This is My life

Died and Gone to Heaven...

...in a banana muffin.

Yum.

Yummy.

Yummy in my tummy.

Anyway you say it, I have consumed a large number of banana muffins over the last 18 hours. Mmmmm...

I don't know it it was because it has been so long since I have had baked goods or if my Ibu  just works magic with a banana and a mixer but seriously, these muffins have been the highlight of my week.  Maybe my month.  Any hope of losing weight is completely out the window.

Alrighty, now that that is out of the way, I will take you on a little photo tour of the little everyday things of life here -- the things you may no recognize and certainly don't have in your house.

I'll start in the kitchen...

Here is our little two burner stove.  Indonesian kitchens don't usually have a full size stove/oven in them and while we will probably get one at some point, this is working well for us.  A friend of ours suggested (and I am so glad she did!) to find one with a small grill in the middle.  It has been great for grilling chicken, hamburgers, etc.

And here is the "box oven" that Ibu brought yesterday.  It is made of thin metal and as you can see, sits just over the burner.

Does it work?  Well, you saw (and read about) the banana muffins. And last night for dinner I made pizza.  Yep, works really well.  Best $18 I have spent in a while!

And yes, I made this from scratch. Not bad if I do say so myself!

Here is my very large kettle.  This is for boiling water for dishes

And here was my ingenious way of reheating my cup of coffee.  We have since purchased a microwave. I'm willing to take the "not so easy" approach to many things but this was bordering on the ridiculous.  I would have just made a new cup but I was running low on coffee creamer and didn't want to waste what I had. I boiled some water, put it in a bowl, and then placed my half-finished mug in the boiling water. Worked great.  Microwave is even better ;)

On to our water dispenser -- much like you would find in office work spaces.  There are three buttons -- cold, room temperature, and hot. The hot button has a child lock on it to keep the little ones safe.

Here is our electrical nightmare.  No fire codes here.  Those of you who live in the US in a semi-modern house with electrical outlets no more than four feet apart -- ENJOY.  Be THANKFUL.  We are lucky to have one outlet in a room.  And a place like the kitchen? Don't even ask. We need to remedy this situation because this overloaded outlet is right next to a door to the outside.  We have learned that when it rains the water just start pouring in under the door.  Water + electricity = something HAS to be done.

On to laundry -- here is our little washer.  The washer is currently sitting in our bathroom upstairs.  There is no hot water in there so we don't use the shower.  I like having the laundry upstairs. There are no hook-ups like you would have in the states.  Just a faucet and you are set.

And here is our dryer...

A few more pictures...

Our water bottles in the bathroom -- for drinks of water and brushing teeth.

Our tankless (gas powered) water heater

One more...Houses in Asia (and in most of the world) don't have closets.  All rooms will have a wardrobe or "lemari"

And just a few more pictures of things you might see around our house right now...

Apparently school is wearing Cabe out.  I am not sure what Levi's excuse is seeing as this photo was taken in the middle of the afternoon and he is still in his jammies.

The boys love having time to play cars with Mommy

And Katelynn gets loved on by Ibu while Mommy is busy smashing cars into one another and making the boys laugh

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, are my new wheels!

We are still working on trying to find a car (oh what I wouldn't give to be able to walk onto a used car lot, pick something out, and drive out!)  In the meantime, though, I am loving riding on my little electric bike.  It is perfect for our development.  I can get the kids to school, get to the club, to other people's houses.  I just plug it in at night to charge it up and away I go.  It's great since I don't have to be licensed or tagged like I would if I had a motorcycle (which I may get at some point).  Thanks to Kimberly for the idea.  I would never have thought to look for one.

Have a great day!  Tomorrow we are off to Singapore for a few days to get our Indonesian visas.

To answer some questions...

So...a few people have asked about the need for a househelper.  There have also been some questions about day-to-day life.  I figure if a few people have asked, even more are probably wondering. 

Hopefully my good friend Hollie won't mind me listing the questions she asked -- it helps me know what interests people.  Since we have lived in Asia before none of this surprises us or seems new to us.  But for those who haven't lived overseas, this is all so different.

"Do you think you can explain the differences between here and there that make a house helper a necessity there? I know it is common in some other countries and I am so curious to know more about what it is like!!!"

