Past and present...

When we bought our house years ago, our friends with kids told us this area has one of the best public schools in US. Having no kids at that time, we obviously were not much interested so we did not make our decision based on that, we just loved the house when we saw it in year 2003 (wow, I was even surprised when I was typing '2003', 12 yrs ago, no kidding!). Funny enough, we lived in it only for four years and decided to move to Georgetown, DC and than Istanbul and than Nairobi! It was a journey for 8 years. And finally we are back in our own house.

This morning while I was cleaning the snow on our driveway, our neighbours came over to say hi. They thought we just bought the house, when I told them we owned it for sometime but did not get to live in it for long, they were surprised. When I told them, we just moved from Nairobi they were even more surprised. After they left, I stopped and thought about that, whomever I talk to and mention where we lived before, people seem to be very interested, surprised and envy.  Later on, I was on the phone with my brother and told him I was out with kids playing with snow, he said 'that's so funny, only a month ago Dilara and Onur was so used to seeing monkeys in the garden now playing with snow!'. Honestly, I never thought that way! Things seem so normal to us can be very different and interesting for other people.

It has been almost a month now since we moved back to US. Funny thing is it does not feel that way.
 Probably after doing this over and over again, it just does not matter anymore, it becomes a routine:) Life style and standards make things much easier in here. Besides, even little things are very structured and in order that, so you never get to worry about them. I was taking these little things for granted before, now I do appreciate them. But isn't it life? Our experiences teach us so much that, our awareness and appreciation increase...

 I used to worry about little things so much (such as the food my kids eat at school, or hygiene when we go to a restaurant, or simply never ending power and water cuts!) that, at the end of the day
I would feel like my whole energy was just drained, and sometimes my morale would be very low...

It still is very fresh now, but I have no doubt in the future, all these experience, ups and downs, will mean much more to us...

A place to visit: Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

If you live in DC area or plan to visit, single or with children, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is a must see. It is conveniently located on route 28, depending on traffic, 30 min. drive from the capitol.  Museum is pretty spacious, fun and informative without getting too boring. It is interestingly designed, architecture wise is very eclectic, 60,000 + objects are on display. There are big to small sizes of planes, making it hard to believe until you see it with your own eyes.

 When we drove to museum this weekend, we hardly found a parking space, but once we were in, never felt overcrowded. There are 3D simulators, workshops, exhibitions, imax theatre. So there is something for everyone. Even my 4 yrs old never got bored, which is hard for this age group! He enjoyed walking and running around the planes with an amazement:)

There is also a McDonald's for a quick bite, and besides no entrance fee!
http://airandspace.si.edu

All about TVT surgery

After getting so many questions via email and in person, I have decided to cover more about TVT.
To start with, TVT stands for 'Tension Free Vaginal Tape'. It sounds a little scary while I was typing:) To my experience, surgery is not scary but after what comes next can be a little!

What is TVT? and who needs it? TVT is a non invasive surgery to treat stress urinary incontinence symptoms. A narrow ribbon of mesh is placed under the urethra. TVT is kinda act as a layer of support when urethra is closed off when there is sneezing, coughing, or exercising. So the mesh basically exists on the lower abdomen through two small incisions, below the bikini line.  It is very popular past few years or so. If you are like me who had natural births, and anatomically I was also good candidate since my mom also had the same problems and at the end had the surgery.

What to expect after the surgery? This one is little tricky, after reading on the web I should say, there are really scary stories out there! If you plan on having a TVT surgery, get the information you only need, do not read excessively otherwise you can change your mind! Depending on your condition, one night stay may be required, or if you have no problem with urinating after surgery you may be send home. So like in any surgery, there are no definite answers. In my case, I had to stay two nights because my blood pressure was very low and I am kind a too sensitive to anaesthesia. By the way I was send home with a catheter which was a nightmare! I went back to see my doctor second round after few days later, it did not happen again!!! No matter how much you try if it is not going to happen, it just does not happen!!! So in a week I was again in surgery room, it was a quick one, they loosened the tape, and right after that I had no problem, it was  such a relief, believe me! There are no stitches or cuts, after the surgery you pretty much can walk and move around. The only problem is, you are not allowed to exercise neither do any lifting at all for 4-6 weeks. The reason, it is absolutely necessary for body to accept and hold TVT mesh. If the body does not scar the mesh, TVT surgery may fail. So you better do what doctor says. This is my 7th week and one more week to go! and believe me I have never had a week without any exercise in my life!

Again going back to my experience, in my second pregnancy, I complained about urinary incontinence to my doctor (in my third trimester, it came to a point where I rather would not go out, I opted stay home!), my doctor has mentioned about TVT and the benefits of it. Of course after the birth and busy life I had to put this surgery aside, I tried tp improve my condition using all technics out there, such as pilated or kegels, my problem has never gone anywhere. Whenever I got sick because muscles loosens I had the problem and believe I hated it, or when I went out for running I had to make sure to use the toilet! It is a very uncomfortable situation, and in young age you do not want to have this type of problems (ok, I may be 40yrs old, but still young:)) So, again with my doctor's advice in Istanbul, I have decided to go ahead with surgery this time. Ah by the way, have I mentioned patients are mostly woman! Are you surprised to hear this:)? Ladies, are not we the ones always have these problems!

I advise you to do your homework, talk to your doctor and make sure to ask any question you are concerned about. You can also send me an email.

