Since I don't like to drink straight milk, and rarely ever drink juice or soymilk, I've been trying to figure out ways to get enough calcium into my system. I've started having a nightly cup of hot chocolate (made from real milk and cocoa, so it does count toward my calcium intake!), but I can't really justify more than one cup of cocoa a day given how much sugar it has in it as well as the small amount of caffeine in cocoa that would add up if I drank it nonstop.
When I was in Israel on my study abroad, I used to get this almond tea drink at my favorite coffee house in Jerusalem (Tmol Shilshom, in case anyone has ever been there). It was basically just herbal almond tea (so caffeine free, which is important right now) steeped in milk and lightly sweetened with honey. I'm sure part of why the tea at Tmol Shilshom tasted so rich is that it was made with whole milk, but I think it would still be really good with skim milk. Until I can find a suitable substitute almond tea here, I've been at somewhat of a loss in the milk-based beverages arena.
Today, I came up with what I think is a pretty tasty option for trying to drink more milk. I heated up a mug of milk and liberally sprinkled pumpkin pie spice on top, then sweetened it with one teaspoon of honey (much better than the two tablespoons of sugar per cup in my cocoa) and added a little splash of vanilla. I know it sounds weird, but it actually tastes a lot like vanilla chai tea, except that it has no caffeine in it, only a small amount of sugar, and I didn't have to buy the chai powder mix or whatever since I already had all the ingredients on hand. I put a small cinnamon stick (probably about half of a regular stick) in the cup as well, but since the pumpkin pie spice has cinnamon in it, that was probably extraneous. I'm not saying that if I weren't restricting my caffeine intake I would choose this over my favorite double spice chai tea, but under the circumstances it's a good alternative.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
A Shout Out To My Doctors
One of the scary things I had to do once I was no longer a military brat was figuring out how to choose doctors and dentists. I realize that lots of people do this all the time, but after twenty one years of going to whoever was on duty for sick call that day, the prospect was awfully intimidating.
I was thinking about that today, as I somehow managed to end up with both a really great dentist and a fabulous set of OBs. I found both through the recommendations of people I worked with, which I guess is how most people who have to find doctors in a new city probably do it, but who knows?
What impresses me most about both of the docs is the little touches of humanity that they interject into their interaction with me as a patient. For instance, my dentist had to reschedule my appointment today. Her office called a week in advance, asking if I could come in two hours later. Not only did the receptionist thank me for agreeing to change times when I talked to her on the phone, but today when I showed up in the office, the dentist immediately thanked me for being so flexible and taking the later appointment. She didn't really have to do that, but I appreciated that she did.
One of the things I really like about my OB practice is that when they call to tell you about our lab results, the actual doctor that I saw at my last appointment calls me, not one of their receptionists or assistants. For some bizarre reason my house is a black hole for phones right now, so I usually end up hearing them on my voice mail, but I like that if I were able to receive phone calls I could actually talk to a doctor in case I had questions.
I was thinking about that today, as I somehow managed to end up with both a really great dentist and a fabulous set of OBs. I found both through the recommendations of people I worked with, which I guess is how most people who have to find doctors in a new city probably do it, but who knows?
What impresses me most about both of the docs is the little touches of humanity that they interject into their interaction with me as a patient. For instance, my dentist had to reschedule my appointment today. Her office called a week in advance, asking if I could come in two hours later. Not only did the receptionist thank me for agreeing to change times when I talked to her on the phone, but today when I showed up in the office, the dentist immediately thanked me for being so flexible and taking the later appointment. She didn't really have to do that, but I appreciated that she did.
One of the things I really like about my OB practice is that when they call to tell you about our lab results, the actual doctor that I saw at my last appointment calls me, not one of their receptionists or assistants. For some bizarre reason my house is a black hole for phones right now, so I usually end up hearing them on my voice mail, but I like that if I were able to receive phone calls I could actually talk to a doctor in case I had questions.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Experiments in the Kitchen
Wow, here it is almost the end of October and I haven't posted in more than a month. We've definitely been busy, unpacking first our boxes from storage and then FINALLY our shipment of household effects, which arrived last week. As of yesterday the house is pretty much done -- we still need to get a few of our pretty silk carpets made ready to mount on the wall, and we have one carpet to get rid of that was in the house before, but the boxes have gone to Goodwill and the pictures are hung on the walls. It feels like home again, and we even managed to vacuum the last of the dust and funky smell from our last home out of the beautiful carpets we brought back.
We've been doing endless experiments in the kitchen -- I've baked several different types of bread now, including oatmeal and buttermilk whole wheat bread, all of which came out surprisingly well. The real coup, however, has been the sausage making. We bought a meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachment for our mixer, and have been grinding and stuffing fools for the past few weeks.
So far, here are all of the different kinds of sausage that we've made:
- mild Italian
- spicy Sicilian
- breakfast sausage (patties)
- chicken, rosemary, garlic
- chicken, black olive, and feta
- chicken, sun-dried tomato, and feta
- English bangers
- lamb, rosemary, garlic
- andouille
- two versions of chorizo
By far the most successful version thus far (keeping in mind that we just stuffed the andouille and chorizo sausages tonight and have not yet cooked them, so we can't count this against them) were the English bangers. The Italian sausages and the chicken sausages all had great flavor but the texture was not one hundred percent what we wanted it to be. We're still perfecting our technique, though, and the pork sausages we made today were definitely easier to grind and stuff than our first attempt.
So now we have a freezer full of sausages, and we're taking a temporary respite until we can eat our way through what's in there. Also currently residing in our freezer is frozen cookie dough. I took the idea from a friend much more clever than I am of scooping the dough with a cookie scoop and freezing it on a cookie sheet until solid, then throwing the balls all together in a freezer bag. So now I can have a couple of fresh cookies every night if I want! Fresh cookies and sausages, what a combo!
We've been doing endless experiments in the kitchen -- I've baked several different types of bread now, including oatmeal and buttermilk whole wheat bread, all of which came out surprisingly well. The real coup, however, has been the sausage making. We bought a meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachment for our mixer, and have been grinding and stuffing fools for the past few weeks.
