All Done in Saudi Arabia; Hello Kuwait!
It feels so good to say those words: All done in Saudi Arabia.
After their first flight didn't work out, they were moved to a temporary tent while they waited for another one. This tent did not have cots. Just chairs. This is when they were getting very sleep deprived because they couldn't lay down to rest while they waited. It was hard to get comfortable he said.
The look on Parker's face just says it all.
Once they got to Kuwait, this is what it looked like. Scott texted me, saying, "Let's not retire here."
This one is hard to see, but there are camels off in the distance.
Chow Hall in Kuwait
I mowed the lawns and applied fertilizer everywhere.
It was 118 degrees a day or two ago, with whatever humidity added on because they're right on the Persian Gulf. Okay, so I just looked it up. It hovers around 40% humidity in the month of July. Fun Fact: Last July, Kuwait was awarded the Hottest Country on Earth award. They hit over 120 degrees multiple times. NO THANKS!!
Gwen enjoyed some ice cream during the hot afternoon heat. Can you tell what flavor it was?
(Ha ha, I just noticed a leftover piece of blue painters tape still on the corner of the cupboard)
My side of the bed:
Scott's side of the bed:
After a few days of minimal sleep and flight delays, Scott finally arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday. He was very sleep deprived, hot, and tired during the first several hours of getting settled, and reported that he thought he was going to die at one point!
When they arrived at the barracks in Kuwait, nobody had thought to turn on the A/C ahead of time. Someone said that someone would come and get the air conditioning turned on, but it took a little bit of time. And then, because the sun had come up, the scorching heat just made it exponentially worse! Scott reported that the INSIDE of their barracks was up to 110 degrees at one point! They were so miserable that they began to look for other options. It was even hotter outside, so they looked for somewhere to survive. Scott found another barracks building and at one point he just laid down on some random guy's bed. He was exhausted and super hot and sweaty. Poor thing! He said the other guys in the barracks were like, "Who's that guy?" And then he heard someone say, "They're the new guys and their AC isn't working yet." "Ohhh, I see . . ." He was too hot and tired to care what anyone thought of him.
Eventually the A/C cooled off their barracks and the temperature slowly migrated down to 75 degrees. Scott was happy when he had to use a blanket during the night. That's when he knew he would be okay. :)
Here are some of the photos he's sent me in the past few days:
First one: Waiting in a tent in Saudi Arabia for a flight. They slept on cots. Thankfully they had A/C.
He also reports that he does not need to quarantine in Kuwait as was previously expected. Instead, they just have to wait out the next couple weeks until their flight back to the U.S., but they are not isolated during this wait time. He was surprised, but pleased, with the news.
This is his new bed for the time being: (sleep on the right, stuff on the left)
After they got settled in and got the A/C working, he slept all night and felt like a million bucks the next morning! Now he's on a good schedule and is feeling great. We're just ticking down the days . . .
In other news:
Monday: I had a really wonderful video chat with Chelsea. We talked for over 2 hours! But we had a LOT to catch up on and discuss. I felt so fulfilled and peaceful afterwards. Those feelings even spilled over into the next couple of days.
I also did some more painting and trim work around the kitchen. It was long and tedious work to get around all the cabinets, windows and large appliances, but I could see my progress and it was encouraging.
Tuesday: I went on a rescue expedition with Abby. So, Monday night, Jacob texted me asking what I was doing the next morning. I told him I was flexible. As it turned out, Hannah's Uncle Brian was stranded up in Salmon, Idaho and needed a ride to Idaho Falls.
He had driven up from Logan, Utah on Monday with the intent to do some fishing and enjoy the great outdoors near Stanley, Idaho and Redfish Lake (one of my favorite places ever!). But near Stanley, his car broke down and he had to have it towed to the nearest fix-it garage, which was in Salmon. Turns out his engine died. An oil gasket had fallen out, unbeknownst to him, which led to oil spewing out, which led to the engine eventually giving up the ghost. He got a hotel Monday night in Salmon (not getting there until 1:00 a.m.) and then Abby and I drove up Tuesday morning to rescue him.
Abby and I listened to music and children's podcasts (we chose ones where celebrities would read a children's story) and we made really good time. It takes about 2.5 hours to get there. Brian bought us a nice lunch, and then we headed back to Idaho Falls. On the way home, while Brian and I talked non-stop in the front seat, Abby happily listened to her stories in the back seat.
