Waiting with Baited Breath...

  So Trump won... the Millenials are throwing temper-tanrrums all over the U.S., because the media cannot uphold its journalistic integrity of reporting the WHOLE story - just soundbites.  Whatever gets them the most hits.  Journalists have obviously sold out.  Gone are of the days of  'My Girl Friday'.  It's all about make a buck now!

  I didn't vote for Trump, I didn't vote for Clinton.  This is the FIRST time since I was legally able to vote that I haven't cast a ballot.  I've mailed in my ballots since I've been overseas, which is nearly 8 years now.

  People, especially the media and left leaning persons, don't understand HOW Trump won.  I'll explain to you how Trump won.  He won, because people are fed up of having their rights trampled on. The news would have you believe that ALL the people who voted for Trump hate Gays, Hispanics, Blacks, the poor, et al.  But that isn't the case.  While yes, the majority of people who cast their ballot for Trump were White and up hold a Judaeo-Christian belief system, does not make them a xenophobic, homophobic, racist, @sshats!!!
  People got tired of seeing and hearing that business were being shut down because they exercised their first amendment rights to refuse service to people (mainly gay couples) that didn't align with their beliefs.  They've gotten tired of being called racist, because they think that when a police officer gives an order you should obey it, not back talk, and thrash around, forcing that officer to elevate the situation to another level.  People are just sick and tired of being sick and tired.  The American population reached its boiling point, and said "Enough is enough!  We've done nothing but politicians for Eons, lets see what a non-politician does, cause he's better than the lying murderer running opposite."

  And here we are.  But the thing that worries me, and most of Europe, is what is Trump gonna do internationally.  In America, I'm not worried about what the Millenials are "protesting" over, because they are hired thugs of George Soros.  Trump isn't going to start massively deporting immigrants. He isn't going to overturn the right for the LGBT community to legally marry, or prevent women from getting abortions.  NO PRESIDENT HAS THE POWER TO OVERTURN SCOTUS RULINGS!!!!  What bothers and scares the bajezus out of Europe about a Trump presidency is his  "friendship" with Putin.

  If you know Russians, you know they aren't friends with anyone except other Russians, and even then, that is VERY limited.  Eastern Europe is scared that Trump will either A) withdraw all U.S. military presence out of Europe, or B) Let do Russia do what it wants without U.S. interference.  Either case is scary for E. Europe because since 1989, Russia has been struggling.  
   When Communism fell, Russia lost ALL of its Industry and Market.  The only thing Russian now has is oil and natural gas, both of which are rapidly depleting.  So what does it need to keep its people happy?  Why, give them back what they lost; their markets and industry.  Those markets and industry exist in the old Soviet Bloc, of which I am currently a resident.  The Russian military is currently 5 million strong.  The standing orders for the Romanian military in the event of a Russian invasion:  Defend the borders for at least 48 hours until help can arrive from another country.
The E.U. would rely heavily on N.A.T.O., or more specifically, the U.S., should Russia start flexing it's muscles.  And if Trump lets Putin have his way, well, not only am I and the rest of E.Europe screwed, but the whole world will be screwed.

  So please, all you college students over there in the U.S., please keep protesting against Trump, for whatever imaginary things you think he's gonna do that will cramp your lifestyle.  We over here in Eastern Europe are waiting with baited breath to see if we need to learn Russian, or flee for our very lives.

Morbid Curiosity

  So here it is, November 8, 2016.  Today is the day that we will probably look back on as the day that the end of the world began.  Regardless of who wins the U.S. Presidential election today, it's gonna be a disaster over the next 4 years both politically and economically.  The only upside to this, is as a friend of mine pointed out, is that Saturday Night Live is going to be AWESOME for the next 4 years.  Because the White House will be giving them great material to saterize....is that even a word??

  So I've ruffled a LOT of feathers this election year because I have flat out refused to exercise my right to vote.  There was no lesser of the 2 evils this election.  One is lying, criminal, who is fine with aborting babies up to 36 weeks of gestation. My oldest was born at 36 weeks....She was 7 lbs, 6.2 oz and 21 inches long.  NO problems at all.  The other is a loud mouthed buffoon who has been involved in more law suits that any normal person or corporation should be.  He's declared bankruptcy at least once.  So how exactly does he think HE is the best person to fix the budget?

