4th of July

We had a pretty eventful weekend. It seems like we do very little anymore, both since it is so hot now and because we’ve pretty much done everything there is to do until winter comes back around and we can enjoy the outside again.

Happy 4th of July! Look at our patriotic family! Red, white and blue!

So Thursday night we had Rainy and Marcelo (and Benji) over to hang out and eat Arabic food (from the palace, thanks to Marcelo as usual!). We always have a good time with them, so it was nice.

Then on Friday we went over to Stef and Tony’s for the 4th of July. It’s still weird to me to have a holiday come around and there is NOTHING that would indicate there was one unless you already knew. Just goes to show (just like my Easter flop) that if we’re not reminded, we’d probably forget holidays altogether. Anyway, so we grilled out and had snacks and hung out just likewe would have done back in the States… just without the fireworks. After watching CNN about the California fires, it’s probably a good thing. I saw report after report of homes being burned to the ground because a bottle rocket went astray. Still, it was kind of a bummer missing them. Especially since last year we were treated to a fabulous show courtesy of some 15 and 16-year-olds, at Marcia’s neighbors’ Tracy and Randy’s house. We set up a line of folding chairs and watched as 15 feet away stuff exploded. Too much fun! (Especially since it was July and it was the last holiday I’d have to brave as a prego blimp)

Me, Kasey, Stef, and Andrew being a cutie pie.

Kaden with his new friend Mikey.

Kaden and long-time buddy Matt, just hanging out.

Matt playing Kaden's guitar, and Kyle... pondering???

Kaden walking with the big kids!

Louie, his son Alberto, and Kaden, playing "ride the horsey"

Speaking of which, Stu and I took another picture of ourselves since a year ago today we took one and found it again recently. Boy have things changed in a year! Especially our mass! Haha. A year ago today I weighed in at a light 183 pounds and Stu was pushing 200. Today we’re 125 and 160, respectively. We’ve lost almost a whole person! Haha (Well, I really DID lose a person, but MY person only weighed 8 pounds!!! So by that standard I lost more than 7 people! Hehe). Anyway, so I figured I’d post Stu’s creation commemorating a year of up and downs (mostly on the scale).


Anyway, so we had a good weekend and it is always nice to get together with other humans and remember that we aren’t SO isolated here on this little brown island in the middle of the Middle East.

Just had to throw this in here too... these are two trucks parked back-to-back with guys unloading garbage from one truck and putting it into another... what the heck?

Calling Home

So as I mentioned in my post yesterday, today (well, yesterday for me... still today for the States) is Justine's 18th birthday. So I called home hoping to catch her. Instead, I got my younger sister Maddison (who gets more witty and hilarious every time I talk to her, btw).

Maddison: Hello?

Me: Hi!

Maddison: Hiii...?

Me: Is Justine there?

Maddison: Uhhhh... no? I don't know where she is... who is this?

Me: Sydney.

Maddison: My sister Sydney?

Me: Yes!

THEN we finally get the excited "HIIIIII SYDNEY!!!" That's what we were looking for! hehe

So after some unimportant but funny chatter she askes, "Did you hear about Dad?" Sadly, the first thing that comes to my mind is the time a couple years ago when he broke his leg skiing and drove the whole way home with it still in his boot (he knew it was broken)... after skiing down the rest of the hill on it... THEN finally got my Mom to take him to the hospital to get it x-rayed and a cast.

So I say, "No... what happened?"

(stiffled eye roll and giggle [yes, I can HEAR an eye roll!]) "I'll let him tell you. Here he is..."

So a heavily drugged Dad gets on the phone...

Me: "Hey! Maddison said something happened..."

Dad: "Yeah, It's no big deal, I just wrecked my motorcycle (dirtbike)..."

(pause)

"I broke my collarbone on both ends.... And I hit a cow."

Me: "You HIT A COW*???" haha

So he basically tells me that he was going to pass Maddison on a blind corner and spooked a cow who then ran out in front of him... How many people can say they crashed their dirt bike by broadsiding a cow??? haha I thought the story was awesome. So needless to say, poor Daddy is laid up on the couch (on the vacation time he'd already taken!!!) with pain killers, ignoring doctor's orders to use the sling and stay out of the garage working on stuff! :)

I DID eventually get to chat with Justine when I called her cell phone... girl's already moving fast, she went on a date last night with a 21-year-old! (A boy who IIII actually had a cruch on back in 6th grade!!! haha) But she seemed to be enjoying her summer vacation and the prospect of being an adult now.

Calling home is never uneventful! Haha! ... It's always something, huh?

* Note to all cow enthusiasts, the cow was uninjured in the making of this accident.

Pig Pickin' and Coming Home

It should be noted that one really sucky thing about making plans to travel home is that once you plan them, you have to then wait for them to come!

