5 years 8 months 4 days

Day 2073. I was looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday, but Randy was working upstairs, and so the kids made lots of noise being upstairs. Eventually I got up to cook, then we sat down to eat.

I needed to write a newsletter about what was going on in Mali, which takes concentration and a few hours of time. Randy took the kids to the playground, which gave me the peace and quiet to work. I worked until midnight and got the English and German versions sent out.

Monday morning Randy took Tammy and Emmy to kindergarten, then continued on to the other end of town with Sammy who was supposed to get his new night braces. Making sure they fit correctly meant staying there for many hours so they could keep adjusting them until they were just right.

Back home, I went back to sleep after Randy and the kids had left. At some point I got up and started working. Then Randy called me that he was not going to be able to pick up Tammy and Emmy from kindergarten. So I got ready to go get them and left the house to make the 12:27 pm bus.

I got to kindergarten at 1 pm and found them playing in the garden. They were happy to see me as I hardly ever pick them up. The teacher then talked to me and let me know her dissatisfaction that Emmy had not gone to the lice removal place together with Tammy on Friday. She said that they had found dead lice eggs in his hair and that he could not come back until he's also gone there. I'm so fed up with this whole lice thing.

The three of us left the kindergarten and took the two buses back home. We then did piano practice right away, then I had to get ready for my 2:30 pm student. I taught until 3:20, then made sandwiches for the kids. We had to leave the house just before 4 pm.

Randy and Sammy returned home not long after we had left. We took two subways and got to the Robbo Club a few minutes before it was to start at 4:30 pm. I told the kids good-bye as a student had asked me for a lesson on short notice. As the receptionist there had told me last time that I could not teach in the lobby any more, I was planning on heading to the nearby McDonald's.

I walked down the road to the train station and the McDonald's there. Unfortunately it was being renovated so that you could not sit there, only take food with you. So that was not going to work. I then walked to the bakery inside the train station that also had a long, high table with bar stools. Nobody was sitting there. As I was really hungry, I bought a sandwich and a drink and settled into the corner. I turned my computer on and connected to the train station's wifi. At 4:45 pm I started teaching and went over time, until 5:45 pm. It was quiet all around, and the connection great, so it worked out perfectly. I know where I'll be teaching on Monday afternoons from now on.

After I was done, I walked back to the Robbo club, and five minutes before it was over at 6 pm, I went inside to see what they had done. Then they turned their computers off, and we left to go home.

Just after 6:30 pm we were back home, and I went to the kitchen to cut up their fruit. It was the beginning of our evening routine. I read them a story and prayed for them all, then they went to bed while I sat down at my computer to teach until 9 pm. Only then did I get to go to the kitchen to make myself something to eat.

Today was no typical Tuesday morning. Randy took Tammy to kindergarten, while the boys stayed home with me. Thanks to them both being home, I was able to get some more sleep. I woke up before my alarm went off at 9 am. I got up and got ready to leave the house, which the three of us did at 9:15 am.

We walked to the tram stop which was quite a distance and were lucky that the first tram was a new one so that we could easily get on with the wheelchair. We rode the tram for a while, then got off and crossed the street to get to the entrance of the big shopping mall. Randy was already there, waiting for us.

Together we crossed the street and entered the shopping mall. We were looking for a specific store but couldn't find it. As there was another store just like it right there, we ended up going in there. It was time for Randy to get new classes. He's already glued his current glasses together multiple times. He had his new prescription and knew what he wanted. He quickly found black frames he liked in the low-price category, got the cheapest glasses and added the tinting feature. The shop assistant measured his face, we paid a downpayment, and in two weeks he'll have his new glasses.

It was time to go our separate ways. Randy left with the boys to take them to the professional lice removal place so that Emmy also got the paper the kindergarten demanded. And we decided to take care of Sammy's hair at the same time. It was a long trip to the place. When they checked the boys, Emmy had no lice whatsoever (satisfaction!), so they gave him the paper without doing the treatment. However, Sammy did so they treated him. Randy's hotspot wasn't working inside the building there, so Sammy got very upset that his tablet was not working, and when he gets this upset, there's nothing that you can do.

As for me, I was heading to the government office right there to apply for a new passport as mine is expiring in a few months. When I got to the building, there was a sign that they had moved, so I had to turn around and go all the way back and even further. When I reached the building, it was extremely busy. I took a number, then the lady there told me that it was a 3-hour wait time. I mentioned to her how quick everything was at the old location, and she said that since they had moved to be right next to the subway, everyone was coming to them so that i was always busy. It was 10:30 am, and I did not have 3 hours, so I left to go home empty-handed.

I was extremely tired but I needed to cook so I went to the kitchen to make lunch and then eat. Randy and the kids returned around 12:45 pm and also ate. Randy took his time and only took the 1:27 pm bus to go get Tammy. I was glad that my 2 pm student had canceled as I was so very tired. Sammy wanted to play with my door, so I let him. I also asked him to give me a few minutes to rest and closed my eyes.

Randy and Tammy had made it home quickly. It was about 2:45, when they arrived. I had just finished making their sandwiches. Tammy got changed, then she, Emmy and I left the house together. We took the subway and then the tram, then rode our scooters to the dance studio, where we arrived just as the class was to start at 3:30 pm.

Emmy was very happy to get his breakdance hat today (to spin on his head) even though he didn't have any blue ones, just red ones. Tammy asked me whether I had brought her tablet, and I had not. So she sat down at the desk to draw. When the teacher came and asked her to join the class, she did right away today and had fun dancing with the boys. They did a few hard moves, did handstands, then there was freestyle dancing in the end, and she did alright. After their turns, it was time to go.

We rode our scooters to the tram stop, where they went on the playground until I could see the tram approaching. We rode the tram for three stops, then our scooters to the school where their ball-playing class was happening. Randy and Sammy weren't there yet. As it was a very hot day, the kids had left the house wearing their shorts/exercise clothes, so they went straight inside the gym. I sat down along the wall.

MIchi then arrived and asked about Sammy.  A few minutes later Randy and Sammy arrived, and Sammy started playing ball with Michi. He also played with Daddy, when Michi was not available. I was very tired but helped keep the ball from getting out of reach. Tammy and Emmy were having fun in their class, playing different team games.

Just before 5:30 pm the class was over, and we left. We would have made the earlier bus today but the kids still wanted to go to the playground. They had fun there, then we left in time to catch the 5:50 pm bus. By 6:15 pm we were back home.

I warmed up some leftovers for them, then cut up fruit and gave it to them. Then I put the lice product in Tammy's and my hair - as a precaution. We then went downstairs for piano practice like that. Back upstairs, I combed her hair, then mine. Then they went into the bathtub and all got their hair washed; I also washed mine. As Tuesday is the one day of the work week with no evening student for me, we were in no rush tonight. I read them a few stories, and we even went until 8:30 pm. Then they went to bed, and I went to the kitchen to start cutting up vegetables for my salad. The other nights I don't have time for that. I enjoyed eating my salad, then I went to work on the pictures. I was more tired than usual tonight, fighting with keeping my eyes open. Now it's going on 2 am; thankfully the dishwasher is already running. And Tammy and Emmy are both already in my bed, so I need to make room for myself between them.