So far, here are all of the different kinds of sausage that we've made:
- mild Italian
- spicy Sicilian
- breakfast sausage (patties)
- chicken, rosemary, garlic
- chicken, black olive, and feta
- chicken, sun-dried tomato, and feta
- English bangers
- lamb, rosemary, garlic
- andouille
- two versions of chorizo
By far the most successful version thus far (keeping in mind that we just stuffed the andouille and chorizo sausages tonight and have not yet cooked them, so we can't count this against them) were the English bangers. The Italian sausages and the chicken sausages all had great flavor but the texture was not one hundred percent what we wanted it to be. We're still perfecting our technique, though, and the pork sausages we made today were definitely easier to grind and stuff than our first attempt.
So now we have a freezer full of sausages, and we're taking a temporary respite until we can eat our way through what's in there. Also currently residing in our freezer is frozen cookie dough. I took the idea from a friend much more clever than I am of scooping the dough with a cookie scoop and freezing it on a cookie sheet until solid, then throwing the balls all together in a freezer bag. So now I can have a couple of fresh cookies every night if I want! Fresh cookies and sausages, what a combo!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
A Baking Fool
One of the things I want to be able to do now that I'm going to be home more is experiment with more time-consuming things like baking bread that I never seemed to have time to do when I was working all the time. Yesterday I made a half whole wheat loaf to ease my way into bread making, which turned out pretty well. I did it the lazy way by letting the bread machine do all the kneading and the first rising for me, which worked out perfectly since I was able to keep unpacking and getting the house ready for our visitors this weekend and the kitchen wasn't covered in flour the way it usually is when I try to knead by hand.
This morning I made some whole grain cheese muffins, which turned out really well aside from the fact that they stuck to the bottom of the muffin cups a bit. I think if I butter and flour the cups next time instead of just spraying them with cooking spray that should take care of some of the sticking. I got the recipe from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, which I love because all of the recipes are 100% whole grain, as opposed to most "whole grain" recipe books that I have, which are really only partially whole grain.
The recipe notes to make sure you use a robust cheese as otherwise the flavor won't come through, which I can definitely see. I used some Cabot cheddar, which is really sharp and flavorful, and they tasted really good. Our blender is still making its way here with the rest of our household effects, so I used the food processor to turn the oats into floury meal. Also, I didn't have fresh buttermilk so I used powdered buttermilk, following the package directions to mix in the powder with the dry ingredients and the water with the liquids.
Cheese Muffins
Beat the egg, butter or oil, and onion or chives together. Stir in the buttermilk and seasoned cheese.
Blend the oats in blender to make about 1 1/2 cups of floury meal -- or use 1 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup rolled oat flakes. Sift the other dry ingredients together and then stir in the flakes. Add the dry ingredients to the cheese mixture, stirring just enough mix.
Spoon into the muffin tin and bake about 15 minutes (I left them in there for an extra few minutes but that might just be my oven). These muffins are a pale, creamy color on top, and golden brown on the bottom and sides when done.
This morning I made some whole grain cheese muffins, which turned out really well aside from the fact that they stuck to the bottom of the muffin cups a bit. I think if I butter and flour the cups next time instead of just spraying them with cooking spray that should take care of some of the sticking. I got the recipe from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, which I love because all of the recipes are 100% whole grain, as opposed to most "whole grain" recipe books that I have, which are really only partially whole grain.
The recipe notes to make sure you use a robust cheese as otherwise the flavor won't come through, which I can definitely see. I used some Cabot cheddar, which is really sharp and flavorful, and they tasted really good. Our blender is still making its way here with the rest of our household effects, so I used the food processor to turn the oats into floury meal. Also, I didn't have fresh buttermilk so I used powdered buttermilk, following the package directions to mix in the powder with the dry ingredients and the water with the liquids.
Cheese Muffins
- 2 tablespoons minced chives or onions
- 2 tablespoons butter or oil
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese and 3/4 teaspoon dill weed or parsley OR 1/2 cup grated cheddar and 1/2 teaspoon mustard
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
If you use chives, they need not be cooked, but the onions are best when sauteed until soft in the butter or oil. Let the sauteed onion cool before adding to the batter.Beat the egg, butter or oil, and onion or chives together. Stir in the buttermilk and seasoned cheese.
Blend the oats in blender to make about 1 1/2 cups of floury meal -- or use 1 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup rolled oat flakes. Sift the other dry ingredients together and then stir in the flakes. Add the dry ingredients to the cheese mixture, stirring just enough mix.
Spoon into the muffin tin and bake about 15 minutes (I left them in there for an extra few minutes but that might just be my oven). These muffins are a pale, creamy color on top, and golden brown on the bottom and sides when done.
Friday, September 21, 2007
One more picture of the lemon (then a jumbo shrimp)
I forgot to include this in the last post, but Danny wanted me to add his favorite of the ultrasound pictures from last week. As you can see, the baby has his/her arms raised...we're not sure if this means "stop squishing me with that sonogram wand" or if it's inutero praise and worship, but either way it's pretty cool that you can see the little fingers!
Leaving "the Family"
I should probably rename this blog since we'll be living in the homeland until next spring, and this hardly counts as the ends of the earth, but until I come up with a new name that I like I suppose we'll just stick with this one for the time being.
All week as I've been trying to figure out whether I was going to go on unpaid leave or quit for good and how the unpaid leave would work, I've been thinking of the entries on my friend Catherine's blog about quitting her job. It's definitely been an interesting experience. I'm continually amazed at how complicated bureaucracy can make everything. For instance, I've been trying since June to get answers on the rules associated with unpaid leave with no luck despite repeated e-mails to various and sundry personnel types. I finally ended up going into our personnel chief's office, and lo and behold all the answers I could have really used when I was trying to make this decision three months ago came forth. This of course meant that I ended up having to make the final decision overnight because of the wheels I had set in motion before returning to the States. As you saw in my last post, the final result was that I submitted my resignation instead of messing around with any sort of leave.