For those who have not heard, we now have REAL plans to come home August 10th – 20th (give or take a day or so on each side for travelling through lots of time changes). “Home” being Coeur d’Alene this year. So if you can make it, the Pig Pickin’ (see below if you don’t know what a Pig Pickin’ is…) is the weekend of August 15th and 16th at my parents’ house. Any Boiseans that can come up, we would LOVE to see you!!!

So, a “Pig Pickin’”. First of all, aside from the fact that Pig Pickin’s have been in my family since LONG before I was born, we now live in the land of pigs-are-dirty-and-disgusting-things-and-it’s-much-easier-to-buy-porn-here-than-pork. So this year, pork will be ever the more satisfying and devious. Wahahaha.

Ok, so every year, my whole (and it’s BIG) family, along with plenty of friends, get together at my parents’ house to roast a whole pig on a grill. The pig can weigh anywhere from like 150 to 215 pounds. Each part of the Pig Pickin’ is wrought with tradition. Last year was Stu’s first Pig Pickin’ and he got both the honor going to get the pig AND be a “turner”… big news. Heh.

So, we go get the lucky pig from a local butcher up in Sandpoint, Idaho. You drive up there (one year, all by myself in a torrential down-pour, with a carcass sticking out of my tied-down trunk because it was too big to fit in all the way) and the driveway of this place really starts the tradition. You get to drive between two hanging carcasses (where any typical ranch would display their best antlers). You get your pig, which has been gutted and wrapped in clear plastic so you can see the gunshot wound between its eyes, and the stiff form of the (very alive-looking) 200 pound pig.

Meanwhile, whoever is staying home (usually the women, but this changes yearly) prepares the grill and the ice. Grill prep includes sending an unsuspecting child (usually poor Maddison) into the “grill storage area” to free the grill from a year’s worth of pine needles, pine cones, squirrels, and an array of spiders. When the six-foot grill is free to move, it is wheeled out and into the yard, cleaned out, and ready for the pig.

When the pig arrives, it sits in the lid of the grill, packed with ten bags of ice, until it is time to “put it on”. At this point it gets fun. The men go out to split the pig down the center. It is not nearly as easy as it sounds (see pictures) and it takes both a ratchet and a lot of sweat from some pretty large guys to get the job done. Then the pig is placed cut-side down on the grill to slowly roast over a bed of coals for about 24 hours.

Stu a-swinging the hatchet, trying to split the backbone.

Poor Penelope could have been an advertisement for a varicose vein cream commercial.

Kimo (left), Stu, and my Dad (right), trying to split the backbone so she'll lay flat on the grill.

During the time it cooks, new coals need to be added every hour or two (usually Papa is the one watching and directing the show since he’s done over 200 pigs at this point!), which means that some people are given the honor of staying up all night to drink beer and watch the pig. Papa can tell some horror stories of what happens when pigs aren’t watched, things like exploding pigs… doesn’t sound real good.

So the next day around 2 is the “pig turning” (see below) where four strong men with 2x4’s literally pick up and turn the pig onto its back. Last year, as I mentioned before, Stu got to take part in this. Normally there are two taller men and two shorter men. Kimo has been the resident “tall” AND “strong” man at the past several Pig Pickin’s, but their family just moved to England, so I am not sure who will take his place at this one. (It just won’t be the same with Kimo and Candice…)

Stu and Penelope.

The turn.

Anyway, so once the pig is on its back, it is doused with a “special sauce” that Mimi has created in a milk jug. People take turns getting to splash some of it on the pig (as I said, wrought with tradition). Then it soaks for an hour or so in the sauce and then comes the “pickin’” time! You can go up to the pig and just rip a piece off from wherever and eat it. Mom will put a stop to this soon, especially once lots of little hands (read: grimy, unclean kids’ hands…) have had their “pick”. Mom will pull all of the edible meat off the pig and put it on a huge platter. It is served outside with Hush Puppies, rolls, coleslaw, and an array of dishes that various people have contributed. The eating (and of course, plenty of drinking) continues well into the wee hours of the next morning as we all tell stories and bullshit around a fire pit.

Fat me (four weeks after having Kaden) with the turned pig.

Stu and I.

Kaden's very proud Great Grandparents. (Papa, Nana, and Mimi)


So that is a Pig Pickin’ in a nutshell.

I am more than excited for this particular Pig Pickin’ as Kaden will be older than the four weeks old he was at the last one, and will be able to enjoy it. Plus, being able to see my family and friends, and have a really good time with the people I love, is going to be so great. So, as I said, if you can make it, do.

BUT, now comes the dreaded waiting part. Luckily, Stu and Kaden and I are doing great over here. We've all been really happy and just enjoying watching Kaden advance and spend time as a family. August can't come soon enough though! :)

Idaho v. Michigan: Round One

<--- "Morbark" water tower (the largest employer in Winn, Michigan... they make wood chippers. Hehe, seriously...)

