Does This Remind You Of Anything?

By 8:00 a.m. this morning, I was dressed in a skirt, wearing makeup and accessories, and seated in a beautifully decorated living room with 20 other people listening to two very smart men talk politics.  I sat and nodded when appropriate, chuckled when others did, and pretended to actually follow the diatribe on foreign policy.  

Folks, I was not the sharpest tool in the shed this morning.  I wasn't even IN the shed.  There was banter about North Korea and China and Polland and Russia.  I do know where all those places are located but am I fluent in their politics?  Uh, no.  

Today was one of those days where I was reminded that there is A LOT that I don't know.  

And then I went to lunch with a group celebrating our friend and the upcoming birth of her new baby girl.  We asked for the beautifully decorated cake with Baby Girl written on the top to be served for dessert.  Our very attentive waiters brought the cake with a candle and proceeded to sing Happy Birthday at the top of their lungs.  

I guess it's appropriate......in an interesting kind of way!  

Today was one of those days where I was reminded that I am merely a visitor in a country that is not my own.  

Tonight I helped pack Garrett for a weekend long campout in another country.  I then listened as Nathan told me about an issue on the bus home today where he had to physically hold back a kid from hitting another kid until counselors intervened.

Today was one of those days where I was reminded that my boys are quickly growing up and I have very mixed emotions about that.  

I'm signing off for the weekend that includes a Saturday where miraculously, Scot and I have an entire day all to ourselves.  

Tomorrow I will be reminded of how much I love spending time with my man!

Just Breathe

I think it's safe to say that almost two years into life in Singapore, we have done our fair share of flying.  If it's not within the 272 square miles of Singapore then we have to get on a plane to get there.

Needless to say, our whole family stopped paying attention to the flight attendant and her safety speech a long, long time ago.  We know to buckle our seat belts, we know there's a safety card in the seatback in front of us, we know where the inflatable vests are kept and how to put them on and that there's a whistle attached to call for help. (Oh, how tempted I've been to check out that whistle for myself!) We know that our seatbacks need to be in their full and upright position for takeoff.

We also know that if there's a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling.  The instructions are to put on your own mask first and then assist those around you.

I can remember traveling with small children and wondering if that act would get my "Good Mother of the Year" award revoked.

Here kids, I know you're scared and we're running out of oxygen, but let me get settled first and then I will help you.....just before you lose consciousness.

A dear friend of mine, Alicia, was just talking about this today.  How true the oxygen mask theory is in real life.

As moms we clean up all the messes around us.....figuratively and literally.  We breathe life into our husbands, our kids, our homes, our volunteer jobs and our paying jobs.  We breathe life into our friendships and our hobbies.

How often do we stop and take a breath for ourselves first?

Taking time to spend with God.

Breathe

Casting our cares and concerns on Him.

Breathe

Thanking Him for our blessings so we are reminded to be content.

Breathe

Reading His word and remembering that we are not in control.

Breathe

Praising Him for being trustworthy and loving and full of grace.

Breathe

Laying our cares and concerns at His feet.

Breathe

Resting in the knowledge that He knows the desires of our heart.

Breathe

When we take time to breathe first, then we can turn to those around us and breathe life into them as well......without losing consciousness.

It can be life saving.

Photo Dump Wednesday

After sitting in front of my computer trying to come up with a catchy moniker for today's post I finally decided to go for the direct route.  

I am bad about downloading photos from my phone.  I take pictures and usually text or email them to someone and then they will sit on my phone forever.  

Typically I will find 862 pictures that look just like this:

Or some other form of strange photo morphing that happens when my phone is hijacked.

I also find photos like this:

The evidence of a good Adventure Club day.  This is Vanessa's arm post paint ball....Adventure Club is not for the faint of heart.

And then there was this:

This guy got on the plane in comfy shorts, dress socks and dress shoes.  I'm not sure if he was prepared to do 5 sets of lunges down the aisle or accidentally dropped a cup of coffee on his slacks.