I'm sure the weirdness of not working will probably hit me in a couple of weeks, but for right now I mostly feel liberated and relieved. I will say, though, that leaving this job does feel a bit like what I would imagine leaving the mob would be like. Not that anyone is going to put a hit out on me (that I know of), but once you're out you are definitively on the outside socially as well as professionally. A lot of the people I work with are so wrapped up in their life with "the Man" that they honestly can't figure out what I'm going to do without being part of that anymore, and just stare at me when I tell them I'm looking forward to life on the outside in whatever form that ends up taking.
The question I've most often gotten is, "but what are you going to DO?" Just to mess with their heads, for right now I'm telling them that I'm going to learn to make bread and look into working with an NGO or non-profit of some sort, which is a funnier comment if you know how suspiciously most gubment types view the people who work for NGOs...if "pinko commie" was still used I'm pretty sure that's the term they would apply.
All week as I've been trying to figure out whether I was going to go on unpaid leave or quit for good and how the unpaid leave would work, I've been thinking of the entries on my friend Catherine's blog about quitting her job. It's definitely been an interesting experience. I'm continually amazed at how complicated bureaucracy can make everything. For instance, I've been trying since June to get answers on the rules associated with unpaid leave with no luck despite repeated e-mails to various and sundry personnel types. I finally ended up going into our personnel chief's office, and lo and behold all the answers I could have really used when I was trying to make this decision three months ago came forth. This of course meant that I ended up having to make the final decision overnight because of the wheels I had set in motion before returning to the States. As you saw in my last post, the final result was that I submitted my resignation instead of messing around with any sort of leave.
I'm sure the weirdness of not working will probably hit me in a couple of weeks, but for right now I mostly feel liberated and relieved. I will say, though, that leaving this job does feel a bit like what I would imagine leaving the mob would be like. Not that anyone is going to put a hit out on me (that I know of), but once you're out you are definitively on the outside socially as well as professionally. A lot of the people I work with are so wrapped up in their life with "the Man" that they honestly can't figure out what I'm going to do without being part of that anymore, and just stare at me when I tell them I'm looking forward to life on the outside in whatever form that ends up taking.
The question I've most often gotten is, "but what are you going to DO?" Just to mess with their heads, for right now I'm telling them that I'm going to learn to make bread and look into working with an NGO or non-profit of some sort, which is a funnier comment if you know how suspiciously most gubment types view the people who work for NGOs...if "pinko commie" was still used I'm pretty sure that's the term they would apply.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Berenstein Bears Talk About...So Many Changes
Please tell me someone else remembers the Berenstein Bears? I've used the "Berenstein Bears Talk About..." joke several times and gotten nothing but blank looks, which I'm hoping is because most of the people I work with are five or ten years older than me and maybe there was a gap in which people hadn't heard of the bears.
So lots has changed since the last post...some of the things are not actually recent changes but just recently being publicly discussed. Danny and I are expecting our first child in March, and now that I'm safely out of the first trimester with no problems we can finally share the exciting news beyond our immediate family members. Our OB/GYN practice recommends both an 8-week and a 12-week sonogram, so we've actually gotten to see the baby twice so far, which has been really awesome. Below is the best of the ultrasound pictures, in which it appears that our baby is already sucking his/her thumb. We're not planning to find out the sex, so the his/her thing will have to work in the meantime.
So lots has changed since the last post...some of the things are not actually recent changes but just recently being publicly discussed. Danny and I are expecting our first child in March, and now that I'm safely out of the first trimester with no problems we can finally share the exciting news beyond our immediate family members. Our OB/GYN practice recommends both an 8-week and a 12-week sonogram, so we've actually gotten to see the baby twice so far, which has been really awesome. Below is the best of the ultrasound pictures, in which it appears that our baby is already sucking his/her thumb. We're not planning to find out the sex, so the his/her thing will have to work in the meantime.
I've gotten hooked on the weekly e-mails from babycenter.com, which compares the size of the baby to a different food every week. Last week it was a jumbo shrimp, and this week begins the week of the lemon. If you're interested to read more about the size and development and such, check out the Week 14 article.
The other development, which definitely pales in comparison but is still worth mentioning, is that I submitted my formal resignation yesterday. Very liberating, of course there are still several bureaucratic hoops to be jumped through, but I'm on my way out and not looking back! Our household goods are apparently in transit but won't even get to Baltimore harbor until the 26th, which means that 3-4 weeks after that we might get our belongings back.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Home again home again
This past weekend was the final weekend in our family roadshow, in which we've visited all of our various immediate family members and some extended family (or in some cases made them come to us for the time being). It's been awesome after over a year of not seeing almost anyone that we're related to in person to get to reconnect with them and actually spend some time with all of them. Of course, we haven't gotten to spend nearly as much time as we'd like with any one part of the family, since there are so many various branches to visit with, but that seems to be the way it goes.
Tomorrow Danny and I head back to DC to move back into our house with our own things. Or rather those of our own things that have been in storage here in the States, since according to the super helpful travel lady that I talked to the other day they're not sure exactly where my household goods shipment is or when it will arrive. When I asked if she could at least confirm that it had left our last country of residence, she informed me that was not her job, and that she would get a call when they had an estimated date of arrival at which point she would inform me of said date. Somehow I'm not terribly comforted, considering that it only took my things two and a half weeks to get from here to there when we moved, and it's been nearly six weeks now since they packed our things up. I'm envisioning the movers having dance parties and goat roasts on our carpets and using all the beautiful yarn I bought in New Zealand to line their chicken houses or something.
Despite the fact that my furniture will apparently be sitting on bare wooden floors unless and until someone locates my household effects, it will be good to be back in our home again. The last year and a half seems sort of like a strange dream almost...like it can't be real that we worked that much under such surreal conditions. It actually hasn't been quite as weird to come home as I was afraid it might be, although it's definitely been a change of pace to go from our previous life nonstop work and nothing else to six weeks of hopping from one relative's house to another and seeing so many friends and relatives all at one time. In case you hadn't already guessed, I'll take this life over the other one any day of the week and twice on Sunday!
