It's Official.... I am getting OLD!!

We have met some new neighbors this past week.  They are from the UK and they have a son that is 11 and a daughter that is 5.  Today we all traveled to the Yas Waterworld water park, the one that I wrote about a few posts ago.  They had not been yet, so our boys wanted to show them around!

All is going very well... we are all having a wonderful time.  Since they hadn't ever been there, I told them that I would hang out with their little girl while they rode some rides and went down some tubes!  So off they go, and off little Miss and I go!  We head off to the kiddie play area...

It is a very nice play area!  Lots of water spraying all around plus it is very interactive for the kiddos.  Buckets of water are drowning every bit of this play place...there is no way you could stay dry in this area!  I follow little Miss into the labryinth of stairs and kiddie slides, all the while being rained on!  Then the huge bucket on top of the play area has reached its fill and over it spills!!! It pours down right on top of where we are standing...dun dun dunnnnn!!!  I am standing on a triangular platform near two steps that lead down to a little bridge.  The water that pours out of the bucket above does not pour out lightly...it is a torrential downpour...or as we would say in Texas--the bottom fell out!  It was like a tidal wave falling out of the sky on to my head!  I grab my sunglasses off the top of my head so that I would not lose them but there is so much water that I can't see that I am very close to the edge of the platform that I am standing on.  So close that whoops......down I go!  I break my sunglasses as I grab for the handrail...I fall down both of the steps onto the next platform and then whack my head against the steel handrail!  I right myself and get up!  Did anyone help me?  Well no, but one lifeguard was on their way until they saw I had stood up!  I rubbed my head and realized that I a good size knot showing up...lovely!  I taste blood, and at that moment realize I had bit the inside of my lip.  Fun!  About five minutes later I looked down and then noticed that I skinned the side of my foot.  I am a mess!  LOL

So I get little Miss and we go throw my sunglasses away, and I then tell her that I am going to sit down and watch her play! HAHAHA  It is at this point that her parents and Clint show up, so I get to tell Clint all about the chaos!  He wanted me to file a report with the park so in case anything came of this later it would be documented, but I told him I would be fine.

Well as the day went on, I began to get sore...  The arm that I had used to catch myself as I fell is now achy and sore, and so is the right side of my neck.  Great!  A few years ago this fall would have been nothing...but NOW that I am OLD, I am sore!  Craziness!!

The funniest part of this story (yeah I know you are laughing at me), is that we have been to the waterpark several times in the past 2 weeks and all has gone well, not even a stumped toe.  THEN... the first time I step foot in KIDDIE LAND, I injure myself!  What in the world!!!!!

Funny Story!!

So like I have previously said, over here we attend church on Friday's.  So today was church day. We get up, we get dressed, we head out!!!  We enter church and we are running a little behind so we have to take the "walk of shame", as Clint calls it, to the front of the room.  LOL... Well we settle in and sing songs, take up offering, and then listened to a wonderful sermon on hope!  After the sermon, they offered the Lord's Supper (communion).  Here it is a regularly scheduled thing to do the first Friday of each month.  So we take communion and then the pastor steps back up to conclude everything and make announcements.  A lady comes to the front holding a little bag as the pastor is announcing that people will be coming around to collect the little cups from communion.  He also follows that instruction with an announcement about collecting a second offering for a special fund they have there at the church.....

Well crazy me thinks that the lady is there to collect my cup, so I drop my cup into the little bag, and then realize that it was the offering bag not the cup collecting bag... I literally laughed out loud and so did Clint and Clay... It was noisy at that moment so we were disrupting anything, but it was very funny.  The lady was a little surprised and so was I.... we both looked at each other and laughed!  I had to reach into the offering bag to retrieve my cup... so then it looked like I was taking from the offering rather than adding to it!  LOL

I hope that you have had a laugh.... Please feel free to laugh!  It was awesome!  We even laughed about it on the way home!  LOL  Clay just shook his head, and said "I knew you were going to do that!"

Missing Things...

