Happy birthday!

A little over a year ago, as you might recall, I started changing my eating and exercise habits to lead a healthier and more energetic life. I was reaching the end of my 30’s and decided that I wanted to run a marathon before I turned 40, and that I wanted to celebrate my 40^th birthday looking (and feeling) great, somewhere special, like on a beach or in Paris. Maybe my husband would even buy me jewelry? Turning 40 was going to be a big deal!

Ha.

I feel like I was putting a prom dress on, thinking I was going dancing, when I should have been getting my wet suit on, ready for an afternoon in the Red Sea!

Obviously, I didn’t end up running that marathon, and I’m as far from my ideal weight as I’ve ever been. I spent quite a portion of my 40^th birthday yesterday at the American embassy getting birth certificate and passport paperwork sorted, and as every day these days, I endured a session of unpleasant open wound care. I spent the rest of the day at home, inside. It was a rainy and windy day.

And guess what? It was a good day. I hugged my children, nursed a beautiful baby, kissed my husband, had some good food, cake and a glass of champagne. In light of what has happened over the past year, in the past months and what we are going to experience over the next year, turning 40 was nothing – no big deal. I mean, really; we have a new BABY! and I just survived a dangerous pregnancy and birth – a surgery. Plus we have some very exciting times coming up (I will tell you more about this soon).

Turning 40? Completely overshadowed. By life. And a great one at that.

Hurray! Our little Karl-Abraham is four!

Four years ago exactly, I went with my husband, August, William and my mother to the maternity hospital Al Nada on Al Manyal island in the center of Cairo to have a baby.

It was a pretty awful experience – a c-section where a lot of things went wrong – and I remember thinking that I could never, ever go through something like that again. Yeah. Ha, right?

But boy, was it worth it. Every single painful minute. Because we had a boy who has brought us all so much joy and love that words cannot describe it, and he makes the world a wonderful place.

Three months to go

Right. We have another great event coming up this spring, of course: the birth and welcoming of our new baby. It seems he can’t come soon enough. As you might or might not have gathered, I’m going through a rough pregnancy. Also, I can’t wait to meet this baby, whose little head, which rests so snug to the top left of my belly button, I touch every day, and whose strong kicks keep me up at night. However, at the same time he will be here too soon, because I feel overwhelmed by all that I need to - and want to - have done before he comes.

Before his arrival, we need to rearrange the bedrooms and sleeping arrangements, to get Abraham and his bed out of our bedroom and into one of the older boys’ rooms. This entails rearranging toys, dressers and furniture in general, etc. Once that is done, I can start trying to find our baby clothes and gear stored away in a box somewhere, wash everything and sort it into one of the dressers, buy diapers and wipes and assemble the co-sleeper and set it up. I also have an extensive, thorough cleaning of the house in mind, which – apart from scrubbing every inch of the house - would include sorting out the storage closet (a great enterprise by itself, believe me!), arranging and deep cleaning the kitchen (it’s a bit of a mess with very little organizational thought behind the shelf arrangements), arrange our closets and bookshelf, wash carpets, couches, etc. to make sure our house is as baby-friendly as possible.

And then there’s the actual birth. I had such a horrible case in Cairo, Egypt, that even though I’m experienced when it comes to c-sections (three down, one to go), I’m feeling a bit anxious about the whole thing. I still have time, of course, but at some point, you know… I will have to start preparing myself mentally, physically and make arrangements.

On top of all this, I would like to do some traveling, get the boys far ahead in their schoolwork, AND get as much extra work in as possible to make up for the postpartum period when I probably won’t be able to work a lot. Of course, there’s everything else too that I have to do, like, normal, everyday things… I know. Wow, right?

Three months. You think I can do it?

2013: Challenge accepted

A new year: new opportunities, new beginnings, new adventures, new excitement, new resolutions.

Last year around this time, I vowed to improve my health, and change the shape of my body over the next year - and boy did I ever! You have to give me that. With the help of a little attention to my food consumption and a lot of exercise, I went from being technically obese to slightly overweight, and then, just when my ideal weight was within sight… wow, if you had asked me at the beginning of the year what I would look like on the last day of the year, I wouldn’t have guess this in a million years! What a failure!! Weight- and shape-wise, big time let down! I mean, really!

But oh, what a blessing. That I can look down at a big round belly and feel joy, excitement, and anticipation.

