Notes and Pictures from Djibouti

Jeremy was kind enough to send some photos and notes from Djibouti. Here is what we're missing:

How the other half lives (The Kempinski restaurant/pool). OK, its not really the other half... more like the other .5 %.

The "city" where we ate lunch.

Road trip, Ethiopian style; they don't like it when you take pictures so I had to be sneaky.

This is the president of Djibouti's "Country House." He's up for election in a few weeks and lots of the people here aren't really excited about the idea of him being president again. He's already had two terms and he had the constitution changed so that he could run for a third term. Djibouti is one of those places where the president's family owns pretty much everything in the country.

These are some of our friends we saw while driving out to the border; they like to eat bananas (and pretty much anything you'll give them) but don't make them mad!

This is the local pass time for the vast majority of people in this country; Khat. Khat is a hallucinogenic drug that they grow in Yemen and Ethiopia and they chew in Djibouti, Somalia, and I believe Kenya. The ENTIRE male population chews Khat every day from about 12-4 and the place just closes down during those hours. The little green bunches of leaves you see in the picture are Khat.

This is a picture of the ocean; this is also about an hour outside the city.

These are some houses off the side of the road; this is about an hour outside the city.

Things on my Mind

What's been running through my mind the past two weeks? Obviously, all things Japan. Every now and then other things crept in as well. Here are some of them.....

Abby was dead certain that she colored this picture, even though it has Linus' name on the top. She regularly steals other kids work and claims it as her own. I'd give this burglarized artwork a B-.

You know that Abby takes after me when she flips over her coloring sheet and makes "lists" of things she needs to do on the back of her paper. It was really fun having her talk about what she drew and how it made her feel. I love that she has a can-do spirit about her -- always jamming her day full of things she wants to accomplish. Mad props for her organization!

Abby's new morning passion is a glass of milk and a nutella sandwich. Not the healthiest, but totally enjoyable. That being said, isn't a nutella sandwich just a white trash version of a chocolate croissant? Would I be classing-it-up by taking the crusts off?

Oliver had another doctor's appointment the other day. As we were waiting, a young mom came in with a baby (about 1.5) with a this-can't-even-be-real-it's-so-huge goose egg sticking out of her head. I don't speak German, but what I got out of the conversation was that the child got hurt at her kita and the lady brought her in to be looked at. The lady was clearly panicked, and her child was clearly in trouble.

Seconds after the nurse left to go get the doctor, the baby started projectile vomiting all over the waiting room. The mom was doing everything she could to try to calm the baby down and keep the puke somewhat contained. I immediately stopped breastfeeding Oliver and ran to the front desk to get the nurse.

I followed the nurse back into the room and witnessed the doctor telling her to go to the ER. After standing around for a few minutes, I realized that I didn't put my breast back into my nursing bra and I was just standing there holding Oliver with my milky boob hanging out for the world to see. Awesome. I guess I really have turned European.

I was so engrossed with the book To Kill a Mockingbird that I spent a whole afternoon reading it while sitting on a large pile of laundry and feeding/playing with Oliver with one hand. Yup, best mom ever.

Dear Oliver: It's time you learned to sit up, push up on your tummy, make some effort to crawl, and eat more solid foods. The doctor said 50% of your problem is in your head and that if you really wanted to do it your muscles are now strong enough. Unless you want me to start spending your college money on weekly massages for my super sore back from carrying you around all day, you better get your "sit on" ASAP. Love, Mom.

P.S -- I'll actually put something in that cup when you make the above mentioned changes. Until then, enjoy your air snack.

P.P.S -- I can't get enough of your chubby cheeks and adorable much-rounder head. Ugh. I just can't say no to you. I'd carry you around forever if you really wanted it :)

I love that 3 out of 4 of my "kids" are Saturday lazy bum nappers. I covet nap time.

This is what I did the day I found out about the earthquake in Japan -- updated my 72 hour kits and food storage.

Oliver was kind enough to test out the emergency knife and radio.

He is SO happy we are prepared.

We tried to do a trial run for Abby's pictures on Wednesday. I see we've mastered the badger look...

The caught by surprise look....

And the cringe look....

