Author: Robin Chartier

Today I had the privilege of going to the baptism of one of my AWANA kids. The church his family attends holds baptisms every so often at various spots around Abu Dhabi. Today’s site was a beach right next to a public park and three people were baptized this morning.

I love that we could gather as a group (of about 30 people), sing worship songs on the beach, share testimonies, and praise God publicly in a Muslim country.

The rest of the day was spent as a family at Motiongate Dubai (the amusement park that we have season passes for). It was hot, hot, hot . . . but a good chunk of the park is air conditioned and all of the ride lines are inside air-conditioned buildings.

It was practically empty today and we walked onto all of our favorite rides multiple times. The Madagascar roller coaster is always my favorite because it’s the fastest and it makes me laugh, but the boys like the Hunger Games train (the upside down roller coaster) even better. We’ll see which one Camille likes best when she’s finally tall enough to ride it in the fall (she’s a hair below the “you must be this tall to ride” sign.)

Am I confident we’ll be here in the fall? I am. Josh keeps telling me bits and pieces as he remembers them from his interview and it sounds more like a meeting than an interview. When they suggest that he might want to switch his state of residency to Texas to avoid income taxes? In my world, that’s a pretty big green light.

Of course I’ve been sure since the beginning that he would do well in this job interview/transition process. That confident kid with big plans from 1994 has only improved and refined his game over the past several decades. He convinced me to hitch my wagon to that star and I figure the rest of the world would want to as well. In my mind it’s settled, but he has grown in maturity and humility over the past 24 years and is waiting for an actual offer before he celebrates.

But tonight we both celebrate our sleeping child. The melatonin miracle continues. No cajoling, no music, no “I’m thirsty,” no tears. Just sweet snoring after falling asleep with the light on.

The interview took place at 11 am this morning. Josh looked sharp in his custom suit and was ready for his final date at the Ritz-Carlton.

As he went to work, we hit our weekly post-church breakfast spot and prayed for success. He came home a few hours later reporting that it went as well as he could have hoped, that they used “when” language rather than “if,” and said that he will know either way by the end of the week.

We ordered pizza for the kids and Josh and I went out to dinner to talk it over. He’s hopeful, but like all Bachelorettes, knows it’s not a sure thing until he has the ring/contract in hand.

I think the future looks bright.

Josh takes all sorts of supplements to enhance performance, aid in muscle recovery, and who knows what else. Meanwhile, I don’t like taking anything because I have issues. My psychiatrist way back when explained it perfectly: “when you swallow something you feel as if you’ve lost control because it is acting on your body and you can’t control what it is going to do.” Yep, yep. Nailed it.

So I have my list of “safe things” that I will take because I have experience with them and I know that they aren’t going to do anything weird to me: 1) Zoloft (though if I get a new prescription and the pills are a different color I do get a bit weird about it the first few times) and 2) Motrin (prefer brand name gelcaps because we have a solid history.)

So, Josh bought me this herb ashwaganda and said I should take it and I’m like, “Um, do you even know me at all?” But he persisted and said it’s supposed to be good for stress and adrenal support and with all of the stress in our lives that it would be good for me — he listens to too many healthy living postcasts. The idea of a natural stress reliever sounded good so I googled all the possible side effects. Bad idea, but I can’t help it. It’s a compulsion.

Other than the blanket “could cause allergic reaction if you’re allergic to it” warning there wasn’t too much to be worried about so I waited a week and finally, in a grand ceremony, took one. And then spent the next 20 minutes pacing and evaluating how I felt and stroking my neck and chest, willing my airway to stay open.

Since I’m still here I’m sure you can figure out that I didn’t die so I started taking it morning and evening. I complained to Josh that I didn’t feel any sharper or smarter yet and he sighed and said that’s not what this is supposed to do. I guess that’s one his other “nootropic” things that he takes and it has something to do with mushroom coffee. I don’t see myself going there even if it does give me brain power.

But I did cave and started taking Camille’s melatonin chocolates after seeing how fast she is falling asleep every night. And yes, I held the same ceremony where I swallow it (or in this case, chew up the yummy chocolate) and then wait 20 minutes to see if I fall over dead. Thankfully my throat didn’t close up and I can verify that they are magic in a big blue M&M. I am never sleepy at night, but this week I’ve been yawning and end up in a deep sleep before Josh even comes upstairs. I’ve turned into Sleeping Beauty and I love it.

I don’t see any more pharmaceutical stretching in my future for a while. I have a big bottle of Calcium/Magnesium sitting next to my bed, just waiting for me to start taking it, but I want to make sure all my other pills work together before adding something new to the mix. And yes, I do know how ridiculous that sounds . . .

As part of our holding pattern, I’ve made all sorts of promises that hinge on “when dad gets a job.” It started with joking that I’m going to get my face lasered to get rid of my frown lines . . . but Josh needs a job first.

We have a trip that we are hoping to take next month — but since it would be irresponsible to spend money on plane fare and hotels without a paycheck lined up, we can’t make plans for that until dad has a job. It’s possible that next month will bring a flurry of hotel bookings and airline ticket purchasing, but for now we wait.

Carter’s 6 year old Macbook is dying and he often has to bang on the screen to bring the picture back. He was asking me to look for the cheapest used replacement for him, even offering me money to speed up the process, but I asked him to hold out just a little while longer. “I promise if dad gets a job, I will buy you a new computer for school. I’ll buy it as soon as the ink dries on his contract.”

Summer plans are in limbo until we get that phone call. We’ve sketched out possibilities, but nothing is set until we have a steady source of income.

None of my blog posts have photos because my iPhone camera is 1/2 broken now and I am determined that it is a want that can wait. 4 years and countless drops have done a number on the image stabilization feature — but if I’m desperate at least there’s always the option of a selfie.

I think I told Caleb that there was zero chance of us taking him to a sushi buffet while dad was still job hunting. I bet he asks for spicy tuna rolls once we know something.

Pretty much anything the kids want that I don’t feel like buying or doing gets put in the “maybe when dad has a job we’ll think about it” pile. Until then, I don’t want to hear about it.

Thankfully I haven’t made any promises to Camille beyond the purchase of a snow-cone after school tomorrow. Since it’s only $1.25, I can swing it.

I would say that I’m surprisingly relaxed about this whole retirement transition process. And yet, I’m finding my nerves a bit stretched this week. I am confident that Josh is the one for this job and that at the end of this process that he will have an offer and that we will be able to make plans for next year, but I can’t spring into action just yet.

I’m stuck in the middle. Either way, there’s a ton of work ahead of me, but I can’t do any of it because I don’t know where to put my efforts. My car will have to be sold. Will we be selling it to someone for 10 dirham with plans to buy it back from them in August or will we be selling it for 10,000 dirham and unloading it permanently? Do I need to give away the kids’ school uniform shirts or stock up for next year?

The pets are going to be boarded this summer. Will we be picking them up from the Falcon Hospital in August to bring them home to a place in the UAE or will Josh fly over solo to bring them back to the US as accompanied baggage?

I’m going to need to declutter. What I keep and what I toss depends on which country we’re making home next. I can look at rental properties and prices all I want, but until there is a job offer and acceptance, I’m stuck. It’s just like all those times of waiting for our next set of military orders. I know we’re moving, but I don’t know when or where. Maybe civilian life isn’t so different after all.