It has been a while since I posted. Not much new with the family. Alison is finishing her first year at Texas A&M (Whoop!) next week. The girls have 19 days left of school (they are counting the days!) and John is still in Saudi working like a dog!
We finally got to see my family over the Easter break (only ONE day off of school for the biggest holiday of all time...go figure). We were so excited that Alison got to go with us...It has been nice being able to see her more often. We got to see my nieces, nephews, one of my brothers and one of my sisters, and my parents....and a special treat was getting to see my Aunt Dickie and Uncle Stanton. It was so fun! We had a crawfish boil...my favorite food of all time...and we got to go to church with my sister and her family. My sister's father-in-law was baptized on Easter Sunday. What a treat! My sweet niece Abigail was sitting next to me in the pew and right before the first person got baptized she whispered to me, "someone is getting crucified today..." How funny is that! She is so cute! It was a quick trip, but a fun one....We are going back for a longer visit once John gets here in June. Can't wait!
We are still kind of up in the air as far as school for the girls next year. We would like for them to go to the Bahrain Boarding school, but we aren't sure that the company is going to agree to that. _________________ insert derogatory and angry diatribe here. According to our many many friends still in Bahrain, things are back to normal. I am sure that it is a NEW normal for the Bahraini people, but for the expats living there it is back to normal. Businesses are open, school is in session, people are going to work every day. Oddly, our PARENT company that our company supposedly consulted with to make this decision, is still in Bahrain with all of THEIR employees. *sigh* I think that the half-truths that the company tells us are what makes us the angriest. The other thing is the false sense of security they give us about living in Saudi Arabia....as though it is safer than Bahrain! HA! We know it's not safer, but we sure know it's CHEAPER, right? (cheap shot at the company's expense) Oh well, it is what it is...have to live with it, work around it, survive the best way we can...right?
We have decided as a family to go back to live with John in Saudi at the very end of August. If we aren't allowed to put the girls in school in Bahrain then Madeline will be going to the ISG in Jubail with some of her friends for one year and Janie will be going to the University of Texas High School online. She will be completing her senior year of high school and her freshman year of college at the same time. After a year we will reassess the situation. It looks as though Madeline will be going to boarding school in Switzerland to finish out her high school. It is an amazing school not too far from Geneva...she is excited!
Alison will be moving in to an apartment in August in College Station. We will miss her, but we have a huge family vacation in Europe planned for Christmas break so it will only be about 3 months before we will get to see her. She loves A&M and loves College Station so she probably won't even miss us!
We have finished most of the minor renovations on the house. It is somewhat livable again. The tile in the kitchen, dining room, living room, foyer, hallway, and bathrooms is complete! We have new landscaping, two new bathtubs and new paint and baseboards on the majority of the walls. I still have to caulk and touch up the baseboards and put baseboards in my bathroom....then the renovations will be complete...for now. We are having a huge garage sale next week so I need to finish cleaning and going through all the JUNK this week! Ugh. I hate garage sales, but it is a necessary evil.
John comes home in 27 days! YAY! We all miss him so much! He will be staying for a month and then we will join him in August. It will be a crazy month since we have to make the rounds and visit all of our friends and family....they really only want to see him anyway... ;)
There are a lot of things going on right now in our small town as well as in the global theater with the battle over the pledge of allegiance and the death of Osama
As far as the death of Osama bin Laden is concerned. I am glad he is dead. I am glad that no other person will die at the hands of this man. I am glad that justice was served and maybe some of the 9/11 families can have closure. It just doesn't feel right to celebrate someones death...even someone evil. I guess if someone I loved died in 9/11, I might feel differently. I also know that chanting in the streets and playing all the video and airing all the pictures of the killing is a dangerous thing. I know that it puts my family and friends in danger...especially living in Saudi...but not just in Saudi...here in America as well. I know that it is completely unnecessary and wrong to act the same way as those crazies who chant in the streets and burn the American flag in effigy...I also believe that as Americans we have the right to celebrate and chant in the streets because it is afforded to us under the 1st Amendment. I don't agree with anything that Obama has done so far, but I happen to vehemently agree with his decision to not show the pictures of bin Laden. It serves no purpose other than to incite violence against Americans and American interests...oh, and to put to rest those that think Obama is heading up some "conspiracy" to fake bin Laden's death. I only hope that people realize that there will still be terrorism...and MOST importantly, there are still TWO wars currently being fought where our men and women in the military are still losing their lives. I pray that Americans at home don't forget about them.
I guess my point is that I don't hate anyone because they might have a different opinion from me. My friends are free to live and believe whatever they want....isn't that what makes this country great??? We can all have a different opinion and still be friends??? Or at least I hope that is how my friends will feel after reading this blog. lol.
We still miss our lives in Bahrain. We miss John. We love being able to see our family, but if gas prices get much higher all bets are off....HAHAHA! Just kidding....but pumping my own gas AND paying nearly $4.00 a gallon is insane! I miss the .80 a gallon that we were paying.
John is supposed to be going over to Bahrain to our villa to take an inventory and get the ball rolling out our move. He has been sooooo busy at work that he doesn't have time to breathe much less move us. I wish I could help, but I am here in America so he will have to do it by himself....it should be interesting. LOL!
I hope we get to see all of our friends before we go back to Saudi. I guess we should have some big party to get everyone together in one place?!? Hmmmmm.....let me work on that idea.....
