A fragrant yellow frangipani flower in the rain. Jakarta, Indonesia. February 12, 2023.
Roni (no last name) is a barber who lives in Jakarta, Indonesia. Here he is seen making a house call. February 19, 2023.“Unfriending” in the early days. Faces on printed photos were scratched out when you were mad at a friend (or sibling!) Photo was taken at about 5:30pm, on March 2, 2023, using natural light from the window to the left of the composition. The photographer used items saved from her childhood and marveled at how times have changed.
Fresh leaves growing on a mangrove tree. Desa Laguna Resort, Indonesia, March 26, 2023. Mangrove trees serve as a major “blue carbon sink”, meaning they are excellent at absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere.
Bamboo that has been harvested for use as building material at Desa Laguna Resort, Indonesia, March 26, 2023.
A baby coconut found on the Desa Laguna island of Indonesia on March 26, 2023.
A canoe anchored on the regenerative resort island of Desa Laguna in Indonesia, March 26, 2023.
The table is set for a Harry Potter birthday party in Jakarta, Indonesia, February 3, 2023. Eight year old Jackson is getting ready for his 9th birthday party. Jakarta, Indonesia, February 11, 2023.American Flag at U.S. Embassy Jakarta, taken at a colleague’s re-enlistment ceremony. February 9, 2023.American-style blueberry pancakes in the tropics, served on British Colonial Dinnerware Collection by Lenox. Fresh flowers from the garden, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Jakarta, Indonesia, February 11, 2023.
We have now been in Cub Scouts for a few years. Jackson has participated in two pinewood derby races, and we were prepared to do the same this year. (We even bought powdered graphite to lubricate the wheels), BUT here, they have LEGO derbys!!! Jackson loves Lego, so we certainly got behind this new adventure.
Jackson built his racer with Lego parts that he had. He ended up adding some coins for weight, by sliding them into the windows of his car. His Cubmaster called it the ‘PiggyBank Racer’!
Jackson won the first heat, but then his car went off the rails! The winners of the race this year tested their cars on the track in advance. We’ll be sure to do that next year!
I asked our Pembantu for a recommendation on who to take Jackson to, for a haircut. She found someone, and said it was easier for him to come to the house, especially when it is raining. So, Roni the barber now comes to cut Jackson’s hair. He does a nice job. Is relatively inexpensive, and we don’t have to go out into the traffic! I even asked him if he would pose for me as part of my school project, and he agreed. What a good sport!
I have a few years left of work, but it is time for me to focus on what comes after retirement. I have a lot of ideas that will make me happy, but I’m working to ensure I have a way to pay the bills too!
I’ve started taking classes part-time through Penn State World Campus to get a degree in Digital Multimedia Design. So far, so good. I’m taking a photography class and a basic design class this first semester. Most days, I’m getting up at 3am to fit in the classwork. Fingers crossed that I can get to the finish line!
I’ve only had one session so far. This style is called Copperplate Calligraphy. I’ve learned the basic shapes that make up the letters and a few of the lower case letters.
It really reminds me of the cursive writing that I learned while in school. So far, the exception is the letter P. In calligraphy, we don’t close the loop at the top.
The instructor came to the house. She brought the pen, nib, ink, paper. Really everything I need to get started. Now it is up to me to practice daily. My next lesson is in February, and I want to be ready for what comes next!
With all of the busyness of unpacking and getting ready for the holidays, I had not yet packed for our trip home! I typically start early and slowly add everything we need to our bags. This time I was looking for our winter gear and throwing stuff into the suitcases the night before we left.
I was so thankful that the taxi showed up on time for our 2:30am departure from home. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, and the airline was not even open for check-in when we arrived!
The flight was unremarkable, except that it was 6.5 hours long, and the food was bleh. With a quick layover in Japan, we didn’t do much but take advantage of the wi-fi and let everyone know that we made it to Tokyo. Jackson was amazed with the bathroom! Lots of automation in there!
After a 10.5 hour flight, we made it to Chicago. Again, the food was bleh. But the flight was fine. I was excited to have an Italian Beef sandwich while in Chicago, but the airport sandwich left a lot to be desired. We had a long layover here, so we indulged in Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds! We had a few flight delays, and since it was snowing, we had to get ‘de-iced’ before we could take off. Two hours later, (and after 30+ hours of travel) we arrived! It’s good to be ‘home’!
We had our Cub Scout Award Ceremony. Jackson has earned Fur, Feathers, and Ferns, Fellowship and Duty to God, Bear Necessities, Bear Claws, and his Whittling Chip! He has worked very hard to complete these requirements and is well on his way to earning his Bear Badge. I even got to help hand out the awards to the Pack!
Sitting with Santa
After the awards ceremony, we moseyed on over to have pancakes with Santa! Jackson told Santa that he wanted 100,000,000,000 Robucks!! Santa assured him that he had plenty of room on his sleigh for all of that! 😊 We had pancakes and waffles for breakfast, visited with friends, and Jackson even made a paper ornament for the tree.
