Re-styling during a Recession

Well, they say the US has a recession on their hands. Two of my middle girls seemed to find a way to turn some old things into something new and fresh. These were two of my mom's skirts, which became adorable halter-style dresses. That tie-up portion of the dress? That is the drawstring for the waist! Go ahead and copy their style if you can find a pretty skirt in your grandma's closet.

Safely Home

Our flight home went really well. Our first leg to Germany was on a new plane, barely full. We had the nice surprise of getting to say one last goodbye to one of our leaving teachers, who was on our flight. The flight to America was, well, long. 9 hours and 45 minutes. But my kids continually amaze me. They have it all down pat...the tray pull down when the cart is coming, the headphones and how to get music on (and which music they should NOT listen to!), and how to order any decaffeinated drink they want! Big Ben did not sleep as much as I anticipated, but he did great and made lots of friends all around us. Our flight out of Atlanta was delayed due to a storm. But about an hour after we anticipated being 'home', we were truly there....what I have waited for since his birth on September 26. Meeting the grandparents. We are eagerly waiting for his next grandparent meeting this weekend.

Here's a happy grandma with a severely jet-lagged baby.


And a happy grandaddy wearing his "Grandpa to the 11th power" t-shirt. Big Ben had one little casualty on the flight. Perma-Baby got a bit too excited and accidentally poked him in the eye, as you can see below.

And a happy Uncle, who is, I am sure, happy to have another boy around for his own boys.

Only in Nashville would there be rocking chairs in the airport! We're a long way from home! (Well, that other home, I mean.)

Father's Day

Not a whole lot of fanfare here as we are in the midst of packing, but we did have a nice breakfast buffet this morning and eat on our balcony. The weather was perfect, and so is our Papa...almost!

By Trial and (Syntax) Error

(I thought about NOT uploading a picture for this blog post, but let's face it. My husband is way too handsome for me to write a blog post about him and neglect a perfect opportunity to showcase him.)

I would like to start with a disclaimer. Everything, I mean EVERYTHING, Campbell Clansman and I know about computers is by trial and (syntax) error. We both did have computer classes, but they consisted of doing things like programming a cursor (there was no mouse) to follow the arrow keys and draw a turtle. I am serious. There was no email. There were no windows. There was no Internet. Just a black screen with green lines and words like "Go to." I remember using most of the computer class pondering why they chose the apple as opposed to another fruit for the name of all computers. If anyone out there remembers this, console me in the comment section. So. Having said that, I will proceed with the purpose of this post. My sweet sis-in-law gave us an itunes gift certificate. 18 months ago. It has been sitting near our computer for 18 months. But there is nothing like jetting out of your country of residence back to your country of origin to light a fire under you to do those things you need to do. It was time to use it. But how? And therein lies the problem. We had managed to put our cd's on our computer and load them on this wonderful IPOD we were given. I took a deep breath and did that in the winter with the help of the book "IPOD for dummies." But downloading songs from the itunes store? All by myself? It only took me 3 minutes to set up the account and figure out how to click the "buy it" button. Feel free to laugh, all you 20-somethings who read this. At least I know what a 45rpm is.

This is turning into a downward spiral.

My point is this. Campbell Clansman told me that if we get 20 songs free, don't just click click click. Analyze. Choose carefully. And he told me to save him a few. Firstborn and I had a BLAST! We chose all country (clean) and died laughing while dancing to Boot Scootin' Boogie. (I married a prep, but he knew what he was getting into. I warned him I was a country girl.)

When I clicked on "Recent Downloads" to see what he had chosen, I could only say, "Bless his sweet, sweet heart." We left him plenty of downloads left on the gift card, but he only downloaded one when it was his turn. And do you know what it was? Russ Taft, "Take My Hand." And do you know when I last heard that song? The night he proposed to me. He melts me, he really does.

Respite for the Weary

I have no photo, I so wish I did. The last several days have been...well, hectic. We are flying out on Sunday evening, a mere 4 days after graduation. That is minimal for a school administrator. We will get it all done, packed, sealed, and shut down. But these past few days have been exhausting. Campbell Clansman is working on the school front; I am tackling the home front. 5 kids to pack ("Does your swimsuit still fit from last year?!" times 4), a cat for which to ensure the proper care and handling of all summer (complete with marks on our calender of how long a bag of cat food will stretch so we know how much to leave for him), laundry thrown in the wash the minute it is shed (so we'll have it in the suitcase in time), strange food combinations for mealtimes so we will finish what's in the fridge... and on and on. So much to do.

So when my sweet little Kazakhstani friend called and asked me to dine with her tonight, I wasn't so sure. Time, I need more time. But my heart is full of love for her and I want to encourage her in her new walk, so I said, "Sure. What time?"

We met tonight, on a breezy deck. We had steak wraps. They were delicious. We caught up, we wished one another a good summer. At the end of our meal, she insisted we have some Turkish tea. Rather than the normal teacup with 2 little lumps of sugar, out came a rectangular plate. On it was the teacup, the spoon, a mini vase with a single wildflower, a homemade cookie, and 2 drops of freshly spun hard candy. And it was free. The tea presentation was symbolic of the breath of fresh air I needed. I'm so glad I went.

I left this house worn out, hardly able to answer a question, let alone the hundreds of questions my children were asking me about our flight/what time they get to wake up in the middle of the night/what should be packed in each carry on. I returned well fed, refreshed, and enriched from time with a friend. Sometimes, I think, when we think we need to do something the least, we need to do it the most.

And now, I am off to bed. I'll finish the packing later.

Just a great picture

Isn't this cute? China did a lot of babysitting for us this year, especially after Heybet moved to another city in Turkey. She was super. She especially fell for this little guy. She had a special request that he wear his tie to her graduation. I also put him in a white button down and white pants. Ross explained to me, preppy guy that he is, that white pants and a white shirt don't "go." He let it pass last night, but I am sure this summer we'll pick him up a French blue button down and butter cream yellow tie to make those white trousers work better. Ross also said "no clip ons for my son." I asked him how the poor boy would ever wear a tie then, as I haven't a clue how to tie a tie. The answer lies in the new 'elastic tie.' That's right, just slip it around his neck, through his collar, and adjust the elastic to the right tension. He looked smashing, white trousers and all.

Shocking Realization

One nice thing about where I live (Can you tell I am homesick for America, and hence, making a concerted effort to continue to list all the good things about being here?), is that I can send Firstborn to walk alone to the grocery store for me, about a 10 minute walk from our house. I sent her with a list of 3 things: cucumbers, tomatoes, and diapers. We are steadily eating up all the food in our house, and I am not buying more before we leave. However, we have nothing green or healthy. So I thought a nice Turkish salad would be nice tonight. I also noted we will not make it to Nashville without more diapers.

I did send my phone in case of an emergency. The phone rang, and she said, "Mom!!!! Did you know diapers are 23 lira?!" Yes, I did know. 5 expensive bottoms, I've had.