I shall call her “Grace”…

And grace shall be her name for the upward traversing of stairs remains her nemesis and the colliding with doors her bane…

Yup! You guessed it! Deandra fell UP the entry stairs of our villa and hit her hand on the door whilst trying to break her fall (poorly, I might add). The result being a knot on her knee, small flecks of shredded flip-flop scattered across the floor of our living room, and a broken bone in her right hand at the base of her pinky finger…

Imagine all the things she might normally do with said right hand… writing?!? Not a chance! Cooking?!? Still attainable with great care and patience… Washing dishes?!? No Way! Micah becomes the reluctant house slave with daily dish duty, weekly bathroom cleaning and his normal chores of sweeping, moping, and vacuuming. Did I mention he is also house- and pet-sitting for our neighbors, the Hughes’? LOL!

Too assuage your fears, Deandra is fine. The doctor says she must tape her pinky and ring-finger together for the next 3 weeks to allow the hand to heal. She is experiencing pain, but it is getting better. We also finally obtained the necessary medical supplies so that we can administer her B-12 shots!!! YAY!!!

Now for things to settle in and allow us to go to Italy!... It is still up in the air but maybe looking better? The prospect of Halloween in Naples and Thanksgiving in Sigonella is truly enticing!!! I fully realize that I will never look at pasta the same again, but I am fine with that! The opportunity to see living history that far pre-dates anything I have encountered in any definable measure is incredible. Granted I have seen glaciers that have been around for millennium… but I can’t truly assign an era of history to those massive chunks of moving ice… Being able to see remnants of the Roman Empire and historical sites that people have lived in and around since the days of the Bible and before… now THAT is incredible to contemplate!!

There is so much to look forward to just in the remainder of this year… After Italy, we get to plan for when Taylor and Reagan come to visit us here in Bahrain! That will be exciting and such a wonderful Christmas present from our young Marine! Unfortunately, Nathan is not yet eligible for vacation time or we would be trying to figure out how to get him out here too! That will have to wait until next year… along with Rota, Spain and Souda Bay, Greece and Singapore and Diego Garcia and Guam!!!

I think we will also look into a trip to Egypt to see the Pyramids and cruise down the Nile for a stretch! A co-worker is preparing to head out for that same trip in a couple of weeks! I am looking forward to hearing how it goes and what to look for and what to avoid!

In the meanwhile, it is daily living and nightly relaxing… I am enjoying the opportunity to see Deandra and Micah every day and watch movies together, or play games, and just be a semi-normal family even if it is in the Kingdom of Bahrain!

Peace, love, and shawarma!!!!