Tomorrow Danny and I head back to DC to move back into our house with our own things. Or rather those of our own things that have been in storage here in the States, since according to the super helpful travel lady that I talked to the other day they're not sure exactly where my household goods shipment is or when it will arrive. When I asked if she could at least confirm that it had left our last country of residence, she informed me that was not her job, and that she would get a call when they had an estimated date of arrival at which point she would inform me of said date. Somehow I'm not terribly comforted, considering that it only took my things two and a half weeks to get from here to there when we moved, and it's been nearly six weeks now since they packed our things up. I'm envisioning the movers having dance parties and goat roasts on our carpets and using all the beautiful yarn I bought in New Zealand to line their chicken houses or something.
Despite the fact that my furniture will apparently be sitting on bare wooden floors unless and until someone locates my household effects, it will be good to be back in our home again. The last year and a half seems sort of like a strange dream almost...like it can't be real that we worked that much under such surreal conditions. It actually hasn't been quite as weird to come home as I was afraid it might be, although it's definitely been a change of pace to go from our previous life nonstop work and nothing else to six weeks of hopping from one relative's house to another and seeing so many friends and relatives all at one time. In case you hadn't already guessed, I'll take this life over the other one any day of the week and twice on Sunday!
Friday, September 7, 2007
In case you thought we were cool
I know most of you are probably laughing already at that title, but just in case you actually thought we were cool, let me assure you that today proved that we are not. When we got off the plane here in San Antonio a few days ago, there was a poster advertising a new exhibit at the zoo entitled "Bug Mania!" This morning, you guessed it...Danny and I headed to the zoo to check out the wondrous world of bugs. And the prairie dog exhibit that is also at the zoo here, as I found when I looked up the hours of operation on the website.
Let me tell you, at 10:30 on a Thursday morning we were the ONLY ones there without a toddler or two in tow. The fact that the prairie dog exhibit was in the middle of the "tots zoo" section, which specified that it was built with children under five in mind, made it even better. If we had any shame, I'm sure we would have been very embarrassed to be the only ones over the age of four pressing our noses against the glass and squealing "look at the babies!"
Nevertheless, we had an awesome time walking around the zoo for a couple of hours, grinning and pointing right along with all of the three year olds at the monkeys and jaguars and bugs and such. We did, however, manage to restrain ourselves from crawling through the faux tunnel to get a better look at the prairie dogs, for which we were rather proud of ourselves.
Let me tell you, at 10:30 on a Thursday morning we were the ONLY ones there without a toddler or two in tow. The fact that the prairie dog exhibit was in the middle of the "tots zoo" section, which specified that it was built with children under five in mind, made it even better. If we had any shame, I'm sure we would have been very embarrassed to be the only ones over the age of four pressing our noses against the glass and squealing "look at the babies!"
Nevertheless, we had an awesome time walking around the zoo for a couple of hours, grinning and pointing right along with all of the three year olds at the monkeys and jaguars and bugs and such. We did, however, manage to restrain ourselves from crawling through the faux tunnel to get a better look at the prairie dogs, for which we were rather proud of ourselves.
Cooking again with real ingredients
Last night Danny and I made dinner for my parents and my grandfather, which was pretty exciting since it's maybe the first time we've cooked dinner together when we've had access to whatever ingredients we wanted since our vacation in New Zealand in January. We were inspired to try our own take on shrimp and grits after I obsessed about eating them last month only to be somewhat unpleasantly surprised when it arrived at my table swimming in sherry cream sauce. We decided we could make a better sort of Cajun/Italian version without the cream sauce or the sherry, and although I might tweak one or two things, I think we succeeded in doing that.
Instead of grits, we made polenta, which we refrigerated for a few hours and then grilled briefly. We also grilled Italian sausages, shrimp, onions, tomatoes and bell peppers, which we layered on top of the polenta. I squished the grilled tomatoes a little bit when I put them onto the stack to moisten it up, but next time I might stew the tomatoes instead to make a sort of a light fresh tomato sauce. We also steamed some zucchini and some summer squash to go next to the shrimp and other things.
I forgot to get a picture of it before we ate it, but it turned out looking very pretty and I definitely liked it better than the kind that was drowning in cream sauce!
Instead of grits, we made polenta, which we refrigerated for a few hours and then grilled briefly. We also grilled Italian sausages, shrimp, onions, tomatoes and bell peppers, which we layered on top of the polenta. I squished the grilled tomatoes a little bit when I put them onto the stack to moisten it up, but next time I might stew the tomatoes instead to make a sort of a light fresh tomato sauce. We also steamed some zucchini and some summer squash to go next to the shrimp and other things.
I forgot to get a picture of it before we ate it, but it turned out looking very pretty and I definitely liked it better than the kind that was drowning in cream sauce!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Home at last!
After a predictable level of drama and disorganization, including me having to leave early thanks to some obscure intestinal disorder that continues to baffle doctors here and two "duck-and-cover" alarms going off during the pack-out that Danny had to do by himself due to my aforementioned premature departure, we are at long last back in the blessed United States. It's been over a year for Danny since he was here, and had been over six months since my last visit late last year, and the readjustment has been both easier and harder than we anticipated so far. Mostly easier, as it often feels like we never left, but the weird little things that can be overwhelming have surprised us. Having to choose a restaurant, for one, threw me for a loop when it happened a week or so ago, as the sheer number of options were more than I could wrap my brain around.
I think more than anything it's the variety of everything that we're noticing. It's somewhat amazing, after nearly a year and a half of choosing between apples or oranges that have both been flown in from half-way across the globe and have suffered as a result of their long transport, to have what seems like endless varieties of EVERYTHING to choose from. Grocery stores in particular are amazing...we just wander through the aisles and stare at everything and try to resist the urge to buy one or two of every produce item.
Now that things are hopefully settling down a bit more, I will try to be better about keeping this up to date -- we're going to begin the process of looking at land and maybe houses in the next couple of weeks, and will also have a reunion with my side of the family, so there should be plenty of interesting goings-on!
