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An ever-present Should
11 Feb 2026 10:42 am I really should post more. I cannot count the times that I have thought it, intended it, started it, if only in my mind. This is not an obligation I sense from anyone, not even myself, just a desire to have a better record of thoughts and happenings at this time in my life.
When I finally sit down to do it, it all seems so big. Too much to share, too much to sift through, which means I inevitably end up with the Bullet Point Post.
It is what it is. Let's just do a big one for now, with visuals, and then I will perhaps do myself the honor of respecting my sense of Should in the future.
Pottery:
I have not been inclined to do pottery since before Christmas. It just "weighs" too much in many senses of the term, and I literally set a mental block on wanting to do it because of the logistics of our move this summer. I am ready to put the wheel and kiln up for sale (if we can get a good price, this will save us having to ship them back to France where we could probably buy new ones for cheaper than cost here plus the shipping); J, however, is going to do a terra sigilata training with an amazing ceramist come May, and he wants to keep the material to practice. I have been thinking I could throw a few small vessels for him to practice on, too. Just to keep my hands in the clay. A couple of weeks ago, I did throw a tumbler for a friend to practice sgrafitto on, and it was humbling how much I felt like a debutant again. Silly to say debutant when I did, indeed, start less than a year ago. I do intend to get back to it, but when? Too much uncertainty about the future to hazard a guess.
Kitty
Pearl is doing well, already an indispensable part of the family with her own quirky character. She is, unbeknownst to her, getting ready to travel with all her shots and tests. She does NOT like the carrier, so we have to get a good calming agent for her. Picture of Pearl a the painting below.
Art
I have been painting a lot. I am also retaking a course that I was trying to complete when the war broke out in 2023. Aside from my classwork, I did a series of paintings of the kiddos.
Health
Ugh. I have an appointment with a surgeon today to see if he thinks I need to have a High Tibial Osteotomy for my arthritic knee. He had me do the x-rays last Friday to see how I bear the weight in my legs and proposed this surgery to correct it if it is what is causing the compression in the inside of my knee. I went into the appointment thinking he would say something totally different, so his prognosis was a bit of a shock. I still don't know how I feel about the procedure. I will get a second opinion.
Move
J's contract ends in July, and the kids and I will move back to France in June. Where we will go from there? Who knows. So far, J has applied for jobs in various French Overseas Departments. He can apply for another embassy post, but that will certainly mean waiting another year before he is assigned, whereas these other jobs could see him leaving as soon as September of this year. We are once again in the uncomfortable position of "sitting between two chairs," to use the French expression.
We will see where we land!
Travel
We have prepaid tickets back to France at the end of the month. We'll stay for three weeks and get the house ready. J's cousin will come back and take care of Pearl while we are gone. We still don't have her rabies clearance, so she can't come with us this time. Today we went to get our photos and fingerprints taken for our last Lebanese visa cards. If we had left Lebanon in Dec as we were supposed to as per J's first contract, we would not have had to do this. It was a painless experience*, so all is good. The officials assured us the paperwork will be done before we fly out, which is going to save us 200USD in fines for expired visas.
_______
*This is my 5th time doing it, and I have had to wait an hour (instead of the five minutes it actually takes) before on two occasions because the lady taking care of my papers had to chat and chat and chat with friends, totally ignoring me in favor of her personal drama.
When I finally sit down to do it, it all seems so big. Too much to share, too much to sift through, which means I inevitably end up with the Bullet Point Post.
It is what it is. Let's just do a big one for now, with visuals, and then I will perhaps do myself the honor of respecting my sense of Should in the future.
Pottery:
I have not been inclined to do pottery since before Christmas. It just "weighs" too much in many senses of the term, and I literally set a mental block on wanting to do it because of the logistics of our move this summer. I am ready to put the wheel and kiln up for sale (if we can get a good price, this will save us having to ship them back to France where we could probably buy new ones for cheaper than cost here plus the shipping); J, however, is going to do a terra sigilata training with an amazing ceramist come May, and he wants to keep the material to practice. I have been thinking I could throw a few small vessels for him to practice on, too. Just to keep my hands in the clay. A couple of weeks ago, I did throw a tumbler for a friend to practice sgrafitto on, and it was humbling how much I felt like a debutant again. Silly to say debutant when I did, indeed, start less than a year ago. I do intend to get back to it, but when? Too much uncertainty about the future to hazard a guess.
One of the last things I sold:
Kitty
Pearl is doing well, already an indispensable part of the family with her own quirky character. She is, unbeknownst to her, getting ready to travel with all her shots and tests. She does NOT like the carrier, so we have to get a good calming agent for her. Picture of Pearl a the painting below.
Art
I have been painting a lot. I am also retaking a course that I was trying to complete when the war broke out in 2023. Aside from my classwork, I did a series of paintings of the kiddos.
Health
Ugh. I have an appointment with a surgeon today to see if he thinks I need to have a High Tibial Osteotomy for my arthritic knee. He had me do the x-rays last Friday to see how I bear the weight in my legs and proposed this surgery to correct it if it is what is causing the compression in the inside of my knee. I went into the appointment thinking he would say something totally different, so his prognosis was a bit of a shock. I still don't know how I feel about the procedure. I will get a second opinion.
Move
J's contract ends in July, and the kids and I will move back to France in June. Where we will go from there? Who knows. So far, J has applied for jobs in various French Overseas Departments. He can apply for another embassy post, but that will certainly mean waiting another year before he is assigned, whereas these other jobs could see him leaving as soon as September of this year. We are once again in the uncomfortable position of "sitting between two chairs," to use the French expression.
We will see where we land!
Travel
We have prepaid tickets back to France at the end of the month. We'll stay for three weeks and get the house ready. J's cousin will come back and take care of Pearl while we are gone. We still don't have her rabies clearance, so she can't come with us this time. Today we went to get our photos and fingerprints taken for our last Lebanese visa cards. If we had left Lebanon in Dec as we were supposed to as per J's first contract, we would not have had to do this. It was a painless experience*, so all is good. The officials assured us the paperwork will be done before we fly out, which is going to save us 200USD in fines for expired visas.
_______
*This is my 5th time doing it, and I have had to wait an hour (instead of the five minutes it actually takes) before on two occasions because the lady taking care of my papers had to chat and chat and chat with friends, totally ignoring me in favor of her personal drama.
