My Memorable 40th!

This is certainly a birthday I will never forget. Friend K brought in delicious cinnamon rolls and let us each blow out a "match." I think I am laughing here because CC's died out before he could blow it out. That morning, I told the kids I'd drive them to school since I would need to be there by 8:15 for the birthday singing. We got down to the van and the side door was iced shut. So, in they all went into the front door and over the bench seat (all 5). CC got in, started the car, and the tires just spun on the ice. "Out!" he said. "Everyone walks." So, over the bench seat we all flew, out the door, and down the snowy sidewalk to school. We looked very much like a circus act. It was a good day with many birthday wishes. It snowed all day. Right after school, I was to take all my kids to the basketball game to see Firstborn play. (CC was waiting on our car to be returned to us after its yearly inspection by the government and would join us later.)  I took Twinkle Toes and Sweet Cheeks out to catch a taxi. We waited and waited. There was so much snow on the ground, they were all booked. So, I decided to walk to a taxi stand. SC's big cheeks were getting redder and redder, so I took her back into the school and told her to come later with her Papa when the van came. Twinkle and I trudged through the snow, met up with Teyze who brought us Big Ben (all bundled up), and hopped in a taxi to the game. It became apparent that the streets were getting bad. When we arrived, we discovered the game had just been canceled. Now, all of that leads up to the exciting part of my birthday. We hopped back on the school bus with all of the basketball players from our school. What would normally take us ten minutes took over an hour. Cars were sliding all over the road. We got into a round-a-bout and became gridlocked. The drivers were all inching forward to go their own way, and it led to no one being able to move. Our driver was just as sweet as could be. He'd lean over and pinch Big Ben's cheeks and offer him a cupcake, then he'd hop out of the bus and start fighting with the other drivers. We'd inch forward a little, then he'd realize we could go nowhere, so he'd hop out and smoke a cigarette.

And just when we thought it could get no worse, he went up a big hill (and made it up!) but had to stop at the top. At the crest of the hill were cars spinning and crashing all over. He tried to start back up, but the tires just spun. He got out to put something behind his back wheels. The unthinkable happened. Another school bus came up the same hill and went around us, got stopped at the top just like us, could not get its tires to stop spinning, then slid down and slammed into us. I saw it coming. There are no seat belts on these buses. I just yelled to the kids, "Brace! We're about to be hit!" and then BAM the bus came right down on us.

At that point, I went into teacher mode. I told the kids to treat this like an emergency and follow my directions. All twenty of us had to crawl to the front of the bus (as the entire passenger side was pinned shut), climb over the front bench seat, and get out of the driver's side door. I said, "Do NOT hit the gear shift. Do NOT hit the emergency brake."  I appointed one boy to get out first and get everyone safely out of the bus. I passed Big Ben to him first. The next challenge after getting out was not getting hit in this street. Cars were sliding everywhere.

We tried to be positive, at least most of us.

 

 We hiked back home to our neighborhood. I just thanked the Lord over and over for how the night turned out. I was so thankful I ended up being there, as there were so many kids and only the coach and me to help them. I was so thankful that no one was hurt. The accident happened near my old apartment, so I knew which back roads to take the kids up so we could avoid the busy street. I was so thankful that I let Miss Middler go to her after school club and let herself in the house. I was so thankful I directed Sweet Cheeks to stay with her Papa and come later. I was so thankful I had Twinkle Toes and Firstborn with me, as I have stitches in my back and could not carry Big Ben the whole way.

 

My plan was to get pizza for our birthday dinner while at the basketball game. But in light of the events, we decided to just walk to the local kebab place for our dinner! I took my ninja, Twinkle Toes.

 We got there and ordered. They bring this hot, freshly oven-baked bread. This bread was designated for Big Ben. They think he is king here.

 CC ordered a claypot chicken dish.

 I had the meatball and eggplant kebab. (I took these to show you how good we have it here!)

 CC gave me this beautiful ring, purple for my birthstone, a tulip to represent Turkey. (Tulips originated in Turkey, who sent them to Holland!)

 We didn't have a birthday cake after all that, but we ordered kunefe. How can I describe it? Hot melted cheese inside of a fried shredded wheat, with a sweet syrup poured all over it. It's amazing.

 Happy shared birthday, my love! I'm not likely to forget my 40th anytime soon!

40th Birthday Girls' Weekend (Part III)

Our final morning, the hotel gave us a free breakfast.

Here's my plate, mmm. (Yes, those are olives. I'm part Turkish these days, even at an American breakfast buffet.)

My favorite was the omelette.

I did go back for seconds, but all I wanted for my second plate was two things. More bacon. More fresh orange juice.

Thanks, friends, for giving me such a special memory as I turn 40!