I think more than anything it's the variety of everything that we're noticing. It's somewhat amazing, after nearly a year and a half of choosing between apples or oranges that have both been flown in from half-way across the globe and have suffered as a result of their long transport, to have what seems like endless varieties of EVERYTHING to choose from. Grocery stores in particular are amazing...we just wander through the aisles and stare at everything and try to resist the urge to buy one or two of every produce item.
Now that things are hopefully settling down a bit more, I will try to be better about keeping this up to date -- we're going to begin the process of looking at land and maybe houses in the next couple of weeks, and will also have a reunion with my side of the family, so there should be plenty of interesting goings-on!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
So close now
Despite my best intentions, it has once again been more than a week since I wrote (okay, so almost two...). This country has been doing its best to kill me and/or send me home early without being here for my pack-out, but I think I have finally triumphed. I'm hoping this is the last time I have to rid my system of some mysterious malicious something in this country at least. Since I have less than two weeks left here, I think I have a fighting chance.
On the topic of the last blog entry, we've decided to move all of our things into our temporary apartment (which has been leased, yay!) and to buy a car in DC to have while we're there and ship overseas. Our next post has a reasonably good public transportation system (and lots of cabs) in the area of town where we'll be living, so if our car isn't there immediately it's not the end of the world.
We have our pack-out and our final inspection scheduled, we have plane tickets, and we have all sorts of appointments set up when we get back with doctors and dentists. Now that I'm back from the dead and will hopefully be able to eat real food again soon, we're both getting very excited about our six weeks off at home to relax and visit family and friends and generally revel in being home and having the freedom to move around again! The lists of things we plan to do when we get back will follow...
On the topic of the last blog entry, we've decided to move all of our things into our temporary apartment (which has been leased, yay!) and to buy a car in DC to have while we're there and ship overseas. Our next post has a reasonably good public transportation system (and lots of cabs) in the area of town where we'll be living, so if our car isn't there immediately it's not the end of the world.
We have our pack-out and our final inspection scheduled, we have plane tickets, and we have all sorts of appointments set up when we get back with doctors and dentists. Now that I'm back from the dead and will hopefully be able to eat real food again soon, we're both getting very excited about our six weeks off at home to relax and visit family and friends and generally revel in being home and having the freedom to move around again! The lists of things we plan to do when we get back will follow...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The business of moving
One of the things that Danny and I are finding as we're preparing for this move is that our basic philosophies of what is easier and/or more logical when it comes to moving are very very different. Not surprising to anyone who knows us, I'm sure, as so many facets of our personalities are definitely very different, but this is one we hadn't run up against before. Here's our basic scenario: we're moving home for about four or five months, then moving again to another overseas post where we will be for three years and at which we will have a really apartment with access to real grocery stores and the ability to go outside.
My general belief is that if someone is going to do your moving for you, it's generally easier to go through everything you have before you move to get rid of the extraneous stuff, and then let them move everything. Clearly influenced by my previous life as a military brat, in which all I had to do was pick which toys and later clothes we were giving away, which ones went into air freight, and which ones went in our household effects. To that end, I've been advocating for getting all of our stuff out of storage, delivered to our temporary home, and then packed up again in December or January before we leave. I admit, even I don't know that unpacking, repacking and unpacking again within six months is actually easier, but at least that way I get to have my stuff while we're home and we don't end up in our next post with sixteen boxes of things that have been in storage for the past two or three years even before we moved that we don't even recognize as ours.
Danny was in favor of either having everything shipped straight from storage to our next post and making do while we were home with whatever is provided in a furnished apartment, thereby eliminating one of the extra packings and unpackings. Although I can see how that's probably more convenient on one level, I still want my things back, even thought it would just be a difference of a few months. I think some of it has to do with our different philosophies on moving -- he sees most anything that we'll be doing in the next few years as temporary, so doesn't see the point in getting everything out of storage for a temporary living situation. I, on the other hand, want to have all of my things around me so I can convince myself that wherever it is that I am is actually home even if only when I'm inside.
The other point of discussion has been the car -- we're home for five months, give or take. Do we buy a car there and have it shipped out, or rent one for five months and then buy one once we get to our next post? Do we buy a newish car at home, or an older one we don't mind being destroyed in transatlantic shipping? If we buy one there, same question -- older or newer? My initial thought is that it's easier to buy one in the States and ship it, since that way we can get whatever we want and someone else has to bother moving it. Danny generally agrees but pointed out that we should probably make sure they can actually get parts for and/or fix whatever car we get in our next temporary home. A valid point, I must admit.
We haven't come to final decisions on all of these points yet, and I'm sure we'll change our minds a few more times between now and January. I just thought it was interesting to see how things end up working. We have less than a month to go, which is awfully exciting!
One of the things that Danny and I are finding as we're preparing for this move is that our basic philosophies of what is easier and/or more logical when it comes to moving are very very different. Not surprising to anyone who knows us, I'm sure, as so many facets of our personalities are definitely very different, but this is one we hadn't run up against before. Here's our basic scenario: we're moving home for about four or five months, then moving again to another overseas post where we will be for three years and at which we will have a really apartment with access to real grocery stores and the ability to go outside.
My general belief is that if someone is going to do your moving for you, it's generally easier to go through everything you have before you move to get rid of the extraneous stuff, and then let them move everything. Clearly influenced by my previous life as a military brat, in which all I had to do was pick which toys and later clothes we were giving away, which ones went into air freight, and which ones went in our household effects. To that end, I've been advocating for getting all of our stuff out of storage, delivered to our temporary home, and then packed up again in December or January before we leave. I admit, even I don't know that unpacking, repacking and unpacking again within six months is actually easier, but at least that way I get to have my stuff while we're home and we don't end up in our next post with sixteen boxes of things that have been in storage for the past two or three years even before we moved that we don't even recognize as ours.
Danny was in favor of either having everything shipped straight from storage to our next post and making do while we were home with whatever is provided in a furnished apartment, thereby eliminating one of the extra packings and unpackings. Although I can see how that's probably more convenient on one level, I still want my things back, even thought it would just be a difference of a few months. I think some of it has to do with our different philosophies on moving -- he sees most anything that we'll be doing in the next few years as temporary, so doesn't see the point in getting everything out of storage for a temporary living situation. I, on the other hand, want to have all of my things around me so I can convince myself that wherever it is that I am is actually home even if only when I'm inside.