<--- This is the church that is across the

road from Stu's parents' house. It was built in 1890.

<--- Kaden playing with Uncle Norman.

<--- Kaden playing cards with Uncle Hayden

<--- Justine, Hayden, Maddison, and me. My siblings.

<--- Bathtime at Grandma's! :)

Well this sure has been a long week! It feels like we left Boise at least a month ago. I am so ready to have a place we can go where we won't have to live out of a suitcase with a baby anymore!

So, I had a whole paragraph written about the differences between Idaho and Michigan. But, why bother? I am not an economist, or a travel agent. No need to pitch what anyone would already know if they had the same visual experiences I had this weekend. Enough said.

As far as the family aspect of the trip went though, it was good. On Saturday morning we flew up to Coeur d'Alene (by way of Spokane) to see my family. It was fun. Relaxed. But it always is for me, so there isn't much to report about it. My siblings are getting so grown up. It kind of makes me sad. I remember changing their diapers (cloth in some cases....ugh) and here they are with boyfriends and girlfriends and underarm hair! haha

We also went with my parents and saw Juno (the one about the 16-year-old little girl who gets pregnant) and it was actually good. Very quotable.

So, Michigan. :) We flew from Spokane to Denver then connected to Detroit. Then we had a three-hour drive back to Mt. Pleasant with an unhappy baby. Poor kid.

We stayed at Stu's Grandma's house, which wouldn't be worth any note, except that she just died two weeks ago. So the first night was somewhat eerie for us both. There would be weird noises and we'd look at each other... lol. But the remaining nights were fine. Though I did have a freaky dream where his grandma was talking to him through me. Now THAT will get you some good sleep! haha

We spend most of the time at his parents' house watching TV and just hanging around. Got lots of Discovery channel in. Never can have too much of that. :) I got to know his parents better and that was nice. The town was definitely different than I'd anticipated. I wouldn't want to live there. But I met some extended family and yesterday Kaden got to play with Stu's cousin Jessica's kids. Soooo cute and sweet! The youngest is just two weeks younger than Kaden and they had a good time playing.

We flew from Detroit yesterday. Stu got a straight flight to Greenville, but Kaden and I had to connect (with a three and a half hour layover) in Charlotte. The airport in Charlotte is nice. Kaden and I got Daddy a little bear sporting a Carolina Panthers sweatshirt. Kaden picked it out.

He was good though and then was great on the flight (all 20 minutes of it) to Greenville. He fell asleep on my lap right before we took off. Good baby.

Last night we went to dinner with Stu's friend Kender. And now here we are in Greenville. :)

We're staying in the Drury Inn and Suites. Nice hotel. We upgraded to a Suite and so we have a living room and kitchenette and a separate bedroom. Pretty cool with the baby.

Unfortunately, putting a little wrench in my day, apparently Kaden is allergic to the detergent we used in Mt. Pleasant. He has a rash exactly where his t-shirt was touching his skin. And now he's irritable and slightly warm. Poor baby. So he's fighting his nap now and isn't very happy to be a baby right now.

So, I'll keep everyone updated on where we are and what is going on. But that's the nutshell version of our past week. Now I have to go bathe a rash-y baby. :(

Can't sleep.

Soooo, I woke up probably 15 times last night and this final time decided I was trying in vain to stay in bed any longer. So I am up. Heh.

I guess I didn't anticipate being this nervous about leaving. I mean, we're going to my Mom's today, not Abu Dhabi yet... why be so stressed out? But alas, here we are on the old laptop, sitting in my aunt's living room, waiting for even Kaden to wake up and join me. I was going to go ahead and take a shower and "greet the day" but I realized that Stu packed up the car last night so I don't have any clothes pulled out. Haha. Looks like I will be wearing a jammies shirt today! :)

Anyway, so we leave Boise this morning for Coeur d'Alene (Spokane actually) for three days with my family. If it's anything like last night, we're going to be hard-pressed to find a family member willing to let us take Kaden without a fight. My aunt and uncle are plotting ways to keep us here.

Last night Kyle, Melissa, and Kristin (with little Kaden) came over for food and goodbye (again, haha) and it was pretty tough. I can't imagine having to do this for the next week straight! (Although, it should be noted that yesterday when I left work, I decided to "say my goodbyes" and started [and subsequently finished] with Brett. I did it to myself, but I went to knock on his door and thought, "How many hundreds of times have I done that?" And of course got all teary-eyed. So my goodbyes ended with Brett. haha. I decided I'd send an email once we were in-country and I couldn't change my mind anymore, lol.

I am going to go get some cereal and pace around the room "packing" until someone else decides to get up with me. :)

Stay tuned!

Syd