No Shoes Required

I finally made it back to the gym and tried out the pool.  I had it all to myself, and it was heated.  With Jackson in the child care room, I was able to shower and get myself ready for the day, then sit in the cafe area and enjoy a banana/lemon smoothie before picking him up.  Lemons have become my new staple here since all the lemons on my tree are starting to ripen.  I have made lemon 'bread' several times, which to me seems to be more like a cake, and is now a family favorite.

On the subject of food, the stores here lack a lot of processed foods which I have realized is the way I used to cook all the time back home.  I have had to learn how to cook more organically, which is a little difficult when your kids are hungry NOW, but we're adapting.  I really miss canned biscuits, frozen pizza (they do have some here but not much), Stovetop stuffing mix, Libby's canned pumpkin, and Cool Whip/Reddi Whip.  Other foods I miss are brown sugar, ricotta cheese (can't figure out how to make lasagna), graham crackers, kraft mac & cheese, and shredded cheese.  I also cannot figure out how to get my floors clean.  The mops are not high-quality and you can't wash or replace the heads, and no Swiffer.  I miss my Shark Steam Mop, but not enough to shell out $200 for one here when they're only about $75 back home.  I'm getting the carpets cleaned on Thursday.   

Words in the US that have the letter 'z' in them have an 's' here.  Like 'realized' is spelled 'realised'.  And my spell check just underlined it.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful.  We eat lunch outside every day and have all the windows and doors open.  The humidity is very low, and it has only rained 2 times since we've been here.  I've heard the rainy season will start soon but they're quick and usually happen in the afternoon.  There are no screens on any of the windows so I'm not looking forward to the mosquitoes.

Miranda has had the past month off from school and she returns tomorrow.  I am hoping she will find some good friends like she had back home, it's hard to be the new kid and the only one with an 'accent'.  We are trying really hard to adapt here, but we had a setback a couple of weeks ago when we had to put Crissy down.  The vet said her cancer was a very aggressive type that she probably only had for about a month.  If it weren't such a long flight, I might have considered getting a dog here.  Jackson is running all over the place.  He thinks he's pretty cool that he can walk now.  He's a sneaky little boy, and his favorite things to do with his toys are to either put them in his mouth or hit stuff with them.  He will be 11 months tomorrow and I am busy planning his birthday party.

I've been noticing lately since it's been warmer out that a lot of kids don't wear shoes, and no one seems to care.  This weekend I saw bare feet walking into the movie theater, at the casino, and at church.  The park has several bare feet kiddos as well, and one day last week must have been 'naked day' as there were about 4 little girls ages 3-4 who were playing all over the park in their birthday suits while their moms sat on blankets chatting away.  When Miranda asked "why are they naked?", my only response was "I don't know."  It was a little awkward as there were little boys present.

I discovered BBC's version of "Dancing With the Stars" today, but it is called "Strictly Come Dancing."  It is the exact same set, songs, structure, etc.  Bruno and Len are judges alongside some people I don't know.  I also don't recognize any of the 'stars' or professional dancers, but it's still enjoyable to watch.  We hooked the computer up to the TV on Saturday and were able to watch College Game Day live on ESPN via our Slingbox in Olathe.

My dad arrives in 25 days, and yes, I'm counting down!