  But besides the obvious character defects of both candidates, NEITHER of them gave any kind of clear, precise plan of what they want to do to turn things around for the better in the U.S.  All they did was sling mud back and forth.  Which, yes, that's normal during a political race.  But this year all that was said was about how bad the other candidate was.

  A LOT of people my age (Gen X'ers) decided not to vote this year, because, well.....look at the choices.  I didn't like McCain/Palin, but they were better than Trump.  Heck, Obama was a better candidate than Hillary.

  It looks like Hillary will be the next president, and incidentally the first female president.  This is not a great day for females.  Merkel has made a mess of Germany, and the U.K.'s new female leader, I forget her name, isn't doing so hot either.  I'm not saying women can't lead and do a great job, it just seems as if we haven't found the right woman to lead.    We haven't found the right man yet either.....well we did, we 'they' killed him.

  So as much as I hate this election year, and I kept the $3 it would've cost me to mail in my overseas ballot, I'm tuning in to the news to see the outcome of this spectacular train wreck.  I can't help it.  Neither can anyone else....It's like passing a horrific accident, where you know you're going to see a decapitated body, blood and gore, and you know you shouldn't look, but you do anyway, because, well.....Morbid Curiosity.

Back Alley or Dr. Office?

  Okay so yeah, I live overseas, but I still cast a ballot on elections.  What the knuckleheads in D.C. do still kind of affects me.  This year I have completely given up, I haven't' sent in my overseas voter registration or whatever you call it.  Because honestly this years candidates have left me feeling sick.  I was thinking of casting my ballot for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson but he's left me feeling as ill as Trump and Clinton, both of whom I believe are bat sh*t crazy!  Johnson is good because he's all about smaller government, no wars, flat tax, etc.  However he IS for mandatory vaccinations and he's pro-choice.  However I'm somewhere on the fence with the whole pro-choice pro-life thing.

  During a recent FB exchange, I feel I need to express my opinion on the abortion issue.

 First of all I detest abortion, I believe there are other alternatives to abortion.....HELLO!  Adoption!  There are literally millions of women unable to conceive who would LOVE top adopt a newborn.  If you haven't seen it and can get past all the F-bombs, watch the movie "Juno".

  BUT, I would rather have abortion be legal th Laan illegal, and here's why.  As much as I loathe the idea of abortion, I would rather be able to see a qualified doctor in a sterilized environment as opposed to a dingy, dirty room in some back alley clinic, dingy hotel room or apartment where the woman is likely to get an infection and die.  See "Dirty Dancing" or the foreign move "4Luni, 3 Saptamani, si 2 zile" / "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days".

  My reasoning for this stance, simple:  a woman who gets an abortion in a legal, sterile clinic can later change her mind about her views on abortion, and maybe counsel women also seeking abortion.  A woman who doesn't have a legal avenue to obtain an abortion not only looses a baby, but possibly her life.

  Laws are strange things.  As it stands now, a woman can legally kill her unborn baby, but if a stranger or loved one kills a pregnant woman, the murderer is charged with 2 counts of murder, while the abortion seeking mother gets nothing.  That makes no sense to me.  Now I'm not saying that the law is wrong, but it's contradictory in a sense.  I get that a woman who has an abortion chose to end the life of the baby, and that the pregnant woman didn't want an abortion and actually WANTED the baby; hence the double murder charge if said pregnant woman is murdered.  From a legal standpoint this all makes sense.

  This is the thing conservatives need to remember; it's ALL about upholding the law, even if you don't agree with the law.  Sometimes, the law goes against everything you believe in, unless you take a step back and look at it from all angles.

  Again I am Pro-Life, but from a legal standpoint I am Pro-Choice.  The majority of conservatives identify as Christian.  As Christians we must remember we are NOT judge and jury, we are mere witnesses.  Only God can judge people.  God will judge women who have aborted babies.  I don't think it's right or fair to make a woman pay for a mistake with her life, not when she has a chance to seek redemption in the eyes of God and to help other women who are thinking about abortion.

  Sunday morning, take a moment and look at the woman or women sitting next to or around you.  You don't know who they are, not really.  They might have had an abortion back before they gave their lives to Christ but are too ashamed to admit it.  Are you going to give them dirty looks, and accuse them if they do admit it? Of course not, because they're like you now, right? They're Christians!