40th Birthday Girls' Weekend (Part II)

And so I ask you, what do a bunch of grown up girls do with an entire day to themselves? Shop! We drove out to IKEA and the mall that contains it. One shoe store was having a great sale. We decided the shoe above might work for Barbie.

Hmmmm. Would these work for teaching third graders next year?

IKEA was fun. It's a big store, and it was really nice to not have the pressure to be anywhere.

After navigating traffic and getting back to the hotel, one friend suggested we pool our resources (aka junk food), walk to the bakkal next door to balance our food with a little fruit, and eat our thrown-together meal in the room. Here's what we ate.

Oh, and there was that second cake! Cream cheese icing. One advantage of not being able to buy pre-made foods here is that we all have to learn to make it all from scratch. And oh, is it good!

40th Birthday Girls' Weekend (Part I)

It's really almost here (tomorrow!). Today is my last day to be 30-something. For my milestone this year, CC agreed to let me use our frequent flier miles to book a hotel in our city to celebrate my birthday with some of my girlfriends here. We headed out of our little neighborhood to downtown. We ate out at a Mexican place. It's been a long time since I've eaten anything like this...a fried chimichanga. I could only polish off 1/2 of it. Mmm.

It occurred to me prior to the day how much God has blessed me with friends. Everyone on staff is so dear, I would have taken them all had I not been limited by skymiles. Also, there are friends on the other side of the world. I thought of my wedding party...cousins C and H, sisters-in-law C and K. High school cohort S. College buds K, L, and M. So many people I love, so many gifts from God.

 But I settled on 6 friends. As you can see, some of them were invited because they were sure to make it wildly fun!

 A cake literally never even crossed my mind. Two of my friends made me cakes, so we ate one Friday and one Saturday! This one tasted like a cinnamon roll in cake form. mmm. (And the friend has 5 kids, hosted 2 extra girls all week, then a Turkish couple for 2 days right up until we left. Martha Stewart must live in Turkey!)

We stayed up til midnight watching a movie. (My techno-girl that came along hooked up her dvd, navigated the Turkish menu, and we watched our movie free in the hotel room.)

It's Official! I'm a Basketball Mom!

I've waited for this day for many years. I'm a basketball Mom! My darling Firstborn tried out for the Varsity team as a 7th grader. Our team is small, so she made the team. She has faithfully practiced and learned much. And finally, the big tournament came. I could hardly sleep the night before. I thought of my sweet dad and how he used to knock off work early and come see my practices in the ECS gym.

Firstborn was pretty nervous about playing in a game. She went to her coach and asked if this year could just be a learning year for her and next year she could maybe play in games. Her coach said something to the effect of, "Nice idea. No." (Yea for Coach!) 

Because Firstborn is the tallest on her team, she had to do the tipoff. Look at her opponent!!

She played about 75% of the game. CC and I just sat there with our mouths open. We were so proud of her!

When we got home that night, we told her how shocked we were...she had her head in the game. She held her own. Her only problem was that she was just too nice. I wish you could have seen us in our kitchen that night. CC and I were blocking each other, boxing each other out in rebounds, giving a friendly shove (not a foul if done right!) as we dribbled by. Our kids sort of sat at the dinner table looking at us like aliens had landed in the house. We told her to forget everything we'd ever taught her about niceness and GET AGGRESSIVE! And well, I believe she took our advice. Once again, she started the game and played for a long time. She went after the ball. She rebounded. She knocked it away from the opposing team. She got 4 fouls. I couldn't have been more proud. Way to go, Firstborn! (She was a little upset at her 4 fouls. Her coach told her she was just doing her job!)

Goals and Projects Update

 I really do feel like I am meeting some goals I set for 2012! Having the next year just ahead of me, when I will be working full time, is a good motivator. I found that our Turkish television station has a workout program from 8-8:30AM. I've been getting the kids out the door, then doing that workout. It's something different everyday. Weights, pilates, aerobic. It's great that it is a set time every day. I can't put it off. Big Ben brings me my weights. He's still working on his situps, but he does join me somedays.

I've also finished my college course and sent off my paperwork for recertification in Tennessee. That was a great feeling. Next project? Repainting the house. It sorely needs it. The paint that was used when we moved in four years ago is not washable. I have 5 kids. When I try to clean fingerprints, I end up leaving big dirty streaks. I want to paint it myself to save the money, so I'm taking it one room at a time. First? Kitchen!  The kitchen was a butter-cream color. We decided to repaint it that same warm cream, but add one wall of brick red. I love how it turned out.

Minus 8 F

We woke up this morning to minus 8 Fahrenheit. Apparently Phaselis the Great knows how to survive the cold, right atop the heater. I find it interesting that this kitty never tries to escape our house. We've decided he is wise enough to know from whence he came and that he has it much better inside. Hopefully, my walk with Jesus will be the same.