301 Posts: Time to Update!

It's a good thing when you're too busy to blog, because it means that you are, well, busy.  I like being busy, depending on how to define the word.  To me, it means not waking up and wondering "I wonder what I can do today" and instead wake up thinking "excellent, first I will meet with this person, then I'll go there for a bit and do that errand, and then I'll tackle this project at home or cook/bake that...."  For all of my children's lives, up until living in Indonesia, I've taught them that you can't be bored, you're just being boring (need to use some imagination, get creative, find something to do!!).  That changed when I got here.  I got bored.  Many times.  You can only paint so many rooms, bake so many cakes (then later find out that those cakes are poisoning your body and now you need to learn how to make new versions of those cakes), and study so many pages of language or whatever the study of choice is for the week.  After 3 years of living here, I finally feel established.  I do things.  I'm beginning to have a better understanding of what I like to do, what I'm good at, and to be able to admit those things I'm not good at.  It's been stretching living here, but it's all good.  Right now we're on holidays (Lebaran) and have days of plans ahead.

The kids have headed off to Ruff Camp, which is being held in the 1000 Islands.  Trivia for you:  these aren't the same 1000 Islands that the salad dressing is named after, at least that's what we've heard.  Tris and I have 4 kidless days ahead of us, and we're kind of just wandering around our house trying to figure out where to start.  Is this what it's like when empty nest sets in??

Time of departure was 6:30 am and so at 6:31 we were waving goodbye to a carload of kids. At 8:00 Tris and I headed off with 2 other families to an orphanage that our family goes to about once a month (we're on a rotational schedule).  My favourite part of our morning at the home was when a little guy, Aditya, stood up, looked around, saw that my legs were crossed in sitting position and unattended, and came and plunked himself into them.  After a few moments he grabbed each of my arms and wrapped them around his little body.  And I was worried I might overstep by side-hugging the little ones.  These guys are used to visitors coming in and loving on them, and I can't think of a better perspective for them to have:  hey, you're here to love me, wrap your arms around me and let's sing together!

Thanks for reading.

Settled Once More

We're back.  In Indonesia, I mean.  It was a full, fun, short 6 weeks (5 for Tris) in Canada, but we're glad we went.  I can't imagine NOT returning to Canada at least once a year.  Not returning in those first 2 years was very, very difficult for me.  This time, as noted earlier, we went on a road trip, so those 7 days used up some of our 'normal' visiting time, yet we were able to see my brother Darren and his wife Chrystal in Red Deer, Tris' cousins in Calgary, and our friends Jamie and Sheldon in Idaho.  It was a beautiful, sunny trip through the Rockies that our family will never forget.  Thanks to those of you who fed us and put us up for a few days:)

This time, while in Canada, we tried to keep it low-key.  When asked "so what would you like to do?" we usually responded, "sit and visit".  Mostly we just sat on back decks, back porches, couches and in restaurants, and visited.  It was just like we wanted.  Time and circumstance always take a few things away, and we weren't able to go fishing or canoeing, but the way we see it is that we did travel 7000 kilometers in our van, and you can't do everything.

Tris left one week earlier than the kids and I, and while he was getting his classroom ready for school, he was spending his home time preparing our new place for us.  He got our cable hooked up, internet ready, and he unpacked almost every one of the 60 plus boxes we had shoved into one of the bedrooms of our new home.  Between him and Ami, our helper, our house was almost perfect when we walked in the door.  Of course, by us walking in the door, perfection occurred as we were back as a family again.  I must admit, I have "rearranged" perfection since then, and made a few things a little easier for me to find.  When we said yes to moving into this new home, I had only seen it twice, and really didn't know what I was in for.  This place is absolutely wonderful.

There are things in my life here in Indonesia that I just accepted because of our circumstance, like having to fetch hot water for dishes from the main floor shower. We now have hot water in our kitchen and in our bathroom sinks.  We also have a great kitchen that looks out over a nice, tropical garden, and I have enough drawers in my kitchen to successfully store and eventually FIND any of my cooking or baking tools.  There are a lot of bonuses to this house that are well-suited to our family of 4, 2 of whom are teenagers.  It was the landing at the top of our stairs that sold me on moving into this house, and now the kids are using it just like I had imagined.  It holds our big desk, a sofa bed, and a lamp, and it has become "The Pad".  It's a real treat to know the kids are upstairs hanging with their friends while we are downstairs watching a video.  Before, whenever kids came over, Tris and I would usually hang out in our bedroom and watch a movie on his computer.  This wasn't a problem in any way, but it's now a treat to be able to watch the big screen while the kids make their noise upstairs.

It really is good to be home, although it's amazing how quickly I began to miss my Canadian family and friends.

Thanks for reading.