The other point of discussion has been the car -- we're home for five months, give or take. Do we buy a car there and have it shipped out, or rent one for five months and then buy one once we get to our next post? Do we buy a newish car at home, or an older one we don't mind being destroyed in transatlantic shipping? If we buy one there, same question -- older or newer? My initial thought is that it's easier to buy one in the States and ship it, since that way we can get whatever we want and someone else has to bother moving it. Danny generally agrees but pointed out that we should probably make sure they can actually get parts for and/or fix whatever car we get in our next temporary home. A valid point, I must admit.
We haven't come to final decisions on all of these points yet, and I'm sure we'll change our minds a few more times between now and January. I just thought it was interesting to see how things end up working. We have less than a month to go, which is awfully exciting!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
So almost four months later, I wonder if any of you are even still checking this?
I gave up for a while -- the sheer frustration of having every day be exactly the same since our last brief break in early April was really getting to me for a while, and rather than write cranky blog posts about how pointless it was to post anything when nothing ever changed I decided to fore go posting all together. For anyone who is still periodically checking this page, thank you for your patience and your faith that I would eventually pull myself out of my funk and get back to this blog!
We're now less than four weeks away from leaving, which I guess is why there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel. It's funny though, something I had forgotten about moving is that as much as being close to departure really does give me something to look forward to, it makes a lot of the little indignities of everyday life harder to bear as well since I know their time is limited. For that reason, I'm alternating between excitement about leaving and rage at how nonsensical so many of the things about my job are. I know when I was a kid, somehow I usually imagined that everything would be better when we got to the next place, that I would be cooler and less awkward and everyone would love me (hey, cut me some slack, I was a kid!), and I'm trying not to make our homecoming into a panacea as I know there will be plenty of frustrations once we get there, but there are so many things that will be so lovely about being back in America and out of this job!
It's funny the things you forget to factor in when you don't have to deal with them for a while. We realized last night, for instance, that we have booked our plane tickets out of Richmond, where we will leave our yet-to-be-purchased car, and back into D.C. It only later occurred to us that we were not going to be driven to the airport in an armored car, and would in fact have to figure out how to get ourselves back to our car if we ever wanted to be able to drive it again. It's the little things...
I gave up for a while -- the sheer frustration of having every day be exactly the same since our last brief break in early April was really getting to me for a while, and rather than write cranky blog posts about how pointless it was to post anything when nothing ever changed I decided to fore go posting all together. For anyone who is still periodically checking this page, thank you for your patience and your faith that I would eventually pull myself out of my funk and get back to this blog!
We're now less than four weeks away from leaving, which I guess is why there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel. It's funny though, something I had forgotten about moving is that as much as being close to departure really does give me something to look forward to, it makes a lot of the little indignities of everyday life harder to bear as well since I know their time is limited. For that reason, I'm alternating between excitement about leaving and rage at how nonsensical so many of the things about my job are. I know when I was a kid, somehow I usually imagined that everything would be better when we got to the next place, that I would be cooler and less awkward and everyone would love me (hey, cut me some slack, I was a kid!), and I'm trying not to make our homecoming into a panacea as I know there will be plenty of frustrations once we get there, but there are so many things that will be so lovely about being back in America and out of this job!
It's funny the things you forget to factor in when you don't have to deal with them for a while. We realized last night, for instance, that we have booked our plane tickets out of Richmond, where we will leave our yet-to-be-purchased car, and back into D.C. It only later occurred to us that we were not going to be driven to the airport in an armored car, and would in fact have to figure out how to get ourselves back to our car if we ever wanted to be able to drive it again. It's the little things...
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Ouch
Apparently sitting at one's desk for 12 hours a day does NOT help one stay in shape. I seem to remember reading that somewhere, but I was reminded of that lesson afresh today. Yesterday was one of the first warmish days we've had, and in a fit of spring fever I agreed to a game of pick-up soccer on the front lawn of the compound here. And as if that weren't enough of a shock to my atrophied muscles, after the game my friend and I decided to do some acrobatics on the grass, including my first back walk-over in probably a decade.
Suffice it to say that the goose egg-sized lump on my shin is the least painful result of that game -- every muscle in my body is screaming at me today. But it was FUN! I realized what a negative effect the endless hours of fluorescent lights and computer screens must have been having on my general outlook when 90 minutes in the sunshine running around and trying to do an aerial again (not totally successful, but then again I used to have spring floors on my side!) made me feel like a totally new person. We've decided that the soccer game should be a weekly occurrence, and despite the fact that I'll probably be back to sporting constant bruises like I did all through my childhood and high school, I'm totally psyched to have something to look forward to on Fridays. I'll just have to invest in pain killers for Saturdays...
Suffice it to say that the goose egg-sized lump on my shin is the least painful result of that game -- every muscle in my body is screaming at me today. But it was FUN! I realized what a negative effect the endless hours of fluorescent lights and computer screens must have been having on my general outlook when 90 minutes in the sunshine running around and trying to do an aerial again (not totally successful, but then again I used to have spring floors on my side!) made me feel like a totally new person. We've decided that the soccer game should be a weekly occurrence, and despite the fact that I'll probably be back to sporting constant bruises like I did all through my childhood and high school, I'm totally psyched to have something to look forward to on Fridays. I'll just have to invest in pain killers for Saturdays...
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
It's official...
...I'm giving up on doing the day-by-day posting on our trip to New Zealand. It seems a little silly to keep trying to do that when we're leaving for our next trip two weeks from tomorrow, doesn't it?
Some highlights -- our two houses on the south island were both really cool. On the east coast, we stayed in Woodside Cottage, near Blenheim and Kaikoura. The house was right in the middle of sheep pastures, so we were surrounded by the sounds and sights of sheep the whole time, which was pretty much exactly what we wanted as it involved very few other humans. :) We walked along the black sand beaches and cooked several pretty amazing meals, as well as spending plenty of quality time lazing in front of the fire.
