A Day in the Life...

It's Thursday, which means Mike will spend most of the day looking after the store. He'll also meet with some friends at lunch, and with some other friends for English practice in the afternoon for a few hours.

8:00 -- We're all up, I'm nursing Sara and the kids are getting themselves dressed--mostly. They're ideas of what's appropriate to wear out of the house can be creative. Breakfast is French toast casserole that I put together before bed last night to use up some stale bread.

9:00 -- The hour-long process of getting out the door begins. Shoes. Check. Jackets. Check. Pants for Anna. Extra diaper. Check. Tissues for Sara's runny nose. Check. Keys. Ummm, where are they? I turn the house upside down while the kids sit ready by the door for a half hour. Finally I call Mike. Don't worry, they'll turn up, he says. Just before walking out the door I on a whim pull the washing machine out. It sits by the door and usually my keys live on top. I had checked on it and all around it, but there they were, wedged all the way underneath. We get the stroller out of the back of the van and head over to the store to give Mike the keys to the van and pick up his phone (just in case--I lost mine over a week ago).

10:00 -- We make it to the store, and stop in to visit Mike, the girls who work there, and R's little four month old baby. We talk about educating our kids and how unique their personalies are. I learn new words--the word for "spoiled" and the word for "personalities." We also pick up our jackets which we had left there. It's cooler than I thought outside.

11:00 -- We cross the big street, walk two blocks, cross the other big street, and arrive at the park. The kids play while Sara sleeps in her stroller. We wander around the park a bit. We encounter some rowdy teenagers, cute kids, and a gazillion kids just getting out from morning session school. The sun finally comes out, so Sara gets to play in the grass. The hedges are blooming just like the one at the farm house where I grew up.

12:30 -- We start the trek home before the kids get tired enough to make walking miserable. On the way we buy doner sandwiches (chicken roasted on a spit--think a light sub) and orange soda to take home for lunch. We run into Daddy on his way back from lunch.

1:30 -- Lunch is finished, the kids play on the balcony while I nurse Sara, then they enjoy a little "Finding Nemo" before nap time.

3:15 -- All three are asleep and I'm doing some housework and computer work. Peace and Quiet!

4:14 -- Sara wakes up and she gets her sippy cup of milk. We play together on the floor while I watch a local cooking show. Mabye I'll get inspired for dinner...

5:00 -- I start defrosting the chicken for dinner, and the doorbell rings. My neighbor across the hall stops by. We talk and visit for a little less than an hour.

6:00 -- Just after she leaves, I ring her doorbell to mention something else. She insists I come in, and since the kids are awake now we all go over. The kids play well together, we talk about a little of everything from bedroom furniture to the New Testament.

7:00 -- I come home, stick the still frozen chicken back in the freezer and start heating up leftover chicken dinner from last night (we eat alot of chicken). Mike heads out to get fresh bread and Coke (a must for this garlicy olive oil baked chicken). I heat up some noodles for the kids.

8:00 -- Mike is gone to pick up friends from the airport. Sara is getting into everything. I'm giving Anna a bath and cleaning up from dinner, and doing neither particularly thoroughly. Sara nurses one more time. Who knows what Matthew's doing :)

8:45 -- Kids ask to watch a Cosby show. Matthew is really into Cosby right now. Just after I turn it on the doorbell rings--another neighbor. We visit with the kids; she reads "Goodnight Moon" and "Go, Dogs, Go." She's really been working on her English lately. I put the kids to bed and then she asks me to teach her how to play piano. After some discussion about how you can't really learn to play piano all at once, it takes years, etc, we settle for learning a little tune from Beethoven -- Ode to Joy. I tell her I'll try to find the words in Turkish. She's tickled and heads home to practice.

10:00 -- Mike is on the phone doing business with airlines, I hang the laundry outside for the first time this spring. Ahh, fresh air! I clean up the rest of the kitchen and run the full dishwasher.

11:00 -- Mike and I talk about everything under the sun and hang out while I put things away in our room, mostly aiming for clearing off the bed. I check email, we discuss the update email he's writing.

Midnight -- lights out!