Tell Me About It...

party at my place

2009-07-09T22:53:00.004-05:00

One of my most favorite restaurants in Turkey was a little local place right up the street from our apartment. When we first moved to Turkey they were just a little hole in the wall kind of place that had about 7 tables. 7 plastic tables with plastic chairs. By the time we left, almost 7 years later, things had changed. They had expanded to be quite large, had nice booths and tables, and were very popular! They made home-cooked kind of food. A dish called manti was their specialty and so they were called Manti Evi or Manti house. Manti is basically a dumpling or kind of ravioli with a meat and spice mixture tucked inside the dough. It is served with garlic yogurt and red pepper paste on top. Delicious!

Several years ago I went to the Manti Evi to learn how to make Manti. I had grand plans to make it in the states when I came here for a visit. It is quite tedious and I am quite lazy so those plans never did come to fruition. (And besides once I got to America there was Pappadeaux's to consume. I must admit the manti making took a backseat to stuffing my face with Cajun cuisine.)

Several weeks ago, before our friends came to the states for their visit, they visited the Manti Evi and took this video.

And today we sat down and made some manti ourselves.

It was still quite tedious, and nobody really ended up with a Turkish sized serving of manti, but we did it!

My taste buds and tummy had a party today. I love it when they do that!

Day one

2009-07-09T21:02:00.004-05:00

We came to Oklahoma to visit some of our closest friends from Turkey. The ones we camped with in this post. The ones we shared Thanksgiving with in this post. And I talked specifically about Shawn here. I'm sure they are scattered elsewhere throughout this blog as well.

Today is day one of our trip. So far we've...

dressed up in all kinds of outfits.

Jacob decided to join in as well. I must say he makes an ugly girl! The old lady hair and goggles certainly don't help his look any!

There have been water balloon fights.

Joint Nintendo DS games.

Face rearranging.

Turkish food making...

And eating.

Did I mention dressing up?

And this was only the first day. Tomorrow we have Chuck E. Cheeses, rollerskating, a possible concert in the park, and renting movies for late night movie watching planned. Read the above post about Shawn to understand how much fun we have been anticipating having. It will be a jam-packed few days. My kids are in heaven! And I'm tired already! I love that.

trees

2009-07-06T14:29:00.003-05:00

One morning when I awoke very early, I saw my mother walking up the hill to the barn. Mist hung about the ground, finches were singing in the oak tree beside the house, and there was my mother, her pregnant belly sticking out in front of her. She was strolling up the hill, swinging her arms and singing:

Oh, don't fall in love with a sailor boy, a sailor boy, a sailor boy--- Oh, don't fall in love with a sailor boy, 'Cause he'll take your heart to sea---

As she approached the corner of the barn where the sugar maple stands, she plucked a few blackberries from a stray bush and popped them into her mouth. She looked all around her---back at the house, across the fields, and up into the canopy of branches overhead. She took several quick steps up to the trunk of the maple, threw her arms around it, and kissed that tree soundly.

Later that day I examined this tree trunk. I tried to wrap my arms about it, but the trunk was much bigger than it had seemed from my window. I looked up at where her mouth must have touched that trunk. I probably imagined this, but I thought I could detect a small dark stain, as from a blackberry kiss.

I put my ear against the trunk and listened. I faced that tree squarely and kissed it firmly. To this day, I can smell the smell of the bark---a sweet, woody smell---and feel the ridges in the bark, and that distinctive taste on my lips.

In my mini journal, I confessed that I had since kissed all different kinds of trees, and each family of trees---oaks, maples, elms, birches---had a special flavor all its own. Mixed in with each tree's own taste was the slightest taste of blackberries, and why this was so, I could not explain.

From Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.

Have I mentioned how much I love children's literature? I have. Ok then...carry on.

