Journal Entry 1-11-11

The kids started school yesterday. Ahhhh..... What a relief it was for all of us! They were so excited to get out, do something and make new friends. I walked them to school at 8:00 AM and Lauren said, “Mom, are you sure it isn’t the middle of the night?” It really did look like the middle of the night. The sun rises here between 9:30 and 10:00 AM in the winter. We met with the principal/music teacher/PE teacher and he commented that it has happened before. With all the people coming and going from differtent time zones some have become a little confused! Glad it wasn’t us this time although, had the kids started school last week I would have been the one to do it. It took us longer than I anticipated to get used to the time change.

Lauren and Emily both came home from school with new friends and wanted to play and do their homework together. The school has about 50 students Pre K- 8th grade. Everyone knows everyone and we all live here in the same neighborhood! Emily hasn’t figured this one out yet. She came home yesterday to inform me that they are supposed to bring a snack (true) and because she didn’t have one her friends shared their’s (also true). She had fruit gushers, M&M’s and cookies (true only because she found the kids who had the good stuff). She insisted that candy and cookies are what EVERYONE brings and she will just die if I make her bring anything else. I made one phone call and found out they ask the kids not to bring junk and most bring healthy snacks. Oh, Emily, nice try but you aren’t getting away with anything here!

While the kids were at school a friend from camp invited Colbie to come play with Chloe, her two year old while we went shopping. Colbie cried about going and then cried about leaving. Chloe’s house was princess heaven and Colbie really had a good time. I enjoyed my time out without her. Shopping in Atyrau is no fun with a two year old. Let me clarify the term “shopping”. We went grocery shopping, not fun shopping. Grocery shopping here is quite the task as the products, language, currency and stores are completely foreign. I am finally getting the swing of things, feel comfortable paying for my items, remember to bring my bags and no longer freak out at some of the sights and smells. Yesterday when I was shopping I went with someone who was newer than I was. I helped her a little bit which actually helped me a lot.

I hit the grocery lottery yesterday. I shop 3-4 times a week because most of the stuff I buy is fresh (must be organic because it doesn’t last long in the fridge), I share a taxi with other ladies and it is too hard to carry loads of groceries. I consider myself lucky if I find one or two familiar spices or ingredients. Yesterday my friend, Sally, showed me a spice rack that had Basil, Oregano, Marjoram and Thyme. I pureed some canned tomatoes, garlic, added my new spices and ground beef. We are having spagetti tonight! May not sound like big news to you but considering how hard it is to find familiar foods it is exciting around here. We also got our hands on some taco seasoning and I was able to make taco soup. We don’t have any corn chips, corn tortillas or anything to make them but the kids were content with just the soup. My recipe calls for Ranch Style Beans but I substituted kidney beans mixed with the taco seasoning. Taco Soup usually takes me 15 min to prepare. Because I had to hunt down good ground beef and taco seasoning plus soak and cook the beans this taco soup took about 3 days of planning and 2 days of actual cooking.

In case you haven’t noticed, my life revolves around food. Planning, gathering, prepping and cooking food. Jason and the kids come home for lunch so we eat three meals a day as a family. I hope I don’t come home weighing 300 lbs!