Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Gratitude 11th

In honor of Veteran's Day, I am grateful for the men and women, and husbands, wives and children, who sacrifice so much for the wellbeing of their country.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Gratitude 10th

(this one is prepped in advance and scheduled because I may not have internet tomorrow)

Today I am grateful for my kids' imagination. When Zoltan came home today to all his toys and things packed up, he ended up deciding to run obstacle courses through the boxes. When we went out for dinner the kids made pretend magical creatures out of the cloth utensil holders the restaurant had, told us stories of their adventures (Alex really got into the back story of how they acquired their magical powers) and kept themselves, and us, entertained while waiting for food.

Monday, November 9, 2015

Moving Day (And Gratitude 9th)

I don't think I mentioned this previously, but we're moving to a new apartment.  The details are unnecessary, just that there were problems with this apartment and the embassy decided it was best if we moved, and we agreed, and the process moved forward.  Now it's all ready.

Other than the obvious, being grateful for an apartment that doesn't have the problems of the old one, the new one is walking distance from the office. And closer to school. The door to Zoltan's room is solid wood (he currently lives in a study - no lock on the door and the door is half glass, which we had to cover with cardboard to keep out the living room light, because all rooms in the current apartment open into the living room. There isn't one square inch of hallway. It's a layout that took a bit of getting used to.)

We are over the moon.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

November Gratitude 8th

Today I am grateful my biggest crisis yesterday was when the babysitter and the taxi both bailed on me at the lastest possible minute, so Terry and I were dressed to the nines for the Marine Corps ball and (almost) didn't manage to go. We were an hour late, but we went. If that was the worst thing that happened that day, then life is pretty good.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

November 7 Gratitude

Eight years in the foreign service and tonight I am going to my second - yep, only second! - Marine Corps Ball.  Today I am grateful for my husband, who is putting on a tuxedo tonight for me even though he hates dressing up.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Thursday, November 5, 2015

November Gratitude 5th

Today I am grateful that my children still hug me, and want to hold my hand. I know the days are coming to an end but as long as I can stretch it I will.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

November Gratitude, 3rd and 4th

Once again I missed a day. Oops.

I am grateful for the wonderful education my children are getting at their international school at post. Not only is the teaching very individualized and high quality, but they are also learning about being in a minority (the school is 75% local children), diversity (not much socio-economic diversity but all other kinds), and just experiencing a different system (it's a British school, so my children have favourite colours, but also for example my daughter learned about "animals of the steppe" in science class)

I am also grateful for my community of colleagues both within the embassy and within other diplomatic missions. It is much easier to do my work when I look forward to getting there.

Monday, November 2, 2015

November Gratitude, 1st and 2nd

As usual I am hitting the annual gratitude a bit late. However, I have a fair excuse. More about that another day.

For today, I am grateful for today's snowfall, because I do love the snow.
I am also grateful nobody I know fell very badly today, because many people at work were running around the city and there were some falls, but so far as I know no major injuries. Especially broken bones. Not on my watch.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Back on the meds :-(

Haven't written in a while about Alex and dairy, because I thought we had everything figured out. I mean, the coughing is over (knock on wood) and what seemed like occasional heartburn was manageable with an occasional Tums. Last week she revealed that she has heartburn nearly every night (when she complains about it, it's almost always at bedtime) but she only complained to us when it was worse than just a little uncomfortable. After a conversation with our health practitioner, we started her on the bottle of Ranitidine we had gotten this summer in the USA "just in case." Less than a week in, she already says she feels much better.

We had thought butter was OK because it didn't trigger the coughing, but apparently it isn't OK. Our plan is for now, we keep butter and she takes meds. When we get back to the USA next year, where vegan margarine exists (because yes, margarine has dairy!!), we'll see about weaning her off. I am ever more grateful our next post is in Western Europe, where you can get soy yogurt and 3 kinds of non-dairy milk at the corner 7-11-type store.