4 days and counting....

Things have been a bit crazy around here lately.  Hence, lack of posts.  I've gotten so behind on things in the last few weeks.  I'll get into all the fun reasons in a later post, but I have spent the last week trying to get caught up.  The weather has finally turned warm.  So why mop floors when I can be outside in the warm sun?  Oh how I have missed you.  I'm so tired of being cold.  And its not quite warm enough yet, the wind still has a little nip.  Today is the coolest day we have had in a week.  Not even hitting 50 degrees today.  But that is OK.  In 4 days I will be laying on our patio over looking the Tyrrhenian Sea. The weather the last week has been in the upper 60s and 70s.  Ooo.... that sounds so wonderful.

But of course in preparation for the big vaca, all the summer clothes needed to be pulled out of storage.  I still need to hit the mall for a few things.  And that doesn't count all the things we have had going on the past few weeks.

Two weeks ago, the US Transit Team was in Turkey to get their first glance at how a Transit is built.  This group included a few of our friends from Kansas City.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see them the one day they were in Istanbul before they headed to the plant.  But, they ended up extending their stay and we got to spend a day of sightseeing with them.  One of the guys flew his wife in for a long weekend.  It was so great seeing familiar faces.  The couple and another guy we have known since we first moved to KC.  We've shared so many birthdays and other events together.  It was so nice to get that little reminder of home.

This past weekend was no less busy.  Saturday morning was spent at gymnastics for the girls.  Then lunch, shopping and then Elly had her first friend bday party here.  Luckily, it was in Istinye so I didn't think it would be too long.  Yea right.  The party ended an hour and half late!  LOL.  But Elly had a fabulous time! That's all that matters.  Sunday was going to be a LONG day.  Everyone was in need of haircuts.  Except Joel.  I was in desperate need.  My gray was showing horribly.  Plus I thought it was time for something different.  Something summery.  So 5 hours later, we emerged from the salon. 

 Then had to rush home to get ready for Jocy's first gymnastics show.  The beginning was a competition but Jocy's group was only doing the show since its their first time.  Their coach really wanted them to see what it was all about.  I think they will start competing at the end of the year.  Yikes!  That makes me nervous.  Jocy has really improved but some of those girls are AMAZING!  You can tell the ones that have been doing it for years.  There were two little girls, they looked Elly's age, and they totally rocked it!  I'm just happy that Jocy got up there and performed in front of all those people and took in all our her corrections.    

This week has be spent doing laundry, packing, started spring cleaning, and parent teacher conference.    One more day of gymnastics for Jocy too.  Friday is the school's Easter Egg Hunt and a 1/2 day.  Plus still figuring out the plan with our doggie sitter.  So much to do. With that said,  I need to end this post!  We will not have internet during our time in Italy, so you'll just have to wait until I get home!  LOL.  Not that I don't have a ton of stuff to still post from the last last few weeks.

Ciao! 

I just want warm!

I've been in the middle of planning our spring break vacation.  I should be super excited because it will be another country to check off my bucket list.  The girls have two whole weeks off school and I figured we could see a LOT in two weeks.  Well, thank you screwed up program,  Joel has to spend one of those weeks in Germany.  We actually talked about Germany for spring break.  The plant is near Berlin and would it be great to see the Berlin wall up close after watching on the news, all those years ago, it come down.  And Prague is just a short drive away.  But Turkey has been suffering thru it's coldest winter in years.  I've been told its the most snow in 20 years.  Now I'm used to cold winters.  The last 11 years have been spent in Detroit and Kansas City.  I remember one winter, where the high for two weeks was -2 F.  And the snow was blowing so hard you had to wear sunglasses to see.  But I was so looking forward to being away from it.  And it did start out that way.  We had a lovely fall.  The day I did my Christmas shopping at the Grand Bazar, it was beautiful.  But since then.... COLD.  The kids had a week worth of snow days!

So after all this cold, I really didn't want to spent spring break with more cold.  I want to lay on a beach somewhere!  Then Joel got a nice little email from Turkish Airlines about a sale.  Hmmm... Italy for 125 Euros!  So Naples it is.   At home, I rarely ever had troubles booking a vacation.  I think we used a travel agent twice and he was a coworker of dad's and gave me a pretty good deal.  But every other vacation, we planned ourselves.  Let me corrected that statement.  I planned.  It dawned on me the other day, since our very first vacation to the Dominican Republic, I have taken care of all the plans and paying for it.  Almost 11 years of vacations, all on me.  I guess planning them at home were a breeze so I never thought about it.  Then I started planning our first vacation in Europe.  Because of the move and then no internet access, planning our Christmas vacation was beyond stressful.  But it worked out and I had a wonderful time.  At that point, I could have cared less what everyone else thought.  They got a free vacations in FRANCE.