And tired and overwhelmed. I really can’t - with any confidence - present any new projects or ideas as firm new year’s resolutions this year. Aware of the challenges that I am facing in 2013, as exciting and positive as they may be, all I can promise right now is that I will do my best, one day at a time, and trust that faith and strength get me through this year in one piece.

(I guess technically – physically - I will not, but you get my point.)

So buckle up. We're going for a ride.

What challenges will 2013 offer you? How are you planning on tackling them?

It's that time of the year - the quiet before the storm

Prof. Husband left for the US a couple of days ago. He is presenting a paper at some North American Kant Society event in Tulsa, OK, and is stopping by his parents on the way. It’s a long trip to their house in Nowhere, IN. From Beirut, you first have to fly to a European city with connecting flights to Chicago, then take a bus to get out of Chicago, and then get picked up/drive the rest of the way. From door-to-door it usually takes about 28 hours. Yeah, that’s right. But at least this time he didn’t have to travel with kids, which makes it easier, I imagine. He said the trip went well, in any case, and now he’ll get a little time with family and struggle to fit everything I ordered into his suitcases (who would have thought that a grammar book could weigh 5Lbs?!) do some light shopping before continuing to the conference.

In the meantime, my mother is still here visiting, and several of my friends’ husbands are also off traveling before the semester begins, so tonight the ladies will get together for some food, a chat, and to relax in this quiet-before-the-storm intermission. Like a ladies launcheon. Ha ha. Get it? Launching the upcoming year. Ladies luncheon. He.

When work is done...

My perfect view!

Enjoying the Mediterranean Sea

Since we got back from Italy we’ve been going to the beach a lot, almost every day. It’s close (a 5 minute walk), it’s free, fun and healthy, and the weather most certainly permits – between 32°C and 38°C and usually sunny! Sometimes the boys bring friends along and they all play in the pool together, but usually we go just the four of us and swim in the sea. The water has been surprisingly clean and clear. Today we spent the afternoon circling the pier, snorkeling. Abraham has got really good at swimming under water, holding his breath for almost a minute at a time, but today he actually mastered the use of a snorkel, which opens up a whole new world. For a couple of hours he swam around looking at fish, crabs, sea slugs and other interesting water creatures. The older boys were playing off the coral, letting big waves wash them up (the tide was really strong) until August’s back got scraped up so badly we had to take a break and wait for the scratches to stop bleeding. I also put Neosporin on, which I thankfully had brought. It’s not the first and most probably not the last scratch we’ll have to deal with this summer. I look forward to a lot more beach days!

Vacation, all I ever wanted.. Italy; a little more detailed

Whoa! Time went by quite quickly there. I finished up some jobs, washed clothes, packed, prepared the house, and our family was off to Italy.

I went inter-railing through Italy when I was younger, and Courtney and I have been there several times together. We spent two weeks driving around Northern Italy the summer I was pregnant with our oldest, and we also went to Rome and the Vatican for the year 2000 New Year’s celebration. Since then, Courtney has been there for conferences as well. This was the first time we took the kids though, and it was quite a thrill.

We spent the first week in Rome, where we had rented an apartment found online. It was great – the owners were super friendly, and the apartment was ideal, in a quiet neighborhood but with a grocery store close by and very near public transportation; three bedrooms, a well equipped kitchen, towels, blankets, TV (which we never used), free wi-fi. We went sightseeing every day – the Coliseum, Forum Romanum, The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, churches, museums (including a Leonardo Da Vinci museum), the mouth of truth, a Salvador Dali exhibition, we saw it all! - and then cooked great Italian food in the evenings and/or had dinner at some very nice restaurants.

After our week in Rome we packed all our stuff into a small Toyota and drove north: Sienna, Pisa, Livorno, Lucca, Florence, Venice, Chioggia, Padua, and then south again; Assisi, Pompeii, Vesuvius, and back to Rome, where we spent an entire day at one of the largest shopping centers I’ve ever seen, Porta Roma.

What a trip!!

Most expensive: The bathrooms at Santa Maria Novella (1,60 euro/person adds up!), and the Venice bus-system. It cost our family over $80/day to get around Venice on crowded shuttle boats.

Most awesome discovery: children under the age of 18 who are members of the EU enter most sites in Italy for free. The boys’ Swedish passports were literally worth their weight in gold!