How I spent the 4th

2009-07-05T23:02:00.005-05:00

My entire family went to Lake Sam Rayburn for a little 4th of July fun. My parents brought their RV and boat, and my sister and brother-in-law brought their wave runners. Their were air conditioned cabins, bikes, s'mores, hamburgers, tubing, skiing, swimming, and even a pinata. All kinds of fun was had. Well except the first day when I decided to water ski even though I hadn't been water skiing in over 12 years. Yeah...I'm about to be 40 and could totally tell. So could the hamstring that I pulled that first morning. Thankfully there were air conditioned cabins since I was pretty much out of commission that first day. The rest of the time I limped around determined to spend some time in the water. Here are a few photos of our weekend.

The kids taking turns with the pinata.

Jacob and Will cooling off.

Everyone you see in the picture belongs to us. Wait...except the kid with the buzz haircut. I have no idea where he came from.

Paige enjoying the lake.

Little Luke

Hannah having fun.

Vanessa and Jacob prepare to take off.

Will and Erica tubing. Lots of laughing involved.

Will and Jacob waiting their turns.

Vanessa and Jeremy taking the girls out for a spin. Anna Grace has been compared to a bronco bustin' rider. She LOVED going fast, spinning around, and jumping waves.

There were several more pictures, but they pretty much look the same as these. And I totally forgot to take pictures of the food. We were all so ravenous that it was gone before I thought about it.

Good times.

details

2009-06-27T11:54:00.004-05:00

I've been trying to come up with something to put here. Something that doesn't have to do with work. (Oh, and speaking of work...I now have business cards. Real, official ones that my manager ordered for me. Like with the company logo and MY NAME on them! I've never had business cards with my name on them! I look so important now!)

The other day a girl at work (Despite the use of the word "work" this is not a work story. It just happened to take place there. Sorry to all of you who had to go get your reading glasses to even be able to tell that these were actual words and not a faint green line in the middle of a sentence. I just wanted to make sure it was said and since it wasn't an integral part of the story I thought I should change the font to teeninecy. Is teeninecy a word? And if so how is it spelled exactly?) asked me if I was wearing lavender eyeliner. It was a shade of purple so I said yes. She said she liked it. A couple of days later she asked another girl if she was wearing "Shell eyeshadow by Loreal"? The girl answered, "no, it's Pale Moon by Estee Lauder." Now there are two things I find funny about this. First of all I had no idea what the actual shade of my eyeliner was called nor did I know who made it. (Purple Amethyst by Almay...yeah...I looked at it later.) Second, both of these girls could call out shades of eyeshadow and the companies who made them without missing a beat. Wow.

This past week a friend was in the market for a new car. She mentioned that she was looking at Jeep Wranglers. I had to look it up online to be sure what a Jeep Wrangler looked like. I had driven my dad's Jeep Grand Cherokee so I knew what it looked like, but I really don't know that much about cars. If I've owned it I can pick it out, but other than that I'm lost.

I don't recognize many major brands. I try on shoes based on how they look and buy them based on how comfortable they are. It doesn't make a difference to me if they happen to have a fancy name stamped on the inside. I figure most places I go people aren't going to see the name of the maker of my shoes unless I take them off. I never take my shoes off unless I'm at home where my family could care less who makes my shoes. I'm the same way with purses. Does it have what I am looking for? If so I buy it. If not I don't. Period. Later when I discover that I bought some fancy brand I'm surprised. I had no idea.

Are we seeing a pattern here? For someone who usually pays close attention to life I find it interesting that I am fairly clueless about those types of things. I am usually a details type person, but for some reason those details just don't compute.

Are you tired of reading job related blog posts yet?

2009-06-24T21:26:00.004-05:00

Has it really been two weeks since I blogged? I can't believe it. I don't think I've gone two weeks without blogging since 2006. Wow! It's the job. I blame the job. And speaking of the job...

Remember that catering position that I was supposed to start training for? Well I didn't get to start training the week I was supposed to. Several people were out so I ended up covering their cashier shifts. The next week I was going to start my training, but again things kept getting in the way. I did get to train with the current caterer for about 2 1/2 days during this time. The manager wanted me to get 1-2 months of training in before I took the position full time in the fall. We had plenty of time. All summer really. Then something big happened. I was called into the manager's office at 2:30 in the afternoon a week and a half ago and told that the catering coordinator was no longer working there. I was up. WHAT? I was nowhere near ready to do that job, but I jumped in with both feet. The managers were really great to help me. They went over the next days' orders with me, and I've been going full force ever since. I've made many mistakes, but thankfully they realize that 2 1/2 days of training doesn't quite equal up to the 1-2 months that would have been ideal.

