The goofiest things

When you move to another country, you have all kinds of worries.  How you are going to deal with the language and cultural differences?  How difficult is it going to be get to a life you are used to, if at all possible?  But there have been so many things that didn't cross my mind.  Like not being able to read my appliances, not being able to drink tap water, and getting gas.

This last one just really dawned on me.  I really haven't had to put gas in my car much since we have been here.  Joel or our driver have always taken care of it.   Which in itself is pretty funny.   It's hard to remember a time that I wasn't putting gas in my car weekly.  And that I was pumping the gas myself.  Only one time in my life did I not pump my own gas.  I think it was a trip to Jersey Shore many moons ago and I thought how weird they couldn't pump their own gas.  And they had a whole porn section in the gas station!  LOL.  Which I later learned it's not only NJ.

Anyways, Sunday we had some errands to run.  Grocery, ATM (because my new debit card is STILL not activated) and we noticed I was low on gas.  Oddly enough, its not easy to find a gas station here.  At home, they seem to be on every corner.  Since we have been here, I have been making a mental note every time I see one.  There is one station that we have been driving by since we got here, but it is truly the busiest gas station in Istanbul.  It is always packed and I'd rather avoid it.  So we found another, kind of hidden gas station, that was really easy to get to and get out of.  A big selling point!  We pulled in and you are usually directed where to go and Joel tells the guy to fill it up.  And then it hits me.  I'm kind of liking this someone else pumping my gas.  Maybe because its the middle of winter and I'm happily sitting in my warm car, or that he is washing every window on my car.  Yes, even the funny little window in front of the A pillar.  But, I just don't understand why I ever thought this was strange, its great!!!  Downside, if you want to pay with your card, you do have to go inside. 

  Now having to pay for the gas is not fun.  I hear and read everyone complaining how high gas prices in the US are getting.  And I would be one of them if I was still living there.  I do think its a rip off.  One day they will discover oil is the pee of the earth. :)  And it never runs out.  But my tab for my lil C-Max (probably about 16 gallons) was 180.50TL was is a little over a $100.  For those of you that don't know what a C-Max is... just think of a Focus.  And I did have a 1/4 tank left.   So I'm paying around $10 a gallon for diesel.  And diesel is much cheaper than gas.  Thankfully, I don't drive that much.  Just locally and to Zek twice a week.  Then any family outings.  And an even bigger OMG thank you for Joel's gas being covered by Ford.  Because he drives 120km just to work!

OK now that I'm totally off subject.  I hand the guy 190 TL because I had just given Joel my last TL and had no other change.  The guy handed me back 10TL.  I said I didn't have the .50 Kuru and he said to not worry about it. WHAT?  I don't understand?  I know its not much but that would NEVER happen in the States!  So not only did he pump my gas, immaculately clean all my windows, but give me free gas?  OK I know its not much, but still!   I think I am sold!   Joel's going to have a heck of a time getting me to pump gas when we get home!

Quiet

Right now is the first time in 7 days that my house has been this quiet.  And while I love the sounds of my kids playing, giggling, and just being kids,  I greatly enjoy a bit of silence.   I used to not be that way.  It wasn't until I officially moved out of my parents house.  And even the first few months, if I was home alone, the TV was on or the radio.  But the long crazy hours we worked and the constant interaction made me slowly need my quiet time.  I came to enjoy coming home, plopping on my bed and laying there in silence.  Finally, I got to where I loved it.  Sitting there de-stressing to nothing by the sound of my fan.  Even to this day, a fan can relax me.  It drives Joel nuts and I used to freeze him out in the middle of winter, but I loved it.

Last week, the girls had 3 days of winter break and for some reason, Nate thought it was a good idea to get up a 7am with the girls on Monday and Tuesday.  So no break time for mommy.  And its not like I can call up my girls and say I need a MNO.  There is no free bowling and no inexpensive drinks from Applebees.  Instead, my 30 minutes between the bus and when Nate wakes up has become my MNO.  Add in my two days of Pilate's and it equals one MNO.   I do hope that one day, I can find a good group of ladies in Istinye to hang out with.  But for now, this will do.  And my middle of the night phone calls to Jenny.   LOL.   

Now for winter to finally go away, so I can enjoy this time out of our patio!

He's home!

Today was another trip to the Vet.  Kuş (our trial name for the girl) had her first round of shots, including the Pravo shot.  I have been nervous about her getting it with little bit having it.  During one of the calls to the Vet this week, the Vet said to our driver that he has never had a puppy survive Pravo.  Um... I think we should have known that and would have probably found another vet!  But by Thursday, he was eating and having solid poops.  So we thought we'd get to take him home on Saturday.

Well, the Vet told Joel he needed 5 more treatments.  Truthfully, I really don't want to deal with making the trip everyday and waiting with Nate for 45 minutes.  Because, its always me that gets to deal with these things.  But Joel said he was coming home.  He didn't feel that they were caring for him well enough, because he's dirty and attention starved. I'm thinking its a Turkish thing.  They just don't treat pets the same as we are used to.  It's just their way, I guess.  And Joel said he felt like he was being taken advantage of, financially.  We have such an AMAZING vet in Louisville!  Its just so hard to find someone we can trust as much as we do Dr. Watson.   So Joel brought him home.  I'm happy he is all happy and active but he is still pretty weak.  And we have to keep him locked in the spare room.  So until he's completely recovered, I'm still holding my breathe.

Sick puppies

The puppies were settled in well and we were doing well with house training.  Then the end of last week, the little boy stopped eating and was sleeping all day long.  Saturday was already the trip to the vet.  The girls had gymnastics all morning, so Joel took the dogs to the Vet right down the street.  I didn't hear anything from Joel all morning, so I was hoping that was good new.  But unfortunately, when I got home.... not so much.

