Miss Becky Goes Abroad: a young wife's adventures: 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!