Can it be February Yet?

It’s a slow march towards break.  The long slog through fatigue and keeping up with all that’s been going on until it is finally here.  Until it’s finally break.  Until it’s finally February.  

J has it even harder, as she started 2 weeks before Kiddo did and Kiddo has had some half days, but those were working days for J.  As for Kiddo, come February Break, she will have completed 63.4% of her school year and had 10 days off.  TEN!  Compared to if J were still with OSide School going into the same February break period, the kids would be 62.9% done (almost the same), but would have already had 19 days off.  The march towards the break here is brutal.  For all of us.

Kiddo is burnt.  The longest break she’s had is the first week of October and that was 6 days.  However, she’s also had 3 weekend days as “make up” days following days off in October, another random day off in November that was made up on a Saturday, and then a make up day on a Sunday following New Years.  So, on top of having only 10 days off, three of those were followed by a 6 day week.  That’s a slog man.  That’s an uphill fight.

The plus side to that, however, is February is off.  For both J and Kiddo.  I mean, just look at that.  

To top that all off, we will be traveling for some of that time and getting away to a warm weather spot, plus a place we’ve never been, so fun and warm, good food and relaxing, and picking up a few more stamps in ye ol’ passport.  Can’t really complain about that.  Plus, a 4 week recharge and then only (approximately) 1/3rd of the year left coming back.  Sometimes it’s worth the fight.

It’s not all bad and hard, however.  We’ve found a new nood dude, but he also does rice (which Kiddo prefers) and so it’s the best of all words for us.  Simple, clean, and yummy.  Top that off with the fact that it’s about $1.25/serving and J and I can split a bowl of noodles and munch up Kiddo’s leftover rice and it’s MORE than enough.  That’s crazy good on the pricing and it’s really really good.  Besides that, it’s fun to just wonder around and find a noodle guy or wrap lady and to give it a try.  I’m not going to lie, though… I miss the Thai markets and the crazy fruit we could get there.  Plus krapow and then there’s the quail eggs; but I digress.  I’m not complaining, though, since it’s cool to find the little things here as well.  There’s something cool about the little side street or hole in the wall places that we’ve found throughout our travels.  Bangkok, Vietnam, China, Zihua…. All of them had their small little charms and places that we’re local and super cool to see and figure out and then munch at.

Kiddo is also growing up so fast.  Recently, a memory popped up on Facebook that was from two years ago and Kiddo looks so little and so much like a kid, a child. 

Now, however, you look at her and this is a tween.  

Before it was, look at how sweet and cute she is…. How beautiful and you can see the potential of who she could be and we’d wonder about who and what she will be as she grows up.  Not as an adult, but as a tween and teenager.  Now, we look at her and she’s TOTALLY there.  The style, the face, the attitude and you can see the teenager she is going to be.  Yeah, she still is goofy and will make a blanket toga and go totally 8 year old on it, but you can see the 16 year old in her as well.  Also, in some of what she talks about and how she says things.  It’s no longer just simple things and telling about her day, but questioning things and wondering about abstract ideas.  At the same time, I was wearing shirt yesterday that had CP Company stitched on the left breast pocket area and Kiddo had a laugh about it standing for Coconut Poop.  We can see the tween in her, but we still hear the 8 year old most days as she constantly proves that she is really good at being 8 and that she loves playing that roll in our lives and house.

Let’s go, Kiddo… You have 8 days left until you get your LONG break and then it’s a week with me until Mumma gets her break and we get to travel and do.  We can’t wait to travel, explore, eat, and just wonder around with you, soaking in the sun and wearing shorts and tee-shirts 24/7 again.  Thanks for keeping us on our toes and being the best of all yous…. Past, present, and future.