Sigh.

It was a week of Bali Belly, for our household of three.  Something we ate, maybe, who knows.  At least we took turns.

Sigh.

Last night I was tormented by a very big, bold mouse, and even though we were protected by our lovely mosquito nets, I still jumped at every rustle I heard.  Eventually, I asked Megan to escort me into Kai’s mouse-free room, where I crawled into bed with my daughter, to protect her.

Sigh.

I miss my gourmet kitchen at home.  I’m a bit of a foodie, and I’m not ashamed to say that I have every pot, pan, and utensil I’d ever need for cooking.  Making meals here has lately been a bit of a drag…

Yet, with all the grumbling that passes my lips, I am so very happy here.  Time is passing too quickly for us, and we’re finding that our departure date from this great island of the Gods is suddenly visible in our horizon.  Rushing to try to fit everything in is starting to disrupt our laid back, day-to-day mindset.  For me, it’s recently been a daily challenge of my ever challenging self …of wanting to do too many things.  Of course I thought I’d finish my novel here.  And why not start a blog?  Shouldn’t add that much time, right?  Then, there were the intentions of daily pool-therapy, daily walks in the rice fields with family, reading those three novels I downloaded on my nook.  Trips to Ubud.  Trips to the rice terraces.  Trips to the beach.  Let’s not forget to mention that the day before we left for Bali, I was driving around Boston, looking for a guitar case, sturdy enough to protect my guitar for check-in, because….well, how could I not have my guitar in Bali?

Sigh.

I haven’t called the local friends of my friend, Michael, yet.  To inquire of his passing.  Avoiding…

For Megan, she inquired prior to our departure about volunteering for a few hours at a local school in our nearby village.  Turns out to be the school that this villa’s proceeds go to.  She’s been in contact with the teacher, and every plan to meet has been upstaged by the village’s big Hindu ceremony.  But tomorrow, she will finally have her chance to see, first-hand, what local school life is like.

For Kai, well, she’s just happy-go-lucky until we have to prep her for the long plane ride home.  She has the pool.  She has her castle-gazebo, the gardens and the rice fields to explore in.  She has the attention of every local here.  She has the $1.50 princess dvds that have come in handy when we all need a break.  She is taking in the new culture with great finesse for a four-year old, wanting us to explain things that she hasn’t seen before and at the same time, accepting vastly different things as the norm.

…And tonight, after a long day of perusing through Ubud, I jokingly said to Agung, “Does anybody deliver around here?”

He proceeded to show me a stack of take-out menus in our bungalow – of several awesome restaurants in Ubud that deliver.  WHAAAT???  WHY HASN’T ANYONE TOLD ME ABOUT THIS BEFORE???!!!!

We got on the phone immediately.  Go figure.  Pizza delivery to the rice fields.

Sigh!