Here's the view our our kitchen table and the pastures beyond (and the ocean way off in the distance):
On the west coast, we stayed at the Okari Lake Hideaway, which was even more remote than Woodside Cottage -- we shared it only with Oliver and Edwina, our flightless bird friends who tried incessantly to get into the cottage. Having been fairly warned by our hosts that weccas tend to get very nervous once they actually get into the house and...void their digestive systems...we made sure that they didn't succeed in their quest.
The view from our porch at Okari:
Oliver or Edwina:
Monday, February 26, 2007
Hawke's Bay and Wellington
Monday
15 January 2007
Hawke’s Bay & Wellington, North Island
After breakfast in Taupo, we headed out east toward Hawke’s Bay near Napier, to have lunch and visit a couple of vineyards before going into Wellington. The drive down here to Hawke’s Bay was beautiful, through mountains and valleys and yet more sheep and cows. As an extra added bonus, on our way out of Taupo it cleared enough for us to get a great view of Mount Doom in the distance – I can’t remember its real name right a the moment. We had decided not to drive through Tongariro Park in the interest of getting to see the vineyards, but were very glad that we didn’t end up missing out on seeing the mountain.
Hawke’s Bay is really beautiful – a lot like California wine country but so chill and unpretentious. That’s sort of the most striking thing about New Zealand so far – the utter lack of pretense.
Instead of the one winery we originally planned to visit in Hawke’s Bay, we saw three wineries and one honey farm. We ate lunch at Clearview and did a tasting there – Barbara described Clearview as a “boutique-y” vineyard and it was by far our favorite. It was smaller and less institutional than the others that we visited, and the wine and food were excellent.
After Clearview we went to Craggy Range, and then on to Trinity Hills (where we finally found wine label removers, much to our delight). In between those two we stopped at the Atoraki honey farm and bought up some thyme and Tawari honeys.
From Hawke’s Bay we headed straight for Wellington. Although when we first drive into town we had a twinge of regret at leaving the small town feel of Taupo behind, we quickly realized that Wellington is still fairly small and friendly. The Booklover’s B&B where we’re staying is really cute – just off the main restaurant and shopping drag by a few blocks. It’s run by Jane, who also writes books, and is a lot like a place I would put together – books and jars of home-made cookies and tea sachets scattered throughout.
After getting briefly settled in our room, we headed out in search of dinner. The one restaurant I really wanted to eat in was closed on Mondays according to my guidebook, but when we walked by, it turned out to be open after all. So we ate at “Kai in the City,” a Maori-inspired restaurant. We had to wait a little while to get a seat, but the food was simple and delicious. We split a seafood platter – oysters and mussels and salmon cakes and squid fritters and seafood chowder as well as some dipping sauces and Maori bread.
We were so sleepy by the end of the meal that we walked straight back to the B&B to read our blessings devotion and go to bed. I ended up reading way too late, although Danny crashed at a reasonable hour – our room has a little love seat in a bay window, and I spent some time planning how to use it tomorrow and where we needed to go around town.
15 January 2007
Hawke’s Bay & Wellington, North Island
After breakfast in Taupo, we headed out east toward Hawke’s Bay near Napier, to have lunch and visit a couple of vineyards before going into Wellington. The drive down here to Hawke’s Bay was beautiful, through mountains and valleys and yet more sheep and cows. As an extra added bonus, on our way out of Taupo it cleared enough for us to get a great view of Mount Doom in the distance – I can’t remember its real name right a the moment. We had decided not to drive through Tongariro Park in the interest of getting to see the vineyards, but were very glad that we didn’t end up missing out on seeing the mountain.
Hawke’s Bay is really beautiful – a lot like California wine country but so chill and unpretentious. That’s sort of the most striking thing about New Zealand so far – the utter lack of pretense.
Instead of the one winery we originally planned to visit in Hawke’s Bay, we saw three wineries and one honey farm. We ate lunch at Clearview and did a tasting there – Barbara described Clearview as a “boutique-y” vineyard and it was by far our favorite. It was smaller and less institutional than the others that we visited, and the wine and food were excellent.
After Clearview we went to Craggy Range, and then on to Trinity Hills (where we finally found wine label removers, much to our delight). In between those two we stopped at the Atoraki honey farm and bought up some thyme and Tawari honeys.
From Hawke’s Bay we headed straight for Wellington. Although when we first drive into town we had a twinge of regret at leaving the small town feel of Taupo behind, we quickly realized that Wellington is still fairly small and friendly. The Booklover’s B&B where we’re staying is really cute – just off the main restaurant and shopping drag by a few blocks. It’s run by Jane, who also writes books, and is a lot like a place I would put together – books and jars of home-made cookies and tea sachets scattered throughout.
After getting briefly settled in our room, we headed out in search of dinner. The one restaurant I really wanted to eat in was closed on Mondays according to my guidebook, but when we walked by, it turned out to be open after all. So we ate at “Kai in the City,” a Maori-inspired restaurant. We had to wait a little while to get a seat, but the food was simple and delicious. We split a seafood platter – oysters and mussels and salmon cakes and squid fritters and seafood chowder as well as some dipping sauces and Maori bread.
We were so sleepy by the end of the meal that we walked straight back to the B&B to read our blessings devotion and go to bed. I ended up reading way too late, although Danny crashed at a reasonable hour – our room has a little love seat in a bay window, and I spent some time planning how to use it tomorrow and where we needed to go around town.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Lake Taupo, New Zealand (part 1 of several)
This time around on R&R, we actually managed to keep a sort of a travel journal, which I will crib from shamelessly to fill everyone in on our awesome trip to New Zealand and Sydney. I'll pare it down a little bit since it filled a small notebook, but at least this way you'll get to see all the highlights of our trip (unlike the China trip, which I realize that I never finished writing about). Danny and I each contributed different portions of the narrative, but except where it actually makes a difference I'm going to skip differentiating who wrote what.
