Things Are Good

We are counting down the days until we head back to the U.S.!! ONE WEEK from Friday, and we'll be in D.C. We get in late on Friday afternoon, and the next day we'll drive to Ocean City, NJ, where we've rented a beach house not far from Hubby's parents. This is our FIRST family vacation! I'm so excited, the kids are so excited, we just can't wait. I've scoped out a nice-looking seafood restaurant, and all I can think about is crab cakes and steamed clams--yum!

I also checked out the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce site and found some really great information about family activities offered on an almost daily basis. They have a Farmer's Market every Wednesday, Family Day on Thursdays (with face painting, pony rides, etc.), and a Family Film Night. For the first time, I feel like all that we've been working for in the past year, all that we've lived with, dealt with, and gone through is finally paying off in a wonderful reward for us as a family, and it feels great! The budget looks good; we'll actually be able to enjoy ourselves and not worry about every single penny (though we *are* still on a budget).

Now that the dissertation is finished, I've been able to return to the gym after over a year of not exercising. Ouch, at first. But now? I'm doing lots of cardio in addition to weight training, and for the first time ever, I'm working on my upper body strength. I can see definition in my arms! Who knew? I'm working on getting rid of that double-wave thing that happens underneath my arm with the jiggly bits. I'm really enjoying the added energy that regular workouts have given me, and losing some inches has helped me get back into some clothes I haven't worn since before I was pregnant with Amelia.

I have an article officially in the works! By in the works, I mean that a colleague has read it, offered advice and suggestions for revision, and within the next 6 weeks, it will go out to a journal. This will be my first time submitting an article, and I'm completely prepared for rejection. I also have a project in the works for submission to a collection on Gender, Authorship, and Space in Britain, 1660-1820. I feel good about the project because it's not wrapped up in whether or not it's accepted to this collection. That is, even if it doesn't get accepted, it's a project/subject I want to pursue further as my second book project (eventually).

I had my first fender-bender in Doha yesterday. Really, it was just a bump, everyone is fine, and it was totally my fault. I turned around to hand a bottle or toy to Amelia in her car seat, my foot slipped off the brake a bit, and we "tapped" the car in front of us. It was a tiny Lancer, so it cracked and dented the rear bumper. Long story short---everything is fine because the manager of the driving institute (to whom the car belonged) saw someone lightly bang the dent out and decided they could fix it themselves, "No need to go to the police station Madam."

Me: "Why not?"
Him: "We can fix it here."
Me: "Are you sure? Can I pay you?"
Him: "Yes, I'm sure..Don't worry, it is my pleasure Madam."
Me: "God bless you! Thank you so very much, and I'm very sorry."

What could have cost God knows how much time and money and confusion and stress just dissolved in a matter of a few minutes. Oh Karma Gods, I am so completely in your debt!

Things are starting to feel like the surface of the sun here---average temp of 105-113 degrees--so we do very little outside, except go to the pool early in the morning of after the sun goes down. Everything seems to have slowed down, the traffic, school, the workload, so we've had a chance to re-group as a family, which has been very nice. With the exception of the 14-hour flight in economy with three kids, I'm looking forward to just about everything about our summer break!