long time no blog...

So...here are the few thoughts floating around in my mind that (if I had some extra energy) I might really sit down and ponder:

1. My mom's brother passed away. She is obviously devastated. It made me think about when her other brother passed away (also very unexpectedly). I had just gotten married and was coming 'home' to take Oliver for a walk (something I think I did every day until my parents moved to Red Deer and I took Oliver full-time). She was still very upset at me b/c of my marriage, and usually was very non-chalant whenever I came home. This time, she just kept following me around and staying close to me...and I could feel that something was wrong. Though she probably didn't even greet me when I arrived, I could tell that something 'heavy' was coming, and she just burst out with the story of her brother's death. I'm sure I was the last person she wanted to get support from at that time...unfortunately, b/c my dad was working in Forestburg, and my brother was in Calgary, I was all she had. So, I did the best I could. I am sad to not be able to offer her more this time.

2. My friend Drica's baby Benjamin. Drica is the epitome of the relaxed Brazillian. She had an scheduled c-section and this morning at 6:00 a.m. went into the hospital to deliver Benjamin. I was at the hospital having a blood test when something clicked in my brain that today was the 28th...and the date Benjamin was going to be born. So, I popped up to the maternity ward, and there she was: a room full of people, her daughter Luz crying and screaming to fight to retain all that had been exclusively hers, and Drica lying in the bed, in the middle of it all...just relaxed and breast-feeding the new and tiny Benjamin. She had even packed 'gifts' for all of her hospital visitors...man...is THAT what an epidural does??

3. Housemaid woes. My friend Sharon is having them. She had a whopper of a story today that began with a trip to Dubai, and ended with her housemaid getting slapped in the face and thrown out. In the middle, there was a man hiding in her 2 year old daughter's bedroom, and a housemaid who entertained men in her free-time (read into that what you will...we're not exactly sure WHAT was going on...and we're not entirely sure we want to know).

4. Butterflies. Today Malou caught a beautiful black and yellow butterly for A. She put it into her bug-tent to show her. Little A. was delighted, but also scared (which she tells me by tapping her chest and saying 'Mama scared'). Sadly, the butterfly had a damaged wing (BEFORE Malou caught it, not as a result of) and is likely on her last legs. She also looks very pregnant...so, before we went to bed, we took her out of the bug tent and let her rest in the flowers...

5. The end of nursing. It's very hard to listen to your child screaming for her 'mama'...and begging for 'mewk'...and wanting to give it to her, but knowing the time has come for your wee one to start sleeping through the night. Everyone says I would just KNOW when the time was right...and I feel like it is...but the wailing and the cries...it's heartbreaking.

6. Summer holiday plans. It's too damn hot. We are looking forward to our trip to the UK in June. We've got house-sitting (and house-maid sitting) worked out, and now it's time to just tick off the days on the calender. We're heading to Scotland first (Loch Lomond) and then to England (where we will visit with my family and tour around the countryside).

And I think that's all I can think about thinking about right now. Still not really feeling 'settled' into this life. The heat makes me feel like a prisoner of the villa...but, I'm reserving judgement for a year (although P would tell you I have pronounced many judgements already).

Not sure if anyone is even following my blog anymore...it's been so long since I've updated it...I can see how even my '1 follower' (thank-you Cindy) may have fallen off to the wayside. But, as you can see...I'm still here.