Unconventional Thanksgivings

I can only remember a handful of times that my family actually had turkey on Thanksgiving. Over the years we have developed a lot of Thanksgiving traditions that I love, but they are a little bit different from what you might think of when you think of Thanksgiving. Instead of cooking all day, we wake up and drive to Dana Point to run in the Turkey Trot. Instead of eating turkey, we go to Lucille's Smokehouse and get ribs (if you're gonna eat good food, you might as well eat good food, right?) Instead of eating pumpkin pie for dessert, we go to Ralph's and get bags of candy and take them to the movies with us. Then we wake up the next morning and do Black Friday shopping. And I love all of it! My Thanksgivings have always been a bit unconventional, and this year was no different! Josh still had school, so Shane and I went to the pool. Now that's what you think of when you think of Thanksgiving, right? For whatever reason he was throwing a fit when I first got in with him.
What would I do without cute girls everywhere I go? This one came along and had Shane laughing and smiling within a matter of minutes.

Then for our big dinner we went up to campus where they were serving Thanksgiving food. We got there at 6, the time it was supposed to start, and stood in line.

But the food didn't get there until 7, and we didn't get ours until 7:30. If only you knew how Dominican that is. All that waiting made Shane tired.

Now, let me show you a picture of our Thanksgiving "feast"- can I get a drumroll please? Here it is in all its glory:

And Shane ate all my mashed potatoes. I can accept being unconventional, but I'm pretty sure it's just blasphemous to leave Thanksgiving feeling hungry! Oh well, sometimes all you can do here is laugh. Despite the frustrations, we really are thankful to be here. I am so grateful for this opportunity Josh has to pursue his dreams and become a doctor. I am thankful for all the beauty here, and for all the things we are learning. It is amazing the things you take for granted until you don't have them. We love our family and miss them a lot, but it has been so good for us to just have each other and to rely on one another when we have problems instead of our family. We have definitely grown a lot closer to each other and to the Lord since we have been here, and that has been worth it all. Happy Thanksgiving!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

It all started with my shower this morning. I always bring Shane in with me and he plays on the floor in the shower with some little tub toys (thanks Corrie!). When I was done I turned off the water and left him in there while I got ready because he was still happy playing. A few minutes passed and he had been pretty quiet in there. Upon checking him, I realized why- he had been busy pooping in there! Of course I was already dressed, so I proceeded to run and grab the Lysol, hose him off and get him out so I could clean up the mess. I disposed of a lot of it in the toilet, and consequently clogged it, causing some of that poopy water to drip onto the floor. Lovely. Took care of it, got Shane dressed, went to find his shoes so we could play outside. I had put them under the stroller last night after going to the store and realizing 5 minutes after leaving that Shane had kicked off one of his shoes, so I walked back to retrieve it and promptly put them where he could not kick them off. Except somewhere on the walk back one must have fallen out because I couldn't find his left shoe. But you know what I did find? The butter I had bought at said store and forgot to put in the fridge. Whoops.

BUT,

The day is looking up my friends. I am going to see Julie and Julia tonight on campus. And, I went to Body Trackers today and found out that I have lost 9 pounds since I got here! (Josh has lost 14). Thank you Dominica, for your lack of viable food options. And thank you Shane, for giving me occasion to carry around 26 pounds so frequently (we weighed him too).

Running on the Nature Isle

I have been braving the humidity more and more to run here, and despite being able to fill a small lake with the amount of sweat produced, it has been well worth it. Gotta love that runner's high. And with that I give you the 411 on running in Dominica:

Step 1: Get out the door by 7 so the sun doesn't bake you. If you don't want to wake up early, just wait for the days when your son decides to wake up obnoxiously early.

Step 2: If your son gives you the luxury of sleeping in (my definition is quite a bit looser now), run to the pool so you can jump in after or home from the pool so your body temp is already cooler.

Step 3: Run past Riverside Restaurant. The worker ladies are always sitting outside and the day they see you walking, they will ask you "how come you're not running today?" A little peer pressure goes a long way!

Step 4: Take your GPS watch with you so you can get the satisfaction of seeing how far you've run. Try not to get too depressed when you realize your whole life's existence is pretty much within a mile on either side of your house!

Step 5: Make sure to pass by lots of locals, it's good for your morale. They don't really run here. I think they're used to white people running, but white ladies pushing a huge stroller? I'm pretty sure they think I am amazing judging by the incredulous looks on their faces. Or maybe just crazy (that's certainly a possibility). And the things they say to you will keep you entertained. Like the man who told me this morning, "I like your style!"

Step 6: Make sure to take a cute boy with you

It's not even noon yet

And I've already been told by three different locals "that is a fat baby you have." I think they mean it to be nice? I guess I will just take it that way!

Fidgety Fish

One of the things that was in the package my mom sent was this book:
And let me tell you, it has been a lifesaver! Shane is very much an outdoor boy, and would gladly stay outside all day if I let him. So when it rains or it's dusk and the bugs are out and I won't let him outside, he is not a happy camper. And typically throws a big tantrum. Thank goodness for this book. I've learned, pull out Fidgety Fish and the tears dry right up. This is his first soft cover book and he is slightly obsessed with it. I think I read it at least 15 times a day to him. And while a little repetitive, the teacher in me is loving reading aloud real children's books again and not just board books. So excited! He even has a favorite page. I'm not sure what it is about it, but without fail when I get to the page that says "Whoosh- out shot Tiddler" he giggles

When Josh got home he suckered him into reading it too

Love these boys!

And a couple more cute pics for the grandparents. The quality isn't great when we take pictures inside our house because we are still using the videocamera and it doesn't have flash, but you get the idea.

Oh, the moments I wish I could photograph!

There are so many times here that I have thought, "Dang I wish I had my camera," or more importantly "How can I take a picture of that without that person noticing?" Dominica is full of these moments of people doing strange/hilarious things. Or maybe I am just easily amused. At any rate, I think I am getting my ab work out alone in stifling the laughter. If you live here, you know what I'm talking about. Today it was the middle-aged security man at lunch belting out "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. Can't wait for what tomorrow will bring!

Everything's More Fun With Dad

Today was a Dominican national holiday, and also conveniently the day after Josh finished his big midterm, meaning he got to stay home and play with us! We lazed about in the morning, and it was so good to have someone else to walk around with Shane outside! Then we hit the beach in the afternoon and Josh got to do his first snorkeling on the island. Shane could hardly contain his excitement getting his dad all day.

And to top it off, some friends of ours in Josh's class that were free from all the studying too were nice enough to volunteer to babysit Shane so we could go out alone. It was the first time we'd done that since being here! We went to a restaurant called Blue Bay that was definitely pricey but was right on the water with a great ambiance and good food. We both ordered the grilled fish and it was excellent (don't be too proud of me, it was tuna).Here is a really bad picture of a really good night.

I'm just mad because I actually did my hair (and it wasn't even Sunday!) and you can't even tell!