  So why not take the attitude you have towards the repentant woman next to you in the pew and apply it to the unrepentant woman who has had or is wanting to have an abortion.

And Jesus Wept

  There has been a LOT of crazy things going on in the world, more so than usual it seems, but yesterday it hit home for me....literally.  My hometown, Baton Rouge, LA. again within a one week span is again front and center of the national (U.S.) and international media.

  Seven police officers were shot in the line of duty, 3 have died and one is fighting for his life.  We don't know for sure if the gun men responsible for this act were with the Black Lives Matter movement or if they were acting alone.  We do know that one of the gun men, who was killed during the shoot out was NOT from Louisiana, and I pretty much bet that the other men involved were from out of state as well.

  See Louisianians, no matter the pigment of our skin don't generally do violent acts like this one.  We know our rights, and we know that shooting cops isn't going to solve anything.  Even after Alton Sterling was killed by 2 police and his family and friends were protesting and asking all the people protesting with them to protest peacefully, to NOT engage in violence.  See Violence only begets Violence.  Hate begets hate. Those are the words of Jesus Christ and of Martin Luther King, Jr.

  While I understand what the people with the #BLM are protesting, and why they are upset, I don't believe that calling for violence against police and non blacks is the answer.  I'm sure the response I'll get is that I'm speaking from a place of White Privilege.  I don't see it that way, as I have had to scrimp, save, fight and claw my way for everything in my life.  I wasn't born with the proverbial silver spoon in my mouth.  We lived pay check to pay check.  There were many jobs I applied for, was more than qualified for, but didn't get because I was not black.  I got 1 speeding ticket a month for 6 months in a row.  I was doing maybe 10 mph over the limit.  Each time I was pulled over it was a white male police officer.  The one ticket I did get out of was by a Black Texas State Trooper who pulled me over just outside of Beaumont on the I-10 West headed towards Houston.  I was driving home to Houston from a visit in Baton Rouge, to pay a ticket I'd gotten over the holidays, not for speeding but for changing lanes under a traffic light, and an expired inspection sticker.  Anyway, when I was pulled over by the trooper it happened to be my birthday.  Again, I was doing maybe 10 mph over.  The trooper told me to slow it down, and Happy Birthday!  The only reason I got out of that ticket was because it was my birthday.  Had it not been, I'd of had yet another ticket. So no, I don't believe in the whole white privilege concept.  I've never  received special treatment based on my skin color, and I'm as white as they come.  I'm of predominately Irish decent.  I have red hair, blue eyes, freckles, and fair skin.  When I say fair skin, I mean, I could be Snow White minus the 7 dwarfs.

  So okay, I side tracked.  My point is, I see tons of posts with Scriptures, and about Jesus, and All Lives Matter, etc.  But do we mean it?  I mean seriously?!?  If you see a black man dressed like Snoop Dog, does your body stiffen up, do you get scared?  Probably so.  But that guy might not be a gangster.  He may not be a drug dealer or carrying a gun.  Why not instead of yelling and protesting, why don't we try to engage each other.  If you see a mother in need of help getting her kids and groceries into the car, stop and help her. If you see and old person needing help crossing the road or the parking lot, help them.  Don't look at their skin color, look at the person.  Because underneath we are all made up of the same stuff.

  

Bad with $$

  Okay, so as most of you probably know, my husband has to work away from home in order to make ends meet.  I am and always have been bad with budgeting money.  Having 3 growing kids in school doesn't help matters.  We are trying to save money to buy another car, as ours is nearly 20 years old, guzzling gas, and starting to have mechanical issues.  We also need/want to  add onto our house.  Our kitchen is maybe 20 sq.ft., and only accessible from outside.  Our plan is to add a large "L" shaped room onto the back of our house.  This would include a large living room and the kitchen, which will be accessible from inside the house.  Unfortunately, I am NOT the best at budgeting money.  I try, I really do, but, there always seems to be something that comes up; mainly the old car; that eats into the money.

  Marius (husband) is stuck away from us working his butt off, and for what?!? For me to screw it all up, evidently.  It hasn't been all bad though.  In the last few months, I've gotten our firewood for the winter, renovated our hall/entrance way, as well as our bedroom.  I've had people tell me I should write a book about my experiences as an expat, but hello, I have a blog and I don't even have 100 followers, so really, a book is gonna help?!?  That's a pipe dream, but I guess I won't know till I try????

