Lil' ol' Update

Things have been going purdy well on ye olde Korean home front. We have a nice routine going, which, for the boys and I, consists of play groups at a gym a few days a week, Toby going to preschool three afternoons per week, and the occasional story time at the library. I'm doing Zumba twice a week, which is something I neeeeeever thought I'd be in to. I think it's working for me because the instructor is awesome, it's a huge group, its close, it's free, I know some of the other gals that go and Marc gets home in time for me to get there. I have no excuses, which I'm really good at coming up with (wink). Marc rides his bike to work and then takes a longer route through the rice paddies to get some exercise on the way home. I'm also *very* gradually working on two certifications which are taking forever because I can't sit down for two minutes together without Jonah climbing all over me or Tobin asking 21 questions. In fact, the only reason I'm able to write right now is because Marc is Skyping downstairs, which is distracting the boys, and I sneaked upstairs. It's a matter of minutes before the boys realize I'm not down there, which, according to them, may or may not mean the end of the world as they know it. (It's nice to be needed, isn't it? -also from Anne of GG) On the weekends we try to go somewhere new or at least go for a long walk outside, plus continue the process of organizing and putting things away. Oh, and don't forget about the weekly "massaging my way through the next three years" thing! Anywho, its a nice routine and I think we're all pretty happy with the way things are going. But let me bring it down a notch, as I'm inclined to do: we're all pretty happy with the way things are going...considering we're living in prehistoric Pyeongtaek, 6000 miles from anyone we know, can't get Chipotle, In'n'Out, Trader Joe's, decent Mexican food, blahdy blah blah...But, for what it is, it's actually really great. And our car arrived in Seoul! Marc took the train up to get it. (Aaaaaand Jonah is now crying for me - gotta go get him.) I realize now that driving Linda for the last two months has contributed to significant hearing loss and back pain. Linda is LOUD and steering her requires the use of every muscle in my back, butt and torso and sometimes legs. She doesn't take bumps well and there are a lot (like, a lot) of potholes and random speed bumps that come out of no where. I'm serious. We could be out driving on some long country road, minding our own business, when - KABLUNK KABLUNK - we all have whiplash from going over some sneaky, camouflaged speed bump. So it feels like we're out on Safari everyday, but instead of rhinos we have to watch out for possessed bus drivers, so I badly need a chiropractor but there aren't any here!! Oohhhhh woe! Driving our car again felt like riding on a magic carpet. It was quiet, smooth, and the steering wheel...TURNED...at my command. We ascended those nasty speed bumps with the grace of a waterfowl riding an ocean swell. We simultaneously sighed with relief. Our modest Mazda 5 feels like a Rolls Royce! It looks like we'll have to sell ol' Linder. (I like the British pronunciation of certain words. Ahem.)

All the locals here in rural Pyeongtaek are out in the fields burning things, presumably part of the planting process,  and sowing seeds. Rice planting looks like tedious, back-breaking work. The other big crops around here are chili peppers, onions, strawberries and a few other things I'm not sure about and its all done by hand. The other thing is that every square inch of available land has something growing on it. If there's a 1 ft. x 4 ft. plot of dirt next to the road, its got food growing on it. The latest is that we're starting a garden of our own! This is probably my fourth or fifth attempt. Every year when we move I have to give my plants away so I've never been able to see anything through a full cycle. We've also never had a composter (who knows why!) but that's all changing. Yesterday we got some supplies.

Yea! Rotting food waste!

The nature gives you relaxation and composure. Stay in the nature.

Whatever the opposite of being helpful is is Jonah's middle name. I still love you, baby.

We got the barrel for compost and Marc drilled some holes in it. I realize now that the compost we're making won't really be ready until next year's planting, so we can't use it for the soil this time, but its gettin' goin'. And my friend, J.D., told me that all the seeds here are probably all GMO-mutant-freak seeds, so next year I will order some heirloom seeds from her catalog in time for spring planting. We also got some big shallow bowls that are sold all over the place here. I think they might be used for preparing kimchi and/or farming. Dunno. More holes were drilled into those and then filled with some small pebbles for drainage and soil.

Collecting dirt and leaves for the compost bin from the lot across the street.

Planting the strawberry and lettuce starters.

We'll probably get several more of these once my seedlings can be transplanted.

Some herbs, watermelon, cucumber and tomatoes getting started.

Instead of a green thumb, I have the opposite - the Thumb of Death. Whenever I start a little garden everything will be green and bushy for a few weeks and I'll be so proud of my skills, then, inevitably, one by one, they all shrivel into plant skeletons. I try to follow instructions but it seems that no matter how much or how little water, food and sun they get, everything just wants to curl up and die. Is it my breath? But I thought they liked close-talkers! Why do plants hate me? Hopefully this time we'll do something right and have a decent harvest. Maybe the Korean soil or water will work a miracle since this is farm country. The only thing I'm concerned about is monsoon season. Some of the things we're planting aren't supposed to get that much water without time in between to drain and dry out. And I'm planning on going home this summer for a month. Aiiiii it's always something. I hope these plants don't commit suicide on me. I really want to be a more self-sustaining-urban-farmy-type. Being in one place for three years may actually give us an opportunity to be that way for awhile.

Once Jonah's non-helpfulness outside became so appallingly destructive, I let him play with bubbly water in the sink, until he abused that privilege, as well, by spraying water all over the kitchen. But ain't he cute?

P.S. Its taken me hours to write these few paragraphs because in between the lines I've made lunch, did dishes, broken up fights, wiped a few bottoms, put down for naps, answered a multitude of questions, removed Marc's deodorant from Jonah's mouth and rediscovered for the 821st time that a quiet toddler is never a good thing when I found Jonah covered in my mascara (British pronunciation).