I know that this is crazy but I miss being able to make a bulk shopping trip for groceries!!  Back in Texas, living in a rural town, you would have to make a monthly or twice monthly trip to town to really buy groceries!  It is a 30-40 minute drive from Alto, Texas in any one of four directions to a grocery store larger enough to carry everything you are looking for!  Well here you go to the grocery store at the least once a week.  I plan our dinner menu for the week, and then based on that I usually go on Sunday's to the grocery store and get what we need.  The food here doesn't last as long as it does in the states, and I am referring to expiration dates.  Milk usually has a 4 day good to bad date marking.  Cooking each night uses up the meat supply.  Just like at home, fresh fruits and veggies don't last long at all.

I miss being able to buy things in large quantities and freezing them so that I don't have to go to the store all the time.  Yes, I can get a deep freeze unit, and that is in the plans for some time in the future.  I don't really need one as large as what we had back in Texas.  So we will be getting a smaller unit just to help with the storage of meats!

Another thing I miss is the ability to go to Hobby Lobby for craft supplies and fabrics.  Some Modge Podge would be great to find, so that I can do the photo to canvas project I have been wanting to do....  You can use regular white glue but it just isn't the same!   I don't have a sewing machine yet but that is on the list of things to buy!  I have things I want to make!  Dresses, curtains, shirts....etc!  My plan is to use my sewing and cake skills to make a little money for myself!  I think that will be fun!  

I am in the process of planning a beginning cake decorating class now, but since we don't have a Hobby Lobby or Michaels here, it is a little more difficult finding supplies.  They are here, just have to go to more than one place to get what I need!

The saying is true that you will miss things when you no longer have them or the ability to get them..... We take a lot of things for granted when we get used to just having them available to us.  This goes for material things as well as friends and family!

Life is Never Easy

You know, we go through trials in our lives and we ask why?  We ask many different why's.  Why me?  Why now?  Why this? We never have all the answers.  Sometimes we never find out the answers to the why's.  It is frustrating and disheartening at times, but I have always been a firm believer in everything happens for a reason!

I have watched friends struggle with loosing babies that were wanted and loved from day one but became angels before birth.  I have lost friends/classmates at young ages.  I have lost family members to illnesses like emphesyma and cancer.  Life is hard and full of struggle.

I don't have all the answers to the why's but I can say that during these times is when we should be hitting our knees and calling on God!  He probably won't give us the answer either but what if the answer is just that... He wants us to call on Him!  He needs us to call on Him!  This doesn't mean that if we call on Him that nothing bad or sad will ever happen.  Those things will happen.  There will be things that we will never understand but this I can promise... God will never leave us or forsake us!  Even when we feel alone, He is there!

This post is not foreshadowing of something in my life.  This is just a moment of reflection for families everywhere that are dealing with a difficult situation right now.... death, illness, loss.  Whatever our trial may be, God is here today, tomorrow, and forever for us!

These are the lyrics for one of my favorite songs.... "Blessings" by Laura Story...

"Blessings"

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not,
This is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

The Countdown is On......

Here, as well as back in the states, everyone is starting to think about school!  The countdown has begun.... We only have 4 weeks till school begins...EEKKK!!  This will be the first time in my adult life that I will not be going to school too!   I have been going to school in some form ever since my first day of Kindergarten!!  I mean, I went through elementary, middle and high school years, then on to college immediately after that, AND then straight to teaching before I even finished college.  This is going to be a weird experience for me.....  I don't know if I will know what to do with myself after I drop the boys off at school... LOL!  

The boys and I will all be starting something new... new school, classmates, teachers, and rules for them AND new schedule and way of life for me!  Clay will start his first year of high school, Joshua will begin 6th grade, and Denver will begin 4th grade!  WOW time is flying!  

I am going to feel really out of sorts for a while I am sure....  At the same time, I am hoping that I can embrace this new role of just MOM, and actually participate in the things that the boys do at school....maybe even be a home room mom!  Every time the note was sent home in the past asking for volunteers to be the home room mother when my boys were younger, I would have to send it back with a note of my own saying that I would help in any way that I could but wouldn't be able to commit to helping other than sending items that were requested.  I always felt bad about this!  Of course, their teachers always understood because they knew I was a teacher, and they were also missing out on their own kids class activities.