  If anyone out there has something a chart or what have you to help me better budget my money, by all means, PLEASE send it to me.  Cause seriously, I'm awful at budgeting and saving.

Brexit & All that Jazz....

  So, England has voted to leave the European Union.  I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.  I'm not the only one it seems.  The entire world waits with baited breath to see what will happen next in regards to England leaving the E.U.  The British Pound has lost most of it's value since the vote.  This doesn't surprise me as most of the people [read elites] such as big corporations and banks wanted England to stay with the E.U.

  I personally am not a fan of the E.U., especially is Angela Merkel decided to start importing refugees on an already stressed E.U. economy.  My dislike for the E.U. was founded long before that though.  I'm not a fan of BIG government, and let's be honest folks that's all the E.U. is, one big multi-lingual Big Brother.

  I don't really see where the E.U. has done much good for Romania.  The only good it's brought is making it easier for men to find work in other countries without the need of expensive and time consuming visa applications and work permits. Other than that, the E.U. has done nothing but extort Romanian's natural resources from her at a fraction of what they are worth.

  I'm not sure if Britain leaving the E.U. will make or break it, but one thing is for sure, Britain is changing and evidently not for the better.  Racism is up by double since the vote.  I have a brother in law and other Romanian friends working and living in England.  I'm fearful for their well being now because of the hate being spewed.  Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson who were leading the leave campaign were all about anti-immigration, especially as it concerned "refugees" from Muslim countries, but evidently they meant ALL immigrants, especially the ones from Poland and Romania who take those crappy jobs that no one else will take.  Well done Nigel and Boris, (btw, that isn't a British name, sounds E.European to me), well done lads.  You've taken an already uneasy social situation, and made it volatile.  You should be proud of yourselves.  And I see where you boys are back peddling on promises made during the leave campaign, such as taking the millions of pounds per week that usually goes to the E.U. and infusing that money into the National Healthcare System......nope, you're not gonna do that now!  Oh and that promise about if it was a close margin, you'd petition for a 2nd referendum, but that was only if you lost.  Listen fellas, if you're gonna be a sore loser, than at least be magnanimous when you win.  Keep your word.  Doing crap like that is what makes people distrust government and politicians.

ABUSE

  So I was speaking with a dear friend earlier.  She is in the middle of a divorce.  I know her her soon to be ex husband.  The things she endured struck close to home.  People now speak about abuse in such general terms  Speaking to someone in a way they don't like constitutes as abuse now a days.  But expressing an opinion contrary to your own does NOT constitute as abuse.  Let me please explain to you what abuse really means.

  Abuse is telling someone 24/7 for 4 years ad nausea-um that you are stupid is abuse.  Holding someone captive for 12 hours is abuse.  Holding someone down and spitting on them is abuse.  Shoving the butt of  a shotgun in a persons rib cage is abuse.  Kicking a person [female] while laying on the ground incapacitated , in the tail bone is abuse.  Ripping the clothes off a person while  they are trying to escape you is abuse.  Beating someone on their back is abuse.  Holding someone by their throat with your bare hands is abuse.
Holding someone at gunpoint and knife-point is abuse.

  I personally endured all the afore mentioned things.  I never spoke of it before for fear of shame.  But I am afraid no longer because I KNOW that there are women out there who are enduring worse hour after hour with no end in sight.
 
 My abuse started as a emotional and physiological.  My ex wouldn't let me have any friends.  I couldn't go shopping for groceries alone, but I soon realized it was something worse.  He couldn't and wouldn't hold a job for more than a few months.  If I was able to have a friend it was only with someone who held the same views as him.

  I soon felt trapped and when I confronted him and told him I wanted out, I was held captive and beaten and berated for 12 hours.

  This is something women the world over face everyday.  I endured abuse for 12 hours, and could have gone back to this loser of a man, but I decided NO!  I decided to stand on my own 2 feet and see if I did any better.  There were a few trips and stumbles along the way, but I found my way clear.  I am now a strong woman with 3 kids.  Yes, I am married again, but to a real man, who would never think of putting his hands on me.

  YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  To whoever is reading this, YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH!   GRAB YOUR THINGS, YOUR KIDS AND GET THE HELL OUT!