Here is how I answered her:

1) It is just expected that as westerners (ie "rich") that we provide employment ($) for local people.  To not do so would be rude and hurtful.

2) Practicalities -- oh my.  Everything takes sooooo much longer here.  The washing machines are TINY. There are no dryers (well, there are but the electricity won't support them).  In the wet season, nothing dries so EVERYTHING has to be ironed.  There is not hot water in the kitchen so you have to boil water for dishes.  You have to let dishes drip dry because the water isn't safe.  The houses are all tile and it is DUSTY here so they all have to be mopped at least once a day.  Most food has to be made from scratch -- not much pre-packaged stuff (or if there is, it costs a fortune).  I went grocery shopping for the week today and it took 5 hours -- no way I am dragging kids through that. Etc. etc. etc.   With a family, there just really isn't any way to go without a helper.  Even middle to upper class Indonesians have them.  A full time (40 hours a week) helper costs around $60 a month plus transportation (around $20).  How could you NOT get help for that, especially when it means the livelihood for a local person?

And then she wrote back with more questions: But I was curious to know the ins and outs of what you have to do to keep house there.  It certainly is a lot!  But I am curious now--how do you get safe drinking water?  Or water for cooking?  Is the water okay to use for a shower?  And do you divide the responsibilities of the house between you and your house helper?  Does she do your cooking?  Can you share the types of food you eat there?

How do you get safe drinking water?  We have a water cooler/heater stand  that holds 19liter water bottles. We just have them delivered.

Water for cooking? It depends -- if what I am cooking is going to boil, I use tap water.  If the water is not going to boil for at least as few minutes, I use water from the water cooler. For doing dishes, we boil the tap water (there is no hot water in the kitchen sink).

Water for the shower? The water is fine to shower with.  We just have to be careful to keep our mouths closed.  For the kids, it is a bit trickier and we have to watch them carefully that they don't drink the bath water or suck on washcloths. The master bathroom has a hot water heater -- it is tankless and runs on gas.  As the water goes through the heater it heats up.  We don't have a bathtub (but hoping Santa might bring us one because we actually have room for one).  Currently the kids are bathing in rubbermaid tubs (three in a row, which they think is the coolest thing ever!)

Do you divide the responsibilities of the house between you and your house helper? This may change a bit as we get to know our househelper better (she just started yesterday).  But basically, when she is here she does lots of the housework -- dishes, laundry, mopping, etc.  She will also help out with the kids when I am away (especially when I start language school).  However, even though she is here and helping I still clean up after myself, cook for the kids, make school lunches, and do all the kid stuff. As she gets to know the kids better she may do more, but this will be only because she wants to and not because "I don't feel like it."  After the weekend (when she is not here) I will get laundry started so it is ready to hang when she gets here. She leaves at about 2:30 in the afternoon so after that, I am on my own.  At night I will clean up from dinner and may or may not do the dishes.  If I have time I will do them (remember, this is a long process -- boil water on stove, wash dishes in a big plastic tub, rinse dishes with more boiled water, etc).  If I don't have time or if we are going out, etc., I will rinse them in tap water and leave them for her to do in the morning.

Does she do your cooking?  Some people have their helpers do all their cooking.  I like to cook, so we won't be doing that. Our specific helper is supposed to be a really good cook, though.  There may be days when I will have her prepare dinner and leave it for us to heat up when Jason gets home from work.  I also hear that she makes a great apple pie -- but so do I so we may just have to have a show down ;)

Can you share the types of food you eat there? So far, we haven't been too impressed with Indonesian food (which is really too bad, since we loved the food in India and in Malaysia).  It is VERY oily and nothing has been good enough that I would crave it.  That could change though.  At home, we will eat "normal" stuff. When I was in India I learned to cook a lot of things from scratch and learned to substitute what we couldn't get.  That will come in very handy here as many things aren't available or if they are, they are super expensive (8 oz of cheese costs $5 and a box of brownie mix costs about $4). We haven't had an oven so up until now we have done a lot of stove-top cooking.  We eat a lot of rice and PB&J's have been a regular occurrence (all my kitchen stuff is in our shipment which we haven't gotten yet). We can't afford a regular oven right now so we had our helper find us an Indonesian oven that fits on the stovetop.  We have heard that lots of people use them and like them.  I will give it a try today -- not bad for $18.

