Monday's Adventure

I didn't end up going to help the mother of triplets.  She never called me.  The kids and I were sitting around the house trying to figure out what to do.  We decided we needed to go shopping for a new shirt for me and new shoes for B.D.  As you know, we are going to be on TV tomorrow so we wanted to look our best. Then while we were out we could pick up our package from Mamie and get hotdogs from the Hotdog Boy (that's what Super Jack calls him). 

I HATE shopping, mostly because trying on clothes reminds me that I'm not as thin as I used to be.  I also hate shopping with my kids, but that is usually how I have to do it.  It turned out to be a nightmare.  First we looked for shoes for B.D.  They didn't have anything.  Then I timidly wandered over to the women's section.  I was looking at button down shirts (I never wear those, but I know they look good on me).  They were having a pretty good sale which was nice.  I tried a few things on and a young sales woman was helping me.  After I tried on a few shirts she asked me what I was looking for.  I explained I had an interview tomorrow.

She walked me over to the OLD LADY section and said, THESE are the clothes that are made for bodies like yours. :-(  After two more trips to the dressing room and a nursing session I did find a shirt that was not bad.  While we were waiting to check out we realized we had only paid for an hour parking.  We weren't sure what would happen if we didn't get back in time.  We raced to the car (as fast as is possible with a 9 month old and a 3 year old).  We were about 10 minutes late, but no one seemed to notice, thank goodness.

Next we went looking for parking somewhere near the post office.  Traffic was a nightmare and there was no parking as usual.  One of the "great" things about Albania is that any random person can block off public street parking and save it for whoever they deem worthy.  Usually it is a business like a casino that does this.  We had taken a long route looking for parking and were getting close to the post office.  I was thinking we would just have to give up when I saw two "reserved" spots.  I pulled up to them like I was a customer.  He let me in.  I then rolled down the window and begged him to let me park there for a few minutes while I ran to the post office with my 4 kids.  (they are big suckers for small children).  He agreed.  It was a very close spot.  We lucked out. 

There is an old man that sells hotdogs right by the post office.  My kids love his hotdogs.  He knows what we want when we get there we don't even have to say anything.  However, today he told us he was out of hotdogs.  Then he said, don't worry, I'll run and get some and be right back (that's how we do things here).  I told him that would be great and we would go get our package while he was cooking our hotdogs.

While we were in the post office a really nice woman let me go to the front of the line because I had 4 kids.  I couldn't believe it.  Usually when you are standing in line people are pushing and shoving and they are only looking out for themselves.  I told her I'd never seen that kind of behavior in Albanian.  Then I thanked her.

When they brought my package out it had my mother-in-laws name on it and the ladies that had let me cut in line noticed it.  They told me that they knew Eli and asked if I was her "Nusa" (that means bride).  In Albanian, once you are married you are called a bride all your life.  I LOVE it.  You are not just your husband's bride, but you in-laws bride too.  They went on to tell me that Eli always talks about my kids and she goes on and on about how amazing I am.  What a nice thing to say (I'm blushing).

Sweets has a very small bladder and so usually when we've been out this long we have to find a potty.  Sure enough she was getting desperate.  We grabbed our hotdogs and went looking for a potty.  A very nice young man at a restuarant let her use his.  (BTW, these bathrooms we find rarely have toilet paper and sometimes they are just holes in the ground).  Sweets has gotten pretty good at figuring out how to handle any potty situation.

We hopped back in the car and headed home.  We can never wait until we get home to open our packages.  Here is what we got.

Whenever I open a box from my mom I feel like a huge ray of sunshine comes out of it.  They make me so happy.  Thank you Mom!!!  The fabric is the missing piece for my living room curtains.  It is super cute.  I love it Mom!  She sent us ziplock bags, children's ibuprofen, sewing machine needles, thread, millet, allspice, seeds to grow Austrian pumpkins in our yard and colored pencils (B.D. was super excited about the colored pencils.)  She also sent the buttons to finish Super Jack's sweater.  Mom you'll have to tell me what all the rings are for.

I tried to take the quick way home because Bumbles was getting tired and fussy.  I went down this back road and everything was going fine when all of the sudden there was a delivery truck in the middle of the road that wasn't moving.  I thought someone had just parked there and expected all of us to wait.  However, this man had been driving along when the road just collapsed under his front wheel.  He was stuck in asphalt.  He used his jack to get out of the hole, but then the rest of us had to inch our way around the hole too.  I almost took a picture, but I needed to get home fast for Bumbles' sake.

Once we got home and were relaxing our neighbor brought this over.

It's a dessert called Halv but I have no idea what it is.
She said it has cornmeal and flour in it.

Andi had walked to work so we talked him in to meeting us so I could run in to a store with B.D. and find him some shoes.  The sales person in this store asked me where I was from.  I told her America.  She said, "Your English is soooo good!"  All I could think was "Um, duh."  We did find some shoes.  We are all set for tomorrow.  Andi even had the kids sit on the couch and practice behaving.  Now he is going to drill me.  I have to speak in Albanian.  Wish me luck!