The same week that I started the catering job Erica started working as a cashier there. It was a little bit of a rough start for her I must say. At first the idea of dealing with a drawer full of money that she was totally responsible for made her nervous. Couple that with needing to learn a full menu and it was stress city. She trained all last week and started up full force this week. She had a mini-meltdown on Monday, but we got her through it. Today she told me that she loved this job. She knows she is really fortunate to have such a great job for her first job. She knows that they wouldn't have ever hired her if I wasn't working there. They don't usually hire 16 year olds. I've seen many applications trashed because of a lack of experience. I love that they are giving her a chance. So far she has really done well. Today when she counted out her drawer at the end of her shift she was one cent over what her ticket said she should have. Doesn't get much better than that. I am so proud of her. And I can't wait to see her face when she gets her first paycheck! She is going to feel so rich!

It's funny. At our store Erica is the youngest employee, and I am the oldest. I love that!

Oh and I have to say that I love that I am able to wear just about anything I want now. Today I dressed up some because I thought I was going to be doing some marketing. We ended up getting 3 lunch orders so I wasn't able to get away. I was wearing heels and slacks while running around prepping these orders. By the end of the day my feet were killing me. Still are. Oh well...at least I looked good.

Ok...enough work stories for now. I'll try not to be such a stranger. And next time I won't blog about work. Probably.

reflection

2009-06-10T17:22:00.004-05:00

My grandmother lived in a tiny town in Arkansas my whole life. And when I say tiny I mean 333 people tiny. As a kid it was just a constant in my life. We may have moved every 3 years, but I could always count on my grandmother to be in the same place. One of my favorite things to do when I visited her was to walk to the general store. Steven's store. Also known as Marion Talley's. It was an old-fashioned sort of place. Wood plank floors, barrels and buckets of all sorts of items, work clothes, frozen foods, canned goods, hardware...you name it and they had it. By the time I was born it was a place that the locals went only when they needed something quick. A new Piggly Wiggly had been built in the town a few miles away, and that is where people went for their big grocery trips. I never could understand why people drove to a generic grocery store when Steven's store had everything anyone could ever need! Because I loved that place I made sure to give them some business when I came to town. I always bought one of two items when I went there. If I had enough money I bought a German chocolate cake. It was kept in their freezer and had a see-through lid. I don't remember what brand it was, but I do remember how good it tasted! I would walk back to my grandmother's house as quickly as I could so that I could have a piece before it had completely thawed. Something about a slice of that frozen cake just meant summer at Mamaw's to me. If I was short on funds I purchased a Neapolitan colored coconut bar. One of these. They were hard and chewy which I'm sure was due to the fact that they had been sitting on the shelf for a long time! I haven't had one since I was a kid. I wonder if they taste the same.

Despite my devotion Steven's store closed down around 1990. A few years later it was torn down completely. In 2002 my grandmother moved to another state to live with my aunt and her house was sold. Last April she passed away, and we took one last trip to the town where I spent many a summer vacation. Here's the post I wrote during that trip. I read it again today and those memories came flooding back again.

It's where I came from. It's part of who I am. I like that.

an explanation

2009-06-06T15:36:00.004-05:00

Yes, I got a job. And no, it's not a teaching job despite that degree I have. I wanted something way easier than teaching. I wanted a job that I could leave at the end of the day. I wanted something fun. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do exactly. I wasn't really looking quite yet, but after inquiring about positions at Panera Bread they wanted to hire me on the spot. I figured they saw someone who wasn't a teenager and that was probably pretty rare. I decided I could try it out and see what I thought. I honestly didn't know what to expect. The last real job I had was working at a preschool in 1995. What do I think? I LOVE it. Currently I'm just an associate. All that means is that I work the cash register, help customers in the bakery, and walk the dining room. I do not make sandwiches, salads or any of the other food Panera Bread serves. I am completely customer service. I am good at customer service. I remember names and faces easily. And not to build myself up, but the customers love me. I talk to them. I ask them questions. I remember. Totally right up my personality alley.

