Resolution and Independence

"My question eagerly did I renew,'How is it that you live, and what is it that you do?'" 'Resolution and Independence' (Wordsworth 1802) ; (a question eagerly asked of many modern day ex pat wives).

Resolution

I have been a bad blogger - its a fact. Only one posting since October when I randomly began to scribble after a glass of rather rancid Turkish wine (bring wine as well as baked beans when you come to stay). It was too soon, I was in transition, I had too much Turkish homework, I had too many excuses. But here is my New Year's resolution and I'm going public: to write a blog at least once a fortnight. Now I'm nervous... The house is up and running, nearly all the pictures have been put up and fallen down again, the heating system has been activated and broken down many times (deserves its own blog entry), the children are pretty settled in school, I have walks for Ruby and know where to get organic bulgur wheat. I am learning Turkish (painfully slowly), I have made some great friends and am beginning to know their innermost thoughts (that one always takes time). Westnell is still Westnell and we chug along raising more money. I should have time! But then came Christmas, school holidays and more excuses!

Independence

It's not that I don't love the school holidays and all the fun things we do during them, but there is just so much TIME once they have gone back and so much space in my head to think thoughts that might be bloggable. Ruby and I can march ahead along the Bosphorus promenade with the wind blowing back our ears (a more fetching site in her profile than mine) and I can fashion adjectives about the turquoise waters and gargantuan tankers that sluggishly cut through them on their foggy route to the Black Sea. When the dears are with me I must focus on not stepping in the dog poo and avoiding the twins toppling into the drink as an errant fisherman whips back his baited line. With the kids, we stop at every council-created exercise park and try the twizzle-you-round-thingy ('without throwing your sister off, please!') and the 2-person-ski-move thingy ('not such big strides or Raffy will split his trousers, please!'). Inevitably we get told off for not using the equipment properly - its really for overweight adults. With the kids we can only walk TO somewhere - tea shop, video store or pizza place in Yenikoy (the latter is heralded on the fridge magnet as 'Vagabundo - pizza and pup' - sadly we have been disappointed never to see the pup, but it got their interest). On my own I can just walk nowhere..... and THINK!


No more excuses...

P.S. By the way, the Wordsworth poem is also known as the 'Leech Gatherer' - not something that many expat wives go in for here, happily.