For eating out we have lots of choices.  There is local Indonesian food that is very cheap.  You can also find Chinese.  Bandung has quite a few fast food options as well -- KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, A&W, and even a Wendy's.  They aren't all easy to get to, but they are there.  We also have Starbucks, Dunkin  Donuts, and my personal favorite (on a recommendation from Vicky) J CO (btw, Vicky, did you know that KL has one?)

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Tomorrow I will give you a little photo tour of the everyday things that won't seem "everyday" to you. Just little differences of what things look like, how we do things, etc. I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about life here.  If you have other questions, please feel free to ask!

The Way it Should Be...

Jason had an athletic dinner last night so I was flying solo. After dinner I walked the kiddos to the playground so they could run around some.  There was a cool breeze blowing and as I sat on the bench and looked around I thought, "This is the way it should be." 

I watched as the playground and neighborhood came alive.  There were moms with baby's, toddlers and tricycles, kids running around barefoot chasing frogs (those would be my kids, btw), 9 and 10 year old boys riding their bikes as fast as they could, mom's and other woman chatting while the kids played. And other than the ridiculous number of women (mom's and helpers) carrying around bowls of food and force-feeding the kids between trips down the slide, it felt like life when I was a kid...a time when we didn't worry about child predators and grave illnesses that can come of walking barefoot. A time when neighbors actually talked with one another and the kids didn't have to read a long list of rules before entering the playground.  Ah, the good 'ol days.  Thankfully for me, Indonesia isn't politically correct when it comes to neighbor relations and playground safety.  My kids might actually get to be kids.

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In other news...after my realization that I haven't scrapped much in the last few months and that I have soooo many pictures from this summer AND that even if I don't have time to scrap them any time soon, I knew that I DID want to do something.  So, I decided I would make a mini-album to summarize the past few months.  Problem was, I didn't know where to start.  So, as I am finding more and more, I decided I would make a template for myself first. I did the design, then I plugged in all my photos and text (without worrying about papers and embellishments) and then I picked a few simple papers and other things to complete the album.  Easy peasy! 

Credits: kraft paper by Gina Cabrera, other papers and flower embellishments by Michelle Coleman from her Chasing Rainbows kit.

I actually have a few more pages to this, but you get the idea.  I just created a bunch of template pages for myself and then mixed and matched depending on how many photos I wanted to use for a specific event. I created the album in 8x8 but I am not sure yet how big I will print it -- trying to decide between a 6x6 album or to go ahead and print it out 8x8 (my normal scrapbook size) and just put the pages in our regular album (sort of an album within and album).  I'll give it some more thought :)

And since I already MADE the template, I decided to package it up and put it in my shop.  Totally did all this on a whim, so I haven't even given it to my CT yet.  But I loaded it in the shop and you can grab it HERE.  It's 25% off this week too!

I did one other page yesterday:

Credits: Vera Lim's SWEET CHILD OF MINE kit and the font is PRINTING PRIMER by Fontologie, available HERE.

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Two updates for you:

1) I have just hired a helper that will start on Monday.  We are doing a one month trial -- just to make sure we get along since we will have to be around each other all day every day.  She comes highly recommended, has worked for expats for 20 years, and loves kids.  Hopefully it will all work out!

2) An awesome blog reader gave me a tutorial for changing my folder icons to whatever picture I wanted. YIPPEEEE!  I am well on my way to redoing all of my icons so I actually know what is INSIDE my folders.  Thanks Tara.  Here is what she gave me -- it worked perfect: (btw, this is just for a mac...you do it differently on a pc)

How to make your "folder" look like a "preview".... 

1. Open the file and find the preview picture.
2. Open the preview picture that you want to use and view in "Preview". When in "Preview", either go to Edit -> Copy or do Apple-C to copy the pic.
3. Close out the file and click on the file folder (right-click or double click, if on a notebook)
4. Go down to "Get Info" and click.
5. When that pops up, there will be a little folder in the left hand corner. Do not use the LARGE folder in the bottom. Click on the little folder and you will see it slightly highlighted. Either go to Edit->Paste or do Apple-V to paste the picture.