A couple of weeks ago my general manager asked me to take a walk with her. I hadn't done anything wrong so I knew I wasn't in trouble. She said she wanted to know if I was interested in the catering coordinator position. It's a management position with benefits. The current catering coordinator is heading to school in the fall so they were looking for someone who could replace her. I told her that it sounded great but that I needed to talk to Brian first. We talked and decided it would be a good thing. On Monday I start training for that position. Basically all the catering our store does would go through me. I will learn food prep for individuals and for a group. I will be the person taking the orders and delivering them. I'm looking forward to it! I will be losing some of my face time with the regular customers, but I will be gaining a whole new set of clientele.

But the best part of all...I don't have to wear a hat or tuck in my shirt. Ah...

Telling

2009-06-01T20:12:00.003-05:00

Whew...finally. Finally I can tell!

So I mentioned that something made me nostalgic for Turkey in my last blog post. That nostalgia was triggered when we had a surprise guest. Derya! Actually she wasn't a surprise to me. Brian and I knew she was coming to Texas for a couple of weeks before she actually came. We did decide to keep it a secret from the kids though. I teased them with the idea of a surprise guest a few days before she arrived. You should have heard all the guesses. I think they guessed everyone but Derya! When her car pulled up and they saw her through the passenger window there were screams all around! They were so surprised. Derya is our oldest Turkish friend. We met her the first month we lived in Turkey I think. She was someone we had only ever seen in Turkey. She had been in England getting her doctorate and came to the states for a little visit. The kids never expected to see her in America!

Derya brought a special friend with her as well. Virgil. We took them to Pappadeaux's since it was a place we had mentioned...oh...once or twice while we were in Turkey! We enjoyed seeing Derya and getting to know Virgil. Brian had the privilege of playing Dad and asking what his intentions were. He was open and honest and shared that he wanted to marry her. Wow!

As the kids tried to get hints as to who the mystery guest was they asked lots of questions. One of them was, "Has the person ever played Rock Band on the wii?" I told them I didn't think so, but I wasn't exactly sure. Nope...she had never played. We remedied that situation very quickly.

Since Derya is planning to marry an American I'm thinking we might see a lot more of her on this side of the ocean. Yay!

something

2009-05-24T21:16:00.005-05:00

I am feeling something today. I guess you could call it homesickness. An event happened yesterday that got me thinking about Turkey. I was able to dismiss the feelings for the most part, because I was enjoying myself. Then today my kids started talking about the fun times they had walking home from school in the snow in Turkey, and the feelings swept in again.

For 6 1/2 years I lived in this building.

This pink and yellow and gray building. 3rd floor, apartment #12. The building was new when we moved in so we were the first to live in that apartment. It was like no apartment I had ever lived in. There were four bedrooms, a kitchen, a combined living and dining room, and three bathrooms. Only two of them had toilets though. You could start at the front door and follow the hallways in a square passing every room in our apartment and end up back where you started. Every room had a door that could close it off from the rest of the house. We took the kitchen door off it's hinges right after we moved in because it was in our way. It took up precious wall space when it was open and closing the kitchen door seemed strange. Our doorbell rang to the tune of Für Elise. It was a friendly way to announce a guest.

I honestly can't imagine not going back to that apartment there. I walked in and out of that front door countless times in the 6 1/2 years I lived there. I took off my shoes as I entered and hung my bag on one of the hooks by the door. I greeted many a guest in that entryway. We don't even have a real entryway hall here. The front door just opens into the abyss that is the office/formal living and dining room area. We don't even use the front door on a regular basis save for the pizza delivery guy and the kid next door.