  You have the support of women everywhere!  If you need someone to "speak" to, please email me at odessa.toma@gmail.com

A day of Love....

  So it's February 14th.  Valentine's Day.  Before moving to Europe, I, probably like most Americans assumed (making an ass of U and Me) is International.....Not so.  Like many people have said before, it's a commercial holiday, fabricated by Hallmark and the likes to make money in between holidays.

 Turns out, "they" were right.  Valentines Day was something pretty much non-existent here in the old Eastern Bloc 7 years ago.  Within, I'd say, the last 3- 4 years Valentine's has started catching on, with people opting to spend money they really don't have on a fabricated American Holiday.  Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVED getting flowers and chocolates, and or a nice night out which included, dinner and a movie.  But, now, I'm older, and detached from American sentimentality, I've realized I don't need one day out of the year to remind me to tell my husband how much I love him.  He doesn't need it either.  Neither of us ever needed it.

  Yes, Valentine's Day is nice.  It's nice and great to get away from the house, the dog, cat, kids, and just BE adults.  The adults you were before marriage and parenthood took over.  But really every married couple should have Valentine's Day at least once a month.

  Women, especially stay at home moms, need that time to feel like an adult woman.  As a SAHM, I can tell you, we want to be dressed and have our hair and make-up done for our husbands when they come home, but chasing kids and animals around all day kind of puts a hamper on doing that.  We don't like to be the "nagging wife" who says, I need you to do that, and fix this when you come home after a long hard day at work.  We want to listen to you and your problems and issues, offer our two cents when and if it is needed.  But we also want to have you listen to us.  To look at us and see us as that beautiful girl who took your breath away, not the vomit covered house wench we think (and in reality do) we look and smell like.

  So in my mind, EVERYDAY should be Valentine's day, especially for us married couples, with little people still occupying our houses.  So with that said, I would like to wish, my husband, my own personal Funny Valentine, Marius Toma, a very happy and very beloved Valentine's Day!

Social Media, or Social Criminals?

  Okay, so my oldest, a 13 year old of the female variety has begged me and her father for her very own Facebook account, to which we both said NO!  Not just No, but the 'HELLO NAW, the Lawd Gawd would hav ta come down out da sky and command us to give ya skinny behind permission' type no!

  I trust my kids to a point.  I'm not naive (I had to spell Evian; as in the bottled water company;backwards there); teenagers are sneaky, I was one not too long ago.  Okay yes it was many moons ago, but my memory is still in tact.  Hell, I was one of the sneakiest kids you'd ever meet.  Had every parent I met fooled, with the exception of my "Auntie Mom".  Yes that was a play on the Rosalind Russell character.  My actual mom wasn't really around, so my Aunt (dad's sister) filled in as mom after my grandma died.  Any who, I remember what it was like to be 13.  We thought we knew it all and that our parents were complete imbeciles who had fallen off of the proverbial turnip truck yesterday.  I mean hello!  They like music by Bobby Darin for cryin' out loud!  And now, my kids here me jamming out to Radiohead and are like, WHAT IS THAT?!?

  So back on point.  I and my better half explained to our  taller than me daughter......yes, she is taller than me by 4" and 1 shoe size,  that the world is full of crazy people!  We showed her a video of an adult guy who with parental consent, set up a fake Facebook account, posing as a 14 year old boy, who contacted these girls, and set up meetings with them.  ALL 3 of these girls agreed to meet with him.  They thought they were meeting a boy their own age.  Our daughter said she would allow us to check her page, etc.  We gave her a trial run, letting her use MY Facebook to message friends.  She was in the house on my android, while me and hubby sat outside at patio table on the tablet, and watched as she chatted with a boy, and quickly deleted messages thinking we would NEVER see them.  We busted her then and there. Tears were shed by both her and hubby, cause well, it surprised him that she was being sneaky....me, not so much!

  To drive our point home about crazy people, I also noticed she had befriended and messaged a Disney Europe star.  This singer/actress was actually responding to my daughter.  I pointed out to my daughter that celebrities have pages, but they NEVER respond to private messages like this one was doing, that this was probably some sicko who was saying, "Oh I would love to be able to perform in your town, but I'm already scheduled to be in 'such and such' city on that holiday"  This starlet is from Spain, so why would she be performing in Romania, on a Romanian Orthodox holiday?!?  That was another point I made......sorry got sidetracked.....I've noticed I do that  in my writing not just verbally!   Hmmmm....

