Glass half full or empty....

What a interesting day! Being here in Arlington has been delightful, it really has, but today put some serious question marks in that thought. It started with a call from the housing dept. saying our dog was too noisy according to our neighbor, and unless we wanted to move, we must get rid of it. I, being the rigid rule follower, complied with the request, with much angst. I spent the morning trying to call housing but got no reply, until a lovely email asking whether I could be reached by phone as there was some other pressing concerns regarding our stay in this apartment. Are you kidding me? What could that mean..... one guess.... noisy children. Sorry, they are not going to the shelter, no way, no how! I guess the actual complaint from same glass half empty neighbor was that they were concerned about how many people where living in our apartment. It seemed to them that we were over the limit. ALL FOUR of us. Guess what.... not ok to have too many friends coming to visit. The 11th floor of this complex is for the friendless.

Mid day, I have a telephone interview from the HR department of the job I have applied for. I have already had a personal interview with the manager but now I have to do what is called a 'talent' interview. I must answer the questions but not be given any context in which they are meaning.

#1 Are you a person who likes to accomplish things or get things done? Obvious answer would be yes. Answering no, I like to sit on my ass and watch the world turn, probably would not get you the job.

#2 Can you give me an example of how you accomplished something in the last two days? What like the laundry, feeding and dressing my kids, getting them to school on time, or making dinner?

#3 Are you an extrovert or introvert? and can you give me an example of this behavior in your life?

#4 Have you ever been surprised by know what someone was going to say before they say it? AM I a mind reader? What?

#5 When coming into a room with a group of people, can you immediately tell what is wrong and how to fix it? .... why does something have to be wrong with a group of people. OMG when 2 or more are gathered one must know something is amiss.

This interview went on and on for 45 mins, not including the time she had to quickly hang up the phone as the interviewer thought she had lost all the information and we would have to start again. She called back and assured me, she had not lost the information, and we could continue. This left me wondering, if this was part of my talent test. Did I perform well to disruption, and could I be pleasant to an incompetent co-worker?

As the day progressed I was sadden to see the crate which our beloved dog (of which we had for a month) slept in. I loaded it up to return it to the pet store. I had lost the receipt so I had to take a store credit. So I bought our now overjoyed cat, who was free from said dog, a new cat post. While waiting in line at the check out. My lovely boy, B, decided it was a great swinging toy, and promptly launched himself off of it, and kicked an elderly lady square in the knee. Oh joy! She bellowed and moaned, and B smiled and smiled until I asked him to say sorry. He yelled at me and the lady he would not say sorry..... OMG, mother of the year for me! The lady must have glared at him or something because now he was on the floor screaming and crying like he was going to get a vaccination shot. This was a very embarrassing moment. I did manage to get him up off the floor and to utter some sort of 'sorry' before the lady promptly left the store. I, being the nurse, watched her leave, and there was no limping (just to clarify)

I am thankful today. Yes I am.... for what.... that Miss Glass Half Empty across the hall is now fully empty, and my kids will never be asked to be quiet while we are walking down the hall. They can be as loud and running free as they wish. I am thankful for the goldfish cracker B dropped and is now wedged underneath her door. It's good to be thankful for the little things in life, and to know, my glass is half full. No matter what happens, it's full and can not be tipped over!

Social

My weekend was very full. It started on Thursday, when I went on an excursion to find many indian spices. With much luck and a few phone calls to Oggie, I found the Indian Spice store! I bought my goodies, and planned to make a homemade, from scratch curry the next day. Once home, the kids and I proceeded to craft 20-30 small Bangladesh flags for decorations. We were going to a Bangladesh party at friends Friday night, thus my attempt at cooking.

Friday, with the kids at school, I attempted my first curry. To my surprise, the bowl with the small marble bowl with the rounded thingy to grind spices is not very effective. I opened the cardamon pods to get the seeds out, then added cumin, fennel, coriander seeds and toasted them. Then I crushed them, and crushed them, and grinded and grinded.... it took forever and much muscle strength. I got it done and 2 hours later I had a fine powder! Sad, isn't it? I had bought curry powder just in case I didn't do it right, but I was determined. I made the curry, it actually wasn't bad, but needed a little more salt. There will be NO need time to correct this issue.

Saturday, the family and friends went to a national park. Great Falls. It was a lovely park where the kids could explore and pretend they were soldiers, pioneer people, George Washington, Pocahontas or whatever J, R's friend helped them imagine for that moment. Great day.

Saturday night was O's birthday dinner. Even though the reservation was for 19, the restaurant thought 12 chair equaled that. I am sure we all overwhelmed the restaurant, but it turned out well. The kids ate and went home with Daddy, while I stayed and enjoyed some adult time. After dinner, O wanted to go dancing, and planned to meet up with some people downtown DC. Off we went. HAVANA VILLAGE. Nice little Cuban club with salsa dancing and mojitos, neither of which I have experienced. Mojitos are yummy and salsa is very nice to watch. I on the other hand am not nice to watch Salsa dancing. Some Cuban man dragged me out there and I am not sure he understood, when I explained I was Canadian and couldn't dance. He was patient and taught me the steps, over and over and over again. Everytime I thought I got the hang of it, I either stepped on someone's toes and lost all rhythm or Cuban man changed up the steps and confused me. Turn this way, turn that way, back, forward, to the side, now left and then right. 'Oh look at the time! It's time for me to turn into a pumpkin and go. Thanks, Bye.'

Sunday was spent at the pool, trying to recover from Saturday. Husband had arranged to go hiking with a group, so I had the day to myself. This meant much time was spent at the pool with the kids. It was the last day of the season for the pool and the kids had fun. All and all it was a relaxing day. UNTIL...

