Then there is October. I think this past October more than compensated for any emptiness I may have felt in September.
Life has been busy. Full of so many wonderful, good things. And most of that was not anywhere on our radar at the beginning of the month. (Because, after all, if I could have planned it, I might have spread it out a bit, right?)
Things like, oh, negotiating a property purchase and dealing with all the vagaries of visiting offices, banks, notaries, coffee shops (yes), and currency exchange places, etc., etc..
- Like drawing up a wish list and meeting with an architect to make a master plan for the property in light of the changes in boundary lines.
- Like preparing merchandise for the Village Knits booth at a craft show that is two weeks earlier than last year.
- Like finding out that my Dad is coming for a visit in less than two weeks!
- Like getting a message from a college friend whom we haven't seen since we only had one child but who is visiting Europe and asks if she can 'drop-in' for a couple of days to Albania. (How cool, right?)
- Like showing hospitality and sharing a meal with someone new to the country and taking a weekend afternoon to show some city dwellers our family's favorite little bit of nature, away from the hustle and bustle
- Like dealing with back-to-back colds and sick kids who can't sleep through the night because of congestion
- Like squeezing in a trip on a business day/non-Albanian-class day to go to another city to pick up a certain child's Albanian passport that's been sitting in a government office for say, five months, waiting for us to make the time to come and get it.
- And then there was the especially frequent electricity outages that seemed to take place during those blocks of time I had set aside to edit photographs or do laundry... [sigh]
Chrissy was only here for a few days so we took the kids out of school on a Tuesday (when we didn't have class) and drove up to Shkodra to visit one of our favorite castles in Albania's history.
Somehow we completely forgot Reni's stroller and back pack (yeah, major brain lapse), but we did happen to have his 'boots' with us. Turned out to be not the worst thing in the world because it allowed him to explore a lot of places on his own, rather than observing it all from the confines of his stroller or back pack. Oh, and he napped pretty hard in the car on the way home.
We love this Ottoman-era bridge north of town.
"Aunt Chrissy" made pumpkin cookies with the kids Wednesday after class so we'd have treats for women's Bible study that night.
The kids have been BEGGING for autumn decorations (of which I have none, save a few pumpkin-scented candles). We were unsuccessful in our one trip to look for a pumpkin (which we were told later were kept under lock and key at a particular produce market in Tirana). This was the first year the kids really said anything about decorating our home for any holiday other than Christmas so I kinda felt a little "mom-fail" for not anticipating this and bringing stuff with me from America.
Thank you to whomever gifted me with a pumpkin cookie cutter years ago. Reni knew we had it and so the cookies were his idea to get in the fall spirit. I have no idea what Ellie is playing with in the background.
Before we knew it, it was time to take Chrissy back to the airport! Though her visit was brief, we were so touched she went to the time and expense to see a slice of our life. But before the airport, we squeezed in a super quick trip to Kruje.
The weather was exquisite. The colors of our photos from Kruje just popped. No editing necessary!
Bye Chrissy! I'm so sorry we didn't get a photo with Reni too! (something about him having school, or something) ;-)
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