Working

Today Selcuk took care of Nehir and BabaAnne took care of Taylan so I could work on my paper.  I put in about 4 1/2 hours before I fizzled out.  I think I can finish tomorrow.  It felt good to work again, it makes me realize that as much as I don't like working long hours, I also don't like full-time mothering.  I like a balance.  

The weather here has been nicer than past years.  It gets very hot in the sun, but in the shade it is comfortable and it is more breezy than it was last year.  I also adjusted my wardrobe to include more sleeveless shirts and light-weight shorts.  I decided I would rather feel cool than hide my fat.  Speaking of which, I have been walking a lot and that has been enjoyable.  I like to walk to the beach and get really hot on the way so that swimming feels extraordinarily wonderful.  The water is great and people take turns with Taylan so I can swim for awhile.  Nehir is fearful of the waves even though they are small (I guess if you are five they are big) so he hasn't been swimming that much.  He loves the sand though and gets himself absolutely covered in the stuff while he plays.  He then screams like a nut while we shower him off in the cold water (no warm water available at the beach).  Taylan likes the water and the sand.  He tried eating several hand fulls and seemed to enjoy it until someone noticed and started swabbing his mouth out.  I actually find sand very annoying but it is worth dealing with to get to swim in the Agean sea.

We are going to go to a little park tonight that is set up like a traditional Turkish villiage.  It has animals, horse rides, and a merry-go-round.  It also has several little shops and places to eat.  We went last year and everyone had a nice time.  I think Taylan will like it because he loves animals.  He keeps trying to pet the neighbor's Rottweiler which makes me nervous because I heard that breed can go crazy and become violent in a flash.  To distract him I took him down to see the cows that hang out in a nearby lot.  He fed them some hay and enjoyed it a lot.  He thinks they are doggies.  Visiting the cows made me think of Evan and how much I miss him, Kent and Shovha.  It was so nice to see them before we left.  Dave and Sharon too.  I wish I could see my siblings more often.

In other news, I found a lizard.  It is about a foot long and is mostly light green but it has an aqua streak near its eye.  It lives in a hole under the neighbor's porch.  Selcuk won't even come look at it because he hates all reptiles.  I also found two tiny frogs.  Nehir is very impressed with my animal finding skills.  To bad Sam isn't here, he would surely have found three times the animals I have by now.

That's the news for the day.