Hangin' On

It is the end of the day and I am tired! Ben has been gone for 9 days and finally comes home tomorrow! Hallelujiah! The past week I have thought several times about my sister-in-law and cousin-in-law who both have two small children and who both have had their husbands deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for 12 month tours. I don't know how they do it, day in and day out, without their hubbies. I don't know how any single parent does it... it has only been 9 days and my sanity is hanging by a thread!

I love being a stay-at-home-mom, but it is no cake walk! And only other stay-at-home parents fully understand that. I remember my sweet little single sister came to visit me when C was a newborn and Em was just turning 2. She asked me very casually, "So, how do you fill your days? Do you read a lot? Do you have any hobbies?" as if I had nothing to fill my time with. Ohhhh, she'll see one day. Each day is like a 13-hour work day starting at 7 a.m. and ending at 8 or 9 pm. Thank goodness Caroline takes great naps, but Em is over and done with them, and so it's all Em all the time. When the girls are finally in bed I have just a couple hours to myself and the possibilities are endless... cuddle up with my husband, watch a movie, call a friend, read a book, write in my journal, but usually I'm so tired I just end up vegging in front of the computer reading mindless headlines like "Lindsay Lohan's $4000 court look" and "Bizarre fish could be one for the record books." Yes, these were real headlines, and yes, I read them both. So tonight, I blog.

These two people are AMAZING. We've only known them for six short months, but I love them. They are Dorota and Krzystof and they are Polish (as if their names didn't give it away), and they came by tonight to check on me and see if they could help in anyway while my husband is gone. How nice is that? Krzystof is Ben's classmate at the Polish Defense Academy, and is an officer in the Polish army. Dorota is my basketball teammate. Yeah, she's got game.
We have gotten out a bit the past week. As you can see, it has been cold!!

We went to a cafe restaurant that especially caters to kids and moms... they are really popular in Poland and I LOVE them. What's very strange about Poland, and I'm sure it has to do with it being a former Eastern bloc country, is most of the buildings have ugly exteriors, like you wouldn't think there's anything of significance in them, but then when you go inside, it's really nice.

Also, very funny about this cafe, there were several paintings on the wall (I counted 8) of full fledged naked women. Yeah, kids everywhere, naked women on the wall. I didn't get pictures for fear that the other costumers would think I was a total wack-o, but it was funny. Only in Europe.
Hot chocolate in Poland is more like hot chocolate pudding. It is soooo thick.

Caroline happy to be out of the house

I took some pictures of our neighborhood on the way home. When we first moved here I thought our neighborhood was a total drag. It's just street after street of these communist era apartment buildings. Square, drab, concrete. But, the longer we are here, the more hidden gems we discover... our neighborhood has indoor playgrounds, tennis courts, swimming pools, cafes, etc. but they are not so easy to find. It's very strange.

Another outing... I met my friend Liz and her little daughter Ania at Empik (their equivalent of Border's). That's Ania sitting next to Em

The epidemic has gone pandemic
My stylin' friend Liz in downtown Warsaw

We went to meet the Hardings for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. They were so nice, they invited me to lunch because they knew Ben was gone. They are the kindest most loving people from Malad, Idaho... they are senior missionaries, and he is the branch president. He is so funny. He's always asking Ben about weapons. Just last week he was asking him, "So, you don't have a gun? Really? Wow." He told us he has over 30 in his collection, including AK-47s, none of which he can hit the "broad side of a barn" with, as he put it. I asked him if was anti-gun control. He's like, "Yeah, I believe everyone should have a weapon." What a hoot.

Sister Harding, Aleksandra (a new convert) and Liz. Liz is my American friend who served a mission here about 10 years ago.

The fusing of the east and the west...Polish and American icons side by side
And who can resist such a cutie? You can't tell, but she's leaning up against the back of my shoulder. Her smiles make it all worth it... cheesy, but true.