A little bit L-A-Z-Y

So...it's Feburary...and I haven't written since before Christmas. Well, as Sharon Flood, one of my favorite people, used to say, I have been just a little bit L-A-Z-Y. So I am going to do my best to write a Cliffs Notes version of the last month and a half. It's going to be a bit random. Get ready!

We went to our church's Christmas program. It was wonderful--real live animals, a real baby, and a Joseph from Texas. There were also FOUR wise men, instead of three, Balthazar, Caspar, Melchior, and Ramses.

Before coming home we packed to move to our new apartment at the same time we packed to come home. Mustafa came and helped us move all our stuff in his taxi. We pretty much chucked it in one bedroom, locked the door, and hopped on the plane to Texas.

We had a wonderful, wonderful time at home. It began sort of badly, though, as Luke got really sick just as we boarded the plane from Cairo and then proceeded to cough his germs all over Jason and me. All three of us were sick the whole first week we were home! We made a big family joke out if it, though, and in our family Christmas picture we are all holding our various cough and cold remedies:

The week before Christmas was crammed with lots of "going around and doing stuff," from Cousins' Christmas to Chili Dog Night (which I unfortunately had to leave after only 30 minutes or so to take Luke back home) to the usual preparations for Christmas. I had come to Texas with an idea for a present for Luke, and I needed a lot of help from Santa and his woodworking workshop to accomplish the present. Luke had asked Santa for real keys. My little boy LOVES cars and anything that spins--always has--and he will literally stand and spin the steering wheel on the playground for thirty minutes without stopping. So my idea was to build him an easel-like dashboard with a steering wheel and ignition switch with real keys to put in it. I took my plans to Santa, and he made my idea even better. Santa built Luke a red Mustang car--just like his Granddad's--with a steering wheel, headlights and taillights, a license plate, gauges, etc. Santa worked and worked and worked on that Mustang, all the way up until bedtime on Christmas Eve. Luke must have been a really good boy!

Christmas morning was our usual joy-filled wrapping paper fest, made better than ever by the addition of Jenny to our Christmas morning festivities, and by Luke's thorough understanding of Santa and what happens after he goes to sleep on Christmas Eve. (He did seem a little afraid, however, that Santa was going to a) take the Christmas tree and b) scare him. Now that he's realized Santa brings him good stuff while he's ASLEEP, I think we will be okay from here on out.) This is Luke still sick on Christmas morning. I literally photoshopped the snot out of this picture so as not to gross you out.

The rest of our trip was filled with too-short visits with friends and other family members and lots and lots of good time with Mom, Daddy, Kari, Scott, and Jenny. The night before we left we all went bowling and had a great time--Kari even got a turkey! (3 strikes in a row--and I will spare Kari and not post the picture I took of her impersonating a turkey! :) Love you, Karo!)

Coming back to Cairo was so hard. My gosh, I have an amazing family, and it is physically painful to leave them. There is just a hole in my heart when I am not near them. Mom and Dad took us to the airport, we got inside with all our luggage, and I bawled unashamedly for the next 15-20 minutes. I had to pull it together because Luke was really worried--sometimes it is hard being a Mom and a daughter at the same time.

When we arrived in Cairo, our favorite cab driver Mustafa was waiting for us, but 2/3 of our luggage was not. We brought back 4 suitcases and 2 tubs this time, in addition to the carry ons. Two suitcases made it. I was so upset. The missing luggage had Luke's Mustang in it, and all of his other Christmas presents and new clothes, too. Fortunately, our luggage all arrived intact two days later.

We arrived around midnight, and Noel & Rachella had dinner all ready for us when we got in as well as breakfast the next morning. Can I just say we have the BEST friends?

We came home to our new apartment, which was still all packed up from the move. So I had two days to unpack everything before our luggage arrived and I had to unpack all of that. That actually was probably a good thing.

The new apartment is so wonderful. It is still an Egyptian apartment, which means nothing matches, the tile is god-awful, and there's some really...interesting...furniture in here. We are making the best we can of our furniture, rugs, and tile, and REALLY loving all the extra space. I have a whole room for my scrapbook/art stuff, which I snootily call "the studio". (If I were a real artist, it wouldn't be snooty, but since I mostly just pretend to be one, it's snooty.) I get to leave my scrapbook stuff set up all the time. The same room has a nice long coffee table in it that's perfect for Luke's trains. We keep a lot of his toys in that room so that he can play while I work on my scrapbooks or mess around on the computer.

It's been SUPER cold since we've been back, which means that it's been as low as the 30's-40's at night, with highs in the 50's-60's. I know that doesn't sound really cold, but please consider there's no central heat or air, and the buildings are made of concrete with no insulation. The cold just stays in the buildings even when it warms up outside, and there have literally been days that I've opened the windows to let the cold OUT! The last two days, however, have been SO beautiful. Yesterday I sat outside at CSA after my Arabic lessons and finished my book in the sunshine. It was really nice, and I felt like a lady of leisure! :)

I'm still working at the library two days a week, and really enjoying the work now that the software we've been waiting for is installed and I get to enter books into the system. It's very repetitive, detail-oriented work, but it's very satisfying to finish a section of books and know that we're making progress. Next year's librarian will have it easy! As for me, next year I will be teaching art to 3rd-5th grades. I am really looking forward to it. I think it will be a great spot for me, especially just getting back into teaching. I'll enjoy the art projects, and hopefully will not have the stress and paperwork that goes with being a regular classroom teacher. I am going to have to do some work over the summer to get my act together, though, because I will be starting from square one again!

Let's see...what else...we are going to spend spring break in Crete. We'll spend 2 days or so in Athens and then either fly or take a boat to Crete and spend a week in a timeshare place that is supposed to be good. I'm really looking forward to that.

And...
Our telephone is not working, so we are mooching internet off the Simons. We have nagged our landlord (who is really a good guy) to get this fixed, and he's been to the phone company four times now. Apparently all the rain in Cairo in the last several weeks has made many of the phone lines go out, so repairs are slow. Insha'allah, it will be fixed tomorrow.

Let me tell you about "Insha'allah." It means, "God willing." It is used in Egypt A LOT. "I'll see you tomorrow, Insha'allah." "I'll call the man, and he will fix it, Insha'allah." It is very frustrating for me to hear this phrase sometimes, because I sometimes think it's used in vain--to mean, "If I feel like it." I am trying to be more positive and look at it as a substitute for "hopefully" and not get so frustrated when people say it to me.

Well. Eric Cates, I hope this post satisfies you! ;) Thanks for the nudge. I will write more soon.

(Insha'allah.)