Max is obsessed with Oliver and his helmet. He always puts his on whenever Oliver comes to visit. Oliver is obsessed with anything Max plays with. He's the coolest. It's hard to tell in the video, but Max is "fake" knocking on Ollie's helmet. No children were harmed in this video.

25% Is Better Than Nothing!

We have officially hit a notable landmark – 25% of Jeremy’s deployment to Djibouti is over! Sweet mother of awesomeness!

To mark this special day, here are 25 interesting tidbits from that time:

From his end….

1. Jeremy’s first purchase with his overtime money was an iPad.

2. His favorite pastime is reading magazines like Urban Farmer and Hobby Farm Home

3. He can’t wait to come home and build a small home server. For the record, I have no idea what that means.

4. He loves to watch Battle Star Glattica or read at night.

5. He gave his first talk during church last week. Topic: ideas from the Sermon on the Mount

6. Jeremy spent the night in the hospital shortly after he got there. He had an infection. Don’t be fooled; he LOVES military doctors and all their cool stories. I think he got the infection on purpose.

7. Off base, Jeremy eats baby lamb quite frequently. It’s about $6 a plate.

8. Every Wednesday he has board Games night. They usually play Venture or Scrabble.

9. Jeremy wakes up several hours every night; he thinks its sympathy sleeploss for his poor wife at home

10. My love created a spreadsheet to chart his workout progress. Be still my beating heart.

11. He started out with 50 roommates (in one big tent) and now only has one. That what they call moving up in the world Djibouti style.

12. Jeremy’s standard breakfast consists of: oatmeal, fruit, milk, an english muffin, and two strips of bacon

13. Jeremy lives close to a few airfields. This thrills him to no end. Some people love to live near the ocean, but my man would take an airfield any day of the week.

14. There is a cheetah refuge near the base where you can volunteer to help take care of the cats. Jeremy can’t wait to join in.

15. Stripped hyenas walk the boundaries of the base. I guess they are nature’s bodyguards just doing their part.

16. When Jeremy eats off base he eats with one hand. Can just use your imagination on why….

17. Jeremy works 6-7 days a week, 12 hrs most days. I am loving the overtime pay – the one bonus of having him gone.

18. The weather is exactly the same every day – hot and humid.

19. It rained for the first time yesterday. It often flood the housing when that happens. The ground is just too dry to absorb the water. I’m sure you’re dying to know the iPad is okay!

From my end….

20. I’m so thankful I have dogs at my house. I don’t to worry about people sneaking into our house to hurt us at night.

21. Sleep can literally mean the difference between enjoying life and loathing it.

22. I can eat an entire key lime pie by myself.

23. My nanny is seriously the most amazing person ever. It’s going to be a sad, sad day when I don’t come home to my laundry folded, dinner made, and all my mail translated.

24. Kids are resilient. We don’t give them enough credit.

25. Chocolate and Coke can make any day better.

WE MISS YOU!!

Either Or

This kid is so cute that he'd make one hot helmeted hockey player...

or one sexy tiara-wearing drag queen!

I guess it will just depend on if we're living in Canada or Thailand when the time comes :P

It’s About Time

I blog for family history purposes, and to help assuage the tremendous amount of guilt I have about keeping grandparents away from their adorable grandbabies. If it manages to entertain people in the process, then all the better. Today, however, I feel as though I need to vent in a public venue. Just give me a moment to get on my soapbox.

Yesterday I had a conversation with my mom about a friend of mine that is not doing something they should be. Something that could have eternal repercussions on their family. Something that is heartbreaking for me to watch. Something that would take about 10 minutes a day if they actually did it. My mom’s response was, “ Well, people are busy, you know.” That bothered me. That REALLY bothered me. I thought about it all day long yesterday. I thought about it when I got up to breastfeed Oliver last night. It was the first thing I thought about this morning. And so, now I’m going to make you think about it.

I could go on about this topic forever, but I’ll try to summarize my thoughts in a few quick points….

** We ALL have the SAME number of hours in a day. How you choose to spend that time makes all the difference. People that accomplish a lot of things in a day do not get a few extra hours to help them; they just manage their time really well and don’t ‘waste’ it.

** NO ONE in the world is TOO busy to do what they want. It may take them a few years longer to reach their goal, but if they WANT to do it they will. It’s all about making your wants your priorities.

