The 'saving frog'

 Before leaving  the USA, J gave me a small frog (he won it at Chuck E. Cheese with me).  He called it my "saving frog".  (his mom says he meant "rescue frog", but I like "saving frog" better)

 He told me:  "Now Grandma, this is your saving frog... I want you to take it to 'Kapal' with you and whenever you need help, you just call this saving frog and he will help you!"

Needless to say, I take him everywhere! 

So, without further adieu, allow "the saving frog" to take you on a brief tour of our travels and life here!  

 In the airplane on top of my water bottle,

Miguel can sleep just about anywhere!

A view of the Himal as we approached the Kathmandu Valley

the saving frog looking for a drink of water... (see friends' photos on the fridge.. we miss u!)

a close up!

the saving frog waiting for Miguel to come home and play video games 

on the little flat screen we got him for his birthday last week...

close up!

stay tuned for more saving frog adventures!

Arrival...

Well, we're here!  I can't believe it's been more than a week since I wrote!  Alas, I have some pretty good excuses for that -- uhh, let's see -- sparse or no internet, load shedding (translation: no electricity) for 14 hours per day and moving in tasks like trying to find everything from a coffee press (found one!) to curtain fabric (got that too, now to locate a good tailor to actually SEW the curtains!)  -- I remind myself each day - "everything will be okay in the end... if it's not okay, it's not the end!"  indeed!

our last nite

The last nite in the USA for any/all American expats living/moving overseas is... well, frankly, the last nite of luxury... (faithful electric, clean water, uhh.. walmart?)  all... before launching out to new lands... right?

not!

while staying with friends on our last nite, a transformer at the end of the block blew up!  and started a fire!  fire trucks, ambulances, utility trucks.. (at least we can all be grateful for a working city infrastructure, yes?)  they all showed up.  so.. we (Michael and I) left! (thinking that all would be fixed within a few hours)  We put on our "productive" hats and worked on taxes (ugh) and Miguel's latest science test (ugh, from him) and we were grateful for wi-fi at Panera Bread. (albeit they only offer free wi-fi for 30 min during their lunch hour.. everyone: TAKE NOTE!)

Still... by 6:30 pm, in the dark... we knew that we might need to make other plans.

We ended up in a hotel... I think it's because, in a moment of weakness and without electricity (in AMERICA! on our last nite!)... I cried.  And my 16 year old son, who is SO much like his FATHER... just made a decision!  (hmm. mom is crying, we have one more nite in the USA..ok,  pack the carry on, (don't forget the x-box), and take care of mom) Needless to say,  he won his mother's heart!

it was a good decision.. insurance paid for the room...

so, here we are, in a hotel in America.. 24 hours b4 boarding a plane to Nepal... looking forward to a good night's sleep!

and grateful...

the Flat...

Here's some photos of the flat we're renting in Kathmandu... it's clean, but not quite my taste in decor and paint color!  but -- I'm GRATEFUL!  A place to lay our heads!  

In order, bedroom #1 (w/bath and balcony); bedroom #2; dining room, kitchen living room

Fun days in Colorado

3 days left before we leave to "Kapal" (as J calls it); although we have TONS of responsible tasks remaining to prepare for our trip...    INSTEAD!...   

We went to C's birthday party - She's ONE!  Can we love any little girl more??  I think not!

AND... We went bowling.  "HAPPY (early) BIRTHDAY", Uncle Michael!

THEN, we went to the Aquarium.

those were some nice trout, Grandpa...

Uhh, mermaids??  I later assured J that they were just girls in suits.  He looked relieved!

J in the glass reflection checking out the jelly fish

and finally, today, I watched both C & J all day (hip hip hurray!) while K & C went snow boarding!

Here's J fixing his rescue helicopter engines -

"There's 'hoop a doops' stuck in the engines, Grandma!"   (translation:  fruit loops)

C slept soundly in the next room until J went in to wake up sleepy head Uncle Michael  Hey!  It's 2 pm!  Wake up!  His last indoor game is tonite... :-(

J practiced his picture taking skills; he's to be the photographer while I'm gone so I can see him grow!

a little blurry, but he'll improve!

C later fell asleep in my arms to my 'Peter, Paul and Mary' rendition of "Puff the magic dragon"... as I tried not to cry...

So, instead of doing all the important stuff we were supposed to do before leaving....(like income taxes, ugh!) well, we had some fun days in Colorado!

progress....

Albert Einstein once said, "Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving" - 


I knew I liked Einstein!

Moving is all we've done in the past few days!
Moving "stuff" that we don't want or need anymore - to give away or dispose of
Moving treasure that seems so important to us now (but we won't remember it in a year) - to storage
Moving ourselves to live with friends for one more week
and that's just on THIS side of the world!

My sweet husband has hit the ground... moving!


And -- it's paid off

We have a flat!  - It is located near to many of our friends, close to shops, and has solar water.. yes, I said WATER!  Today, while Colorado hit record breaking temperatures, well below 0 degrees F, Mick spent his first nite in our home in KTM.  He dragged in a mattress to sleep on the floor, bought a heater, and promptly sent us an email from "home".  woo hoo!  progress!

Will post photos once I have them!