So much for regular blogging

I had really good intentions to blog more frequently but find that LIFE isn't so accommodating.

However I felt it absolutely imperative to post today because my mother-in-law, who enjoys reading all the family blogs, just received an iPad for her 89th birthday and our son set it up so everyone's blog icons are on the screen for easy access. Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you enjoy using your new iPad to keep track of what everyone is doing :)

This has been an action-packed, crazy, overwhelming week which began with our daughter's engagement and continued with the discovery that our offer on the lot has been accepted after all!

Two weeks ago the owner said he had a better offer and we resigned ourselves to continuing our own version of House Hunters International. Call me cynical, but I doubt there ever was another offer; I think the owner was just trying to see if he could get us to raise our offer. Big miscalculation on his part! We had offered what we felt we could, after praying about it and both coming to the same amount separately.

Now that he's accepted the offer, we are back to the dilemma of how to get the money into the country. We thought we'd found a less expensive way (opening an account with an international bank with offices in the U.S. and here) but discovered upon further investigation that they require that you have the account FOR A YEAR BEFORE BRINGING MONEY IN. What's the point of having -- and paying monthly fees -- on an account you cannot use?!

So we are diligently seeking options. My Spanish teacher said she read an article recently that rated the ease/difficulty of transferring money from one country to another, and Argentina ranks pretty high on both difficulty and expense. There is NOTHING easy about it. *sigh*

In other news, we had a great English class on Wednesday. Charlie taught us how to make bread which was so much fun (photos coming on Sunday!)  and Ivan worked through vocabulary relating to futbol (soccer). I made chicken tortilla soup to go along with the bread and we enjoyed a casual meal together, inviting our co-workers to join us.

During dinner Ivan would periodically hold up or point to something and the kids would say what it was in English. Until he held up a glass and two of the kids responded "Salud!" LOL  It's what they say instead of "Cheers!"

I made some aprons on Tuesday. It had been way too long since I'd had time to sew/create so it felt great to be back at the sewing machine... once Ivan figured out what was causing it to act up, that is. I spent an hour playing with the tension, to no avail. He determined it was as simple as switching out the needles for a new one. After that it worked like a dream. In my defense, I've had so little opportunity to sew that I didn't even think about it being time to change needles.

Today I ordered a Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel 12" omelette pan.

Isn't it lovely?! This is what I used my CSN $50 gift certificate toward. I'm SOOOOO excited because this is something I've wanted for a really long time. I already have a lid for a different Calphalon 12" pan and hope it will fit this one as well.

I'm trying not to think too much about the fact that we now have two big things happening this coming year: our daughter's wedding and building a house! Well, maybe starting to build a house. We're not sure we'll have enough to do that yet. But even if we don't start building, we will be working on the casita already on the property (new roof, installing flooring, finishing the bath, painting...) and installing fencing around the entire perimeter.

Actually, make that three things because at some point we'll also be going on furlough. Still not sure if we'll be doing that right after the wedding or returning to Argentina after the wedding and waiting until the fall to go on furlough. Either way, furlough is on the horizon.

That means scheduling meetings with churches, planning visits with friends and family, figuring out what we'll drive while we're in the U.S., where we'll live... Details, details, details...

[Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.]

Meanwhile there's the day-to-day STUFF. I'm still taking Spanish lessons, cleaning house, teaching English, spending time with people in our growing church, doing laundry, working with the youth...

I look back twenty years on all that I had on my plate as a young wife and mother and am amazed at my ability to get it all done. It's not that I'm doing more or less now (I think), but it's all so very different and can sometimes feel more overwhelming at this point in my life. Which we euphemistically call MIDLIFE but I think we should call it WHEN-LIFE-TAKES-ON-TOO-MUCH-OF-THE-CRAZY. Or maybe it's just me and my particular situation of moving overseas and trying to adjust to a new culture and learn a foreign language at the ripe old young age of fifty while dealing with chronic insomnia, hot flashes and hormonal mood swings?

So is it just me or do I have plenty of company out there in Bloggyville?

Betty had a really cute post the other day about how to know when you've reached "midlife".  Aside from my chronological age verifying that I'm there, this list would definitely confirm it :) ALONG WITH THE CRAZY.