Happy Car

(3/9/08)

Yes, we now have our car. What peace of mind and freedom it brings! It makes me think of a favorite movie quote, when Jack Sparrow is talking to Elizabeth Swan about a ship. He talks of the sails and the hull etc., etc., and says that that's what makes a ship, but that's not what a ship is: FREEDOM! Now, I get into my car, singing 'Yo ho, Yo ho, and Pirate's life for me!' and saying to myself, "Bring me that horizon!" We can go to the 'store' or market at any time without waiting for our driver to come, or for our neighbor to not be busy. We can drive ourselves to social functions and leave when we get tired and ready to go without making other people have to leave early or go in shifts because there are too many of us. I admit it feels strange to drive around without an embassy driver taking us places. It feels somewhat illegal--like we're doing something completely risky and against the rules! I believe I heard myself cackling yesterday as we drove home all by ourselves from a pool party!

Today being Sunday, I've been thinking of ways to get our home and selves in order once again. I feel as if we've lost all semblance of order and schedule for such a long time; will it be possible to find it again? Ever since July of last year we've been in a transition state. That is far too long to be transitioning! Our home is finally feeling like the home it should be. I'm only missing a few bookcases to make everything completely and totally cozy. There are two VERY large boxes of books waiting for a home, but it's not overwhelming. The bookcases are in the process of being made at the moment. Our pictures are all up. I will take pictures today or tomorrow and post the before and after. We have couches and rugs, blankets and clothes, and lots and lots of food! :) *sigh* What could be better? And now it's time for me to buckle down and get some schedule going for the kids. I have convinced Joshua to stay home during playgroup so we can do school together. We had a ball last week! This is, of course, all thanks to my neighbor. She invited Josh over to participate in a homeschool class with them and he was beyond thrilled! It only happened once, sadly, as they are leaving the country tonight. But, because of that one time, Josh saw how much fun it was. When I mentioned that maybe we could do that by ourselves while Claire and Andrew went to playgroup, his eyes lit up and his happy grin split his face! I love that look! He was so excited! We did a class on insects. We found some fun interactive learning sites on the internet and learned all about different classes of bugs, their parts, and life cycles. We did a science experiment, drew pictures, followed bugs around with magnifying glasses...it was so much fun! I think that time with just the two of us is very beneficial to us both. And Claire and Andrew get to play at the same time! :) I've thought up some other 'fun projects' as we call them to do with Claire as well, so we have something to do that's somewhat educational during Andrew's naptime. My plan is to do at least 2 major projects with them each day and to read lots of books along with Josh's 2 1/2 hour school time on Tuesday and Thursday. I think this will help us all a lot and get a bit of schedule and order back into our lives. I will have to post pictures of the kids doing their 'school'.