YOU ARE DONE!!!! I hope this helps!!!!

I do still scrap...

Sooo...superstar Becky...the queen over at SBG (who has saved my rear numerous times) sweetly pointed out to me that I haven't shared any scrap pages in a long time.  Ah, it is true.  With everything else going on, scrapping has just had to take a back seat.  Plus, there are a few other excuses I have to offer up:

1) When I packaged up my desktop for shipment, I forgot to transfer my scrapping materials.  So anything I downloaded from November - June is not accessible.  Bleh.

2) There is one thing I HATE about my Mac -- and Mac users, if there is any way to fix this, please let me know.  I don't like that I can't have a preview image for my folders.  When I scrap, if I don't have anything new to use, I like to glance through my folders and find something that inspires me.  My alphas are all arranged so that I can scan through them to pick one I like.  But with no preview image, I would actually have to OPEN EACH folder to see what is inside.  Sooooo not fun.  Yes my friends, that is why all my pages have the same alpha (Nancie Rowe Janitz's Shmootzy Stamped Alpha 4).  I don't want to look through and find something different.

3) With no internet, or slow internet, buying and/or downloading anything new is basically impossible.  I downloaded a paper pack and element set today and it took me two hours.  Ugh.  Something has to be done...

All excuses aside, I HAVE scrapped a few pages over the last month or so.  Nothing amazing, but fun to do anyway.  So Becky, here you go!

 

 

 

and a two pager...

Hope you have a great day...

and if you think of it, we do have a few things we could really use some prayer for:

1) We desperately need a full-time house helper. I won't go into all of it here but this is a real need right now.

and

2) We need a car.  We need it soon.  Just pray that the finances get worked out and once they do, we are able to find a car that meets our needs quickly. 

If one of these two items doesn't get sorted soon, I'm having to consider pulling Caleb out of school -- with no one to watch the other kids and no transportation, I just can't keep walking three/four kids into school and back 3 times a day.  Levi can't make it all the way there so I have to wear Katelynn in the sling and push Levi in the stroller...all the way listening to Caleb tell me that we really need a ride. It took me an hour and a half to go there and back today to pick up Caleb...had to pull Katelynn out of bed to do it, too.

 

A new chapter...

Today began a new chapter in my life.  You would think that in all the craziness and change that has been our lives over the past five months that today would be no big deal...but it was.  Today was the first official day as my role as a stay-at-home-mom and my role as a mother to TWO school-aged children.  Not only do I have to learn to say goodbye to my husband for the day (something I have rarely had to do in the last 8.5 years) but now I have to say goodbye to Alaina for the whole day and Caleb for half a day. Craziness I tell you!  After getting up at five, sneaking in a cup of coffee, getting kids up, dressed, fed, cleaned, and ready for school I walked the kids in (my thoughts on walking four kids into school is worthy of its own post).  When I came home an hour later it was just me, Levi, and Katie (and our house helper on loan -- Ibu Lala).  A bit later Katelynn was down for a nap and Levi fell asleep on the couch (he's been sick).  Ibu was cleaning my house and what, what is that noise??  I don't recognize it at ALL...I think it is called....SILENCE.  Oh my.  Right then, in that moment, with no one calling my name and nothing that I HAD to do in that VERY minute, I realized my life has changed.  I'll never have four preschool age kids again.  I'm trading in my diapers (well, some of them anyway) for book bags and letters from the teacher.  I have less sippy cups to fill and more library books to keep track of.  It's amazing what can happen in a day.

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The first day went well -- Alaina (who exclaimed yesterday that she was "so excited I could eat the HOUSE!) loved every minute and already has outfits planned for the rest of the week.  Caleb, when asked how his first day was, only reported, "I went pee and washed my hands!"  I later confirmed with his teacher that he did in fact do more in his three hours than just go pee.  Glad to know he enjoyed it though ;)

Jason seemed to have a good first day too -- busy, but good. It will be a bumpy couple of weeks as he learns to juggle PE teaching with his athletic director duties, but things will fall into place.  We are SO THANKFUL that the school is very organized and expects its staff to be.  Makes things so much easier!

