I’ve been a lazy blogger this weekend because I’ve been busy with a bunch of little things and not paying much attention to writing them down. It was very good to be lazy.
Honor had a couple of friends over on Friday for a play date. It was cute how it came about. I suppose the kids had been talking about it at school and so Honor came home Tuesday of last week, bouncing with anticipation, “Mom! Can I have a play date?!?” I said sure. Then, more cautiously she asks “But, we want to have a double play date, is that ok? TWO kids??” Sure again… which set her off bouncing some more, then before I could tell her to do her homework, she ran off for paper, pencil, and envelopes, and proceeded to write out invitations. She even asked for my mobile number. She made sure to make the notes for each friend the same. We don’t do a lot of play dates. The kids are busy at school all day, and then with after-school activities, homework, dinner, etc. Weekends are a chance for some family time. We don’t live in a place where playmates can just come over for a few minutes, here and there, either. Play dates involve driving. We fit them in though, and I love how organized she was for this one.
Saturday, we were invited to dinner with friends. We left the house in calm weather, but before we’d gone two blocks, the wind picked up. The sky turned grey. Dust billowed up in building-sized poufs, sand hit the windshield hard enough that we could hear the noise of the grit over the radio. Debris, from trees, as well as bags, papers, bits of styrofoam, and even large cardboard boxes, was blowing wildly through traffic. Then the rain started. Rain! Sand! (mud?) Branches! What a mess! But I have to admit, it was a most wonderful, exciting swirly sort of mess… and really, if you’re going to have a mess, shouldn’t it be a fun one?
At our friend’s home, we were treated to lovely grilled vegetables and lasagna. Very nice! That great dinner was followed by great conversation, and party planning. I had been plotting a Halloween party, so had my friend. When our husbands talked about it at work, a decision was made to combine our parties so we wouldn’t cancel each other out. We compared notes on guests, favors, food, games, decor, etc. and it looks like we’re going to have some good fun! (Cookies are involved, more on that later!)
Speaking of party planning, that is my theme. For what, you ask? For the weekly State Department Blog RoundUp, of course! I am attempting to walk in the illustrious shoes of A Daring Adventure, and the the other amazing bloggers/writers who have stepped up and taken their turns (<-link to past roundups, if you have not already, check it out!), and I will be hosting the RoundUp, here, this coming Friday.
It’s simple really… now that A Daring Adventure has made it simple… to host the RoundUp. I signed up on the calendar site, chose an optional theme, and will start writing as I find and/or am given interesting blogs to write about. My (optional) theme is Halloween plans:
"Halloween! What are your party plans, costume ideas, best resources, and favorite recipes?"
If you have an post following this theme, please let me know because I desperately need big kid game ideas for my party, something that will not involve big kids trampling the little kids in order to play! Ok, actually, just kidding, we already have some good game ideas and will share, but I’d really would like to hear about your games, and other party ideas too. Sharing resources that work for you, for planning celebrations while overseas, can also be a big help for those who are used to having party stores, Target, and JoAnn’s Crafts at their fingertips. Not so easy overseas…
If you are NOT interested in writing a Halloween theme, no worries! Don’t! Write whatever you want and let me know what you’d like highlighted. I’m also pretty flexible about the whole writing thing, if you aren’t writing, maybe you are reading? That works too. Submissions of the good reads that you find this week are also needed.
Contact me at qitty1 (at sign ) gmail (dot) com
Thank you, and have a nice day!
16 comments:
You guys get rain there? The only halloween-ish game i can think of is where you have people put their hands in food and tell them its weird stuff. Spaghetti becomes intestines, grapes are brains... etc.
Awesome, Connie! And thanks for hosting this week!!
Typ0 - It was just a little rain (and dirt), but it was fun when it lasted. We'll get a few storms over the colder months, had a couple big rains last year!, and maybe even a spot of snow. No rain in the summer though.. whew! I was thinking about the food games, but we're going to have a lot of people. Not sure where to safely set that up! It's a good idea though. Esp. if you put little prizes in the gooey containers that the kids have to dig for!
You're welcome Kolbi! It's about time I took a turn :)
It's so funny, I was about to ask about the rain and wind too... Sometimes I forget that you actually have more seasons there than we used to get in Israel.
Yay for combining Halloween parties. I always love seeing how creative people can get!
Jill - Amman is in the mountains (big change for this Florida girl who is used to flat land!) and we actually get some real weather. I mean, compared to Egypt(!), it's big stuff for us :) I'm even wondering if I have to buy new winter coats for the kids again... they needed theirs last year, for a while. Barely used, but the kids grew!
I have a post for the round up http://cyberbones.blogspot.com/2010/10/this-weeks-fs-weekly-roundup.html
Not a happy camper right now. I am not cut out for this Africa thing. Too many creepy crawlies.
Shannon - I am speechless! I am not going to be able to shower without checking drains... forever!... now. Wow!
My post so clearly doesn't measure up to Shannon's but here it is anyway: http://emailfromtheembassy.blogspot.com/2010/10/this-ones-for-you-connie.html
Donna - aw come on, give yourself credit, you had to work hard for yours, Shannon's just crawled into her lap... or would have if it could have got out of the drain!
I'd like to nominate a post that has inspired me to make my house awesome for Halloween: http://ouryuppielife.blogspot.com/2010/10/decorating-for-halloween.html
Those rats are pretty sweet!
I have a post. It is not Halloween, but it involves fall, parties, food and candy. Close enough, right?
Oh, and I don't know if anyone will beat Shannon. Pretty sure she has it hands down.
http://benily.blogspot.com/2010/10/dinner-that-was-party.html
Well, my blog post is only tangentially on topic but here it is:
http://tukytam.blogspot.com/2010/10/devil-mommy.html
Feel free not to used if you have enough entries on topic.
Thanks for doing the Round Up!
I'm so not able to even begin to nominate one of my posts... I have one ruminating in my head right now, and if I can stay awake, would write it and love to have that one linked ... But such is life that it most likely won't happen.
Here's one to potentially use ... gosh do I not like to cal attention to my own stuff...
http://theperlmanupdate.blogspot.com/2010/10/somethings-gotta-give-and-it-isnt-my.html
Jill - it is hard! But much appreciated!! (Thanks to all who have been contributing!) It's really the only reason I could volunteer. I was lucky and was able to do some web browsing this week, but there are times that my net is highly dysfunctional... I have access, but it times out, is slow as molasses, resets, you name it. We live in a hole and are wifi antenna is surrounded by rock... we need a better antenna. If I had asked for the previous week, I would have been in trouble. Thank you for this addition, it's a good one.
our wifi, not are wifi ... oops!
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