I moved around a lot as a kid. I remember lying in my bed at night in the new house and closing my eyes. I would picture the old house. I would picture the layout of my old room. Being in the same bed made it easy. The closet door was to the right. My dresser was in front of me. The pink prayer picture was hanging on the wall to my left. I would fall asleep remembering.

It's much harder to do that here. The bed is different. It's a king size instead of a queen. All of the furniture is different. I can't close my wardrobe and feel the air rush out of the small crack between the doors. I don't have that wardrobe anymore. I have a closet for my clothes. I can't pry open the secret compartment in my dresser to reveal passports and shot records. The dresser here doesn't have secret compartments. The passports and shot records are kept in the filing cabinet in the office now.

I don't have a basket full of winter wear by the front door. I did bring back a few of our favorite scarves and hats for winter, but they weren't ever taken out of the coat closet. It never got cold enough, because well, this is Texas.

The treasure chest that sat on our entryway table...the one where we kept loose change to give our doorman so he would bring us a loaf of fresh bread in the mornings sits empty in our office here. There is no doorman to bring us bread. This is Texas.

There is no sending the boys to get their haircuts, no asking one of the kids to run to the store for a forgotten item, no walking to a friend's house, no doing a lot of things I got used to doing. This is Texas.

The kids still take their shoes off as soon as they come in the house even though it isn't considered dirty to wear your shoes in the house here. Some habits die hard even though this is Texas.

For some of my musings about Turkey and moving to America you can go here and here and I'm sure many other places on my blog. Clicking the Turkey link on the sidebar will get you to some of it. If you're interested.

Um...

2009-05-21T18:03:00.008-05:00

So I've been hanging out at this new place quite a bit lately. Like Monday - Friday from about 6 or 7am to about 2 or 3pm. You know...depending on the day.

I've eaten quite a few of these which I only have to pay half price for. You know...since I'm there so much.

Would you just look at the yummy goodness!!!

These aren't so bad either!

So...yeah...if you've been wondering where I've been you obviously haven't looked here.

sustenance

2009-05-18T21:50:00.004-05:00

Lately I feel like I've neglected this blog. I've posted pictures and the random words that go with them, but it hasn't been enough. I feel like there hasn't been much sustenance. The pictures are nice, but I can't live on a diet of pictures alone. I am starving. I need my words. Many of you know that about me. Thankfully when I have a hard time coming up with my own words I can count on my blogging friends to have words for me. I read and comment and read and email and read some more. I reread and close my eyes and let their words paint the picture of experience in my head. I've been to a parade, attended a wedding, bought a house, stepped in dog poop with my bare feet, dealt with the loss of a child, contemplated a classroom of 3rd graders, had a colon cleanse, been on a Turkish picnic, and remembered a relationship through the words of my friends in the last couple of days. Thanks to everyone for sharing your words with me.

I'm so very grateful.

(Oh...and the great thing about a virtual colon cleanse and virtually stepping in dog poop is it is so much cleaner this way. I totally recommend it!)

a day

2009-05-16T20:37:00.003-05:00

Today was a nice relaxing day. We hung around our house this morning before heading out to a local farmer's market to browse the fruits and veggies. Most of the stuff was trucked in...tomatoes from Florida, cantaloupe from Guatemala (which I realize is a very long truck ride)...so we elected to wait a couple more weeks before we tried out their produce. Hopefully some of the local stuff will be ready by then.

I brought my camera along with plans to take pictures, but since the fruit was slim pickins I never even pulled it out of my bag.

After a bite of lunch we went out to my parents' house for a little swim time. I did manage to get some pictures of the kids swimming.

Now I'm sleepy.

comments

2009-05-16T08:57:00.003-05:00

Ok...I've enabled comment moderation again. This time for me. I want everyone to feel comfortable saying whatever they want to say here. I will get all the comments and have the power to approve or delete them. If I think a comment was left that was meant for my eyes only I won't worry about publishing it. So say what you want. I'm listening.

A.G.

2009-05-11T18:56:00.002-05:00

Anna Grace made me a card for Mother's Day. In it she wrote a rather lengthy note. I wanted to share it with you.

