Not Too Long To Go Now

Boy do we ever need some rain. Everything around town is brown and dusty, the grass is dying and the heat is something else. The water rationing continues, still as irregular as ever so whenever the water comes on there's a mad rush to flush the toilet, do the dishes, laundry and have showers.

Madison is growing up right before our eyes. I'm glad he's going to NZ with his mommy in a few weeks because we're seeing the last few months of him being a "baby" and I'd love for his families in NZ to see him while he's still soooo adorable and cute.

I had a nice conversation with him in the car the other day about his upcoming trip. I said to him, "Son, you and mommy will be going on the plane soon". He replied, "Daddy stay home? and I said, "Yeah, daddy stay home, mommy and Madison go plane". He then said, "Papa stay home?" and I said, "Yeah Papa and daddy stay home". I found it quite amazing that he could grasp the concept of going away and understand that I wasn't coming.

My boy is growing up.

Chatting With My Son

Madison is becoming quite the conversationalist. His vocabulary is limited but the innovative way he strings words together to convey what he wants to say never fails to make us smile. The more he talks the more he tries to boss us around.

It's so much fun chatting with him, I even think he lies on purpose sometimes when he knows that telling the truth will mean that he has to do something he doesn't want to do.

If he doesn't want to have a bath and we ask him if he's had a bath already, he replies straight-faced, "Uma bath!" and then runs away. Most of the time he dislikes having to go through the inconvenience of having his nappy changed, so when we ask him, "Have you done poopoo?", he looks you in the eye and says, "NO" even though it's obvious that he has.

At 2 years old, my son is already as devious as his daddy; and if I wasn't his daddy I'd find it hilarious. Sigh.

Two or Three?

There's no doubt Rachel and Madison are going to NZ next month. The only question is whether they should go for 2 or 3 weeks. Two weeks is a long time but when it gets divided up between sisters, brothers, parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents and friends, it really doesn't allow much time with everyone. And when you're expending a bit of money to make the trip happen in the first place, you wanna make sure you get your moneys worth.

The next trip to NZ could well be 2 years away, so what do you think we should do?

Yay for Water!

We finally have water at the house. There must have been a few complaints laid with the water authority because there was a piece about our plight on the evening news. Something about the EPC using the water for power generation and not sharing it with the SWA; which I find to be absolutely ridiculous.

So now we have water from 12 midday to 12 midnight. It's not much but it's a start!

Travel Arrangements

Flight arrangements:
Depart Sun 17 Oct Apia 3.5am Stop over in Tonga
Arrive Mon 18 Oct Auckland 8.30am

Depart Sun 31 Oct Auckland 5.20pm
Arrive Sat 30 Oct Apia 9.00pm.

Arrangements (still to be finalised):
Stay in Auckland for three days 18-20 Oct with Joanne, Junior and Family ;Mum and Dad to pick us up from Auckland, and stay with them in Wanganui for two nights 21-22 Oct; Drive down to Palmerston North to visit my brother Poko, Trish and Family (Day visit or overnight stay 23rd Oct 04)

Was thinking of taking the train from Palmerston North to Wellington since Madison hasn't been on a train before. Depending on availability of bookings on the train, we could be down in Wellington by 24th Oct, Sunday.

Would this be ok with Batgran, Aunty Sachi and Aunty Lagi?- we will get to spend at least 6 days with you all and then take a return flight to Auckland for our departure back home to Samoa on Sunday 31st.

What do you think of these plans?

Hold The Phone

Maybe Madison isn't 100% yet after all. He's still got a slight temperature and is very moody. We're not sure if it's sunstroke from mommy's all-day-in-the-sun company sports day last Saturday or whether it's a lingering thing from his last illness. Either way, he's still grumpy and quiet at times which means he's not feeling 100%.

If he's not better by tomorrow, we'll go see the doc again.

Lingering Annoyances

Living in a third-world country has it's ups and downs. Lately, it's been mostly downs as the continuing water shortage is rapidly turning into a water crisis. Well, that's what it seems like to us since our water has been on for a grand total of 4 hours over the last 4 days. It wouldn't be so bad if we knew when the water would be on but the geniuses at the Samoa Water Authority like to turn it on and off whenever they please. One night they turned it on sometime after 1am and turned it off before 6am. How do I know that? I woke up and the toilet tank was full, when it was empty when I went to sleep.

Madison is feeling a lot better thanks to mommy's care. He has been a little grumpy though, especially if he doesn't get his way. He does this little sulk and pout when he is told he can't do something. He also doesn't want to go to Papa's every morning, so he pouts as we drive away. I hope he grows out of it.

Happy Birthday Aunty Sachi!

This is the time of year when it seems everyone is having a birthday all at the same time! Today is Aunty Sachi's birthday! Happy birthday sis, hope you have a good one!

Madison was diagnosed with tonsilitis and a strep throat yesterday. He was given antibiotics and panadol to help him get rid of it but he's not the kind of kid that likes taking medicine. We have to force him to take it. Poor lil guy.

No Good

That's what Madison says when he doesn't like something. When we're watching a video that he considers scary, he says, "Daddy, no good" while pointing at the tv. I don't know where he got that from but it's amazing how much he picks up and how quickly.

Today he's at home with mommy because he had a temperature yesterday. I think his fever has broken but mommy is staying home just to make sure.

You Gotta Love Working For The Government

This morning Rachel had to go to work at 6am because her office (Development Bank of Samoa) is part of the government clean up of the town area in preparation for the Teuila Festival.

Where else in the world does the government make their public servants work on a weekend for free picking up rubbish? Thank goodness I don't work for the Samoan government!

Water Shortage

We've been going through a rather extended dry spell here in Samoa. It hasn't rained heavily or for a sustained period of time in ages. That's normally good news for golfers but not good when it comes to maintaining a regular supply of water.

For the past 2 weeks, our water has been on and off. The Samoa Water Authority is supposedly rationing the water but they do so in such an erratic manner that it's almost impossible to figure out when the water is going to be on and for how long.

When it does come on, there's a mad rush to flush the toilet, take a shower and do the dishes, laundry etc. I hope it rains soon, but just not on Sundays when I play golf!

All Systems Are Go

Well it looks like the October trip is a go. Rachel and I have discussed the ins and outs of how we're going to finance the trip and it looks like all systems are go.

We'll keep y'all posted on the dates and when the final itinerary is set we'll let everyone know when Madison and Co will be in town.

Oh No, Not Him Again!

Yes, that's what the people at our usual video shop must say every time they see Madison stroll through the doors. Madison's newest favourite thing to do while in the video shop is to go around the shelves and remove the " Sorry I'm Out" labels from all the videos.

He even asks me to pass him the ones that are too high for him to reach. And here I was thinking he just wanted to look at the covers! He's so sneaky!