Keeping Up

I feel like it has been difficult keeping up with things lately. I also find I am posting a bit more to Facebook then I would like. So I am going to try to get back to here. What has been going on...

We are seeing the finish line at lining up a house for when we arrive back to the States. This has me very excited. It is one piece of the big move puzzle. 

I have been handling a few more maintenance issues around the house. New things just seem to crop up but I am dealing with them. I am hitting my limit with it though. I had yummy lunch out with some ladies, made bread for a bake sale, and volunteered to help with the primary school swim carnival.

Andrew spent most of the week in Nadi doing the attaché thing. 

We also threw an event together for St. Patrick’s Day. It turned out really well. The food was delicious and it seems like all who attended had a great time. Party planning and clean up is still exhausting though.

Other news, while I am slowly letting down my school board commitments, I have signed on to help a burgeoning school. It is volunteer work at the moment. Most of it is on the governance side of things. But who knows, it may turn into a teaching job at some point down the line. I also was informed of a government teaching position. So, I decided to apply for that as well. I have not applied for a job in a while and who knows how it will play out. 

Another Busy Week

 It was another busy week. It seems like we managed the past few months to keep the stress and general busy-ness to a minimum. This week it seemed to explode. Andrew was working late into the evening almost every day. He was planning and setting up multiple events for the week. It was important because we were saying farewell to the senior defense official here at the embassy and welcome to the new one.

Master of Ceremonies

Flowers for the commanding spouses

The Theresas

DOD spouses

I got a little downtime to enjoy some lunch with a friend. We went to Mad Hatter’s Cafe. They made this absolutely delicious hot chocolate.

Thomas went on an excursion with his year group to Mosquito Island. It is shaped like a mosquito. The threat of actual mosquitos is low. They went to explore and start working on their next unit of inquiry - Where we are in place and time. They had a task of using the natural resources they could find on the island to build a shelter. Thomas had a bit of fun.

All the stress - events and preparing for moving hit us all. We needed to take this weekend to relax a bit. It seems we are all congested and feeling rather under the weather. Hopefully we can kick it as this next week will be equally busy.

Oh and I will leave a picture of this crazy critter that came to our house this week....

Busy Bees

 It was surprisingly a busy week. I felt like I had a bunch of balls juggling. Despite that, it was a good week. 

A school committee meeting started out the week. I hope that I will finish out the final months doing the best work I can with this group. I only have six more meetings. I can not believe it. Sometimes I wish things would slow down and other times I wish it could move along faster.

I went out to lunch with a friend to a restaurant I had not been to before. Truth be told, it was in a store food court. But it was some of the yummiest red pork and wonton soup I have had in ages.

Thursday was spent trying to get together paperwork so we could figure out the best options for when we move to the Pentagon area. I thought I would be excited to look at all of the housing possibilities but it just seems overwhelming at the moment. The turn over of rentals and houses is amazing quick there. I do not seem to be able to keep up given the time difference. I also tried my hand at making breakfast for dinner. A concoction of eggs, ham and hash browns in a pie. Let us just say I have poor flipping skills. But it was enjoyed by all.

But I also got an expected email from the school that day. Andrew and I were invited to the primary assembly because someone was getting an award on Friday. It was a pleasant surprise to find that Thomas had earned an award for demonstrating the learner profile attributes of a Communicator. We also received the results of John’s MAP testing. This showed he is still working above the norm for his year level.

Saturday, I decided somewhat last minute to join the Suva Marathon Club for their monthly social run. This one had a theme for International Women’s Day. Many wore purple or pink. I got myself up very early to run the 10K. I have not run outside for months. It was bloody hot and humid even for 6:30 in the morning. But much to my surprise, I came in second for the women in that race. It was definitely a challenge but I was thankful to do it.

Later in the evening, we got the chance to just hang out with some friends and enjoy the slightly cooler evening Suva weather. We tried our hands at building a fire and making some s’mores. Hopefully we will get a few more fun times like this.

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.