Dear Mom,
I love you. I know that you do almost everything for me so I decided to make you this. I love when you rub my back and say my prayers at night. I know that you love me and will always love me. I wish that someday I will make it into college so that you won't have to pay for me and my things. I think it's funny when you sing a song on American Idol that you know. I love how you make me laugh. I hope that you stay alive until I die. Hopefully we will never get separated. I like making puzzles with you. You are the greatest. Oh yeah, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I'm glad that we got to move here, but I really want to go back.
Your's Truly,
A.G.

Yeah...I cried. That kid can get to me for sure.

All mixed up

2009-05-10T20:02:00.003-05:00

On Mother's Day I get to choose where we have lunch.

Last year in Turkey I chose Timboo Cafe where I enjoyed a cheeseburger with grilled onions and fries.

This year in America I chose Zamani Mediterranean Grill where I had icli kofte, sarma, and hummus.

Yeah, I've got issues.

Camping

2009-05-10T17:39:00.002-05:00

I am in a camping mood. I get in these moods every once in awhile. I want to go somewhere pretty and enjoy being outside. We don't actually own any camping gear anymore. We had quite a bit of stuff before we moved to Turkey. Most of it we gave away before we left. We acquired quite a bit of stuff while we were in Turkey. All of that we sold before we came back. So now we are back at square one with nothing. I'm sure my family has everything we need for a successful camping trip. I just need to call around and see who has what I guess.

A flower story

2009-05-02T13:12:00.005-05:00

The natural look

2009-05-02T12:51:00.004-05:00

My parents have an amazing yard. Last night the kids and I went to their place to spend the night. This morning I walked around with my camera and took tons of pictures. These 5 are my favorites!

I love this. If I were to name my pictures I think I would call this one Determination.

Feel free to offer names for the others if you'd like.

friends

2009-04-28T22:12:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been thinking about a lot of things. About how people come and go in our lives...our seasonal friends. Personally I am not a fan of seasonal friendships. I hate the whole idea of them, but I understand that they are a reality of life. Not everyone will be a forever friend. I have had plenty of seasonal friends in my life. Growing up and moving around a lot contributed to that reality. I didn't have a choice really. As an adult I have more of a choice, but even so sometimes people just grow apart and life moves on.

We don't plan for people to be our seasonal friends. It just happens that way. We don't start friendships with the mindset that one of these days we probably won't know where that person is or what they've done with their life. We will look back with fond memories on those friendships and wonder how it happened that we lost touch. Maybe we will know exactly what happened that caused us to not be friends anymore, but we will still remember the good times.

I don't know. Lots of crazy thoughts.

Just over a year ago I wrote a post called Bubbles. I've been thinking about that a lot too. Something I've realized in the year since that post was written is that we can always find some shared commonality with just about everyone we meet. We might not look alike on the outside. There might not seem to be any shared interests, but if we dig deep and really listen we can find something familiar in them. Something that rings true in our heart. Something we share. Believe me, I know. And I have discovered that it is worth the digging to find a friend.

That's it.

Marching

2009-04-26T17:06:00.006-05:00

Yesterday AmazingGreis, Kay, and I donned our Maddie shirts and participated in the March of Dimes March for Babies in Houston. I had never met either of these women, but like me they had been touched by the story of baby Maddie.

We joined crowds of people.

And we walked. Slowly at first, but we were able to pick up our pace as we went along.

This is the view in front of us.

And the view behind us.

We passed a butterfly garden during one portion of our walk.

So sweet.

Approaching the finish line.

Our free lunch.

I know my words are few, but I'm not sure what else to say. It was a wonderful experience, and I was honored to be able to participate. Thanks girls!

Um..

2009-04-25T21:58:00.003-05:00

After writing my heartfelt, thought-provoking post last night I went to bed. Today I read the encouraging comments from all of you. It made my heart glad to see the love and support. And then I really thought about it. 6 months? Really? So I counted down and up and back. And I realized that it's really only been 5 months. I totally relied on a 4th grader's arithmetic. Anna Grace said 6 months, and I believed her. So now I'm thinking we really need to work on her math skills!