Pancakes with Santa
We then headed to the pool for lessons, and a fun surprise…there was a bouncy slide that went directly into the pool! Jackson stayed focused on his lesson, and then broke loose to enjoy some fun with his friends. What a great Saturday!
It has been a real challenge to unpack my house, and prepare for Christmas, while working full-time!
I’ve been making lots of lists to ensure I completed my top priorities on time. All of the boxes are unpacked and out of the house. I don’t have everything placed where I want, but I’m ready to move my focus to Christmas.
Lego still need to be put away
We got off to a bumpy start: the community water pumped died, so we were without water on Saturday morning. Then, Jackson attempted to plug the ‘strip plug’ into the wall, with an adapter. He blew out the power to the entire house and burned up the strip plug. Luckily, the movers stood up my ‘big’ tree. It is an older pre-lit tree and the lights have died. I picked up some 220v lights in Lithuania, so I wrapped those around the tree, and plugged them right into the wall. No transformer or adapter needed! Win! I put the ornaments on the trees, set up the nativity, and hung our stockings on the window grills.
Stockings are hung
Next up was the baking. Jackson and I rolled out, baked, and decorated 9 batches of cookies. We gifted the gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies to neighbors, teachers, coaches, the bus driver and the bus monitor. I put the cookies in clear cellophane bags with red ribbon. I baked peanut butter cup cookies for the neighborhood cookie exchange. I think we ate all the cookies while visiting – there wasn’t much to exchange at the end! I also made white chocolate-raspberry scones early one morning – they were AMAZING! I put the warm scones in little kraft boxes with tea bags, gingerbread cookies, and jams – tied up with red and white striped ribbon with nutcracker tags – to make cute little ‘take away’ afternoon tea boxes for colleagues. I also roasted some almonds in cinnamon and sugar. I put those in clear cellophane bags, tied them up with a red ribbon, and attached a gold tag for my office mates and the Marines.
Neighborhood Cookie Exchange
I somehow made time to whip up a batch of Pizzelles for Jackson (special request!), wrap up the Christmas gifts that will go under the tree, and I even purchased a few gifts to bring home. It was a mad scramble, but I (mostly) pulled it off!
I mentioned previously that this year is filled with milestone birthdays. Mom just turned 70!
I worked hard to create a birthday card for her. It did not turn out as planned, but she appreciated my efforts!
I was so proud of myself for acquiring the ‘assets’ – the pictures to be used for the card. I created the card – front and back, set up the card with cut and fold marks (to show me where to cut and fold the paper after printing), and even exported the file into a pdf, so I COULD print it.
Everything seemed to be going well, but when I cut on the cut lines, my card was much smaller than the envelope it was going into! (and I cut off the fold marks!) I don’t have a ‘creasing tool’, to crease the paper where it should be folded, so I folded as best I could. 🙂
Next time I will fold before cutting the fold lines off. (and I’ve even ordered a little scoring tool to help with this process!)
I did get it in the mail and it showed up right on time!
Our First Thanksgiving in Jakarta was an adventure. I am so excited to have a full sized oven, gas stove top, and a full sized refrigerator and a stand up freezer. I’m not as thrilled that our shipment is still not here, so no nice dishes, no pie plates, no stand mixer.
I worked to stock the cupboards to ensure that I had enough butter, sugar, flour, and Crisco. I almost forgot the cloves. I did forget the ginger.
I was fortunate to get my hands on mushroom soup, fried onions, Crisco, and a turkey. And I had brought a can of Libby’s pumpkin in my suitcase.
On Monday I put the turkey in the fridge to thaw.
On Tuesday, the nanny made the tart shells.
On Wednesday, I turned the shells into chocolate tarts. The butternut squash was baked, there was a last minute run around town looking for sage and cloves. But the ginger was missed. Without the ginger, I did not get the pumpkin pies made, but the crust ingredients were assembled. The turkey was dry brined.
On Thursday, Jackson was supposed to be in school, and the nanny was going to help me. He got sick, so I told her not to come. I was left to fend for myself. It was then that I realized that my casserole dishes are not yet here. I would have to improvise on the squash, green beans, and corn dishes. I had to get the ginger and get the pies made. Without glass pie plates, I turned to my mini tart pans. I went to roll out the dough that was prepared the day before. It crumbled into dust! I added water trying to save it, but success was not on the menu.
I forgot to hit ‘start’ on the timer, when the turkey first went in. I’m not sure how long it roasted at 500 degrees, but the house started filling with smoke, and the turkey was brown all over. (a little too long, I think). I turned down the temperature and covered the bird in foil. I also added more water to the bottom of the pan.
I mashed the potatoes, made the gravy, heated up the side dishes, and released the cranberry sauce from the can.
We sat down to dinner around 5:00pm, Jackson gobbled up the turkey, and even tried a few bites of the other food on his plate. Then the doorbell rang. It was the cable company, coming to install the fiberoptic cable! (I did reach out to set up an appointment and said any day this week would be fine. I certainly did not expect them at 5:15pm on Thanksgiving Day!)
