Zymzym Potter

I must be doing something right:

I know how you feel.

Tunca, I know how you feel.
I try to tell you that I, too, sometimes feel left out.
That I, too, want to do things that I am not capable of.
I want to run faster, and hit a soccer ball with decent accuracy. I want to climb high and be the one picked first for a team.
I am really, truly sorry that I cannot make you feel better about it, though. There will always be such sucky times and you probably will be mad at me for telling you so.
One thing I can tell you for sure is if you insist on playing soccer with 6th graders, I just cannot watch you get kicked in the shins or get smashed in the head with the ball travelling 60mph. I simply will not watch anymore. So there.

Broken

I am getting better at the wheel. Really.

This can happen when you're trying to trim, though:
I just want to cry.

Keeping Busy

There are days when I think to myself "all I want to do is sit in front of the TV and watch reruns of EL Raymond." Really. I love that show. And those are the days when I barely have time to use the bathroom.

Take this past Sunday. Here's what happened:
-Take Arda to basketball practice (Burak takes Tunca to Freedom Park, at the same time)
- Go to a birthday party for Arda's friend from basketball team
- Meet relatives (waiting in front of our house for us to arrive because we had to watch the birthday kid blow the candles)
- Leave an hour later to another friend's house
- Ditch another friend whom we had promised to meet at the beach in the afternoon because of the traffic (and, they served us mini quiches and whiskey and wine and cheese platters - who could leave that?)
- Arrive home with two very hungry and dirty kids after driving in the usual Sunday evening traffic which makes a 10 minute drive into an hours drive.
- Feed, wash and put the kids to bed.
- Collapse after watching the last two episodes of Lost. What is the deal with Jack's dad by the way?

Fun fun fun.

My brother says my blog is pointless and not very informative. Here's what you should learn from this post: we have really cool friends who serve us whiskey, traffic in İstanbul sucks so don't go out unless you have to, and it's rude to invite people over and have them wait for you to arrive at your home. And make your beds in the mornings. Yes.

Random Photos

I really like what Wendolonia posts in her blog sometimes - daily pictures with just a few words...

I was just thinking that I am neither that talented enough to take nice photos nor that organized to carry a camera with me when I realized, I actually do have a ton of photos on my cell phone. The quality is terrible, but they are glimpses into my daily life - no special occasions, just moments I thought should be captured (oh the cliche is killing me!) somehow.
This is testament to one of the reasons why I truly love Arda's school. After having shoveled the minuscule amount of snow we received in February, the children were allowed to go out and walk like penguins on the little ridge! I was in a Parent - Family Association meeting, and first thought that the teachers would just ask the kids to get back inside, or to the back yard which is bigger, has acres of playgrounds, soccer fields etc. (and because this is the front yard and they're only allowed here for ceremonies).

Yet the few teachers you see in that photo were actually helping the kids climb the snow, and joyfully watching them have genuine fun. The one with the beige jacket is Arda.
This is my father and uncle leading my grandmother to one of many tests she had to go through in the hospital. She is holding onto both their arms, probably not unlike 50+ years ago, yet this time, they're the ones leading her and supporting her and explaining to her things she does not want to understand.

Off to a Mediocre Start

For those of you wondering how my experiments with the wheel is going, I will simply post the following photo:
Lots of re-kneading. Lots of plates, as well.

Mother's Day, Italian style, during Formula 1

Mother's Day came and went fabulously. The "new" tradition for the past few years have been to gather all the family in my sister-in-law Zeynep's mom's house in Sapanca, have lunch and just hang out. This year, there were 24 of us.

Here's the list of who's who:
My family (4)
My brother's family (3)
My parents (2)
Hubby's parents (2)
My uncle (1)
SIL's parents (2)
SIL's brother's family (3)
SIL's SIL's sister's family (3)
SIL's SIL's dad (1) (her mom passed away a few years ago)
Both my grandmothers (2)
One grandmother's caretaker/companion (1)

The lunch was wonderful, activities included eating a lot, then eating more, and after dessert, eating more. The children played soccer in the nearby field while adventurous adults made attempts to catch a frisbee in between 8 courses of salads, appetizers, meat, more meat, more meat, even more meat, fried zucchini and calamari .

Highlights of the day included getting stuck in traffic for hours because some smart ass thought that Mother's Day would be the greatest time to schedule a Formula 1 race in Istanbul, because, you know, all Turkish mothers would like a gift of a golden pass for Formula 1. I actually might have enjoyed it, come to think of it.

The necklace that Arda had made when he was in preschool 3 years ago now has a matching twin, made by Tunca, but this new one has feathers. "Feathers. Like bird feathers. But we didn't pluck them off birds. Teachers have to do that on their own."

I'm waiting for my brother to upload his pictures to .mac (my new favorite these days) so he can show off his new camera - more pictures to come.