If you want to run a marathon then you need to put on your running shoes instead of the TV (or whatever you do that wastes time – see bottom for further details). If you want to lose weight then you need to prep healthy foods so they are accessible and ready to eat instead of playing Bejeweled on Facebook. If you want a better relationship with your kids you need to get off the phone with your BFF and get on the floor with a puzzle.

If you don’t like result then you need to change the action.

** There is nothing more selfish in this world than wasting someone else’s time. I am a huge advocate of cutting these people off. I do it all the time.

** EVERYONE has 10 minutes in their day to do something nice for someone else – open a door, send a letter, smile, help calm a crying baby, give a donation, whatever. NO ONE is that important. NO ONE.

** It’s seriously lame when people downplay the successes of others by using their “lack of time” – like that’s really the issue – for not doing it themselves.

Does this familiar: It must be nice THEY have so much time to lose weight/stay in touch with friends/learn a new sport/get a degree/whatever? I always want to respond with, “Yes, it is nice they have made that their priority. I’m sure they are loving the results.”

** I firmly believe that peoples’ circumstances play a very little role in how much time you have. You can have 20 kids and still be on time or have no kids at home and still never accomplish anything. If you never have any time then you need to see a life counselor to help you find where you are wasting it. Whining about not having any time is actually wasting more of your time.

** What you choose to do with your time is your own business. I have a friend who LOVES, seriously loves, to watch TV. And she is amazing at it. She writes fan fiction (my little celebrity). She is soon going to be a professional TV reviewer, and she gives the stinking best recommends ever. That is not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about things that you don’t really want to do but are doing to PROCRASTINATE doing the things you should be doing. For example, watching the same Dr.Phil episode for the fourth day in a row instead of doing your tax refund, etc. I think you know the difference.

This year for lent I am giving up wasting my time. I’m only doing things that make me a better person – taking down time when I need it, seeing friends I like, getting the necessary life things done, and supporting those who are using their time to seriously rock at whatever they are doing.

Can I get an Amen?

My Princess

Parenting is not a competition.... BUT if it was, there are certainly days where I would be losing. Those days would include meltdowns (me as well as the kids), Abby going to school looking like a hobo, and dinners where the side dish is candy.

But not today, my friends. Today, I am WINNING! This was Abby's Mardi Gras costume for her school party:

She loved it. I loved it. All the kids loved it. It was simply lovable.

Who wouldn't be just a tad bit smug about a dress where the skirt lit up and flashed as she twirled? Other kids were princesses, but Abby was a princess with some serious techno lighting.

Then she refused to put on her fancy princess shoes and wore this number with her black converse sneakers. I guess winning isn't everything!

Melt Dddooowwwnnn!

You know you've overstayed your welcome at someone's house when your kid drops their drawers, sits down on their sled, and pees through the slates all over the floor. Does this like look a toilet to anyone but Abby? Enjoy your urine-soaked sled next year, Bitners!

So, as you can tell from the ditty above, Abby's been having some rough days. She hasn't been feeling the greatest and her meltdown-at-any-moment attitude is shinning through. Yesterday's meltdown happened because I let Oliver wear her cherry hat. Oh my goodness. HOW DARE I? It's not like she doesn't have another five hats to choose from.

Look how cute he is in it:

This was the result of letting Oliver wear her hat for all of two minutes:

I had to take a video of all the drama. Now, this video was not meant to be funny; at the time, I wasn't cracking up at all. But now that I've watched it 20 times or so it is HYSTERICAL. Remember the movie Parenthood? There are two kids that stick out in my memory for obvious reasons: a brilliant girl about three that speaks different languages, skips grades in school, and is learning karate, and a boy about one that gets his entertainment by putting a pail on his head and walking into things.

Now watch this video and laugh along with me!

Utter Chaos

This was actually meant for the private blog I keep for Jeremy, but I'm too lazy to delete it and repost there. That being said, the videos at the end are long and boring. Just thought I'd give you a heads up.

I don't know which was my favorite:

Chinese vinegar all over my floor OR....

Abby "cleaning" my carpet with olive oil.

Mexican casserole with a cornbread crust.

My chubby man likes his dolls!

Videos of Abby riding her bike and playing with Ollie.