And a reminder from this day:

Teacher conference day and we decided to browse through the Science Fair first.  Nathan didn't participate and there was great rejoicing in the Jenkins household because of it.  I still haven't recovered from the days of my youth when I had to do Science Fair.  I hated it.  I loathed it.  I had a best friend who grew crystals and won every single year.  She was 4'11" and named Heather.  I hugged and hugged Nathan this day and told him how proud I was of him for not getting sucked into Science Fair hell.  Then I bought him ice cream.  Parenting at its finest!

Oh how we love this little guy:

Meet Gus.  He's our rent-a-dog.  His parents are empty nesters living here and they travel often.  Since they opted not to get a helper they were in need of someone to babysit Gus.  We love him.  We cuddle with him.  We talk babytalk to him.  Then we send him home for a few weeks until he comes to visit again.  Scot's and my first real taste of what it will be like to be Granparents....or grown ups who hold the dog on their lap because he's afraid of thunder and proceed to talk him through it.  Not that I'm doing that right now or anything......

The only photos I have from Easter:

We were at an Easter lunch after church and the family had a bunny costume.  Nathan couldn't resist and down the stairs he hopped much to the delight of the moms and children.....

but not his dad.

The day I wanted to murder a 7th grader that was not my own flesh and blood:

Nathan came home upset after having slime slapped on his back by a teenager on his bus.  This picture was my evidence for when I called the school asking that the slime wielding teenager replace this shirt.  The photographic evidence wasn't necessary as all was resolved in a calm, cool, collected manner but darn it if I wasn't disappointed a little bit about not being able to showcase my quick thinking, evidence collecting ways!

Not Scot's finest hour:

A sprained ankle just prior to a trip where we'd be hiking up a mountain.  

Today:

I am doing a Bible study with 3 friends and I had to take a picture and text it to all of them making sure they had done this page.  Reminders of who I am.  Not what the world says I am, not what I say I am, but what the God of the universe says I am.  

Picture perfect in His eyes.

The Kiss of Death

I love my boys.  I think they are funny and interesting and.....well, unexpected.  I love that they keep me on my toes.  I love how humble they keep me, I really do.

In March I was asked to sit on a parenting panel for a MOPS meeting at our church and the very next week I got to speak to the MOPS group at our church and the very next few week after that, both boys went off the deep end.  One wanted to run away, one acted like a lunatic at a party, one was failing a class, one said a bad word, one wasn't invited to a party.

Just in case I thought for some reason that I had the whole parenting thing all figured out, they clearly set out to prove that I don't.

To make it even better?  I have witnesses.  Yeah for me.

It was a good, swift kick in the hiney to remind me of several things:

1.  It is NEVER a good idea to let your self-image be wrapped up in the behavior of your kids.  That is a wild ride that will make you puke every single time.

2.  Do not let fear motivate parenting.  We fear our kid will walk out if we punish them, so we don't.  We fear our kid won't like us if we set boundaries, so we don't.  We fear our kid will fail, so we don't let them suffer the consequences of their actions.

3.  We clearly do not know our kids near as well as the One who actually created them.  It just might be a good idea to ask Him how to best raise them.  Parenting books are all fine and good, but they most definitely should not take the place of praying over our children and asking for wisdom every single day.....or hour.....or second.

4.  Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more of a witness to our kids than our own actions.  They can be preached at and in church 7 days a week but if they have parents that claim to be godly and act anything but, then they are getting nothing more than a good lesson in hypocrisy.

5.  A friend told me the other day that the older her kids get, the less judgemental she becomes of other parents.  The words, "My kid will never......" are the kiss of death.  Kids will mess up.  They will make choices that leave us with our jaws on the floor wondering which side of the family their genes came from.  They will question and argue and roll their eyes and slam a door and stomp out of a room.  My struggle is to not let those times define my success as a parent.

My kids aren't perfect.  Scot and I aren't perfect.

But He is perfect.

And I'm never accepting an invite to speak on parenting ever again.  Never, ever, ever again.

Life with Boys

Once upon a time there was an eleven year old who begged his mother for permission to stay at his best friend's house after school.  After presenting multiple reasons for why this was a good idea, the mother relented.