  I went on to explain that, perhaps not immediately, but eventually this "starlet" would message saying, "Hey, look I've got a gig in X city, I'll be passing through your little village at this time on this date.  Why don't you tell me where to meet you and what you'll be wearing, and I'll pick you up and you can come to the show with me, stay backstage, and we'll drop you off after.." She'd run down thinking she's been hand-picked, that's she special in some way to this person, and then she gets picked up not by the "star" but by some HUGE, ugly men, who will take her out of the country and sell her as a slave to some God-forsaken country where horrible things will happen to her.

  Part of her believed me and was scared, but I could see that part of her thought I was just being "mom" and making stuff up to scare her.

  I guess my point is that, perhaps I am paranoid.  Maybe I'm crazy, and should be medicated, however with all the messed up stuff I see on the nightly news from all over the globe I seriously doubt it.  I'm probably to most normal, most rational person on the planet!  Not literally, but ya know, compared to those running things, uhhhh, Yeah, I am!  I don't understand why parents let their kids under the age of 17 have unfettered access to the internet.  It just completely baffles me!

  Ok, my dog is barking at something, probably a fox out in my vineyards.....GOD I miss the 2nd Amendment!  I'd give anything for a rifle and scope!

♪♫ Baby, It's Cold Outside ♫♪

So Snowstorm started here Saturday night around 10:30 p.m. GMT +2.  At first it was melted as soon as it hit the ground cause it was only 3 degrees Celsius.  Well it is now Monday, I'm not sure exactly how much snow was dumped on us from Saturday until sometime early this a.m.  But I've got snow drifts in excess of 7 ft. high.  It's not snowing now, but the wind is blowing at around 50 km/hr with gusts up to 70 km/hr.  in the roads the snow is at least 2 ft. deep.  Roads throughout the entire "state" or county of Tulcea are closed.  Schools are closed today and tomorrow, and will probably be closed Wednesday as well.  My kids are getting cabin fever, they keep asking if they walk the 1 km down to the store, for what I have no clue, as we don't need anything.  But I don't go out in this unless it's to grab more wood for the fire, or to shovel the snow from around the house, especially the front door.

  Snow completely covered my bedroom windows this morning.  It was kinda cool the way it stuck, cause it looked as if it had been swagged.  But I had to get out there this am.m and clean it off.  I don't like this kind of weather, especially where I am out in the country.  The reason, local officials are NOT at all worried with cleaning the roads to make them passable, especially for emergency vehicles.  The laws clearly state that they must do that, but don't.  2 years ago, we had a similar snow storm and at around 1 in the morning my neighbors house caught fire.  Fire trucks couldn't get up to the house to put out the fire because the roads were impassable.  She lost nearly everything.  That scared me, cause what if it had been a medical emergency, like one of my kids severely injured????  My oldest is now bigger than I am.  I'm about 5'4", she's 13 and 5'7".  I weigh about 115 lbs, she's probably right around 100 lbs.  I would not be able to carry her through 4-5 ft. snow drifts, 1 km downhill to meet an ambulance at the main road.  There are several older people up here on the hill around me, what about them?  We all pay our taxes, so what are they doing with the money?  It looks like government officials all have new cars, nice homes and or apartments, which are completely renovated to be modern, with new shiny furniture, and nice new clothes.

 Perhaps I shouldn't have bought a house on country roads you might say, but why should I be denied rights, because I loved the house, and the property and the exquisite view of the Danube I have?!?  Like I said, we pay our taxes, we have no back taxes or unpaid bills anywhere, well, I'm a little behind on getting my water bill paid, but only because I generally can't find anyone in the office when I go to try to pay it.

  Anyway, rant over, snow is pretty and all that, but dang it makes country life hard.  Once it starts to warm up, and the snow starts to melt, it's gonna be UGLY!  I'll be dealing with mud for a month or so.  So basically I will not be able to drive to my house till probably late March or early April!  Ugggghhhh......gag me with a spoon.

  Okay, so rant wasn't over, but it is now.  If you're reading this from my home state of Louisiana, I'm jealous!  Eat some crawfish for me will, ya please?!?  If you're in a cold, snowy climate like me, sorry.  Stay inside where it's warm, cause Baby, it's cold outside!

