things that make me happy

1.  We have had stellar weather in Bogota for a few days in a row.  W-O-W!  Mid-70s, sunny, blue skies.  There is no better place to be than Bogota on days like these.

2.  Mac wanted a cactus soon after we arrived in Bogota.  We bought a very generic one, just a plain old ordinary little one with little spikes on it.  A couple months ago we noticed that it was growing a "limb" off the main cactus.  How cool is that?  We've never lived anywhere long enough to see a cactus grow a whole 'nother branch!

3.  The other morning I got an email from school that invited me to the primary school awards ceremony this Wednesday afternoon because my child would be receiving an award.  And then, a few minutes later, I got an email from school that invited me to the year-end flag raising ceremony this Wednesday morning because my child would be receiving an award.  I have no idea what these awards are, but it makes me very happy to know that he'll be recognized for something.

4.  Instead of taking just an afternoon or morning off to attend one or the other award ceremony, I'm taking the whole day off to attend both.  Jimmy has a non-negotiable work trip on Wednesday, so I'm going to both ceremonies to see my kid get awards.  As I mentioned in #3, I'm so proud of Mac for whatever awards he's getting.  But I am so super-happy, monumentally excited to have a day off from work.


5.  I took the Friday before last off to attend a couple school functions.  And I loved every second of my day.  I got to piddle in between functions and it was so heavenly.  I love feeling like the wheels in my brain are spinning again now that I'm working, but I decided after that day off that maybe my wheels are tired of spinning.  Could that already be possible?  (This discussion doesn't technically fall under "things that make me happy" but it flowed from #4 so it's included.) 


6.  On the subject of my working - or not - today and last Monday were Colombian holidays.  Add to that that I'm taking off Wednesday for school stuff.  Add to that that I'm taking off next Monday - more on that later - and then add to that that the first week in July has two holidays.  Add to that that two weeks later I'm taking off three weeks to go home for vacation.  Maybe then I'll feel like my wheels aren't tired of spinning and I'll be more enthusiastic about working.  


  7.  Our very dear friends - Jimmy's longest-term friend (they've been together since they were about 3) and his family -  are coming for a visit.  They arrive Friday and we are all beside ourselves with excitement.  Mac views this family as "blood family", so he's particularly excited to have his "cousins" coming to visit.  We're returning to coffee country for a long weekend (hence my day off next Monday) before returning to Bogota for touring and visiting and catching up.


8.  We are in the midst of the despedida season. The summer transfer season is upon us and so we're saying lots of goodbyes.  Bogota is losing a number of really outstanding people this month, but c'est la vie, right?  Or at least that's the vie in this very transient foreign service life we're living.  The only saving grace is that some of these goodbyes aren't permanent.  We know we'll make the effort to see the folks who meant so much to us here.  


9.    Mac only has 3.5 days of the 3rd grade left.  How can it be that I'll have a 4th grader next year????  That would be intermediate school if we lived in the Moncks Corner of Jimmy's and my childhood.   (Maybe that's still intermediate school in Moncks Corner?)  Intermediate school?  WHAT?  That makes me feel old. What also makes me feel old is that we've calculated and Jimmy will have three more foreign service tours before Mac graduates from high school and goes to college.  That most assuredly does not make me happy, especially since Mac looks at me like I've grown two heads when I remind him how just a few years ago, he said he would never leave me to go to the college.  How did that time pass by so quickly?  In the shorter term, it does make me happy that there are only a few more 5:15am wake-up calls. 


10.  Speaking of foreign service tours, it's time for Jimmy to bid again.  We have just one more year in Bogota and although we won't find out Jimmy's next job until the fall, bids are due pretty soon.  It's all very nerve-wracking for Jimmy, and Mac is pretty hyped up about a return to Africa (his father may have promised a dog as a bribe to get him on board the Africa idea).  I have some definite ideas of where I want to end up for the next 2-3 years (and even more definite ideas of where I don't want to end up), but I know we'll be fine wherever we end up.  "Bloom where you're planted" and all that jazz.


11.  The University of South Carolina is in the College World Series, and this is cause for major celebration and jubilation at Casa Story.  The Gamecocks are going for the Three-Peat (or however you write that).


On that note, I will close because the Gamecocks are getting ready to start their latest game.  I should at least act interested....