Two hours later the mother's phone rings and she sees it's the best friend's mom.  She answers with a "what's wrong?" and hears that her son has bumped his head and is now laying on the couch trying to fall asleep.

The mother knows this is bad news and calls her friend that is an ER nurse that lives near the best friend.  The ER nurse is gracious enough to rush over to check on the eleven year old while the mother waits anxiously by the phone wondering if her night was going to end at the hospital.

Soon the phone rings and the mother answers and hears lots of laughter and a disjointed story via several different boys.  The gist of the story is that the head injury was made up in order to mask the fact that the eleven year old isn't feeling well.

Head injury.

Upset stomach.

Head injury.

Upset stomach.

The eleven year old gets on the phone with the mother and explains that he didn't want to have to go home.  The eleven year old and his friends thought claiming he had bumped his head would ensure his chance to stay put.

Many tears, a taxi ride later, a plastic bag that will never be the same again and the eleven year old is now tucked into bed.  Without a head injury.

Not that the mother didn't think about giving him one.

Dying Brain Cells

Today has been one of those days where I feel like I've been home for brief 4 minute increments of water and potty breaks in between outings.  It's one of those days that has been so random you aren't sure if you accomplished a lot or nothing at all.

I went with a friend to take her two toy poodles for Rabies shots in preparation of their move to Dallas in June.

I went to lunch with a friend at a Greek restaurant that has the most amazing salad known to man.

I went to Bible study for 54 minutes because that's all the time we had before rushing off to meet kids at home.

I drug Nathan on an errand to drop off paperwork and then bribed him with Starbucks to run another errand that ended up being a wild goose chase even though he busted out his Mandarin trying to assist his frustrated mother in asking for directions.  I love it when he does that......purely for the expression on people's faces because it's so unexpected.

I sat down by our back fence waiting on Garrett to get home from school on the activity bus.  His card to get in the gate is broken and I'm currently in negotiations with the office at our apts over whose responsibility it is to replace the key card when it no longer works.  I am most definitely going to lose that argument in a passive agressive manner that people here seem to have perfected.

I went to dinner with my men to a restaurant Nathan researched online as part of his 5th grade Singapore history project.  He purposefully chose a location that is now known for housing many restaurants and hosting live bands.  He purposefully did not choose a museum.  My DNA most definitely flows through that boy's body.

I am writing this incredibly boring blog post that has no real substanance or meaning because of a crazy 5 week/6 day challenge I clearly felt the need to begin.

I will be putting on comfy clothes and my glasses, grabbing my computer and heading to a friend's house to pull together some end of the year events before everyone disperses for the summer.

I will then fall into bed and watch the American Idol results show in 12 minutes since the results end up on my Yahoo news feed before I ever get a chance to watch.  I'm still in mourning over Colten getting the boot.

As self-focused and silly as this post is, I must leave you with 3 of my favorite taxi memories from this year.

1.  This happened today........a taxi where the driver watched his show more than the road.  From what I could tell it was a Chinese version of CSI and we almost died running into the back of another taxi.  After I picked my purse up off the floor and dug around for the change and lipstick that had fallen out when we went from 50 kmh to 0 kmh in 2 seconds, we were off again without a word being said.  I guarantee I left DNA behind in that taxi.

2.  The most blinged out taxi I've been in and he was super, super proud of his ride.  This picture doesn't do it justice....the lights, the upholstery, the variety of candy in random plastic boxes.

3.  I LOVED this guy.  I have loads and loads of video of him but this is just a small snippet.  I so wish I could have understood what he said because he talked and laughed for about 30 minutes before realizing I was taping him and that was the end of that.

I have nothing meaningful or deep to say except this is what Doing Life looks like around here on many a day.

A Muse

I am sitting here staring at a blank screen wishing this post would just write itself.  I never know where to start after being absent for so long.  You should see my journal.  I think that one book has spanned about 5 years at this point and it's transitions are awkward and painful to read.  I'm always envious of those folks that write journal after journal of their thoughts and feelings and musings.

