Happy Birthday to David

Lest we forget DAVE FEST 2009. It was fabulous. Pancakes, strawberries, whipped cream for breakfast. Lots of singing. Party hats mandatory all day long. Pinata in the basement, steak for dinner, gifts, ice cream cake YUM! and did I say lots of singing?

We love you David, Happy Birthday.

The Notebook

So this is it. Command Central Station. This little notebook sits on the corner of the desk beckoning me everyday with an insane amount of tasks to be done, lists to be made, projects to be checked, and no detail to be left unconsidered.

Plan an overseas move with only 4 months notice?
"You can do it!" pretty green notebook tells me.
"This will be great!" pretty green reminds.
"Look, its all right here. Let me keep track of it, you get it done and before you know it you'll be stopping for some sugar cane juice on your way to the park with your third culture kids," she says.


Some of the things on the lists: dentist appointments, vaccinations, fix the kid desks and chairs before we try to sell them, consolidate recipes and digitize, open bank account with easy international transferring, and on and on.

Right now the plan (ever in flux) is to make it over with just the 8 suitcases we can take on our flight, store some things here in the US, and find new homes for the rest. Craigslist, amazon.com and an upcoming Mom2Mom sale are helping out with that. There was one week in the middle of March where I felt like I was married to Mr. Craig himself. But emptying out my closet the other day was liberating. No sweaters, wool, or longsleeves please.

The notebook says the plan is to pack up our sweet life in Michigan in June, head to Utah for a family trip, Washington for my sister's wedding, then the boys and I will stay with my parents for about a month while Dave goes to Singapore. He'll be back for a conference in August, pick us up and then we're off to Singapore...after spending some quality family time buckled into our seats for a good 19 hour flight.

Pretty green notebook is chock full of questions too: sell the car in MI and fly out west or drive and sell the car in WA? Bring the sewing machine? Stock up on that fabulous 'baby mauve' lip gloss? how do we bring a guitar?

Meanwhile life moves on....there's a dissertation to complete, graduation to walk, and cute kids to bathe after a morning stomp in one of the best mud puddles I've seen.

Decision Done

We did it. We signed a contract. Just last night.

We are going to Singapore!

back from Singapore

1. view from our hotel room 2. "wet market' 3. Dave and Jessie downtown
4. pink bull taxi 5. view from our hotel room 6. "hawker center" for lunch
7. Dave eating an ice cream sandwich 8. Hindu temple in Little India 9. a street downtown

We're back from our whirlwind. As soon as I touched the ground we had places to be and people to see. No beach, no gardens, no night safari, just business. The taxis whizzed and zig zagged us all over the island. Dave to his interviews, and me to my tours. I toured 7 private international schools. I sure learned a lot about international curriculum and was impressed with the programs. Good schools? Check.

Next we toured several apartment properties with a travel agent, several with a professor from one of the universities, and a few on our own. From a 33rd floor downtown executive suite to a mormon couple with 4 kids in a beautiful multi-leveled apartment. Good housing? Check.

We spent a lot of time meeting people from the universities at fancy dinners. Lantern-lit on the river, fighting jet lag, and filling our bellies with things we can't pronounce but were Oh So Tasty. Good food? Check. Good people? Check.

My brillant David received a job offer from each of the 3 universities, and after a few more trips on the subway to some authentic food places and shopping areas we found ourselves back on the plane for our long flight home.

We're glad to be back and have some big decisions to make. Poor David is still fighting the urge to fall asleep while standing, but our laundry is done and we will spend the next few days figuring our lives out.

Grandma!

Gage called me Grandma the first day I was back.... not sure how to feel about that.

They didn't miss us much. Grandma and Aunt Kate flew in to spend the week with N and G while we were in Singapore. And they loved it. Trips to the children's museum, the indoor playground, to the toy store to pick out a prize and of course happy meals at McDonalds, why would a little boy miss his momma?

Thanks Mom and Kate!

Letters from Daddy

Hi Noah:

Wow, what a neat day I had in Singapore! I took a long walk through the jungle and on my walk I saw lots of monkeys! They jumped from tree to tree. It was lots of fun to watch.


In the afternoon I went to a bird park and saw lots and lots of birds. There were colorful birds--I took some pictures for you. I also saw some owls who lived in a really dark building. They were really neat.

I hope you had a great day and that you are really nice to your mom and little brother.

Sleep well.

Love,

Dad





We've been able to talk to David several times a day. He calls us over the internet using Skype. The kids love it. So do I. And we've also been emailing...a lot.

So far he has interviewed at 1 of 3 universities and it's going well. He is enjoying the people he's meeting and the research they're discussing. He had a lot of free time over the weekend to see the amazing sites of Singapore.

He hiked through the Bukit Timah nature reserve (um...the jungle) and did the tree top walk. I was very jealous. This was something I really wanted to do but knew we wouldn't have time. When he was done he went to a grocery store on the top floor of a mall - the biggest, most beautiful, most air conditioned mall he'd ever seen. What a contrast.






He says the food is amazing (he stops to buy fresh squeezed fruit every time he sees the juice stand), the weather warm, and his favorite has been Little India. A section of town with Indian shops, homes, a beautiful temple and festivities.

He has more interviews tomorrow.

Again, wish him well.

V

A lot of love at our house, even with Daddy overseas.

We've been staying busy. That's the key to surviving without that extra David energy around. We found an amazing indoor playground here, (really incredible!) took our usual grocery, library, museum trips and have had many playdates. For today we've been making heart decorations, valentines and

pretzel treats for friends. Noah is super good at dipping.


The boys woke up to a small gift with these fun candy boxes on top. I learned how to make them here.


Happy Valentine's Day!

PS Update of Dave's days in Singapore coming soon.