What's up with Elisabeth & George?: Penang -- Week 23 -- Dinner with a Viper Wrangler

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Penang -- Week 23 -- Dinner with a Viper Wrangler

Week 23
FRIDAY/SATURDAY, August 15th & 16th
Carmen invited us over to hang out with other kids & moms Friday afternoon. I think I got this invite and the last one mixed up, so Regin and I (like idiots) show up in our swimsuits ready to hop in the pool, and NO ONE ELSE is wearing a bathing suit.

We have a nice time with the rest of the group. Brandi is there with two of her daughters. And there are some other faces I'm beginning to know more and more. I'm out of the loop for most of the conversation since they are all talking about their older kids' school issues such as the fact that their teacher doesn't allow them to go play if they haven't eaten their entire lunches. So some kids are requested less food in their lunch boxes! Ha!

I'm also a little out of it because the mid/late afternoon is my sluggish part of the day.

Eventually the kids begin asking to go into the pool. Just after I changed Regin into regular clothes, swimsuits are borrowed and and everyone heads to the pool. But I'm the only adult ready to get in. Regin isn't his usual water-loving self today. He's all spacey and out of it (kind of like his Mamma) because it's nap time.

Carmen spots a wild (and deadly) baby viper hanging out on their bike. The bike is up against a window, so we all run to the window in the house to be on the other side of the glass and check out this creature. Wow!

(sorry, it's an iPhone photo)

She calls a friend of hers who is trying to breed vipers. George is there now, and the other moms have left. The guy arrives with friends, and suddenly we're in a spontaneous dinner/cocktail party with our new buddy the viper wrangler. Great evening, love to stay and chat, but Regin is extremely fussy. Sigh. No babysitter, no adult life. Shanti isn't available and we have no back ups.

3 comments:

team woelfel said...: i got that melissa and doug hammer toy at ross, if i see another one there i'll grab it and get your address. i thought it was so random they had melissa and doug toys there (for cheap!) if i find one i'll get your address.; 9/05/2008 9:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Ooo, wow! What'd you do about the viper?; 9/06/2008 8:02 AM
Elisabeth said...: Thanks Abby, that's awfully sweet of you, but it may be a headache to get it to us out here. Maybe we'll just have to find one on our trip home.

Tim, the Viper Wrangler took it home with him. He's trying to breed them. He had a little wire hook thing that he picked it up with, then he grabbed it by its head and showed us all (up close -- so we're all totally inching away lol) its fangs. He put it in a plastic tub with holes which sat there on the coffee table while we were chit chatting. Finally one of our hosts moved it away to the side so we could all relax a little more. :); 9/06/2008 8:22 AM

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How we're doing right now.

April 6th, 2009
Oh man, moving back home has been quite a transition! For Regin especially. It has taken him three months to return to being fully, or almost fully, potty trained. But we're home and happy to be with friends and in an environment where things are easier.

But of course, not everything is easier. George's first day back to work he learned that the company was exiting the business and he and all the other people that work on that product (including all those people he trained in Penang) were told to look for other jobs.

His last day was March 31st. No time for that cozy little 'sabbatical' though; after he finished his last day of work, his family called and told us they are coming (from Florida) for a visit on the 10th! This would be no big deal (other than being terribly exciting) if we were fully moved back in, but of course, until now, we've had VERY little motivation to fully unpack! So now we're preparing the house at warp speed!

You know, I do miss Penang. Hard to say what I miss exactly, because I know it's more than our friends there, but I feel a certain pang. And all the time we were there, other than missing family, friends, easy living, and snow, I never once actually missed 'Colorado.'

When we got back to Colorado, I expected to have a new and complete love for the place. I do appreciate some things a lot more, especially visual things. I see beauty where I didn't before. But it hasn't been the feeling of home that I expected, and I still have some of the same issues with the place. But what I do love IMMENSELY and will always love IMMENSELY is the people we have here. And it's been absolutely amazing to see how Regin has picked right back up where he left off with his loved ones here. There's no doubt in my mind that he somehow remembers them.