full weekend!

We had a really full weekend - thought I'd jot it down just for a sense of what daily life is like. Friday started off very exciting: Greg had a conference call with DC for work (turns out, trying to get Europe, DC and Manila on the phone at the same time is not easy! Manila time, the call was at 9pm); I headed over to the airport to welcome a new family. At embassies, we all take turns being sponsors - helping a new arrival get settled - which includes being a friendly face at the airport and showing them their house. Saturday morning we had a fundraiser for Patch's school; as treasurer, I stuck around the whole time from 8 to 11:30. Between the yard sale and bake sale, we raised about 14,000 pesos - double last year - so yea! Now we can hire two staff to help with the pre-k graduation, and still have some left over. This is especially nice because the parent board members (ie, me among others) aren't stuck with cleanup duty! Saturday afternoon was at MOA helping the new family get the stuff they needed. Recently married, they don't even have much in their shipment, so they ended up spending a bunch getting basic household goods in addition to groceries. And we learned the hard way that the store can only charge 8000 pesos on a foreign debit card per transaction ... So the check out took some time. I remembered how stressful those first few days are, trying to figure everything out. This family has a slight advantage, though, as the wife is originally from the Philippines. At least no shopping culture shock for her - even if US government transient life style is new to her. Exhausted after being on my feet the entire day, I tucked in around 8:30! Sunday morning was church, with Wm finally starting to behave, even if Patch is still so wiggly! Then Greg took Wm and his best friend to their weekend soccer tournament. The two boys still wanted to play soccer when they got home, despite the heat and having been outside all afternoon. Wm's friend's parents are on a separated tour right now - the dad is in Mexico and the mom here with the three kids in Manila. The mom had organized a pottery class for the general embassy community before the soccer was announced ... So luckily Greg could take the boys so she could attend the class she organized :) here's to keeping our fingers crossed we don't face any unaccompanied tours. It's rough. During soccer and pottery (which I didn't attend), Patch obliged me by taking a 3.5 hour nap, of which I slept for 3. What's the joy in being five months pregnant if I can't indulge every now and then? It's hard work growing a baby while keeping up with two boys! Then, around 4pm, we headed over to the pool to cool down after soccer and chat with three families finished with the pottery class. Kids jumped in, parents ordered pizza, and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening. Wm declared himself ready for home around 6, and Patch followed shortly after. Both were asleep within the hour. But that's not all - off to the grocery store for me, since I had no time to shop earlier. Just now all is unpacked and we can finally rest. Greg zoning out with a Manchester City game, and I'll read a bit of the Game of Thornes. No Downtown Abbey tonight given the importance of this soccer game is determining the winner of the Premier League. Of course, I can't complain about Greg's addiction because it caused him to wake up at 5:30 this morning with the boys so he could watch the Liverpool game on DVR (FA Cup final, not to be confused with the Premier League, which runs at the same time with the same teams, as best I can tell...)