We get back up to the apt, to find the dog has chewed up three pairs of shoes! I don't know if you all remember from an early post, but I didn't receive my shoe in my UAB, so I don't have many shoes! GD dog! I was very angry and upset, so I did what every good dog owner does, and takes the dog to run at the dog park. Did he run? NO, he sniffed, and peed and more sniffing and more peeing. GD dog! Read up on chewing that evening,.... separation anxiety. Really? We were gone for an hour, to the pool downstairs. I guess he just couldn't cope. PAXIL anyone? Poor puppy will not be left out of his crate anymore. Crate always when we aren't home, even if we are just going to be gone for 20 mins.

Today, B and I met another Mama and her three year old at a park. They are leaving in 2 weeks for Bangladesh. It was nice to meet up and play and I will be excited to see them again in Dhaka. Familiar faces will be a godsend when we arrive I am sure.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to taking the kids to school and staying home. Feet up, read a book, and not leave the apartment. I did have grocery shopping to do, but I decided to give this online service a try. They will deliver it tomorrow morning. NICE for me. I even added bubble bath to the order so I can have a hot bath when no one is home tomorrow.

Children are not mini Adults

This weekend has been interesting. We went for lunch at the Diplomat's Bangla teacher's home. She provided us a feast of Bangladesh food, which I found amazing. We met up with all his classmates, which was good.

Problem 1: R, had a crying fit before we left, as she didn't want to go, she didn't want food from Bangladesh, she didn't want anything. We finally calmed her down, at least she was just giving us the silent treatment. We could take the the frowning scowl on her face as long as she wasn't screaming anymore.

Problem 2: Lost in DC. Map was not very clear, and google maps also wasn't clear. Maybe it was just my map skills but we were late. Not to worry, others were late as well.

Problem 3: Not a kid friendly or not an active boy friendly apartment. Beautiful apt, with wonderful artifacts from all over the world. Beautiful and breakable. Mommy's stress level rising. Thank god, nothing broke, no pages out of books or magazines riped and only water spilt in the kitchen. Whew

Problem 4: Sulking R. R would not talk to anyone, or look at anyone, she refused to eat, and was on the verge of tears or meltdown the whole visit. Daddy promised there would be sweets to eat after lunch and so she tried to focus on that. When they came out, it was a rice or noodle pudding with watermelon. OMG, not dessert to an seven year old. Pout more, girlfriend.

Problem 5: The not so silent B. It's one thing to have a little girl give you the silent treatment but it's quite another to have a four year old, tell you exactly, and to tell everyone around him, HE WANTED A TREAT! OMG There was no consoling him, even with the granola bar I threw in my bag before we left.

Problem 6: Embarrassed Parents. How could our children behave in such a way? It was so crazy. Oh my, I should have been more prepared, activity books, food, chocolate, nintendos blah blah blah. Really our children should learn to behave around adult company, right. Wrong. They are kids in turmoil, and they are not going to behave the way we would like. We shouldn't have expected them too. They have never been to a lunch or dinner just with adults.

Problem 7: Tired and cranky parents with two hungry and cranky kids trying to drive home from DC. OMG, lost again. Ok I need a class in Map skills. Maybe I should just buy a GPS. Thank god the kids fell asleep in the car.

I spent the rest of the weekend reading about "Raising Global Nomads". They are normal kids, and this is going to be hard, but in the long run, it will all be good.

"If only we could remember that the outcomes are a success when we are in the midst of turmoil"

I am so glad not to be working right now, so I can help my children through this. Not sure I know how to help them through this but we are together, and as long as they know we love them, it's going to be ok.

Settling in for the year

This week has been a little busy, but pleasant. We had meet the teacher day at school, where R got to see her classroom and meet her teacher and student teacher. She didn't look too thrilled, but I was more than happy. Two teachers and a class size of 18. Sounds lovely to me. Up on the walls were examples of what they would be learning throughout the year, which excited me, and made R nervous. She thought it looked too hard. I assured her, that she though Kindergarten and First grade would be too hard, but she sail through rather easily.

I also signed B up for preschool, which I am very lucky to have found. EVERYWHERE has a waitlist and interviews. Interviews of the the parents not the school. So different here than in Monroe, Washington. He is excited to go, but it is a little small for his taste. He informed me, that he did not see the playroom. His daycare in Monroe, had a indoor playroom room, just for active play, most likely due to the amount of rain the northwest sees. He is getting so big, and I can't believe he is in Pre-K. My baby is a big boy!

Last night, R went over, well up 6 flights really, to her new friends apt. They were having a spa session. Two 7 year old twins, and an 8 year old, all girls and all excited to have another girl around. They played for hours, doing hair, facials and cucumber eye treatment. We went down to pick her up for dinner, then we all decided to go. Nine of us, their family and our, went across the street for chinese. We took over their whole upstairs. It was great food, and the girls had a blast. Ben, was just along for the ride. After dinner, the girls planned to watch Camp Rock 2, and have a sleep-over. Crazy. Ben watched the movie down here and fell asleep on the floor.

The week has been great and very normal. Last weekend we added a dog to our family. A small/medium size mutt from a local shelter. He is darling. Sleeps at me feet, wherever I am, and walks quietly on the leash. Took a couple of days to potty training, but great now. He is very thin, and has a scar on his neck that looks to be an old embedded collar scar. Poor little man, what a life he has had. Scars on his ears and face. We took him to the dog park yesterday and he like it, coming out of his shell and playing with other dogs, slowly. He is very afraid of big square trucks. One that you can imagine in movies that are the 'dog pound' trucks. Kai, will be coming with us to Bangladesh, along with our cat Fiona.