New Apart-a-mento

Hey there! Welcome to the big K, and welcome to our apartment that we moved into about a week and a half ago. Please excuse the piles of things around the place, as that's what happens when you live in furnished apartments. There's nowhere to put your STUFF that you brought with you.

So, this is what it looks like when you walk in the front door.

Don't you love this little sign? Our good friends, Matt & Jonna, gave it to us. We will keep it forever to remind us of our time here.

To the right is the living room. Now, here's what I'm talking about: there are no bookshelves in the apartment, so we have nowhere to store all of our DVD's and books, which are extremely important to us here! So, they are living in the box next to the couch.

This is the dining room, which is across from the living room. It gets lots of light because of the big window. That's why I liked this apartment. It doesn't feel like a hole.

Here is the kitchen, which is open to the dining room. It's alright. No dishwasher, though, and if you know me, you know that I DESPISE doing dishes.

This is the view from the kitchen. A few things to notice here: the drying rack for our laundry. The washing machines are just KILLING our clothes here. Air drying your clothes makes them very crunchy and threadbare...that and the fact that they spend about 3 hours in the washing machine with each cycle. Also, the curved doorway is leading to the living room.

This is the second bedroom that we only use to store a bunch of our STUFF and Stephen's clothes go in the wardrobe in there. And, all the bedding that the owners were storing in the wardrobe is now on the bed. There were about 10 blankets, none of which we are using because it FREAKS ME OUT to use strangers' bedding.

This is the toilet room. Not to be confused with the bathroom.

That is next door. Why they are separate, I'll never know. I'm sure there's some non-logical reasoning behind this.

This is the view from the bathroom, looking back at the front door.

And this is our bedroom. It's pretty much just big enough for the bed, bedside tables, and wardrobe. The sheets are ours and the afghan is one that I knitted a few years ago. Those are the only bedding items that my face will be touching.

Looking out of our bedroom.

And this is how I feel like it is sort of home: our books and pictures are arranged on the window sill in the living room. I look at these every day!

Books...

I saw this Book Meme on a blog and thought it'd be a fun way to tell you about some books I've read.

1. One book that changed my life: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. If you haven't read this book before, go to the bookstore and buy it. Today. So good.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: The Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. If you haven't read this one, do it. It's even better than the movie, but I think the movie (with Winona Ryder) is really good.

3. One book you would want on a desert island: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It took me about 2 months to read this book because it is ENORMOUS, so it'd be good to pass the time on a desert island and whenever I would read it, I'd escape inside of it. Very well done.

4. One book that made you laugh: I really can't think of a humorous book I've read! I guess I like the more serious reads. But, I laugh hysterically when I read BigMama's blog and The Meanest Mom's blog.

5. One book that made you cry: Lucky by Alice Sebold. It's a memoir about when she got raped in college. The first chapter had a serious effect on me. I sobbed like a baby.

6. One book that you wish had been written: I don't really understand this question. I have no wishes for books. I just like them.

7. One book that you wish had never been written: The Mermaid Chair, by Sue Monk Kidd. Just a horrible book. Ridiculous plot, weak characters, corny. Stupid. I read it because I had read The Secret Life of Bees by the same author and it was really good, so I had high expectations.

8. The book that you are currently reading: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Stephen gave me this book and another one that goes with it for Christmas. They have the same sort of story plot, but each is told from a different character's point of view. I'm just starting it.

9. One book that you have been meaning to read: Marley & Me by John Grogan. I saw the movie over Christmas break and it was all I could do to keep from moaning in the theater because I was crying so hard.

10. Books you don’t enjoy: Non-fiction. I think they're boring, unless they're written like a story. I tried to read 1776, but it wasn't story-like enough for me.

11. Book you remember as a real page-turner: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Neffeneggar (or something like that). You HAVE to read this book! It's not scary - just weird. But not like bad weird. I really liked it a lot.

12. Non-fiction books you have enjoyed: The Diary of Anne Frank. It reads like a story, that's why.

13. Children’s books your family has loved: Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss. I love this book because I remember it was the first book I ever read on my own. I remember sitting on the living room couch when we lived in the yellow house in Omaha, in my pajamas, reading it cover to cover all by myself. And then I ran to tell my mom!

Students...

With every year that I teach, certain things become more and more difficult, while other things obviously become easier. It seems that the things that should be "simple" and mundane become a hassle and tedious.

For example, lining up. This should be an easy task. When I say, "Boys and girls, push in your chairs and line up," here is what happens: They all jump up and run. The only ones who run to the line are the ones who want to be first, for some reason. The rest of them just look like they are busy. Groups of about 4 to 5 girls gather in various places of the room and just hen-peck. Gab, gab, gab. About nothing in particular or important.

I count down. "Get in line! You have 5...4...3...2...1! You should be quiet and in line now...No, that's not a line. That's a bunch...Turn and look around the room, boys and girls! Most of you did not push in your chair! Now, as you walk to PE, please stay in line - that means you are right behind the person in front of you. No one is beside you. No talking." And that's when I just hate the sound of my voice. And as they walk out the room, following my Teaching Assistant, they all start quietly talking to each other and are moving as one large mob. And as they move down the hallway, I can hear them getting louder and louder.

This is my life. Daily. I feel like I've never seen kids like these who just do whatever they want, all the time. It is the most frustrating situation. I have tried all different ways to punish them when they don't listen, but they don't care. These problems continue to be.

I don't want to teach anymore.

