This is Life: Why I've Neglected to Blog

If you are one of those people who follows the blog religiously (which I doubt we have any of those kind of followers!), I do apologize if you've felt neglected by us over the past 8 weeks. We've been doing our best to just keep our heads above water adjusting to life in our new culture, so unfortunately blogging got demoted to the bottom of the priority list. If you are wondering what the other 100 things are that replaced it, let me give you a picture!

I have about 45 minutes in the mornings when we have finished "Morning Routine" and the girls are playing in "Room Time". Today was the first day out of our 8 weeks since arriving that I actually was able to logically reason between a few different options to best spend those 45 minutes. Most days there is no option- at least 5 things are demanding my attention in order for the day to go on.

Today, however, I had options.

I could

Wash dishes

(although I probably wouldn't finish them in 45 minutes)

Set up our cloth diaper station

Take clothes off the line and fold them

(although that would take more than 45 min as well)

Pasteurize the milk

(which usually takes 2 people, at least at the beginning and end)

Pick fresh flowers for the table (for my own sanity)

Return about 20 emails I haven't had time to respond to

Have my quiet time

Sweep the floors

(which has to be done daily to avoid an infestation of unwanted critters)

Write a thank-you note to new supporters

Put away groceries we bought in Kampala last week

Write a newsletter update

Work on Christmas cards

Write a birthday letter to someone very special

Unpack the bags we are still living out of after 8 weeks

Today, pasteurizing the milk won the prize, while also organizing the main room & sweeping the floors. I really did want fresh flowers for the table though, so I gustily decided to venture out with the girls on a Wildflower Scavenger Hunt when "Room Time" was finished. Now, never again will I complain about how long it used to take to get my kids in the car whenever we had to go somewhere. Preparing to get my kids out of the house since we've been living in Africa has given me healthy perspective! Here is a condensed list of what has to get done before we step out the door...

Have Lucy go potty

Put long pants on the girls (mosquito protection)

Put on bug spray

Fill water bottles

Put Olive in the carrier on my back

(no easy feat single-handedly!)

Remove any valuables from site

Put away electronics

Lock the doors

Put on rainboots

Head out the door

For some reason, it always seems like an ordeal & it always takes FOREVER! Then, inevitably, within 5 minutes someone is always going to fall in the mud, get a bug bite, get tired of walking & need to be carried, get tired of being carried and needing to walk. People will greet us and the kids will get antsy while we are visiting, or the

kids will venture off towards hazardous areas where they don't need to be playing (like tall ledges or long grass). It is an effort, let me tell you! And before long, it's time to head home to begin preparing lunch and getting ready for naps. Nap Time then presents me with the same issues of how to best manage my time as "Room Time" does. Most days it is the only time I have to do meal prep, and thus are working in the kitchen from about 2-5, at which point we begin the "Wind-Down Routine".

So, that my friends, is a little glimpse into why it's been a challenge to crank out a blog post lately. {Not to mention lack of electricity and poor satellite connection even when there is electricity}. But we are turning corner, I can feel it. So, hang with us just a bit longer...once I get my rhythm fully back, I think blogging will fall into the routine.