December 2012 – Page 3 – robinchartier

Inevitable

I’m sure this kind of thing happens in the real world too, but I know that it absolutely happens in military life. Let’s count the things that have happened while Josh has been gone:

The car battery failed. Mechanic had to come replace it. He tried to tell me I didn’t need a new battery. I insisted I wanted a new one even if I didn’t need one because I was not going to risk getting stranded. He tried to show me it just needed to be charged by flooring the gas for a few minutes then turning on the car. Dead. I needed a new battery.

Turned on the stove to make dinner (pancakes and eggs) and the gas ran out. Had to call for take out instead. I should also call for a gas delivery, but I think I can make it without a stove for a few days if my mom could do it for 18 years.

A few days before the gas ran out, I singed all the hair off of my forearms lighting the oven. Our oven igniter doesn’t work so I have to light it with a lighter. The long lighter ran out of fuel so I had to use the shorter lighter — from the ball of flames that enveloped my arms, I’d say the shorter lighter is too short. On the bright side, my arms are nice and smooth . . .

I got stung by a bee (one of the tiny ones) and didn’t know where we keep the Benedryl since I don’t usually take medicine (the exception to that rule is Zoloft and Motrin). Even if I had found it, I’m not sure I could have taken it. I made do with some ice, slow breathing, and monitoring my throat for signs of closure. Three days later and I think I’m going to make it.

The internet went out for two days. I was sure it was some stupid easy fix, but since the extent of my repair knowledge is to unplug and then plug the box back in and that didn’t fix it, I resorted to checking email and Facebook on my phone. It suddenly, magically, started working this morning — of course, since Josh comes home today.

My phone, while a savior in the Great Internet Shutdown of 2012, has become absolutely useless for phone calls. I can’t tell if my hearing has taken a dramatic decline or if everyone else is whispering because I CAN’T HEAR when people call. Of course it worked fine before Josh left, and judging from the way the internet repaired itself, maybe my phone will start working as Josh comes through airport security, but either way, tonight Tech Support returns! And Child Support, and Dog Support, and Car Support, and all those other very important job titles that he holds. Hallelujah.

baseball

My weekends have been taken up by baseball lately. OK, not exactly taken up, but a big chunk of my Fridays have been spent at the field, either watching scrimmages or sitting through practice. Although thanks to my iphone, instead of having to sit and watch kids play catch for two hours, I can sit in the car and stream episodes of Psych or How I Met Your Mother on Netflix and eat snacks with Camille and the dog (I bring him along, but can’t let him out of the car because of the “no dogs” thing here). I guess that’s not really anything to complain about, except my butt does get numb after sitting in a tight space for so long . . .

Last week the boys had a scrimmage against the only other team in the league. I just found out that over the course of the “season” they’re going to be playing this other team 25 times. Seriously?! Wouldn’t it be acceptable to play the other team 8 times and then, I don’t know, end the season? Why can’t basketball season last 25 games? Or soccer? Those seasons are never long enough.

It really is cold enough to wear a sweatshirt. This place is crazy. It’s hotter than Oman in the summer and colder in the winter. I had heard from people who were here last winter that they needed space heaters in their villas and I couldn’t imagine it. Now I can. Yuck.

Carter thinks he’s Barry Bonds — warming up in the on deck “circle.”

Carter up to bat

Calvin is a great all-around athlete. In this case he’s at an advantage because he’s one of the oldest kids on the team, but he has natural ability at every sport he tries. He just needs a bit of killer instinct to go with it. He’s been playing pitcher, second base, and catcher.

I didn’t know he could pitch. He didn’t get that from me.

Carter playing second base. He’s doing fine, but he’s all arms and legs right now and needs to grow into his body.

His confidence hasn’t suffered any though. He thinks he’s awesome.

And Caleb? He’s not on the team anymore. Even though the coaches initially moved some of the younger kids up to make sure they had enough players, after a few games they decided they didn’t want to put them at risk of getting hit by a wild pitch (it’s happened a few times) or from physical contact with one of the older, bigger kids. Caleb could move down to the younger team, but those teams range in age from preschool to 9 years old — same problem, he’d just be on the other end of the spectrum. We decided to have him play basketball and soccer instead.

