Christmas in Perth

   

  Our first Christmas in Perth was one of the best Christmases we've had.  Looking back at last year, it was about a million times better.  Last year we were in Doha and our shipment arrived on the 23rd, so by the 25th we had frantically put up a tree, half decorated the house and had boxes everywhere.  The weeks leading up were stressful for Mr. Claus and I, wondering how we were going to get it all done and if we would have a tree in time.  But we managed to make it festive with the help of friends, gingerbread decorating at the Ritz and Carrefour playing Christmas music despite being in a Muslim country.
   This year, leading up to Christmas we wondered when the spirit of the season would hit us.  The weather had been fluctuating from the mid 70's to upper 80's and it just did not feel like the right season to be putting up a tree.  I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and envied the snow and family gathered together.  In spite of having all the shopping done and crafting up a storm with the kids, it still did not feel right to us.

   Then it hit us: there was no fighting it.  No "pretending" that Christmas would be cosy, not sweaty.  Christmas day hit somewhere between 90-100 degrees.  So we went to the beach.  Because we could this year.  The kids were spoiled rotten by Santa and after opening all the gifts we ate a leisurely breakfast then headed out.  What better way to spend the day than riding waves, looking for shells and building sand castles.  The littlest guy fell asleep in my arms while bobbing over waves, so we laid him down on a towel and he had a nice beach nap (the best kind of nap in my opinion).

   Our afternoon culminated in cooking some hamburgers on the grill.  It was refreshing not to have to cook an elaborate meal and clean up.  After all the hard work of making Christmas morning happen, us parents deserve a break.  I think this will be a new tradition!

   We hope that you had a great Christmas and wish you all the best for a happy 2013!

Back by Popular Demand

    Ok, Ok!  I know!  My last post was in MAY!  Better late than never, right?

    We are now happily settled in the land of OZ and life is feeling very good these days.  The kids are in a school they love, with wonderful teachers and awesome fellow students, who are once again broadening their worldview and horizons.  This week and next they are taking swimming lessons every day with their classes, which they are loving.  They come home tired and tan.  We have never spent so much time outdoors in our lives, and it is just great.  Big boy is doing baseball and they both started piano lessons, which has been a long time goal of mine for them.

     One of the most unique Aussie things they are doing is a program called "Nippers" at the local Surf Lifesaving Club.  The activities include beach running, diving thru hula hoops held by poor cold parents in the surf, swimming out to various points, and their favorite- using the surfboards.  They are not stand up surf boards as you would imagine.  They have handles and the kids paddle out on their bellies on them out using various styles, and then you can ride them back in like a boogie board.
    It seems weird to be gearing up for summer in October to November, but we are adjusting to the change and we are really looking forward to spending Christmas at the beach.  We are really loving the house that we are renting.  It is 6 blocks from the school and a short drive to the beach.  I look out our windows every morning and thank God for the wonderful situation we are in right now and for all the blessings we have had this past year!
    Mama has been having fun too lately.  I met a great group of knitting friends and we get together weekly.  Joined a gym and feeling good about getting healthy again.  Stronger already, but need to do something to get the eating under control- man I love food!
    The littlest beach bum is up to all sorts of craziness these days.  We take swimming lessons together each Friday and it is really the highlight of my week.  He started off crying and choking and not wanting to go under water and is now a smiling, happy participant.  It is great to have special time with him only when the big ones are in school.  The weekends are so jam packed, it is nice to slow down and enjoy baby time.  Lots of new words lately too.  He learned COLD at swimming lessons.  He's been asking "where (fill in the family member nickname here)?".  He says "backpack, cool, wow, all done, more, car, ball" and lots more.
    So, WA (Western Australia) has it's quirks and problems, but I am too happy to complain about them too much.  As expat assignments go, this one has to be the best.  We hope to be here as long as we can.  Enjoy some pics of the fun stuff!

Toes in the Indian Ocean for the first time

The Family. With a wombat.

Koala and Kanga Love

TX Stint

    Home is where we are.  For now, that's the Woodlands, TX.  It feels really good to be back in TX and to reconnect with so many friends.  The kids last day of school is at the end of this week, and we are happy to have a month off before starting school again in July.  Lots of news, but where to begin...
    Little Miss has a spot at the International School of Western Australia with her big bro, so homeschooling is thankfully no longer on the table.  I was kind of starting to panic about that, as she is not exactly cooperative come homework time.  The school looks great and we have had great emails back and forth with the Registrar.
    We leave in a couple of weeks to go up to NJ and connect with family and friends up there.  My sister is due with baby girl #2, so we will spend lots of time with her to help out and give that new little cutie lots of cuddles when she arrives.
    The littlest kiddo is officially a toddler!  He took his first few steps shortly after his first birthday, and after some practice this weekend, he can walk a few feet at a time unassisted.  He does not talk too much yet, but babbles away and says "bite" when begging food off of big bro and sis!  We had a great trip to see hubby's family in OR and did some exploring in the San Francisco area.  They were very happy to spend baby man's first birthday with him and to visit after a long time away.
        Not a very creative post, but an informative one anyway!  Some recent pics...

Yup that's a real tree!

The kids and their great grandma, Mamo.