Here I am again trying to plan another European vacation.  You'd think, hey I'll just log on to my trusted sites back home and book it.  Well, the US sites just don't offer as much.   So after awhile and some research, I found some European sites (mostly UK for English).  Then the fun of trying to figure out how to pay for it.  HR here is horrible.  They haven't gotten a paycheck right since we moved here.  So for months, they keep putting it in Turkey.  Our bank debit cards don't work worldwide... lovely.  I could just put the whole thing on my credit card, but one, it's paid off and I really like seeing that, and two, I'd have to have another alert put on it and then its always a bigger hassle than needed.  UGH.  Thankfully, Turkish Airlines is easy.  Thank you EFTs!  Then finding a hotel room for 5 of us in Europe.... next to impossible.  The websites don't tell you if they offer adjoining rooms. You have just got to hope some nice family put it in their review. Then if they do, they don't guarantee them.  Finally I gave up.  Told Joel we were renting a house and that was the end of it.  LOL.  We have three picked out along the Amalfi Coast and now just need to hurry up and decide.  Wouldn't be nice if vacations just fell into your lap all planned with a shiny red bow!

So 17 days from today, we will be off spring breaking it in Italy.  I will be stuffing myself with all kinds of pasta, pizza, and gelato that I can manage.  And maybe, just maybe, it will be warm enough to at least lay on a beach.  Just for one day.  That would make me happy.

You can't always be Super

Well after 7 month, I finally got kicked on my butt.  One time that I couldn't just deal with it and move on.  It has been about 6 years since we have lived near family.   Never expected to ever live near anyone but was lucky enough that my dad got relocated back to MI when I was pregnant with #1.  So, during most of my pregnancy and Jocy's first year, I had my parents and brother around for help and support.  I've always been kind of obnoxiously independent.  And Joel and I have been thru a lot together.  A few moves, a house fire, losing a house, scary pregnancy, rough first 6 months with Jocy, to name a few.  But I sucked it up and dealt with it.  Not saying that some tears weren't shed but you just have to pick yourself up and move on.

I can see why people never want to move away from home.  It's easy.  When you have kids, its nice to know you have automatic (and free) babysitters.  To me, it's BORING.  I'm not saying I won't jump at a chance to move back home (because its pretty slim), but what I have experienced and learned with all our moves, I wouldn't give up for the world.  And I think it truly makes my kids better people.  And for me, its good to get me out of my comfort zone.  When I'm around people or places I don't know, I find my shyness of pre-teens creeping back.

The hardest thing about being a stay at home mom is getting sick.  My kids are forever bringing something home.  And with two of them now in school full time, YIKES!  The last letter to come home said they had cases of strep and scarlet fever in the school!  Most of the time when I get sick, I suck it and deal.   I got three kids that need me.  And my hubby is such the workaholic....  I mean overachiever, that he rarely takes a sick day, let alone take a day off for me to be sick.  He thinks it will be the end of the world if he's not there for one day.... which sadly has been true on more than one occasion.  Last year he took the day off after his dog passed away.  He just sent a text to his boss and said he wasn't coming in.  They freaked.  Even sent someone by the house to make sure he was OK.  He had a ton to fix the next day.

Well, the time had finally come.  Last Thursday, I got hit with the worse of all sinus infections.  By 5pm, I was curled up in a ball on the couch.  I barely managed to feed the kids dinner.  I call Joel right away and told him what was up and I need him to come home. Since it was pretty much end of the day, he headed straight home.  It took him two hours to get home.  In instants like this, I would have called and begging my mom to make the 9 hour drive, because I know when I do get this sick, its bad.  But now, I can't ask her to foot a last minute plane ticket for an 11 hour flight.  Heck I don't want to spend that kind of money.

But my loving husband stepped up.  He sent the driver for dinner, put the kids to bed, then fed me and put my sick butt to bed.  I didn't leave that bed until Sunday morning.  I can't remember the last time I was this sick.  He got the girls up and on the bus the next morning.  Handled all the puppy madness and Nate.  Plus called into a few meetings and answered emails.  AND had a management review.  Only one playing of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to some Directors and VPs.  This was all before I even woke up.

All weekend, he handled everything.  He took the kids out for lunch, did the grocery shopping, fixed all the food.  Even cleaned the apartment.  He was trying to get everything ready because he was heading to Germany on Monday.

And this is why we can do this.  Live on the other side of the world from our support system because he is my support system.   It's not always perfect but I like that we can live happily within our family unit.  I really hope I don't get that sick again any time soon.  I'm still not 100% better, but I've reached to point of suck it up and deal.  And come Monday morning, I was up and back to our normal routine and being Super Mom again.