And my "first day" was good too -- extra snuggles with Levi, ten minutes of quiet, and lots of exercise as I walked to and from the school three times.
_________

Some pictures from Independence Day on Sunday.  Our neighborhood had a little celebration for Indonesia's Independence Day and I walked down to witness a traditional Indonesian event -- the climbing of the the grease pole.  The men are broken into teams and attempt to scale a bamboo covered in grease.  At the top hangs gifts and prizes for the lucky men who make it.  The whole event took about two hours and was quite entertaining to watch.

The men work hard to scale up the pole, climbing on top of each other, each man taking off a little more of the grease to make it easier for the next person.

A lot of stopping and restarting happens as they slip down the pole.  Each team has a time limit and then the next team gets to go.

They just keep trying and get closer and closer...

and then FINALLY someone makes it to the top and grabs the prizes (or envelopes that decide what prize they get).

And then the rest of the men make it up and try to grab some of the loot

And then they claim their prizes -- this time it was small stuff like T-shirts and bags of rice.  I am told that often times it is big stuff like TV's and cash.  The team that won this event was our neighborhood Satpams (security guards). Fun to see them out of uniform.  Way to go, guys!

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And a few first day of school pictures.  We were running late and so we took these in about 30 seconds. 

Caleb, being true to himself, was boycotting photos.

But once he got there he was quite happy

Alrighty -- off to bed.  5:00 am comes quickly...and yes, I do have to get up then.  In order to get everyone out the door (dressed and fed) by 6:55, it is really the only way.  I go crazy if I don't have at least 20-30 minutes of nothing before I start a crazy day.  5:00 am is my only chance.

Blast you, Typepad!

Okay, I need to switch blog services.  Ever since Typepad redid their compose editor, I have had problems.  After loading a few pictures, some of my menu buttons would disappear.  I have been dealing with that my saving as a draft after 2 or 3 photos, then going back and editing and eventually publishing. But now, after I save as a draft, it won't let me edit anymore! So I am left with half-finished posts.  I have really love Typepad for the last three years but this is unacceptable. Grrr...

Anyway, here is the rest of my previous post... We'll see how far I get!

I just LOVE this last one...look at the pure GLEE on Katie's face when Levi kisses her.  She loves it and so does he!  It is going to be so fun to see these two as she gets a bit older and they are the only two kids at home for half the day. (Oh, and if you can't tell, that purple fingernail is Alaina's, not Katelynn's :)

Feeling a bit better...

So, yesterday was tough.  Jason was sick.  I was sick.  Alaina was sick.  My sickness moved from my tummy to just a high fever, hitting a high of 103.  Alaina threw up all day.  Jason, who was just going to go into work for about 45 minutes ended up staying five hours...making life REALLY hard for me.  I could barely move but still had to attend to all four kids.  It was a rough day. 

Thankfully, I had a good nights sleep and my fever is down to 99 today...hoping to keep it down.  Alaina hasn't thrown up yet so I am truly hoping for a better day.  We have new student orientation today at school (hard to believe I will have TWO kids in school!) and tonight, if everyone is healthy, is a girls night out and boys night out with staff at school -- need to find a babysitter for that!

So, the other day we had a little impromptu photo shoot.  The kids and I were playing on our bed upstairs.  Alaina wanted her picture taken with Katelynn so I got my camera (which, I have to admit, has been hiding away lately).  The dark navy sheets that we are borrowing (um, yea, our brand new sheets we brought don't fit...our bed is not a queen, not a king...anyway) were the perfect backdrop for a few quick photos.  It's nice to not live in a cave anymore and actually have some natural light.  Here are my cuties (minus Caleb who doesn't believe in having his picture taken ;)

My little chunkster...all the Indonesians love to tell me how fat she is :)  I must be doing something right because we haven't even started her on solids yet! And yes, that drool is due to her teething...two in so far -- and yesterday, she learned to BITE! Ouch!

Don't know who to blame...

I tried for over two hours last night to post the previous entry.  I wanted to edit and add a few things, but I couldn't. Don't know if I should blame Typepad and their ridiculous new compose editor and my very "fast" internet.  Probably a combination of the two.  In any case, I had to just publish it unedited and unfinished.  Sorry about that.