Plane Etiquette

     Our 15 hour flight back to Houston went really well, at least when it came to our family.  The kids were very well behaved and did not nag us too much.  They got on and off the plane efficiently.  The baby hardly cried.  He napped a couple of times and fairly happily took turns sitting on our laps or being walked around, visiting stewardesses from time to time.
     The problem on this flight was the other passengers.  I think some evil genius searched all of the middle east and some of asia to come up with a cast of characters that was as ignorant as possinle.  I'm not going to get into too much detail here.  But I will share with you a little something I came up with while on the plane.  My plane etiquette list.  It is based on the flight we just had, with a few "rules" thrown in there from bizarre situations witnessed on other very long flights.  Feel free to share with friends.

Do not Sneeze then wipe hands on seat in front of you.
When getting in and out of seat do not pull on seat in front of you.
Do not try to hold my baby. No you may not. Especially if you are
sneezing all over the place.
Wash your feet and or take a shower before flying.
Do not go on the all-garlic diet before flying.
When the stewardess tells you to sit down and put on your seatbelt,
just do it. She does not want to have a pissing match with you. But
she will. And she will win.
The toilet is to be used in a reasonable amount of time. If you need a
3 hour library session to get the job done, consider staying home.
Do not open your window shade. Your curiousity about what's out there
is not worth blinding or waking everyone in the dark cabin.
Do not wear bangles or other loud jewelry. If you wake me or (god
forbid) my sleeping baby with your jangling vanity I might punch you.
If you have any terribly annoying and disguising habits such as
sucking your teeth, horking phlegm, etc. please see a hypnotist or
something. 

    

Last Day in Doha

     Today is our last full day in Doha.  The movers packed the last box yesterday evening and things went very well.  The crew was the same one that unloaded our stuff in December.  They were very nice guys and of course they knew us well by the second move.

     Miss C found a buddy.  She was with us all day yesterday and one of the guys really took to her.  He made her a watch out of cardboard, and it was all over.  For the rest of the day, she was singing to him and generally being crazy, demanding another cardboard clothing item every hour or so.  It started like this:

And ended up something like this:

     It has been beautiful weather the past couple of days and while we were moving, we were having fantasies of our last day in Doha being spent playing at the hotel pool with the kids.  We woke up this morning to grey skies and lots of wind and a dust storm in the forecast.  At least the kids had some fun on the balcony this morning, dancing in the wind a la Michael Jackson.   

     Tomorrow we fly out.  Our ticket says that the flight time is 16 hours 15 minutes.  I am trying not to think of how we are going to keep little mister 1 year old busy.  He has this way of digging his feet into your most tender soft places when he's climbing all over you.  I'm sure hubby and I will arrive in TX bruised in many places!  We leave at about 9 AM and arrive at 5 PM, so I don't think there's much hope of an 8 hour stretch of sleep out of any of us.  It's going to be a long day!

     More recent pics here:  https://plus.google.com/photos/109851851930876031027/albums/5730403535324375921

Moving Week

     When we left Korea 6 years ago, we had a 1 year old baby and spent 3 months in Houston.  We are leaving Doha with a 1 year old baby and will spend 3 months in Houston.  Life has come full circle.  The main difference this time is that Houston will be like coming home.  Last time we knew almost nobody there and I was pretty bored in our temporary apartment.  This time we have so many people waiting to see us, I know the 3 months are going to fly by and we will enjoy every minute.
    The current plan is to fly to Perth all together after our stint in Houston, where hubs will be doing some training at the corporate office.  We will get settled there for a couple of weeks, then he will leave for 3 months in Singapore for more training.  It should be "interesting" being alone in a new city with 3 kids, 1 in a new school, 1 being home schooled, and the other tagging along for the ride.  Homeschooling. Something I never thought I would do.  But, Little Miss and I will have a new adventure together and hopefully we'll both make it out alive.
    The movers arrive tomorrow.  I am not feeling very prepared.  You never do.  The clothes are packed for all 5 of us and we have a rough idea of what is going to be air shipped.  The rest will be put in storage and will meet us in Perth a few months from now.  It is very stressful trying to decide what needs to go where- especially with kids that outgrow clothes so frequently.  Thankfully we don't have to pack it all alone. I keep telling myself that ready or not, it will all happen tomorrow and it will be fine.  If we forget to put it in suitcases, we can always buy it later.  I just need to remember to empty the garbage so that we don't receive a stinky surprise a few months from now.  Movers are famous for packing the garbage cans and whatever is in them. Happens to us pretty much every time we move.
     I wish I could get a stunt double to live my life for me until after I've stepped off the plane in Houston, but no such luck.  Instead, let the chaos begin!
   
   

Poochless

     Someone once told my husband that "it's no sacrifice" to live overseas.  That line has stuck with us for a lifetime.  It is so untrue.
     This morning is the perfect example of that.  We had to put our precious little three and a half pound chihuahua, Hazelnut on a plane back to the US.  The travel restrictions and quarantine processes for taking her to Australia with us were just inhumane in our opinion.  We understand why they do it, being an island nation and not wanting to import certain diseases.  But we just could not do it to our pup.
     With much deliberation, many kind volunteers and many tears, we decided to send her back to NY to live with 2 other chihuahuas (and their "mom and dad").  It will be a good home for her, and we will definitely get to see her when we go "home" for the summers.  We will miss her so much.  The kids will especially miss their little buddy slash bed warmer.

    So, yes, the life of an expat comes with certain perks such as travel, tax breaks and company paid housing.  But whoever says this lifestyle does not come with its share of heartache, impossible decisions and, yes, sacrifice is just plain wrong.