robinchartier – Page 17 – finding flowers in the desert

Vacation

I have been practically off grid for the last week. I say practically because if I walk down to the edge of the lake, I might get a 4G signal and send a few texts/photos to family. Or if I camp outside the Plumas Pines Resort store for an hour I might be able to download a few episodes of Parks and Rec or The Office that I can watch on my phone while I’m embroidering quilt squares in the evenings.

I could live in the woods off grid with minimal comforts and would be happy to pee in the woods, but no WiFi/internet would be a deal breaker. My hierarchy of needs might be a bit backwards from most. I think because I love reading and researching and having the world’s largest database a click away is too wonderful to give up.

But lake life has been wonderful and relaxing. Days spent on the (cold) water’s edge, watching the kids try and fish. Some jet skiing, lots of games with the grandparents (that’s when I craft), and good food.

I’m going to post this as is and then have a separate post with photos, because I have very little faith in the WiFi. Calvin comes tomorrow and the fun continues for another week.

Hotel California

We’ve arrived in one of my favorite places on earth. Not because it’s where I grew up, but because Aptos/Santa Cruz, CA is beautiful, peaceful and full of everything that the Middle East is lacking: redwood trees, clear skies and salty air. And berries — all the berries.

I thought I had this jet lag thing beaten — I slept from 7 until 5:30 the first night and last night I managed to stay awake until 10. But alas, children. My girlie woke me up at 4am with a bad dream and then I was wide awake and tired. Kids are sand in the motor of a finely oiled machine.

So I ate strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in the dark for breakfast. My mom, bless her, knew that’s exactly what we’d be craving and stocked the fridge with stacks of berry flats.

I eat a year’s worth of berries in 7 weeks . . .

Between my berry fix and my Calvin fix, I’m all set!

It’s 7 am and I can hear the chickens cackling over their newly laid eggs. I love waking up to that sound. And that’s not sarcasm. Their coop is outside my bedroom window and the pride I hear in their frantic clucking, announcing the completion of their new creation, always makes me smile.

What else . . . Oh, my news! I can finally stop vagueblogging and announce that Josh has a new job! (Yes, another one.) With a new company. (That I don’t think I’ll name here, but feel free to message me if you want to know). Or if you want to play detective, you can google top Aerospace companies and it shows up on most of those lists. Like this one: Josh’s new job. Hint: he’s not working for the Russians.

Things were fine with his current company, but this offer came to him, at the right time, and was exactly what he was looking for. This past year he has been working from home, but he misses being part of a team (really?!) and is excited to be back in an office setting. (Sounds like crazy talk to me.)

So he signed the new contract the day we left, sent in his resignation letter as the kids and I were flying over the North Pole, and now he’s gearing up to go through the new hire process all over again, exactly a year later. It’s definitely not what we expected, but it’s good.

Up and over the North Pole
16 hours . . . so long
Ah, California
too much airplane, not enough sleep

Hey, hey we’re on our way!

Summer vacation starts today.

A 4 am wake up, a drive to Dubai and now a long flight to SFO. I’m happy that when we land we are there, no other connections to be made.

I’m hoping I can get some sleep on the plane. Its a rarity, but miracles are possible.

See you soon!

Waiting, waiting

Change is coming, but we are in the middle of a game of Red Light, Green Light. Just frozen in place, waiting for the green light, then trying to race as far forward as we can before having to stop short again.

Two days ago I was afraid this limbo was going to stretch into July, leaving us stranded right in the middle between the start and the finish line, but last night we got the green light again and are hoping to keep moving forward through the end of this week.

Then I can tell you exactly what I’m talking about. Gracious. It feels a little like Groundhog Day around here. June 2019 is a lot of same, same as June of 2018. Except we don’t have to move and there is no one named Toby making my life extra stressful this time around.

Things are good and we are at peace, just patiently and impatiently waiting for pieces of this puzzle to fit into place. What day is it today? Tuesday? In 5 days I leave for the US with the kids for summer break. I’m excited to go and have a vacation and see family, but at the same time it would be nice to finally feel settled here. It’s been a very unpredictable year.

It feels like we’re halfway to normal as things are going great with church and it feels like being part of a family. That’s been the best thing to happen over the past 6 months. I’m thankful that we landed with this group of people who are looking to serve God in any way possible and that we get to be part of that. As for the other half: Tick, tock. Tick, tock . . .

Lazy days in Thailand

A pool, a dock, a football, and hours of fun. These boys flung themselves off the dock into the path of the football over and over and over and over again.