Back at it after a break

Sorry to all the regular readers for the radio silence.  A lot has been going on recently, but nothing that is really blog worthy.  Just life transition stuff and the start of a new school year.  It’s been hard to find time to break away and get to this as well.  I’ve been on Dada duty with J going back to her classroom and work two weeks prior to Kiddo.  Plus, I’m getting a holiday in a few weeks to get to BKK and then Saigon and catch up with BSchmittah.  I’m excited for that and can’t wait to show him around a city we called home for three years and then take him to a place I love so much I got a tattoo of it on me.  Saigon is, I’ve said before, my spiritual home and I’ve gotten to share that with Kiddo and J, but to share it with a guy that is my best friend and more akin to a brother than a friend… There’s some excitement there.  Also, though, a ton of planning and making sure B is good with travel times and all we are doing.

The biggest news on the home front is that we are no longer turtle parents or keepers.  It was a good run with our little friends, but it was time to let them go.  After they outgrew the first take and moved to the larger tank, they started outgrowing that one as well.  We talked with Kiddo and came to the decision that it was time to set them free to live out their turtle lives freely.  We can a little canal area near us and we’ve seen turtles like Kiddo’s turtles near there and in there before.  We’ve seen the same turtles at Jing’an Temple and in some of the parks and gardens we’ve visited.  So, it is a common and local turtle.  We took Nile and Amazon out to the area and Kiddo and I set them free.

It was…. Tough.  Especially on Kiddo.  She was a bit shellshocked (no pun intended) and spent some time in grief over it.  It was hard for her, having to care for and raise the little friends, only to have to set them free and let them go.  She’s still not replaced their area with anything, so she has a bit of a open and obvious gap in her room.  It’s kind of obvious something is missing.  I’m sure, in time, it will get replaced, but for now, we’re letting her feel what she needs to feel and grieve in her own way and time.

School started and Grade 4 is a bit of a change.  They kids switch classrooms this year, instead of just switching subjects with a teacher.  So, that’s been an adjustment as well.  Needing to self manage at school a bit more.  Plus, H moved to Hong Kong, so the loss of the bestie is felt getting back into the year.  Thankfully, N is in Kiddo’s class and she was a friend from Grade 2, so transition, but a bit of an easier one there.  Kiddo and N have been thick as thieves lately, so that’s been fun.  N is a sweet girl.  Very talkative.  But, she lives here, so it’s a nice thing that she’s close.

Plus, in Grade 4, the kids can walk and not need a parent pick up.  So, N and Kiddo have been walking home together.  Last week, it was everyday of the week that either N was over or Kiddo went there or they just rode bikes and played.  Helps with the emotions and all the changes when Kiddo just falls into bed at night and dies.  

Other than that, I’ve had follow ups on the heart and stent and all is great there.  My cholesterol is down and back into normal ranges, although I am on meds for that.  My BP is similarly down, but again, meds.  I’ve changed up the diet and I’m eating a TON less meat, switching over to more fish and plant based.  My typical lunch now consists of leftovers, which are healthier, or I’ll have hummus and veggies.  I make my own hummus, so less fat, salt, oils, etc.  I’m also drinking a ton more water.  My weight is down 11.2kg (24.6 lbs) and that’s a plus as well.

Part of the reason I’ve not been blogging and writing more also has to do with that.  I’m back to walking, but also, I’ve joined a gym and I’ve been good about doing that 4-5 times a week.  Add that all together and I’ve got a lot less time in my weeks right now.  Things will slow, I know they will, but for now, I’m just doing the good work and focusing on turning my health around so I can get off the meds and get back to a healthy lifestyle.  It’s a process and I’ll get there.

So, that’s what’s been going on and the catch up.  J had a work colleague that she’s become friends with over for a dinner one day before school started with the kids again, so that was a day of cooking with Kiddo, plus the cleaning and tidying that goes with having guests.  It was cool to meet Leah and her husband, Will.  Plus their three year old guy.  

Oh, and cooking.  Kiddo is doing a lot more cooking with me recently.  She’s learning and helping a lot more, even cooking some chicken the other night.  Just pan seared with some mushrooms, over pasta and we had a green salad, but she even helped with the salad; cutting cuncumbers, carrots, celery, and a bell pepper.  Her real jam, though, is pico de gallo.  She loves cutting and dicing tomatoes and onions and she’s been putting her own little twists on it.  Adding different types of peppers, not just bell peppers, but anaheims and other peppers that we don’t know the name of, but that we find at the market.  Taste testing them before adding.  We even found some jalapeños and tossed a bit of those in.  She tried one raw and loved it; although she needed some milk after for the spice.

Things have been good.  Busy, but in a mundane way, just life at home and doing Kiddo and back to school and getting back into the routine type stuff.  We’re all happy and healthy here.  J will start applying places soon and we’ll start figuring out where we will land next.  That will be exciting, as we will see what is on offer and what’s the best fit for us.  Will it be somewhere we’ve been or a whole new adventure?  If it is someplace we’ve been, Kuala Lumpur, back to BKK, Saigon…. What will we learn and see in living there?  What will we make of it and take from it?

Let’s go, Kiddo… there’s a whole lot of new right now, but that will become common soon enough.  New adventures will come and we will start saying goodbye to our time and adventure in Shanghai.  How much you’ve grown and how much you’ve changed by this, but also, how you became more entrenched in who and what you are.  Keep up the hard work of being you, growing, changing, learning, and explore and Mumma and I will keep up the hard work of being the best parents we can be and loving you in the challenging times, the easy times, and even the boring times.  

PS.  We also finished watching The Hunger Games and Kiddo crushed through the first book in about 4 days.