Little boy has Pravo.  We knew this would be a chance adopting from the shelter.  It's not like in the States, where all the dogs have been tested, vaccinated, and spayed/neutered before you can bring them home.  The Vet said he has a 50/50 chance to make it.  That just breaks my heart.  We knew when we adopted these dogs that we would give them a better life than most of those dogs would ever see.  But to know that we might not be able to save one is pretty upsetting.  After a week, we are pretty darn attached to them.  So he is spending the week at the Vet.

The little girl is doing well.  So far she does not have Pravo but they found an slight infection in her lung.  So she is on antibiotics and goes back Saturday to see if it cleared.  And then get her first round of shots.  Hopefully on Saturday, we will have both of them home.  You can tell that she really misses him.  We all do.

I go about my daily life, staying busy and trying not to worry.  Today we should get a check up about how he is doing.  All we can do is pray that we have him home and healthy next week!

The More the Merrier

Well, we finally did it.  I have been hoping to put it off for as long as possible.  But Joel was determined to get another dog.  I loved having the boys.  We had so much fun with them over the years.  But the last few were really rough.  With three kids, they weren’t the center of attention anymore.  The kids wanted to play fetch and chase them around.  But the dogs were just getting too old.  They would rather sleep and get snuggled.  Chili still got bursts of energy and for small amounts of time acted like a puppy.  But poor Decaf was an old man.  He was 17 years old when he passed away.   That’s pretty darn old for a big dog.


After a trip to one of the shelters, I was convinced we were ready for a dog.  Maybe it was I wanted to save one of these 1000s of dogs.  And I’m not exaggerating!  Yedikule Hayvan Barinagi is the shelters website if you want to check it out.  They try really hard to give these animals a chance.  Its mostly run on donations and by volunteers.  But with that vast amount of dogs, I think they can just do the best they can.
So, we went this past Sunday ( Feb. 5).  We had filled out the application and were approved right away.  We agreed we would come out at noon.  When we got there, the place was pretty busy.  It was one of the nicest days we had in weeks.   We looked for the little girl that we had seen the week before but she wasn’t there.  Finally we got to meet with the lady in charge.  She only spoke Turkish so our driver was there for us again!  We said we didn’t want a small dog and were looking for puppies under 3 years old.  With having young kids and not knowing what these dogs had been thru, we really weren’t looking for an older dog that would take more work and could put the kids at risk.


The first group of puppies they brought out, we had been told about the weekend before. They were 4 weeks old; 3 boys and 1 girl.  The little girl was cute and had just been featured on the news.  The litter had been dumped and left to freeze to death.  Thankfully, someone found them and called the shelter.  They were nursed back to health and this was the first weekend they were allowed to be seen.  The boys were quite frightened but one little boy had the sweetest face and gave me kisses.  Loved his white socks on his front paws.


Then they brought out a few other puppies that we would never consider.  Joel asked if they had any puppies with short hair since the first puppy I liked was a fur ball!  We had almost decide on the little boy when they came out with this almost white puppy.  She is 4 months old but we didn’t get any history about here.  She was very scared and was basically in a ball in the corner.  We couldn’t even tell if she could walk.  After a little while, she started to warm up to us.  I’m sure the treats had something to do with it.  Sigh…. hard decision.  We could only get one dog, since Ford only pays to transport two animals. I'm pretty sure Skinny will still be around in 2 1/2 years.  Hmm… are we willing to pay for the third?  Even if its in the couple $1000 range.  The lady told us that the little girl would probably never leave the shelter.  She was considered old and because she was so timid she would never catch someone’s eye. 
So you guessed it, we are proud doggie parents to two dogs. 

Welcome to our two newest family members…… names TBD. 

Yes still.  LOL.  We really want to give them Turkish names.  I think we have one for the girl but the name Joel is pushing I am having issues pronouncing!  I don’t think it fits either. But we’ll see.  He won out with Skinny…. I thought it was a dumb name. LOL.  But it stuck.  So we shall see.


Enjoy all the cuteness!!!  Love our new puppies!

Unexpected Winter Break

Today, the girls went back to school.  4 days off with a weekend in the middle.  Truthfully, I was surprised they went back today.  It snow again last night.  Just a few inches, but I guess the city got it under control and the road are looking good.  When Joel went to work earlier this week, he couldn’t actually make it to work because the roads hadn’t been touched.  He spent the day at one of the supplier locations right outside of Istanbul.  I love those days because he’s actually home for dinner!!

It was really nice having all three kids home.  I know they are home every weekend but we always have so much to do.  This week, there was no place to be!  We made Valentine decorations, snuggled and watched movies.  They played in the snow and we drank hot chocolate.  It was the calmest and happiest week we have had in awhile.  Very little fighting and only two trips to timeout.   Even got the girls to join me for Pilates!  They aren’t too bad. LOL. 

I was actually kind of sad to put them on the bus this morning.  Even though, I was exhausted by the end of the day, it was a pretty great week.  It’s hard to believe that my little baby girl has turned into such an amazing young girl.  And it feels like just yesterday that we moved to Liberty and Elly was born.  Now she rules her school.    They really do grow up way too fast!  Probably why I baby the heck out of Nate!  LOL. 

Today, I must get back to reality.  Groceries must be bought, the house must be cleaned and laundry needs to get done.  And can’t forget that trains and cars need to be played with!

I have really enjoyed the snow.  It’s been beautiful and I have loved the time to spend with my kiddos.  I know that in the not too distant future, they are going to  be too busy to hang with their mom.  So I will continue to wish for snow days.