Yeah, baby girl. I’m getting tired of sitting here too.

See me in my puffy green jacket? I’m wearing my Uggs too.

Calvin struck out a few and only hit one kid (the other pitcher hit 3 or 4) in his second time pitching. Next Friday Josh will be home (yes, I know the general rule is to keep that stuff quiet until he gets home, but I’m looking for some sympathy — Josh is gone for 2 WEEKS, right in the middle of the busiest time of year!) so he can take a shift at the baseball field and I can stay home and watch Netflix from the comfort of my own couch. I love my players, but it’s not my favorite game (and to get to the nice field is about 25 minutes across the island). Hurry home, babe.

Mish-mash

We leave for Oman in a week for a short pre-Christmas vacation. I’m looking forward to it, but I’ve been a little too busy to think much about it ahead of time. Today is a roundup of recent photos with no unifying theme.

My international kid signing a card for a birthday party: Print, cursive, and Arabic

There are some strange looking bees here. The one on the right is about the size of my fingernail (a tiny bee, much smaller than the US), but the one on the left is a gigantic monster of a black bee.

I haven’t been successful in figuring out what type of bees I have, but they seem to be doing the job since I’m getting great stuff from my garden . . .

Like this bowl of lettuce, chard, beet greens and squash that I harvested this morning!

(trivia: the beet picture in the background is one that Calvin drew last year in his art class. It’s perfect in my kitchen.)

There’s a funny book about gardening called The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden and that about sums up the “financial benefits” of gardening for me. When imported German dirts costs $12 per bag (and I needed a lot of bags), it’s more about the joy of the process then deluding myself into thinking that I’m coming out ahead in a dollars and cents kind of way.

This is an almost daily event. If Josie hadn’t been the one to fold all the clothes in the first place, I would weep. Camille has started dressing herself (and actually been pretty successful instead of yelling, “I’m stuck!!” with an arm twisted through the neck of her shirt) and has very definite ideas about what she wants to wear. If I have something in hand that she doesn’t like, she runs away laughing, daring me to come catch her.

Thankfully she likes the skirt I knit for her. I love this and kind of want one for myself. I wonder how long it would take and if it would look totally ridiculous on me?

As she’s become more vocal she can put words to her feelings instead of just screaming (although, she still does plenty of that). She’s not saying it in this picture, but several times a day I hear, “You’re being mean, Mommy!” Usually when I won’t let her eat chocolate or marshmallows for breakfast.

winter concert

It’s that time of year again — when my children have to perform in holiday events and don’t have appropriate clothing to wear. We must live a too casual lifestyle because my kids never have dress pants or dress shoes or even a white shirt to wear. So we went on our annual (or biannual) shopping expedition so that Calvin could play the saxophone for his Middle School band concert.

Thankfully, we found the items we needed at a price that wasn’t too outrageous. I draw the line at dress shoes — I’m not spending money on shoes he’ll only wear once, so I bought a pair of black Vans-type shoes that he can wear every day.
(I love that they call it a “trial room.”)

Warming up

Smiling at his sister who was waving and excited to see him on stage.

She was pretty well behaved except for when she started yelling, “I don’t want to whisper!” in the middle of their rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors. (I despise that song anyway and wasn’t sorry to have to take her out for that part of it, especially since Calvin wasn’t playing at that time).

Proud performer and his number one fan after the show — the music put her in a dancing mood and she was hamming it up. I have no idea where she gets that from . . .

boat races

Caleb has brought our family into the world of Boy Scouts this year. Instead of sitting on the sidelines of a game this past Saturday, I was lined up alongside an inflatable pool, cheering for a boat, propelled by air blown through a straw.

He doesn’t have a uniform yet because every time Josh tries to order from their website, it fails and doesn’t go through. I think it might be a sign that I’m supposed to keep that $100 for something else.

It was sort of like baseball — fun while your kid is up to bat, but the rest of the time is spent wondering how long it’s going to last.

Supportive Siblings!

At least Caleb got to compete in several races, so those 5 minutes were pretty exciting.

This is the race that he won — the other times he had trouble keeping the boat from running into the wall or from tipping over. He got better with more practice, until his sail started getting waterlogged.

The paint started washing off and he didn’t win, but my little Scout was just happy to be there with all of his friends.