Thursday, April 5, 2012

MAY MAYHEM



Dearest Friends,

Anyone who refers to the "merry" month of May has never been an expatriate mom. Those of us who have know that it is anything but. It was not merry, it was mayhem, bedlam, and I doubt if my hubby has any clue how close I came to edge a few times -- especially when we'd get everything worked out, only to have him come home and announce a change in plans. Here is just a sampling of what I found written in my agenda for the last few weeks of the school year in '93:
  • hosted/attended at least 16 lunch, dinner, and cocktail functions, over and above the usual weekly things like Shanghai group and Girl Scout meetings
  • planned and carried out the infamous Girl Scout campout
  • prepared for and taught the littles in Sunday School each week
  • stressed out over the care of my sons eczema, which had flared into some icky infection
  • went to choir rehearsals and performed on Mother's Day
  • made hotel reservations for the stops on our trip home, confirmed flights, and updated friends and family on our plans
  • held a scout leaders meeting to make our plans for the following year, and to figure out what supplies needed to be purchased in the States while we were there
  • prepared and sent out invitations for a special murder mystery party I was planning to host the following fall, since guests might want to gather "parts" for their costumes while home
  • held a teacher appreciation luncheon
  • withdrew enough money to pay our staff salaries while we were away, and took it to my next door neighbor, along with instructions
  • met with the school principal to tie up loose ends, since we needed to take the kids out of school a few days early in order for John to attend a school in Cincinnatti
  • bought last minute hostess gifts for all the people we would be staying with over the summer, including Marie Biscuits and cans of the coffee-flavored candy that everyone loved
  • made shopping lists of everything we might possibly need in the coming year, that we couldn't get in Sumatra
  • tried to figure out what to pack for a family of four, three of whom would be away all summer, and two of whom would be going off to camps and such, so that we would have everything we might need, but still have plenty of room left in which to bring back all that stuff on the above shopping lists
  • left instructions for our staff, and prayed that they would take good care of our puppy dog
  • Oh yeah! There was another play to help out with too!
I don't really recall what the play was about. All I know is the kids wrote the script themselves, and somehow managed to include wizards...


Kitty Kats...

Vampires...


and the cutest big red ant ever!


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