I think you're only allowed to have musings if you journal.  Or paint stuff.  I've honestly never heard of an engineer who had any musings.

So here goes....in no specific order......my musings.

1.  I had grandiose plans of doing another blog challenge (much like last year at this exact time) where I have to write a post every day as a way of forcing myself to chronicle this past year.  I was going to start at the 8 week mark prior to our heading home to Houston.  The 8 week mark came.....and then went.....and I had nothing.  I couldn't start at 7 weeks because who starts anything that is 7 weeks long?  I was all geared up as the 6 week mark approached....I mulled different themes around in my head and prepped myself for the challenge....and nothing.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 5 weeks and 6 days blog challenge.  Yep! That's me.  Always living outside the box.  Not that this is a formal commitment or anything.......just making sure that's clear.

2.  I had the most amazing dinner planned for tonight.  One of the components was a big pot of black beans.  They were perfectly seasoned and even had diced green chile in it.  I went to turn on the light above my stove so you could actually see the black beans in the black pot and heard a loud POP as glass shattered all over my stove from the lightbulb blowing up.  I don't know if the stove light blowing up is normal or not, but those are the kinds of questions I stopped asking many, many months ago.  I honestly stood there and stared at those precious black beans and contemplated serving them to my men.  Chances were pretty good there wasn't glass in those black beans sitting in a black pot and if there was any glass, I was pretty sure it was small enough to not cause any damage.  Just in case you've missed it, I don't live in Texas anymore.  I don't get to choose from 82 different varieties of black beans for 90 cents a can.  And they had green chile in them!  Alas, Scot intervened as he clearly values the health of his family over green chile.

3.  I am almost giddy with the anticipation of going home this summer.  A year is a very long time to go without seeing your family.  Driving a car.  Drinking Sonic Diet Coke with lime.  Buying strawberries and gum and 82 varieties of black beans.  Riding a bike.  Watching TV without Chinese subtitles.  Being inundated with political propaganda during an election year.

Ok, so maybe there are some things I don't miss.

4.  I got to a point about 3 weeks ago where I had an epic meltdown over feeling like I was failing in every single aspect of my life.  Not the kind of fail like that time I was convinced that selling Creative Memories was going to make me my first million or the kind of fail like happens exactly 4 days into a new diet.  I'm talking the kind of fail where you feel like you are actually doing more damage than good.  It was not fun.  It's getting better.....lots of prayer and reordering of some priorities.....it's getting better.

5.  I am 5 weeks and 5 days away from no longer having a kid in Elementary School.  It's all puberty all the time in my house these days and boy is that a ton of fun!  (Insert dripping, stinky sarcasm here)

6.  I am saying good-bye to a lot of friends in the next 5 weeks and 6 days.  It's the ex-pat circle of life.  People come and go and the longer you are here, the more friends you make and the more likely you are to be saying good-bye.  A lot.  Conversations these days are all about when you're leaving for the summer, how long you'll be gone, and who is moving.  Calendars fill up with going away lunches and dinners as people wonder the appropriate mourning period before picking off available helpers and cars and potted plants and appliances from those leaving.

7.  Speaking of cars, in Singapore you have to buy a certificate that allows you to buy a car.  It's called a COE which I think means Certificate of Entitlement.  Right now, a COE will run you $90,000.00.  That's right......$90,000 will buy you the privilege of buying a car.  $90,000.00.  Yep, you get nada, nothing, zilch for that money except the option of going out and buying a $100,000 Hyundai.  I don't even have anything witty to say about that.......it's just plain 'ol crazy!

8.  Almost 2 years into our Asian lives and I can say that I have mastered the squatty potty.  They don't scare me or intimidate me anymore.  Me and a hole in the ground?  Bring. It. On.

9.  Did you know that I was tall?  I get told that on an almost daily basis here and I'm always thankful for the reminder.  You know, in case I forget one day.

10.  I am all out of musings.  Done.  I'm ready to curl up with some Chinese subtitles and an apple dipped in Nutella.  If you've never tried it, you must!  The apple and nutella part, not the Chinese subtitles.