6 months

2009-04-25T00:32:00.005-05:00

Lately I've been thinking about our life here in America. We've been back for exactly 6 months today. I wasn't paying attention to the date. I hadn't been counting down or up or back. I knew it had been about 6 months, but I wasn't really keeping track. Then tonight Anna Grace came into my bedroom. I could tell she had been crying. She told me that today was exactly 6 months since we arrived. And she burst into tears again. She wants to go back to Turkey. She and Will both want to go back. Erica and Jacob seem to be having an easier time of it, but even they've wanted to go back at times. I've watched these kids navigate the roadways of life in America these past 6 months. There have been some really hard days. We've had to deal with some reverse culture shock in a big way. I have almost blogged about some of those things in the past, but I didn't want people to think I was being judgmental, racist, prejudiced, or insensitive. I've decided to put a couple of those thing down tonight, because for some reason they are weighing heavily on my mind.

The first week of school for Erica was eye-opening for us all. Erica came home from school talking about a girl in her class who was pregnant. That didn't surprise or shock me. I fully expected there to be a pregnant girl or two in her school. After telling me about the pregnant girl Erica mentioned another girl in her class who has a 1 year old boy. I asked Erica what she did with her son while she was in school. She told me that he went to the daycare at the school. I was shocked. On one hand I was happy that this girl could continue her education without having to worry about who was taking care of her baby. On the other hand I wondered how many kids at her school had kids. Evidently enough that there was a need for an in-house daycare. It was hard to wrap my mind around that. It still is.

We've also had to deal with the way our kids talk about people of a different race. We came from Turkey. We called those around us Turks. They were Turks. There weren't Chinese Turks and French Turks and Georgian Turks. If you were Chinese you weren't Turkish. If you were Greek you weren't Turkish. Even the Kurds who lived in the East, who had been born and raised in Turkey weren't Turks. They were Kurds. It is what we were used to. At the international school our kids attended there were kids from all over the world. Iraqis, Italians, Greeks, Nigerians, Brazilians, Iranians, Egyptians, and so many others. Those nationalities were celebrated at their school. Here in the states our kids find themselves wanting to call people by the nationality of their ancestors. In Houston there are many people of Mexican descent, but they are not Mexicans. They are Americans. The kids know that...now.

I hope you hear the tone in which this was written. It's observing, thinking, and understanding. It is without fear. It's been 6 months already. I can't believe it.

exactly

2009-04-22T21:46:00.002-05:00

I sit here and just stare at this blank space. I want to put something here, but I don't want to write something just to be able to say I posted today. I have had lots on my mind these last few weeks, but I have a hard time putting words to those thoughts. As I sat here I thought of something I posted back in November of 2007. I am reposting it because it is exactly what I need to say.

Oceans and Straws

I just read something that I have to share...

I've often said that there are times I feel so full, but I can't get anything out. I want to write, but for some reason I have trouble getting my thoughts to make sense...they don't flow well. I was reading the blog of a friend of a friend of a friend....I think...and they said that there were times that they wanted to write but couldn't manage to put anything down on paper. They said it was

"like pushing the ocean through a straw".

I love that word picture. I'll remember that the next time I sit here and stare at my computer screen in agony...my mind filled with an ocean full of thoughts that I can't do anything with!

Love this!

2009-04-19T23:26:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't really written a blog post in a long time. I will. Things are churning in my head and eventually I will figure out what I want to say. But today...today I feel the need to post these pictures.

Some amazing Texas scenery.

I had to pull over to take this picture. Thankfully it was a quiet street. I was kinda wishing for a lawn chair and some lemonade so I could just sit back and enjoy it. Click on the picture for a better view.

And because I'm sure you couldn't see it very well in the first picture I zoomed in on the shed in the pasture. You gotta love Texas.

I wanted to pull over several more times, but I had places to be and people to see. One of these days I am just going to have to go driving for the sole purpose of taking pictures.