Sunday Chutney

(image from Penguin.com.au)
We have two expat girls in our home. That means they live in countries that are not the home countries of their parents, and in their case, their parents have two different home countries (or three, since Markus really has two of his own). I grew up living in different places all the time, but at least the country was always the same. Ellie has already lived in four countries, and she hasn't quite made it to her 4th birthday. Stephanie has lived in two. When we heard Sunday Chutney performed during the Babies Proms in Sydney, we knew it was a must for our collection. I had to special order mine since they don't keep books on shelves for more than a few months here, and it just came in today. This book is Mama's for now, but it will be shared and loved by all when the girls are older. If you have an expat girl in your house or know one who might like to feel a little more understood, she must have a copy of Sunday Chutney. Today.

Two unrelated things come together

Two weekends ago, we boarded the commuter rail train with the idea of spending some time in Fremantle. It was a wintry, off-on rainy day, so before long, Ellie (our chronically underdressed child) was cold. We decided to disembark in Cottesloe and buy her some new long johns at a good outdoors store there. This led to more shopping and the purchase of much new and fancy athletic gear for Mama. I've never been one for the gym, and here that's more true than ever with such great outdoors; however, I hadn't really been taking much advantage of that either, and it was time to end excuses. Markus ensured I was fully geared up: new professionally fitted running shoes (whoa! what a difference!), super-breathable but warm exercise top and pants, and such technologically-advanced socks that they practically do the exercise for you. Seriously. When that man seeks out to destroy my excuses, he doesn't hold back. His point is that every weekday I drop Ellie off at school across from the beach, where there is a walking/cycling path that runs for miles. It isn't going to get any better than that, so off I had to go! This morning was to be my first day at it. I even wrote it on my to-do list. Jogging stroller in the car, complete with super-thermal stroller blanket for baby Stephanie (thank you, life in Holland for those two pieces of essential gear)...no more excuses.

Unrelated...
In the wee small hours of this morning, my dreams included two people from high school who I didn't like. They were a couple then, and they are now married with child(ren?). In my dream, it was them as they are (supposedly) now, including a small child who was their beautiful daughter. We were all riding together in my car, and I was so happy to see them. The dream left me a bit confunded and not a little lonely and homesick when I woke up. I think the underlying message was not about those particular people but rather I really miss familiar faces. Markus and I were recently talking about how long it's been since we were in the States, and this is the longest I've ever been away. Yes, I've moved every 2-4 years my whole life, but most of that was within one country... the country I haven't lived in for nearly 4 years now and haven't visited in over a year. Lemme tell ya, there's nothing like waking up homesick in the world's most isolated capital city to make one feel far from home.

Dejected and tense as I was, this was to be the morning for starting my new exercise routine, so I geared up and off we went after dropping Ellie off at school. As usual, Markus was right. It's hard to beat this locale:


Baby Stephanie was beautifully cooperative and was happy as a clam (as ever!) in the jogging stroller, munching away on crackers from the Snack Trap (clever little unnecessary-but-useful thing!). I walked to a small playground and back again, stopping at the playground for my little swinger.


Back home again, showered and belly full of healthy food (exercise helps motivate in that department too!), I feel so good having gotten some needed exercise and I realize that I no longer feel tense, sad or lonely. I just feel refreshed and good! And I feel even better knowing that Markus's leave has been approved for our trip back to the States in a few months' time. Next up, flight planning...

Furry friends

You might remember that some months back, our family included two deranged cats by the names of Bandit and Smokey. When we found out about our move to Perth and the quarantine situation here, we opted to find them a new home if a good home could be found. As luck had it, we found them a GREAT home with a loving family whose three kids adore them so much that they play with the kitties all day and sleep with the kitties at night. When I heard from the adopting mom about a month after the kitty transfer, she raved so much that it seemed the cats were even better off with their new family than they had been with us as we were bogged down with the move and a newborn and a busy toddler.

Ellie loved having pets, but she accepted their absence as a matter of course. We simply told her it was time for the cats to live with a new family, and she accepted that at face value. She didn't cry. She didn't even bring them up. If someone mentioned the cats to her, she would matter-of-factly tell them that the cats had gone to live with their new family, no emotions or visible regrets. Ellie has had so many transitions and changes over her 3 years that she seemed to accept them as inevitable and not be bothered.
Except she is bothered.

Since we've gotten our things here, she has been waiting for the cats to come too. Over the past few weeks as we unpack and settle in, she has asked repeatedly for the cats. Apparently, it was fine for them to live with their new family for a little while. Now, it's time for them to come back to live with us. In the past few days, she has actually gotten quite upset about it when we try to explain that the new family is permanent. Her memory has always been amazing, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised about this. Still, it has hit us out of left field. We won't be getting any more pets during this nomadic life, because it's just too hard to say good-bye and often impractical (or impossible) to bring them along. Even if that weren't such an issue, it's hard to find someone to care for pets when you go "on vacation" to go home for 3 weeks or more at a time. We have recently adopted a Beta fish (a request entirely separate from the cat issue), but we're even waffling about acquiring a tank full of guppies or goldfish (as we'd really like) because it will be harder to find someone to care for them over long holidays. It's a not-so-obvious downside to this nomadic lifestyle, and one that makes us very sad when we see Ellie longing so desperately for pets.