At one point, Abby needed to go potty. I encouraged her to hang in there until we could get to a town. But unfortunately, her need to go potty escalated, and we were still out in the middle of NOWHERE. So I improvised. I remembered that we had placed a metal bowl in the back seat next to her, just in case she got car sick. *light bulb moment* I found a safe place to pull over where I was well off the highway, and parked sort of kiddy-corner to the road. I opened her car door and used that as a privacy shield as well. She sat on that metal bowl while I held on to her, and she used it as her makeshift potty out in the middle of the desert! I was so proud of her!! She thought it was so silly to pee in a bowl, and we had a good laugh about the whole thing.
Afterwards, I just dumped it out, and used a clorox wipe to wipe it down until I could get it home for a more thorough cleaning. :)
I forgot to get a picture of all of us together at some point during the day, but that's okay. We brought Brian back to our house for a little bit to relax and get out of the car. I helped him pack a dinner that he could eat while he was on the shuttle down to Logan, and then I dropped him off at the designated shuttle stop. He had an important work meeting to attend Wednesday morning, so it was important for him to get home in time for that. Meanwhile, the mechanic up in Salmon is fixing up his car and he'll be back up in a few weeks to pick it up and try some fishing for the second time.
He's a really nice guy and I'm glad we could help him out. He is my same age, but has never married. He is on the faculty at Utah State University. Super smart, and super introverted. I met him originally on the day of Jacob and Hannah's wedding last July. And I know that Jacob and Hannah really love him and enjoy spending weekends visiting him somewhat regularly.
At the end of the day, I took my car to the car wash to get all the bugs off. These were the only pictures I thought to take during the entire day! The colors were so pretty, ha ha.
Wednesday: The girls enjoyed a nice picnic lunch out in the back yard. And we swang. And we swang. And we swang.
Thursday: I did a LOT. Turns out I was super tired the day before, so I didn't get much accomplished. But by Thursday, I was back in business!
I finished the rest of the trim work in the kitchen, moving out the fridge and the oven.
And I had some nice chats with Scott. He was feeling really refreshed by this time, too.
(That's the moon over his head) He called me as the sun was just coming up. He likes that time of day because it's the coolest time of the whole day. As soon as the sun comes up, he says you have to HIDE.
Friday: I spent ALL DAY painting the kitchen. After finishing up the trim work (so tedious and meticulous), I moved on to using the roller. That went a LOT faster!
I really love how it is turning out!!
Saturday: I put the girls to "work" washing all their pool toys in the back yard. They had a lot of fun with the sudsy bubbles and then using the hose to rinse everything off.
I took the girls on a couple of errands, and then we did some house cleaning. A little later in the day, Abby and I set up a hammock under the trees.
Prior to dinner, I had a little solo shopping adventure by myself. I went looking for a sign or two that I could hang, particularly one for our bedroom above the bed, and something for the kitchen with the new fresh coat of paint and new look.
While these ones were entertaining . . .
Ultimately I settled on this one for the kitchen:
And these for the bedroom: (although I think I will paint the trim black to match the decor)
After dinner, Gwen went out back to play on the patio. She ended up getting stung by a bee!! Our swimming pool has a tiny leak on the bottom and my duct-tape fixer upper job didn't do as well as I thought it would. So the water slowly leaks out onto the patio rug. The bees love to take a pit stop on that wet outdoor rug all throughout the day. But it's never been a problem until now.
Gwen was barefoot and didn't even see the bee. It was no consolation to her when I told her the bee would go off and die from stinging her. Amber got the stinger out as I held Gwen in my arms, and after applying a baking soda paste first, and later a little bit of honey with a bandaid over it, the pain subsided. We also applied an ice pack and gave her some Benadryl. She was really traumatized by the whole thing.
I took her out in the hammock for a while, too, which really helped. We watched a squirrel exploring in the tree branches above us, and marveled at a bird that landed nearby too. It was very calming and soothing for her. (for us both)
Later last night, we baked some cookies together. Because cookies make everything better! (So does bacon)
Gwen is happily licking the beater, and Abby is having fun with the magnifying glass that we used to inspect Gwen's foot earlier. :)
You'll notice the tall ladder in the background . . . that's because in the next couple of days I will be moving into the dining room to paint. I'll start with the trim again, and then fill it all in with the roller when I'm done. By next week's blog post, I should have the dining room done as well as the hallway! I'm so excited!!!
Excited, really?!? Well, maybe I'm just excited to have it done. Not so much excited to DO it. But you gotta start somewhere.
Sunday: I spoke in church this morning. My assigned topic was The Value of Families, Past, Present, and Future.
If you are interested, you can click here to read it.
Comments
Post a Comment