Sunday, 14 January 2007
Lake Taupo, North Island
After a 21 hour flight (including 3 stops), we were very glad indeed to get here yesterday afternoon. We drove down here to Taupo from Auckland -- a really beautiful drive through hills and pastures and more livestock than either of us has seen in a while. Tons and tons of sheep, but also cows, alpacas, and "red deer," which look like reindeer. We arrived at the Paeroa Homestay place, and were slightly surprised (despite the name) to find that we actually are staying in the upstairs of someone's house. It's a lovely room, though, and the couple who run the place are very nice. We keep thinking we could do something like this one day.
The view from our balcony (over Lake Taupo across to the Tongarira National Park):
This morning we had breakfast with Barbara & John, the couple who own the house. Barbara made some recommendations for what we should see, but since the weather was still overcast and drizzly this morning, we ended up walking around town a bit and buying presents for people before lunch. We had a mussel-rich lunch at Fine Fettle and then headed up to hike to Huka Falls. I had forgotten sunscreen and by that time the sun was out with a vengeance, but the hike up was beautiful and surprisingly devoid of people considering how famous the falls are here.
Huka Falls:
With my beginnings of a sunburn and both of us quite warm, we decided to head back to Paeroa to cool off in the lake and relax a bit before dinner. So we swam in the icy lake and it was...icy, but refreshing. We then sat on the porch and read a bit before going to dinner at Plateau in town. We had a devotion together before lunch, and have committed to establishing a few things before we return (reluctantly) to the place from whence we came, including making more time for God, for being physically in better shape, and for each other.
Sunday, 14 January 2007
Lake Taupo, North Island
After a 21 hour flight (including 3 stops), we were very glad indeed to get here yesterday afternoon. We drove down here to Taupo from Auckland -- a really beautiful drive through hills and pastures and more livestock than either of us has seen in a while. Tons and tons of sheep, but also cows, alpacas, and "red deer," which look like reindeer. We arrived at the Paeroa Homestay place, and were slightly surprised (despite the name) to find that we actually are staying in the upstairs of someone's house. It's a lovely room, though, and the couple who run the place are very nice. We keep thinking we could do something like this one day.
The view from our balcony (over Lake Taupo across to the Tongarira National Park):
We're not sure yet if it's just Taupo or all of New Zealand, but we've decided the best description we can think of for what we've seen so far is "Goochland, CA." It's chill and beautiful and full of good wine and produce like California, but unpretentious and natural like Goochland.
This morning we had breakfast with Barbara & John, the couple who own the house. Barbara made some recommendations for what we should see, but since the weather was still overcast and drizzly this morning, we ended up walking around town a bit and buying presents for people before lunch. We had a mussel-rich lunch at Fine Fettle and then headed up to hike to Huka Falls. I had forgotten sunscreen and by that time the sun was out with a vengeance, but the hike up was beautiful and surprisingly devoid of people considering how famous the falls are here.
Huka Falls:
With my beginnings of a sunburn and both of us quite warm, we decided to head back to Paeroa to cool off in the lake and relax a bit before dinner. So we swam in the icy lake and it was...icy, but refreshing. We then sat on the porch and read a bit before going to dinner at Plateau in town. We had a devotion together before lunch, and have committed to establishing a few things before we return (reluctantly) to the place from whence we came, including making more time for God, for being physically in better shape, and for each other.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
...after that brief musical interlude
We're back!
We've actually been back for about a week, but as per usual the readjustment took a little while. This time it was easier in a way because we have less than six weeks left (18 weeks!), but harder as well because New Zealand was INCREDIBLE. Clean, beautiful, quiet, with wonderful food and scenery and really really nice people. We schemed and connived to try to figure out how we could stay there, but figured that faking our own deaths would result in way more administrative red tape when we later tried to apply for residency there.
I'll post pictures and such soon; most of them will be of green hills and sheep and the views from our windows, since we did no real sight-seeing while we were there, just drove around and went for long walks every day.
Back on the (temporary) home front, things are about the same as always. We're trying to keep from getting too heavily into the short-timer mentality and remind ourselves that we still have several months left here that we need to make sure are not a total black hole, but it's definitely a struggle to keep focused when we're this relatively close.
We've actually been back for about a week, but as per usual the readjustment took a little while. This time it was easier in a way because we have less than six weeks left (18 weeks!), but harder as well because New Zealand was INCREDIBLE. Clean, beautiful, quiet, with wonderful food and scenery and really really nice people. We schemed and connived to try to figure out how we could stay there, but figured that faking our own deaths would result in way more administrative red tape when we later tried to apply for residency there.
I'll post pictures and such soon; most of them will be of green hills and sheep and the views from our windows, since we did no real sight-seeing while we were there, just drove around and went for long walks every day.
Back on the (temporary) home front, things are about the same as always. We're trying to keep from getting too heavily into the short-timer mentality and remind ourselves that we still have several months left here that we need to make sure are not a total black hole, but it's definitely a struggle to keep focused when we're this relatively close.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Wouldn't you rather have me than a clean house?
That title is an actual quote uttered by me just yesterday. The occasion? Since my return yesterday morning, and the resulting partial unpacking of all the goodies that I brought back from "the homeland," there are things scattered all over the bedroom floor and living room. The "things" include everything from suitcases to Christmas presents to shoes, and yesterday Danny tripped over one or another of those items as he attempted to traverse our bedroom. He indicated his disapproval of the messiness of the room, to which I replied (in all seriousness) with the quote above. We both, of course, promptly burst out laughing that I would think that was an appropriate response to his frustration with my stuff lying all over the floor.
The sad thing is that for most of the time that we've been married, having me does equal not having a clean house. The brief three months during which I wasn't working was about the only time that I actually kept up with keeping things neat, but I can't totally blame my job for the fact that I've never cared too much about neatness. I don't like dirtiness, but some piles of things lying around really don't faze me. I often don't even notice.
When Danny went TDY for a couple of months last year, it took me three days of cleaning up after work to put away the piles of stuff that had accumulated in his absence, and even then he started cleaning up the morning after he got back. My sister at some point bought a book entitled "How Not to be a Messy," which I should probably have brought here rather than storing. Of course, I've had it for six and a half years now without it seeming to make much of a difference...
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