Something bad that happened to us: Nothing, really. Small annoyances, like having to use tokens to shower at a camping we’re already over-paying for, or missing the IKEA exit in Naples and having to spend an hour trying to get out of a dodgy neighborhood, by means of getting on and off the highway several times and have to pay two euro each entry.

Standing in line, in 40 degrees C heat, for over an hour to get into the Accademia to see the David was pretty unpleasant as well.

If I had to pick a favorite moment: In Padua we just made it to our appointment to see the Chapel. If we had arrived 30 seconds later, they would not have let us in. Pheuw!

But then there’s the glass of wine with a view of Umbria – it tops everything. Not because it was an exceptional wine, but for the setting. Let me paint you the picture.

After Venice and Padua we were a bit weary of camping, which entails – among other things,

• having to walk 5 minutes to get to the bathroom (which often doesn’t have any paper or toilet seat)
• no proper showers (in Italy, campsites make you buy expensive tokens to shower, and a session often only lasts for two minutes)
• taking down and putting up a tent, not to mention pump up air mattresses to sleep every night – in the heat
• waking up bathing in sweat every morning, often in the sun
• spending an hour every day trying to fit all our stuff in the rental car, without burying the kids
• eating whatever for breakfast – no tea, nothing cold – ugh!
• dirt and dust everywhere
• no chairs or tables – nowhere to sit and relax or eat.

We entered Assisi pretty late and just by chance found a small Albergo with a family room at a reasonable price, plus, it turns out, a great restaurant, a pool and a terrace with a fantastic view. We had already had dinner but still ordered some antipasti and a bottle of wine. The restaurant had 1 ½ liter-bottles of soda for 3 euros for the kids. What a catch! Sitting down with that glass of wine in my hand, comfortable, clean, cool, on a terrace with an amazing view of Umbria – thinking about how lucky we were to have found this oasis in the middle of our hectic trip – THAT was a good moment.

Number of churches/basilicas/chapels visited: I lost count after 30 – it could be closer to 50. On our last day in Rome alone, we visited four, and that wasn’t on a day we visited the Vatican. Four in Assisi, three in Venice, three in Sienna, two in Lucca, one in Pisa, well over ten in Florence.

Pieces of luggage that MEA managed to lose on our 3 hour direct flight without delays: 1. (How?! you ask, How?!)

Loads of laundry after we got home: 9.

Summer vacation - 2012 - in Italy

Already there and long gone...

Dinner in Assisi with a view of Umbria

October's little pleasures

Beach days...

My 10-year old son's birthday cake...

My new large kitchen with a view of the playground...

Our day of no rest

We had no plans or obligations today, and on paper today looked like a lazy Sunday, however our day turned into one of those days where you decide to do all kinds of things because you don’t have any plans. So we watched a show this morning, had a big brunch with bacon and eggs, and I read lots of stories to the boys. Then we packed up and walked down to the AUB beach where we had a long swim. Or the boys did, while I followed Abraham around in the pool and burned my back, again. After showers and a brisk walk home I made spaghetti Bolognese for an early dinner, and then we did a big tidying of the house (which included going through some drawers and a closet) and a couple of loads of laundry, along with a few games. To celebrate Father’s Day I then proceeded to bake a blueberry pie and made fresh vanilla sauce from scratch to go with it, while the boys worked on their cards for their papa. After a nice family feast I sat down with my book - I’m reading Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum – but it wasn’t long before it was time to put Abraham to bed, get the older boys in bed, and help Courtney get some things ready for tomorrow.

Now that I’m finally sitting down to check my mail and catch up on news online, I’m exhausted. And I’m remembering why I had left this day empty: tomorrow Courtney starts teaching his summer courses, which means he’ll be going into work every day for the next seven weeks. For those of you with normal jobs this may not sound hard, but because we are not used to it, I know it will take some adjustment. Also, there are a lot of things going on over the next couple weeks; parties, commencement, conference, etc. and although mainly fun, it will be tiresome. So I had made today a lazy Sunday for us to be well rested when things take off.

Oops.

Swimming in the Med...

The boys have spent most of their "after-school" under water these past couple of weeks. I've been wanting to get a picture of everyone at the beach, but it's hard when all I see of the older boys is their snorkel tubes sticking out of the water, and when I constantly have to prevent Abraham from drowning by pulling his head out of the pool. Here are a couple I manged to snap, however, between events.