March - March On

It is a new month. February seems to fly by so quickly. We jam packed the last week or so with some fun activities and meeting new people. I apologize for the lack of a post filled with thoughts and updates. This seems to have just gotten away from me. I intend this month to be a bit more purposeful in my writing. I hate the feeling of playing catch up. So here are some random things from the past week or so...

First up is a picture of the street dog “Gypsy” who lives near our house. A few weeks ago we were very concerned. We saw her out and about with a huge festering gash along the side of her body. But she came to visit us this past week and was looking chipper. I feel horrible some days that our hands are tied with moving that we can not do more for this sweet, sweet girl.

John got over his ear infection and was back to normal. So, after a preliminary waiting period, I felt it was safe to let everyone get into the pool. We needed some relaxing time with how busy the month has been.

We also got to meet a new family that will be part of Andrew’s office.  It was nice to welcome them to Suva in a relaxed manner. We had them, as well as, a few other fun embassy folks over for a Bollywood movie, Dangal. This movie is about the first gold medal winning female wrestlers.

Okay, a funny picture. John figured out how to wrap his towel on his head like I usually do when I air-dry my hair in the morning.

I swear I will have more posts this month.

Four Weeks of School

If you can believe it, we have made it through four weeks of school. It was a busy week. I spent a bit of time watching over maintenance issues, working on some things for the school council, and trying to start planning for our move.

John made it on the school's Facebook page. Think you can spot him?

The boys finished up their two week program of swimming. Unfortunately, John missed the last day of this due to a painful ear infection. We got him some medicine and he seems to be on the mend now.

While John was at home, we made sure to watch space history being made. The NASA Rover Perseverance completed it's journey to Mars.

We even got to see the first pictures from Mars.

We spent the weekend trying to relax. Andrew and I went out for an evening with a few friends. We have not been out for a while. That was refreshing.

Here is hoping that this next week will go smoothly.

What Are You Watching?

I am always on the lookout for shows that the boys would be interested in. Lately, we have been watching Drain the Oceans on Disney+. This has been interesting and educational. The boys get a spot of history and geography along with some science about sonar used to uncover information about the sea floor. Unfortunately, we managed to get through all of the episodes so it has been a hunt to find something new. 

Lo and behold a few days ago the boys found some old copies of the Adventures of TinTin. They began reading these with fervor. It seemed only natural to search for it online. Luckily, there are three seasons of the cartoon on Amazon Prime. 

What are you watching these days?

Another February Week

Another week has started. While TC Ana created a bit of havoc last week, the boys were back at school and participating in swimming. I am really happy that the school provides swimming lessons for students here. It is an important life skill especially when you are living on an island.

We also hosted a few people for the Super Bowl. Thankfully, the internet held up well enough for us to stream the game. It was a relaxing way to start the week. We are back to the grind again though.

Big News

Finally, after four months of waiting, we have finally learned where we will be heading once our time here in Fiji is over. I am not sure if I have positive things to say about the Army's new assignment process. It seemed to take a lot longer than previous years. Or maybe the PCS (permanent change of station) bug has hit me rather early.

Drum roll, please....

By Touch Of Light, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Back to the good ole US of A. Now we have a few short months to figure out all of the important stuff - downsizing stuff, packing, flights, where to live. Oh, joy!

February

February started off with a big bang. 

The remnants of TC Ana still had (and continue to have) a hold on the islands. The boys got to enjoy another day off from school. Thankfully because the school is private, they were back in the routine on the 2nd. The public schools here will not be back in session until next Monday.

I have been busy trying to wrap my head around a bunch of house related maintenance work. Electrical circuits were going out. We had a new stovetop and dishwasher installed. The heavy rain from the cyclone seems to have shed light on several issues in the house. It is making the remaining few months here less than relaxing.

I have also been working hard on the school's governance committee. It has taken a lot of my mental capacity. While rewarding in some aspects, I admit that I am ready to hand the torch over to someone else. I believe the only reason I seem to be decent at is that I have a schedule, create to-do lists, and set deadlines. It's the declines that are important. 

We also invited a few friends over on the 2nd. We watched Groundhog Day and had food. It provided a little modicum of relaxation a fun. Managing things lately has been a herculean effort. Hopefully things will quiet down for a little while before we ramp up for moving. Whenever that is...

TC Ana

This is the second cyclone of the season to come our way. Tropical Cyclone Ana made its way directly over our island in Fiji, Viti Levu.

The boys had off from school on Friday in preparation. We had a relatively quiet Saturday. The morning was light and nice outside. Come evening time things began to change.

I did not get much sleep as the wind howled and we heard lots of trees cracking. 

When we got up, we still had a lot of heavy rain and wind. Our pool was about an inch away from overflowing. Andrew and I had to venture out to adjust the pool pump to get rid of some of the water. We ran into a bit of trouble but we managed to get it figured out. The pool seems to be in fine condition now.

Andrew went out to inspect some more of the property. A lots of tree branches were down. The big damage came in the form of a tree that totally blocked our gate.

Upon hearing our issue, one of our wonderful embassy friends came to our aid. With machete in hand, he hacked away at the tree. He was able to clear enough of it so that we can get out in an emergency.

All schools in Fiji have been closed at least for the foreseeable future. The boys are definitely home with me for another day or so.

But we already have our eyes to the future. Another storm, Tropical Depression 07, has the potential to turn cyclone in the next day or so. It is currently tracking a similar path as Ana. 

I wonder what February will have in store for us.

Here We Go Again

Well, the boys had their first day of school on Wednesday. After two days, this happened:

Over the next few days Fiji will be experiencing some serious storms. One of the tropical disturbances has the probability of reaching Category 1 or 2 cyclone level. 

So, the boys and I will get an extra day at home while we wait out the storms.

Start of Another School Year

Today marks the start of something new. The boys are beginning their first day of school as members of Year 4 and Year 2. To be honest, I do not believe they are nearly as excited as I am at this prospect. I even made them chocolate chocolate chip muffins for breakfast this morning!

I asked them a few days ago if they wanted me to join them this morning or not. If not, they would need to be confident to find their names on the class rolls and navigate their way to a new classroom. John thought about it and tentatively said no. Thomas on the other hand had a big yes to the "mommy coming to school" option. So, we all loaded up, and I frantically took a picture before we headed on our way:

I know we are quite lucky to have the opportunity to go off to school. It means that I now get a slice of sanity back (when I am not dealing with house maintenance issues). I am looking forward to attacking my to-do lists so that I can enjoy their time home from school.

The boys managed to find their names on the lists and we headed off to their classrooms. Once outside, I gave them each a hug and they said they could take it from there. Big kids showing off for their friends. I did catch this one final wave...

Jan 20/21

It was an interesting day yesterday. Since we live in the future here in Fiji, I never really know which day to name when considering worldwide events. 

Back stateside, it was a big day, Inauguration Day. There seemed to be a lot of tension and unease that from news sources and social media that the whole event might be tampered with or not occur at all. Maybe one of the benefits of living abroad is that I did not feel this tension, surprise, or relief that the whole day went smoothly. Maybe I have more faith in the government and societal structures. This statement is a bit of a dichotomy because I have learned in this military life the one thing I do count on is that if a task is thrown to a higher up gov structure there will inevitably be roadblocks, missteps, and probably a lot of cursing on my end.

Here in Fiji, the Ambassador left. He was probably the last political appointee from the previous administration to leave their post. So, now we will wait to see if President Biden will send a new political appointee our way or a seasoned member of the Foreign Service. 

Thus, it was an interesting day and filled with wonderful memes.