I was also going to post some photos from an impromptu photo shoot with the kids yesterday but alas, that will have to wait.  Jason and I have been up most of the night throwing up and other lovely things like that and now Alaina is throwing up.  Not sure about the other three...it is only 6:40 am and they are still sleeping.  Needless to say Jason isn't going into work today unless things are cleared up by lunch or so.  I am feeling a bit better but I know that it is just the Advil knocking down my 102 fever. 

Thankfully we have a house-helper on loan for a few weeks (we haven't hired anyone yet) so she can help with the kiddos and keeping the house tidy while we continue to wish we were dead.

No way to catch up...

I keep thinking of all these things I want to catch everyone up on...so much has happened in two weeks and we have done so much.  However, there really is no way and it the end, it may just sound like, "We had to go shopping for this and we had to go buy that."  Or it may sound like "we needed to do this but without a car..." or "we are thinking about doing this..."  Anyway, I think I'll just update with a few highlights and then move on to the present.

So...a few sets of pictures.  First off is a set of house photos. I didn't take these...they were given to us before we came so that we could see what the new place would look like.  It was nice to walk into the house and not be totally surprised...things looked pretty much like we thought they would.  I think that was a big help to the kids -- they just ran in and said, "we're here!" 

You've seen this picture before...now see the INSIDE. <-------------

Last week we travelled to a nearby town that is on top of the volcano that our city is at the base of. It was a nice break from shopping and settling in and it was really great to see some of the Indonesian culture outside of a big city.  We went to see the crater in the volcano -- it was really spectacular. 

Most of the staff walked around the peremeter of the crater, but with four little ones we decided to not try that one just yet :) Instead, we "window" shopped at all the little shops on the mountain and the kids had a horse ride.

You can see lots more pictures of our trip HERE <-------------

A few other random photos...

One one of our many long flights...

Walking through the airport we spotted the plane that we would spend the next 19 hours on...

Walking into the new house...

Two days later the kids made their own "new house" with all the new appliance boxes...

The entrance to our neighborhood (as seen while waiting for the bus to come)

A few sights along the way on the bus...

Check out the fun Asian billboards...get me every time!

I have internet...

After two weeks of being "unplugged," I finally have internet -- at my house.  It is slow, much slower that I am used to (especially my blog site), but I am still SO VERY thankful that it is here.  It was NOT easy.

Indonesia, though very modern in some ways, is not what one would expect in the West.  Internet, something we in the west consider a non-negotiable total NEED, is not necessarily seen that way here.

We hit our first major roadblock when our landlord said we couldn't hook up the landline.  The broadband internet cannot be hooked up without it and so after waiting over a week to get it hooked up, we find out it isn't going to happen.  On to plan B...

Across from the school is an internet place that offers satellite internet at a cheaper rate.  The school asked us if we would be the guinea pigs of this service (since the school has moved about 45 minutes from its old location ALL of the staff have had to move to a new area and EVERYTHING in untried and untested). Sure...given the fact it will be satellite or no internet, we said we would give it a try.  Jason went in last Thursday to sign up.  They said they could do it except for the fact that they didn't actually HAVE any satellites. Figures.  Anyway, I have patiently waited for them to order one from Singapore and today they came and hooked it up.  We are on a three day trial so we'll see how it goes.  Beggars cannot be choosers.

I have tons to catch up on -- emails galore and tons of other things.  Please be patient as I get caught up.  If I owe you an email, chances are I haven't even read it yet. 

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Internet issues aside, we are loving things here.  It feels good to feel so at home after such a short time.  We love the pulse and people of Asia so much.  As I try to soak everything in all at once I keep having to remind myself that I get to stay here as long as I want.

And as much as I love the pulse of the big city, I am LOVING living OUTSIDE the city.  The school built their new building in a new development outside the city.  It is rather idyllic...quiet neighborhoods, no people, little traffic, palm tree lines streets, etc.  But, when the city beckons (as it has every day since we have been here since we can't do much in the way of shopping here) it is a 30-45 minute drive in.

Over the next few days I will share more about our first two weeks here.  We've been busy!

Alrighty...here goes the first major test of my newly installed internet...will this post go through or will I lose it?