Well, we've been back in Doha for a month now. Where does time go?
My flight with two kids by myself went fine. I could do it again if I had to. The biggest thing that happened was that since I can't go through the body scan (which I'm glad for, I don't like those things) in the Tulsa Airport with a chid in my arms and I had no one to help watch them, I had to be patted down. Why do you ask? Because my maxi skirt, which I chose to wear for comfort, was too long. Are you kidding me???? What is happening to our world? Modesty is rewarded with suspicion and a pat down. Anyway, that was the worst of the trip, thankfully. Big E fell asleep in Chicago as we waited to taxi for take-off. Miss A had trouble getting comfortable enough to stay asleep, but she wasn't fussy much.
Coming to Doha this time around was soooo much easier than last year. We just had to get over jet-lag. There was no trying to figure things out, no jumping through hoops or getting lost trying to get somewhere. We know people and have things that we need to do. Also, though Doha doesn't feel like home like Carthage did, my house feels a bit more homey now. Maybe Steve coming two weeks before me helped. :)
To get over jet lag, which was completely different this time around, I had to just keep busy. 36 hours after I arrived in Doha, I started watching kids again. The first week I had 8 kids (including my two) from 6:20 until 3:35. I actually think it helped us get over jet lag. Big E only fell asleep once during the day. I reorganized my kitchen cupboards, which I had been wanting to do, I sorted through some things that I brought back with me and put them away, I cleaned a lot. Anything to keep myself awake. Last year I had no trouble falling asleep at a normal bed time, but we'd all wake up around 3 am. This time around, I had a hard time sleeping at bed time and sometimes wouldn't fall asleep until 3 am. So glad that's over with.
Big E is a master at going to school, though it's taken this long for him to remember his backpack on his own when we walk out the door in the morning. :) But hey, he's doing great for a 4 year-old. He doesn't say much when you ask him about his day. Usually it's "I don't know" to whatever you ask. Maybe I don't ask soon enough. :) It's odd to go from having him home all day every day and knowing what goes on in his life all the time, to having this 6 1/2- 7 hour gap of time that I don't really know what he does. But he seems happy. He has homework to do each night on the computer, reading and math. He enjoys doing it.
Miss A missed Big E at first. She'd ask where he was through out the morning. Now she's used to it. She is starting to talk more and put words together in short sentences, such as "where Daddy do?" (like go, only with a d). She tells me when she's hungry and when she wants a nap, which is thankfully earlier in the day, so that way she gets to nap before we go pick up Big E
Oh, another interesting thing that happened was that someone in Georgia tried to spend $178 at Walmart a few weeks ago. Somehow they got ahold of our US credit card number, made a card and tried to use it. Thankfully our bank caught it as the distance was too far away from our usual spending, and denied the transaction. But what a hassle. I had to wait for working hours over in the US before I could call and settle things. Well, Steve ended up calling, but still. It is all taken care of now, though.
I've been asked to organize the play group this year. Hopefully it'll turn out better than the last time I did it. :)
My flight with two kids by myself went fine. I could do it again if I had to. The biggest thing that happened was that since I can't go through the body scan (which I'm glad for, I don't like those things) in the Tulsa Airport with a chid in my arms and I had no one to help watch them, I had to be patted down. Why do you ask? Because my maxi skirt, which I chose to wear for comfort, was too long. Are you kidding me???? What is happening to our world? Modesty is rewarded with suspicion and a pat down. Anyway, that was the worst of the trip, thankfully. Big E fell asleep in Chicago as we waited to taxi for take-off. Miss A had trouble getting comfortable enough to stay asleep, but she wasn't fussy much.
Coming to Doha this time around was soooo much easier than last year. We just had to get over jet-lag. There was no trying to figure things out, no jumping through hoops or getting lost trying to get somewhere. We know people and have things that we need to do. Also, though Doha doesn't feel like home like Carthage did, my house feels a bit more homey now. Maybe Steve coming two weeks before me helped. :)
To get over jet lag, which was completely different this time around, I had to just keep busy. 36 hours after I arrived in Doha, I started watching kids again. The first week I had 8 kids (including my two) from 6:20 until 3:35. I actually think it helped us get over jet lag. Big E only fell asleep once during the day. I reorganized my kitchen cupboards, which I had been wanting to do, I sorted through some things that I brought back with me and put them away, I cleaned a lot. Anything to keep myself awake. Last year I had no trouble falling asleep at a normal bed time, but we'd all wake up around 3 am. This time around, I had a hard time sleeping at bed time and sometimes wouldn't fall asleep until 3 am. So glad that's over with.
Big E is a master at going to school, though it's taken this long for him to remember his backpack on his own when we walk out the door in the morning. :) But hey, he's doing great for a 4 year-old. He doesn't say much when you ask him about his day. Usually it's "I don't know" to whatever you ask. Maybe I don't ask soon enough. :) It's odd to go from having him home all day every day and knowing what goes on in his life all the time, to having this 6 1/2- 7 hour gap of time that I don't really know what he does. But he seems happy. He has homework to do each night on the computer, reading and math. He enjoys doing it.
Miss A missed Big E at first. She'd ask where he was through out the morning. Now she's used to it. She is starting to talk more and put words together in short sentences, such as "where Daddy do?" (like go, only with a d). She tells me when she's hungry and when she wants a nap, which is thankfully earlier in the day, so that way she gets to nap before we go pick up Big E
Oh, another interesting thing that happened was that someone in Georgia tried to spend $178 at Walmart a few weeks ago. Somehow they got ahold of our US credit card number, made a card and tried to use it. Thankfully our bank caught it as the distance was too far away from our usual spending, and denied the transaction. But what a hassle. I had to wait for working hours over in the US before I could call and settle things. Well, Steve ended up calling, but still. It is all taken care of now, though.
I've been asked to organize the play group this year. Hopefully it'll turn out better than the last time I did it. :)
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