Lessons In Frustration!

I haven't had internet in almost three days. Three VERY LONG days. Internet is my lifeline, my connection to the world. Without it I feel naked, exposed, irritated. I usually keep my computer on throughout the day as I never know when I'll have time to check my e-mail, catch up on my favorite blogs and websites, and read the news. The internet went out sometime late Tuesday night. Over the past few days I placed several calls to the internet provider explaining my problem, to which they assured me that my complaint was being escalated to the highest priority.... some good that did. It only just came back on two hours ago. I need to take a few deep breaths.

While the rest of the week for Riley proved to be much better, the bus situation unfortunately got a tad worse. Apparently nobody met Riley at the bus on Tuesday morning, and she was left roaming the halls and crying when I found her (I've been following the bus all week, and arrive about 5 minutes after she does). There was no aide waiting for her, no escort to walk her down to her classroom. Let's just say that I was ******* irate (* insert your favorite expletive here). After walking her to her classroom, calming her down, and then calming myself down, I marched into the Principal's office and lodged a large complaint. The details of the discussion aren't important, but let's just say that the situation was immediately rectified, and we were introduced to her new escort when I picked her up after school. The last few days on the bus have been relatively uneventful. The escort meets her and walks her to class, and I've been arriving a few minutes before school starts to check up on her, give her a hug and a kiss, and then rush off to drop Sheridan at her school.

Speaking of Sheridan, the decision has been solidified that she is not going to be attending the American International School for pre-K, but rather she will stay at the local Indian school. What am I talking about you ask? Well I hadn't written about this before, but we were in a total quandary as to which preschool to send her. Does she ride the bus with Riley and stay at school until 4 pm, or do I put her at the local school where it's just a half day. Goodness knows she has a lot of energy and could probably handle staying there for the full program. I couldn't justify it in my head, or in my pocket book. She is so happy and full of life when I pick her up at the local school. I haven't seen her this excited in a long, long time (though it could be that she isn't with me for 3.5 hours each day ... just sayin'). Now I just need to tell the other school that she won't be attending. I wonder if they've figured it out already?

We got a wonderful surprise on Tuesday night. Our air freight from both Israel and Los Angeles was delivered to our house. Seven hundred pounds of "stuff" arrived in 6 large boxes... slightly dented, a few a smidge smushed. I was so happy to see my espresso machine and grinder, our new computer and accessories, all of our bedding, and of course, a few clothes that I thankfully tucked away. It took me no time to unpack the boxes, and within 10 minutes everything was spread out in our living room. Within two hours everything was put away. Yup, I'm anal retentive. Enough said.

We spent a majority of the week hiring and firing household help. That will be an entirely separate topic that I'll write about in length over the weekend.

Until then ... here are a few photos of our house. My camera does not have a wide angle lens, so it's difficult to capture the rooms in their entirety. I tried to snap some of the main rooms - living room / dining room area, kitchen, and a few of the bedrooms. Remember - we have NOTHING personal in here yet to make this house look like a home. This is the furniture that's provided to us, it's not ours, and about half of what you see here will be sent back once our stuff does arrive... I'll be sure to send updated ones later on!

Living Room / Dining Room ~ Shot at different angles

The Kitchen ~ Also shot at different angles

The girls bedroom... love their mosquito netting ~
Our bedroom - I put in the photo that showed the relative size of our room.