I know some of you would disagree with me and urge me to continue doing it. However, each year that I do it, I feel more and more strongly that it is not for me.

I do have my moments when I enjoy it. It is the once in a while, rare occurence when my students are actually listening and paying attention. They'll give me feedback during the lesson and I begin to have fun! It is just so RARE. It's just not worth it.

And I wonder why I'm doing it, when I feel like I'm not making a difference at all. At least, I can't see the impact right now. Right now, I am a baby-sitter, at best. A nagging, grumpy, unhappy baby-sitter.

Like the baby-sitter that took care of me when I was 10 and my brother and 3-year old sister for a weekend while my parents went away, probably to a business conference in Omaha. I think they called a baby-sitting service to hire her. I remember she was old, didn't smile, and extremely grumpy; downright mean, if you ask me. Anytime we asked her if we could do something, the answer was a sharp, "NO!" We had to play very quietly in our house for the whole weekend. I remember Kelsi coming into my room after bedtime and sleeping in my bed with me because she missed Mommy and she was a little scared. I took care of her. I protected her. I dressed her. And I comforted her.

Now, I am the nanny. I am grouchy and I never smile. Does that sound like me?

I am ready to leave the big K. I want to leave the big K.

My Riley...

Most of you know that I have this dog:

Her name is Riley.

I knew what I would name her before I even met her.

And I knew she was mine the second I laid eyes on her, as she trembled in the corner of her breeder's kitchen and her crazy brothers and sister ran around barking and carrying on.

When I picked her up, I did the trick to see if she'd submit to me...You know, because I am so dominant. So, I picked her up and cradled her on her back in my arms, like a baby. And she just laid there, relaxed, and looked up at me with her big, sad, puppy-dog eyes, as if to say, "Please take me from this place and love me."

So, I did. And 20 minutes later, we were in the car and she threw up puppy poo all over my sister. The first thing we did when we got home was take a bath.

I'm worried today, friends. I need big-P's sent up for the healing of my Riley. My mom told me this morning on Chat that she had taken Riley to the vet that day. When I was home at Christmas, I noticed a lump on Riley's belly. It's only about an inch long and is the shape of an egg. I asked my parents if they had noticed it and my dad said he had just a few days before. Mom took her to have it checked out and Dr. B ran some tests on it and thinks it might be a soft tissue sarcoma, which is a type of cancer. Dr. B said that if it was her dog, she'd have it removed right away. Because my parents are going back and forth between Colorado and Maryland this school year, Riley won't be able to have the surgery until the 16th.

Please P that the surgery will go well and the results will be a relief. Please P that Riley can continue to live a healthy, happy life of a dog.

And please P that I will trust in Him to take care of my dog. It kills me that I cannot be there now, or when she has her surgery. If you've ever met Riley, you know how she is: the happiest, most loyal, most ball-obsessed little person of a dog you've ever seen.

I cannot wait to see Riley again - hopefully this summer! We are hoping we'll make it to our big family reunion in Minnesota, and Riley LOVES Minnesota.

Please, if you think of it throughout the next couple of weeks, just send up a little P for Riley. She needs it!

Another Big Move...

Although, they are getting smaller each time. This is because every time I go to pack my clothes, I get more and more picky with what I put in the suitcases. I am so tired of moving all this STUFF!

But, we really don't have a lot of STUFF. We moved on Saturday, and it only took 3 trips in a Honda CR-V (not the largest SUV) and both of us and our driver still rode in the car. That's not that bad, right?

One reason I hate moving is that I feel judged throughout the whole process. While we're packing things, Huzz seems to comment a lot on how many clothes I have. It is taking him a while to realize that girls have tons more clothes than boys. It's just nature.

Then, I feel judged on moving day because whoever is helping us, and inevitably SOMEONE help us, which I am extremely grateful for, but that person/people always comment on how much stuff there is.

It makes me feel about this big.

Anyway, I was able to clear away two huge piles of clothes that I don't wear anymore -- thankfully, most of it is from my REALLY fat days, so it's too big. We are trying to figure out what to do with said clothes, as they are perfectly fine for wearing still, but there is no such thing as a "Salvation Army" or a place where you can donate clothes. Our church doesn't have a working program to do that, either. Our best idea is to give the clothes to the workers at the orphanage we have helped at. Now, getting them there is a new task.

We got all moved in to our Soviet apartment! It's very cozy and homey...and HOT. The heating runs on a government-controlled system and it is flippin' hot in the evenings. We are opening the windows!

It's pretty funny because when we were living in the first apartment last summer, when the electricity and internet and hot water would go out, we would look down on the Soviet block apartments below us and say, "At least we don't have to live there!"

Hello, reality check.

Ironically enough, I like the Soviet apartment more than that first one!

I was a little grumpy yesterday because I was finding that the apartment is just so dirty, I can't do anything until I clean it. Dishes, counters, floors, shower, furniture...you name it, I cleaned it.

Oh well. Patience.

Also, we are pretty sure the pipes under the bathtub are leaking, as the floor is sopping wet after each shower.

And we went to buy a drying rack for our clothes yesterday, but the cheapest one at the store was about FORTY DOLLARS, or 4,000 tenge. Um, no.

But I can't do laundry until we get one.

Sigh.

On the brightest side of everything, we finally have high speed internet at home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has only taken us seven months, but we had it within 15 minutes of moving in on Saturday. Such relief.

And, we started watching the Lost DVD's yesterday. Kelsi got us seasons 1-3 for Christmas and we are HOOKED.

Do you watch Lost? Don't tell me what happens!