Jet Lag, Making Choices and Goodbyes

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What time is it? Where you are?

I miss you more than anything.

It’s gettin’, lonely  - livin’ upside down

I don’t even wanna be in this town

Tryin’ to figure out the time zones

Makin’ me crazy

You say good morning when it’s midnight

I wake up to your sunset, it’s drivin’ me mad

I miss you so bad and my heart, heart, heart is so jetlagged

What time is it? Where you are?

[5 more days and I'll be home]

I wanna share your horizon

And see the same sun rising

 

 

When we left India we had turned down an offer for a new position with a new company (Door A) for the Husb that would have placed us in Florida.  At the time, we chose Door B, with the generous offer to allow our family to relocate to Singapore while staying with the same employment so that we could recover from some illnesses that plagued us during our time in Delhi and get some fresh air (literally and figuratively).

Every choice has a consequence.  Every choice towards something more positive also has negative attributes.

We made a choice to take the opportunity to try and heal my body from the long-term effects of Chikungunya and the Epstein-Barr virus.  We made the choice to allow our littlest little to finally get the medical care and surgeries she needed to restore her hearing and finally end her chronic ear infections.  We made the choice to give our biggest little a Senior year that included American football, some amazing food and safe bicycling experiences. As for our middle kiddo, well, he was happy enough as long as his little Indian street dog got to come along!

What we also did – inevitably – was make the choice to have my Husb remain back in India. We took up residence – me and the kiddos – in Singapore, and he tried to get here as often as he could, which averaged out to a really pathetic percentage of days out of each month.

We made a choice that meant I was to rediscover life as a solo parent.  We made the choice to learn how to best mange a recap of the days’ events while on a quick Skype call. We made the choice for my Husb to spend more nights in a hotel bed than in mine.

I am so thankful to the company for allowing us to try this out, for giving us the opportunity and being so flexible.  That’s something you don’t find often!  However …

We have decided as a family that we are tired of living in different countries.  We are weary of waking up to each other’s sunsets. 

It’s time for another choice. This time, we are choosing a fantastic position where the Husb can be back in his element of management and leadership.  We are choosing family.  We are choosing to be near to our oldest as he is off to college, just 15 minutes from our new house.  We are choosing to be near to doting and loving grandparents.

We are choosing to say yes to our marriage and the relationship between the littles and their amazing father. We all deserve to spend more time together and foster more simple memories that do not only contain postcard vignettes of really great photo ops during our fab travels.

We are choosing to say goodbye to the expat lifestyle.  We are choosing to say goodbye to the excitement of a heavy pulse of diversity and differences that keep you on your toes! We are choosing to give up the exotic exploration of a new place where you have to listen harder in order to understand, see past the cultural nuances and jump in with both feet.

I know that – as an individual, and as a family – we jumped in to our time in Delhi and Singapore with both feet.  We jumped so hard that the ripple effect and splash from our presence will be felt long after we get on that plane to return home to the United States.  It’s how we plan to start our time in Orlando … with intention and still with the same “Why Not” attitude we’ve had all along the journey!

It’s time for jet lag to take a back seat to family time around the dinner table.

 

(Bear with me as I plan to blog the process of repatriating … I aim to be honest and vulnerable about it … I hope you’ll stick around for the ramblings as we reintroduce our family to America!)

Weekend Whimsy, via Twitter

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A twist on the Weekend Whimsy … simply via Twitter :
“we don’t want people to open up their wallets, just tie up their sneakers”
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A picture worth of lifetime
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“How do I find my bliss?  It’s underneath your purpose.”
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“Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the internet.” Anonymous
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“Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love.”

Her Kitchen

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Another piece from the Delhi blog … (I should come up with a clever name for this look back, since I’ve been posting them weekly on Thursdays?) … this one centers around the role of a mother/wife and how it relates to The Kitchen. Click over to have a read and answer me this, what role do YOU most associate with being a wife, mother, woman?

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

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One of the things I am very cognizant of is that while we may be traversing the globe and visiting far away places, my children have seen just a small, small snippet of the United States.  During a recent trip to San Francisco for a conference for Room to Read, I found myself wishing desperately that my family was with me, especially for my day in The Mission, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing the Redwoods.

My first glimpse of it was gorgeous. The weather was perfect.

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The massive amounts of people that were walking across surprised me. Where would they go when they reached the other side? Although I will say, they likely captured a better shot of Alcatraz than I did!

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The drive to Sausalito and the Redwoods was winding, a bit treacherous but definitely adventurous. Because it was Spring Break for many of the area schools, the forest was packed and parking was hard. Elizabeth and I (my tour guide for the afternoon) welcomed the long walk to the entrance, sandwiches and water bottles in hand …. and then saw this.

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I cannot describe them. You have to see them in person. My pictures will not do them justice and my words will fail their beauty as well.

 

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I took the obligatory “Look at how huge the tree is!” photo and then we hoofed it back to the car, since Elizabeth had a school function to attend that evening.

Before we arrived in the United States, the Husb had said “I hope you get to see the fog rolling in over the mountains” but I didn’t give it a second thought once my plane touched down in California, until …

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It was magnificent.  These photos are in a moving car, with no editing and SOOC. Not that they are award-winning, but just look at that – nature just doing its thing. Amazing.

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The only thing that would have made the day complete would have been to see a San Francisco Cable Car!

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Ta-da!

 

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Have you been to San Francisco? If so, what was your favorite thing/place/restaurant/location?  

If you have not been, tell me about a place that IS on your top list … United States only this time.

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

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I’ve recently brought over my food blog posts (they used to reside on a separate blog) so that they have a permanent home here on Naomi Hattaway : dot com .  You can find them by doing a quick search on the category Food. Or you can use the dropdowns up above ⬆  to quickly find them!

Those posts include recipes (all of which we’ve tried) that I will aim to cook again in the coming weeks and add some reviews and pros/cons, as well as our weekly menu planning choices.

Recently, my gal pals in the neighborhood concluded our trip around the world. We each took a turn hosting and we explored the cuisine of India, some amazing tapas, Gordon Ramsey, the Singaporean favorite Olive Fried Rice and finished up with Italian.

I have always known the benefits of making your own salad dressings, but never committed to it outside of Ranch. Enter Shelley’s amazing find from Once Upon A Chef.

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

Ingredients

2 small garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp anchovy paste (we omitted this!)

2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 C mayonnaise

1/2 C freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce.  Add the mayonnaise, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper and whisk until well combined.  Taste and adjust to your liking.

VERDICT : Delic.  It whips up in minutes and was tasty! The younger kiddos opted for their standby of Ranch, but I’ll definitely make this again.

NEXT TIME NOTES : I used way too much garlic! Next time I’ll choose to simply stick with one garlic clove so that the Husb actually enjoys the dressing.