Changing Time Zones

So it's coming up on the 7th anniversary of my HUGE life change, picking up with 3 small kids and moving to the other side of the planet.  It's a daunting task for people without kids, much less someone with a 6 year old, 4 year old and 18 month old baby.  Unfortunately for  me, at that time there didn't exist a lot in the way of Ex-Pat forums, pages, sites etc.  But with more and more people leaving their homeland in search of some more attainable utopia than what they were born into, there are ex-pat communities springing up all over the place online.

  One such site is  http://www.expat.com  It has a plethora of information for those looking to make a big move or for those who have already made the move and are looking for ex-pat in their new surroundings.  Unfortunately for myself, there is not a large amount of expat in my neck of the woods.  But there is a lot of informed and interesting people I've met in these online expat communities.  I've been able to both give and receive needed advice.

  One question that most expat or rather soon to be expat always ask, is "what is the bed advice you can give as to how to adapt to a new place and culture.  My response is always the same.  You gotta look at the new environment for what it is, NEW.  It's outside of your normal, outside of your comfort zone sometimes.  You will have overwhelming bouts of homesickness sometimes because you just miss what you know as normal, and comfortable, but it will pass.  You gotta try to find the beauty in everything around you.  If you only see a half empty glass you'll have a half empty life.  But if you find the good in everything, and put "home" into an international perspective, you'll see that life is basically the same everywhere, just with cultural differences.  Keep your sense of adventure.  Walk into life with arms wide open.

Happy 2016!

So I must admit, I'm getting old, for the last few years I've been asleep, along with the hubby before the stroke of midnight.  Our kids wake us up to pop their kiddie bubbly for them, then we all go to bed at exactly 12:05 a.m., every.single.January 1st!

  So I know people make new years resolutions, I've personally never done that because well, I'm a chronic procrastinator, just ask my kids!  Makes me wonder if the people who actually do makes resolutions *ever* keep them?I mean seriously if you feel the need to sit down an make a list of things about yourself, your life, situation, what-have-you, do you really think you're gonna do any of them?  Besides maybe cutting back from 6 cups of coffee a day to 5?!?

  I think that this is one aspect of Romanian mentality that doesn't drive me nuts....they don't make resolutions, they know what needs to be done, and they do it, without any fuss, or social media announcements.  They announce things that matter: marriages, births, baptisms, important life events.  The rest is just the day to day of it all.

  I see all these meme's all over Facebook from friends that say something along the lines of "this is the year you'll receive God's blessings"....I have a problem with that line of reasoning.  I think if you are a Christian and know what the bible says, then you know you only receive His blessings by living a Godly life.  Posting a random meme about God isn't going to reign down pennies from heaven on you.  All through Proverbs and the Gospels, God's word speaks of honest men, doing honest work, and reaping the benefits of working for what they've received, and yes, God rewards the honest, God fearing man with opportunities, blessings, etc.  But everyone seems to be so BLESS ME oriented, as far as money is concerned that they have forgotten that God says that the MEEK shall inherit the earth, and that it is easier for a rich man to enter through the eye of a needle than to enter the kingdom of heaven.

  Okay so there's my Rant for New Years.  Now here's my Rave:  Hubby was out of work for like 5 months, it's been a ROUGH summer, fall, and beginning of winter.  Hubby just left at 3 a.m. this very morning to head back to Malta to start work.  It's gonna be hard on him physically, but it's good that I won't have to keep asking the parental unit for help......that's a BAAAAAAD feeling; being 37 years old and having to ask your parents to help you pay bills and buy food.  But now that he's going back to work, we'll be able to finish doing the home improvements we started!  So YEA for the Toma Family!

 Now for my Rave, which is an old rave.  Romanian version of potato salad, which is called Salata de Beouff.  Not sure if I spelled that right, but OMG it's good!  It's made with, potatoes, green peas, carrots, olives, pickles, chicken breast and home made mayonnaise, which yes, I have learned to make!  This stuff is so good, it will make ya go home and slap ya mamma!  It's made at Christmas and New Year!  Some make it at Easter as well, well, at least I do, cause it's just awesome!

  So there, my Rants, Raves & Faves for the end of 2015!