Big 40!

I cannot believe I left 30s behind, just recently celebrated my 40th birthday in our new and old house (new because it has been renovated, old because we bought it 11 yrs ago but only lived in it for 3yrs! Is not that something:))

This year, I got to celebrate my b-day for three days! That, I call a celebration! And I deserved it, last three years there was not much of a celebration, I was home and made and baked my own cake! First year it was fun, but later on, nope!

So, on actual day, we went to Cafe Milano. It is classic Italian and one of the reputable restaurant in Georgetown. When we were living here years ago, it was our favourite stop for dining, and I loved their food. It was a lovely gesture from my husband:) Second night, one of our good friend, who happens to have same birthday with me, had a party at their house. And last but not least:) we had a dinner with our siblings at our house. It was a great night, my brother and his girlfriend, my husband's brother and his wife and son joined us. Great company, great food and wine, what can I ask more? And besides, after many years I gotta blow a candle:)

Back to square one!

Feels like every three years I find myself doing the same things over and over again, packing, unpacking, finding schools, settling into a house, and figuring out whats need and so much more.

Finally, last Thursday our container has arrived and it was so far the coldest day in DC area, -14C! That day, I have decided, after some point it just does not matter if it is -15 or -30C!!! Even indoors do not feel warm enough, cold just covers every inch of the body.

Anyways, having a big truck in front of our door and three guys carrying the boxes, again I could not help myself working along with them! Probably I worked as much as they did! Honestly, I do envy people who take things slowly, and can live with boxes for days sometimes even months. Me? Whole house was settled in 3 days. It is not a typo mistake! When I was opening the boxes without taking any breath, one of the guy's came and said I should do this professionally. At one point from outside it looked like we changed our roles! Was I surprised to hear that, not really. I seriously think about changing my career:)

My hands are still sore cause of unpacking 30+ kitchen boxes! They came in at 8am and left by 8pm, it was a long day, but a happy one:) Due to the freaking cold weather schools were closed, perfect timing right? We had to wear our coats inside of the house,  I thought the heater would just explode, it worked non stop!

Still no furniture!

We were so confident that there will not be any problems and we would have our stuff as planned! We shipped our items almost 2 months ahead, thought even if there is any problem we would still have more than enough time. Of course we forgot to count one end was Kenya and the other one was US. Our container had arrived as we have been told, which was fine. And our container put through extra security check due to coming from Africa, which was fine. What was not fine, our container was not freed because AGS (so called best international moving company in Kenya!) did not pay the moving company in US. We spent last two weeks wasting our time trying to reach somebody at AGS but no luck! Unfortunately company at this end told us, this is a routine when they work with AGS they never get paid on time! Is not that a great news! So here we are in our third week still waiting on to hear from AGS while our container is in storage waiting to be picked up, by the way have I mentioned the daily storage fee is just piling up too!!!!

Happy New Year!

So sorry my dear bloggers, with few days of delay, here it is:)

       HAVE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2015!

I promised myself, to:

Be optimistic
Not to forget to smile even in hardest times
Appreciate for everything I have
Help others in anyway or any form I can
Hug the people I love
Make time for myself
Write more:)))

How about you???

Sleepless nights and jet lag!

Have you ever had a jet lag? It happens after transatlantic flight, depending on time difference, body tends to stick to old schedule!!! it usually takes a week to adjust. Past week I ended up waking by 3am each morning, and turned from side to side until I fall asleep again. At least I did not make mistake of turning lights on or watching tv, those make situation worst! Than you end up living at night and sleeping daytime. It is much easier to plan kids' sleep schedule, luckily they both were fine.

I did not waste my sleepless early mornings for nothing, I prepared for driving license exam. Unfortunately my driving license was expired, and you cannot do anything without a license here! It is not only a license actually it is called 'ID', so where ever you go, bars, shopping, hospitals and etc first thing being asked is an 'ID'. Besides it is not a wise idea to drive with another country driver license, if it has not from one of few countries accepted by U.S government, if you got caught you are in big trouble!

When I was trying to learn all traffic rules, I remembered 1998, when I had my first driving license exam. I could not pass the traffic signs part, which was the first part anyway!!! So I had to retake it. Worst thing is, one of my dad's friend took me there, and I was so ashamed when I told him I could not pass! He had to bring me back next day!! I was only 23 and it was my third month in US, good old days... Than I thought about driving in Nairobi. From one place with no traffic rules to another one with so strictly enforced rules! 'Can it get better than this?' I said to myself! I was so used to driving around within my own rules in Nairobi that I was so concerned I would end up having an accident in day one in here! So I studied endlessly like a child until the exam day. My husband took me to DMV (Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles), I went in line again, it was like a dejavu after 15 yrs! Once my name was called, I was told that I do not need to take any of the exams, my license will be renewed. I was shocked, I either read the rules wrong, or my driver license expiration date has been noted wrong! So, I insisted on taking the exam, I said I studied so much I gotta take the exam. The women behind the desk just stared at me and said 'No mam, your driver license will be mailed to you in 5 business days!' My picture was taken , paid $32 and was at the door in 5 minutes. When my husband saw me he was shocked, because even though we had the same expiration dates on our licenses he had to take all exams! Lucky me:)

I did not waste anytime, and started driving my new car right away. After my old one in Nairobi, my new car felt like a Lamborghini:)