Lemme Just Tell Ya

I worry that I've taken too negative of a tone in this blog.  I don't feel bad about it, per se.  I love using this as a bit of a journal, jotting down the stories as they happen. And I love using it as a connection to folks I won't see this month, a way to share my story and stay in your thoughts and prayers.  Keepin' it real, as they say.

But lemme just tell ya, we are having a good time here in Jakarta.

Our UAB arrived the day after the girls and I arrived.  This is huge news.  We have all of our clothes in our drawers - not just the same ones we've been wearing for the past 8 weeks.  That is awfully nice.

We have many of our toys on our shelves.  Most families only have what they carried on the plane, but we've got bags of princesses and American Girl doll beds.  And best of all, we have those boxes the UAB was delivered in.  These boxes are amazing - big and strong, and unfazed when three little girls pile inside and tip themselves over repeatedly.  No joke.  Good as new.

We have all of our high value kitchen items.  That is not to say we have our most expensive kitchen items, although its possible that is true.  More to the point, we have the kitchen items that we use every day.  We have our pizza stones, so we are set for Sunday night Pizza night.  We have our KitchenAid, so I made bread this morning.  Delicious.  We have our shredder and our own knives and our mixing bowls.  My kitchen functions as it should, and that is lovely.

But it gets better.  UAB is not the only place we are rocking this move.  We got amazingly lucky on the household staff front.  A fabulous friend (who I have not even met yet!) connected us to someone who left this summer.  We bought her car, hired her driver and hired her housekeeper.  It has been such a relief to begin my time here with our car seats installed in our car, and which we have stocked with sunblock and bug spray.  Further, to begin my time here with a driver who understands a fair amount of English and knows to buckle Annika into her car seat before he closes his door.  He knows the city, and he is familiar with every common Embassy building.  He is lovely.  But the icing on the came is Sumi, our housekeeper.  Sumi makes me so happy.  Some of you may have caught by now - I am super picky about my housekeepers.  I like my house the way I like it.  I'm picky that way.  Further, I'm in the house all day and I don't want someone getting in my way.  Sumi is nothing but great.  She is good company.  The girls enjoy being with her, and are comfortable asking her for help.  She is a quick study, paying close attention to what I like and listening to my preferences.  And she is certainly smarter than me.  Each time I have gasped at something she has done (oh no!  you can't wash that!) she has a great answer (actually, you can wash it if you take it apart, like this).  She makes my life here so much easier, and that will be so much more true when life actually gets busy.  When we are juggling school for three kids, snacks and lunches packed, drop-off and pick-up schedules for each and a start-up music class business she will be amazing.  She will already know the girls and me, and she will be familiar with our likes and our dislikes.  We are so lucky.

Beyond that, our apartment is nice;  our building is lovely;  our sheets are comfortable;  our wi-fi works consistently;  both girls have spots at the coveted campus of the coveted school; we have made friends, and feel confident that we will make more;  our house is lovely, and so is our neighborhood;  Dave has a cell phone and knows how to get me one.  I could go on.  No joke.  We should get an award for how smoothly this move has gone for us.  The temporary housing is a bit of a drag.  But honestly, I believe the girls' commute to school will be shorter from here and it is lovely to begin the tour so close to the embassy.  Dave is usually home by 4:30 in the afternoon and we can easily pop in for a training or just for a lunch with Daddy.

Life is good.