Emily’s Musings

“Oops! Looks like ’someone’ pooped!” David proclaimed as Hannah turned red in the face and her eyes started watering. “Finders Keepers!” I sarcastically told him! “Okay, fair enough.” David said, and off he went to change Hannah’s diaper.

A few hours later, the nose curling stench from Hannah’s direction told me that she had another “present” in her diaper. Obviously not thinking, I exclaimed to David, “EWE!!! Somebody, who is not you or me, did a big STINKITY STANK in their diaper!” Without wasting a millisecond, David said very smartly, “FINDERS KEEPERS!” How could I get out of it? There was no way. We are even on changing the poops today. I will be more careful next time I smell a rotten diaper. If I just wait a minute or so, without a doubt, David’s “parts per million nose” will detect the smell and he will be on diaper duty.

David will be off diaper duty for a month starting tomorrow. Hannah and I leave Saba in the morning to visit our family in the states! We are so excited! Four flights, and two days later, we will finally arrive at our first stop which is Temecula, California. We will visit my BFF sister Jenn, and then we will fly to Utah to visit with both my family and David’s family. On the way back to Saba, we will stop in Texas and visit some friends. We will stay with Daniel and Lydia. We will be gone for 31 days. I’m excited!

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My car is FINALLY fixed! Although I was only without a car for five days, I say FINALLY because it felt like an eternity! I have been at my house since Friday night when we discovered our car was completely hazardous to drive. I had to rely solely on my two feet and my thumb for transportation. Since I didn’t have anywhere “urgent” to be, I stayed at home, sulking thinking about how I really missed the freedom a car brings.

Today, I had places to go. Anywhere was where I was going. Anywhere! Driving through Hell’s Gate, I stopped to pick up a hitch hiker (not the same one from the last post). She got in the car and I immediately remembered that I had given her rides on a few other occasions. She had no recollection of me . . . at all! Not even a little. Like there are thousands of American moms on this tiny island that have a 13 month old baby and drive a white car. Just for the record, I am the only mom that drives a white car. Why do I know this useless titbit? Because this island is that small. Anyway, we obviously notice and remember different things. She immediately said:

“How old she are?”

“Excuse me?” (not really sure if she said what I thought she said with her crazy island accent)

“How old she are!” (as if louder voice was going to help me understand)

“Oh! She is 13 months.”

“She have clothes she done wit? I need ‘em. I give ‘em to kid in needs ‘em. She clothes done fit?”

This conversation went on for TEN minutes! TEN minutes of her interrogating me asking me to give her Hannah’s old clothes, as if I would just naturally throw her old clothes into the garbage because I am a wasteful, spoiled rotten American. Because all Americans are wasteful. She also asked my name and where I lived. She was very specific on the directions to my house. I am afraid she will be showing up at my door, DEMANDING Hannah’s clothes. Yikes! You would think I would learn to NOT pick up hitch hikers! It always ends up being a weird experience!

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Okay, I gave in. I bought Hannah a pair of Crocs. I really do think the shoe style is ugly, but now that I have seen 800,000 pairs of them, they have grown on me. Plus, everything is cute when it’s little! Hannah loves her new shoes, and I am still in shock that I purchased them on Saba! Yes, Saba. This crazy little island that doesn’t sell clothing, shoes, etc.

Aren’t these legs cute?

Hannah has discovered the joy of playing in the dog’s kennel.

Much to my dad’s chagrin, she loves to play in the kennel. She will spend hours going in and out of it.

We purchased this “Love Sac” from our neighbor who moved back to the states. Please do not mistake this for an oversized bean bag. It has been loads of fun for all of us, including the dogs. It is now the preferred seat to watch movies!

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Having a car on Saba is almost a luxury. About half of the islanders own a car. Notice that I wrote “a car” as in one car. We are one of the fortunate few that own a POC (Piece of Crap) vehicle. However, we are about to join the other unfortunate half that rely solely on their legs and their thumbs to get from place to place. Our Diahatsu Cuore, AKA “The Micromachine Car”, is dead. Just the other day I was thinking, “At what point is it not normal to drive a car with so many problems?” The gear box is almost gone. You can shift into first and second gear and that is it. It’s a good thing I don’t need third gear! A few weeks ago, the car started randomly dying anywhere, anytime. This was a little annoying. The car needed a new battery, and why didn’t we put one in right away? Your guess is as good as mine! On Saba. you learn to live with what you have, and you make everything work. This mentality is very Saban. Therefore, I have been Sabanized. Why did I allow myself to “Fred Flinstone” my car out of the garage and down my incredibly steep driveway to get it started? Was it because it felt like a rollercoaster and Hannah smiled and giggled with glee with the dramatic start of the car? I would like to think I am that creative to entertain my 13 month old child, but I know better.

The brakes are gone. Metal to metal. Apparently, that is bad. The car can no longer be driven until after the breaks are replaced on Wednesday. Please note how I could drive a car that randomly died all the time (needed a new battery, has a new one now), and needs a new gear box. If you can make it to your destination in neural or first gear, go for it! I know this is not a normal thought process for anyone. I am a little worried about how I will mesh back into society when we move back to the “real world”.

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