Hello! I’m back!! Happy holidays everyone. I hope you are taking in all the special aspects of this season. I, for one, am loving the Christmas light displays on houses, something we don’t see much when living outside the U.S. due to the prevalence of apartments. I have lots of updates, so let’s just jump right in, shall we?
I am thrilled to say that we will soon be reunited with our things after 6 1/2 months of waiting. I’ve learned a lot about shipping as we tried to discern what the heck was taking so long. Allow me to enlighten you, because it’s rather fascinating. You see, when we fly on government orders, we are required to use a U.S. airline (called the “Fly America” act). Turns out there’s a similar stipulation when moving our possessions. Our possessions may only go on a U.S.-flagged vessel (meaning it’s owned and operated by the U.S.). I did a quick google search and it turns out that in 2023 there were only 177 of those.
Then, on top of that, priority is given to new goods, produce and military cargo, so our stuff got bumped numerous times by cargo deemed more important. When you factor in all that, plus the 3 times it had to get on a truck and the 6 times it switched boats, I guess it adds up. (7 ports in all and through the Panama Canal!) Just grateful to be getting my winter coat and boots before the real cold sets in… fingers crossed that there are no more delays and we’re able to receive it in early January!
Ski season is already in full swing thanks to some plentiful snowfalls on Mount Bachelor. Nick and Nia go up together on Sundays and in January Nia will start her ski program through school (called Wintermeister), where they take 80 middle schoolers up to ski every Friday afternoon for 8 weeks. She’s super excited to get to explore the slopes with friends (and no parents!). :) She should be a solid skier by the end of this year.
You probably noticed that there was no mention of me in relation to skiing. While I was initially planning to do it this year (and even had my pass purchased), I just found out a few weeks ago that I need surgery on my foot. More on that in another post, but as of now the surgery is scheduled for January 7th. So no skiing for me this year. :(
In other news, Nia is signed up to be in two musicals this spring. Her first is Nemo, Jr. the Musical and performs in early February through BEAT Children’s Theatre. I was super proud of her because she had to do a comprehensive audition where she sang, danced, and read various scenes and guess what?? She landed a decent role! She will be Bruce, the Australian vegetarian shark. She’s really funny in the role and has the accent nailed down. She even does some solo singing and has lines! She seems to be enjoying the rehearsal process thus far and I’m beyond thrilled that she finally gave it a go.
We also signed her up for Mean Girls The Musical which is a teen production (12-18 year olds) that will start practicing in late February and perform in mid-May. They will hold auditions in February, but she’s at least guaranteed to be in the chorus. That’s going to keep her busy right through the end of the school year.
She’s also been hard at work for a profile piece for Language Arts (aka: English class). The assignment was to interview someone and write the profile using a unique angle. I think I mentioned that she’s obsessed with all things airplanes and history, especially World War II. Well, she worked some connections through a friend of Robert and Joyce’s and was able to interview a 102-year-old WWII B-17 gunner who was shot down and spent a year in a POW camp. She was able to interview him via Facetime and the angle she’s exploring is if his experience growing up on a Minnesota farm helped him survive in the POW camp. Cool, huh? Maybe she’ll let me share it with you at a later date. :)
Next week we are moving out of the rental we’ve been in since August 1st. It’s served us well, but we wanted something closer to school and the grandparents. Our new one, which we’ll move into in early January, is perfect–just five minutes to each! Over the next few weeks we’ll be spending two weekends with my in-laws and then the other 10 days in Minnesota celebrating Christmas and New Years with my family. Lots of excitement in the next month between traveling, switching houses, taking in our stuff and getting surgery! I’m gonna need some bed rest just to recover . . .
That’s a wrap for today. Sending you all big hugs. More to come soon!
