors once I have the results. Tra la la, I love blood draws!
We've got a full summer agenda, with road trips and visits to far flung friends and swimming lessons and who knows what all, but before we swing into good time mode, we need to get through these next few weeks. And full weeks they are!
First up on the agenda are the PTO elections. Against my better judgment, I am running for Chairperson, largely to try to prevent the current (absentee, ineffectual, generally lackluster) President (we changed the name of the position when we revamped the Constitution this past month) from continuing his reign of nothingness. I would have run for something else if any of the other involved parents I know would do a good job had stepped up, but none did, at least not for the position of Chairperson (they actually did step up for the rest of the leadership positions, thankfully!), so here we are. I sent out an email to all my parent and teacher contacts and basically tried to guilt them into coming to vote, so we'll see how it goes. Right now I am stressing about the appropriate outfit to wear to an election in a conservative country where men usually lead and the women wear designer clothes under their abayas--funnily enough, I don't seem to have anything that combines the right notes of luxury with capable but non-threatening yet Western femininity! I will see what I can come up with!
Next, there is the packing, of course. This time around. we are taking quite a few things we still want but no longer need here to be stored at my parents' house. So we need to pack all that into a few suitcases, along with empty duffles to be filled with all sorts of necessities for the trip back. My list so far includes Tazo passion herbal tea (I love this stuff), black and white school shoes for the boys, birthday supplies for two themed parties, travel size toiletries (not a thing here, for some reason), beef jerky (just the essentials, right?), and teacher gifts (also not a thing here), numerous birthday gifts for the boys and their friends, and who knows what else! The list grows every day, but it all has to fit into 6 suitcases for the flight back, so there my planning is self-limiting! The husband needs some new white shirts and dress shoes in the worst way, so his luggage allowance back will probably be filled as well.
Then we have the bus to organize for next year. This coming school year our school will have two campuses, the main campus and a smaller campus for the first three grade levels, which means several families, like mine, will have children at both campuses, so I need to make arrangements with our bus company to address these changes. This is complicated by the fact that our school still has not decided when the two campuses will start and end their school days, so first I need to encourage them to get that straightened out in a timely manner (i.e. before the school year ends) so all parents can make plans for the fall. I'm having a hard time impressing the school with the urgency of these decisions, but we'll shoulder through and get it all worked out before I leave, no matter what!
What else?
We have had some changes at church, so the young women's president will be released soon, since her husband has just been put in as Bishop. So there will be some more changes with that, I'm sure, but we're not exactly sure when those changes will take place or what they will be, so really all I have to do there is watch and wait. The youth program here basically shuts down for the summer, since almost everyone leaves, so they could wait and make changes after we all get back, but we shall have to see. In the meantime, I think we are going to get as much planned and prepped as possible for whomever takes over, so there is a bit of work to do there before I go.
And finally there are some medical issues to contend with, as always. I went to see a ton of doctors before we moved here but haven't been to see anyone since, except for my ill-fated trip to the ER. But now it looks like I need to have all sorts of things tested, so I am wading back into the medical system with great trepidation. Luckily, the doctors from the husband's as yet unfinished hospital are now seeing patients at various places around the city, so I am going to go see some of them, which puts my mind more at ease about the whole process. I will be getting a battery of tests done this week (hopefully) and then following up with various doctors once I have the results. Tra la la, I love blood draws!
Whew! Good thing all of this has to be done before I leave! At least I know it will all last only three weeks! And finally, just for kicks and giggles, some random pictures the husband has been taking of our eyes. I'm not sure why he is doing it, but the results are cracking me up!
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| E looks like he is about to go cross-eyed! The husband got REALLY close for these shots! |
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| J is not smiling here, clearly, but his eyes are the clearest of all of us! |
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| Why yes, those bags under my eyes and all the spots of my face are all natural! But of course! |
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| I took this one and the husband said, after we were all done "Wow, you are really close to my face! Did I get that close?" Yes indeed you did, honey! |
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