We have a meeting in 2 weeks to discuss Clay's high school pathway with the high school counselor here.  It is kind of bittersweet... he is going to be missing out on so many things that we, as Americans/Texans, had visualized him doing, like Friday night football with his friends back home and having the sense of comraderie with the same group from K-12(bitter) BUT he is going to meet so many new people from around the world and learn so many new things that most kids his age won't have the chance to experience (sweet).

The other two of our boys, are also missing out on their friends and making those memories back home with them, but they too are meeting new friends that from all over the world and learning great things about so many different cultures.  New sports will be played as well as some familier ones....Rugby and soccer will be new but we will be playing baseball!!  We love baseball!

One thing that I am going to try since I won't be teaching at a school, is to teach small cake decorating classes in my home!  I think that this may be a fun way to continue teaching!

Well....onward to school!

Just another day...

I think that things are settling into a routine of sorts... But soon the summer schedule will be disrupted by the introduction of school!  I am glad that so far all three of our boys have my ability to make friends fast...  We have met several great families and kiddos in our community but shortly after meeting and getting to know them, then they would leave for their trips back to their home countries to see their families and friends.  Each time we meet someone new the boys are non-stop playing, but then as soon as they leave for their vacations my boys are down in the dumps and moaning.."There is nothing to do..."  Oh poor things!  LOL... well we have just 5 weeks till school begins here, so I know that very soon a lot of the families that are gone on vacation right now will be returning.  I have been told by my hubby and the other families that we have met that our little community here, Mangrove Village, is overflowing with kiddos!  The streets will be filled with playing children each evening!  That will be an experience that our boys have not really ever had.  Granted we miss our country home and way of life...BIG TIME, but being able to live in a community that is very family oriented with so many kids is the best thing for our boys during this time away from our home and our friends and family!  This will keep them occupied and engaged, so there will be less time for extreme homesickness to sink in! 

As soon as school gets going, we will be just as busy as when we were back in our little hometown of Alto, TX!!  Those of you who know us, know that the Anderson's are not the type to not be involved in something...everything!  HAHAHA!!  We have school work to do, sports to play, hobbies to learn, relationships to build, cakes to bake.... etc!!!  I will keep you posted friends!!

From the Anderson's to all of you...We love you and we miss you!!!

How do you BEAT THE HEAT?

It has been said that most folks that move over here to the Land of Sand from places like Texas, seem to fair better than those who come from other places that do not have the same hot and humid weather.  Sooo yes it is hot folks, but we are managing!  Today we topped out at 111 !!  We live "in town" and not out in the actual desert, so unbelievably it is hotter out there than where we actually live.  Clint goes out to check on the rigs at least once a week and he said that it has been around 135 on more than one ocassion!!!  My mercy!!  Add on top of the actual temperature a wind effect equivalent to standing in front of an intense hair dryer on the high setting!  Uh...no thank you!  I will stay in the A/C!   

OR......

You pack up your gear, grab a towel and the all important sunscreen (yes, this easily tanned girl and her children, no matter that we do not usually burn, are going to be covered in sunscreen), and you head to the WATERPARK!!!

About 20 minutes from our villa/community you will find on Yas Island the new Yas Waterworld! They just finished the park and all its fun attractions this past spring!  It is out in the open, but yet amazingly the water is quite COOL!  You actually step in and suck in a breath of shock from the temp! But oh so refreshing at the same time!!  We went for the first time yesterday evening for about 4 hours... we all had a great time!  We even bought annual passess....I mean heck why not!?...It rarely rains here and the temp for swimming is pretty good year round, so we should get our money's worth!!  

The park has 1 mildly thrilling roller coaster but what it lacks in thrills for those who love the rush, it makes up for with being family friendly and not one that you have to really check your health history for!  I am not an adrenaline junky, neither are my oldest and my youngest BUT my middle child and my husband....different story!  So three of us stuck to the mild and fun, while those two crazies searched for the scare your swim trunks off of you rides!!  LOL

There were 2 lazy rivers to choose from...one was definitely the "lazy" river with a slight current to move you soothingly along, the other was a fun faster paced river with waves!!  You could still float along the faster paced river but the added waves made it more fun for those who wanted just that little extra more!

The park is not huge but rather it is just right in size, and has plenty for everyone!  We plan to make as many trips as we can!  So two thumbs up for this way of beating the heat!