Hope dangles on a string...

...like slow spinning redemption,
winding and winding out,
the shine of it has caught my eye."

Nothing like a little Dashboard :)

So the past couple of days have been exhausting but good.
E is clearly tired and I can't blame him. His nose is running like a faucet, they aren't eating or sleeping properly, etc. But still...I can only take so many tantrums.

I told A yesterday that when we get back to Istanbul we should all talk about the best way to handle his behavior but it wasn't really received with any enthusiasm. I'll try to push it again later...mostly because twice I've seen him being accidently rewarded for bad behavior by his parents which makes my job even harder because then he runs to them everytime we have a problem. Neither them nor myself have time for that. It's like my dad said...they won't me to have authority without actually helping me get any...it's ridiculous.

But it's almost over...we leave tomorrow morning. I can't wait to get back into a schedule. Sadly, Caresse and Laura will be gone for a bit but like I said, the hope of having help creating a normal life is more than enough. I can't even tell you.

Today was a godsend too. A and D decided they'd all ski today as a family so I had more time to myself. I showered, I packed their stuff, I videochatted with mom (FINALLY), I folded all their dirty clothes (I know...absurd.), I got my stuff packed, I went to the pharmacy and got E some more medicine for his nose, and a store to get postcards! YAY! I tried to get in a church I had seen down the street...but it was very locked and very Catholic so I wasn't sure if it was ok. I was very sad...the thought of sitting in a church made me so excited there were actual tears in my eyes but instead I walked back in the newly fallen snow and chatted with God as I went...still ok I suppose :)

When I came back I asked the front desk if they had some envelopes and they did so I made some things for the people who have sent me letters and they said they'd take it to the post office for me on Monday and charge the postage to my room...I hope D doesn't mind. Ah! So excited! Because who knows how long it will be before I figure out how to find my way to the postoffice in Istanbul.

One of the other mothers invited me to eat with them which was shocking so I did...she doesn't ski because she has a brain anyurism? Then they all left and the waiters came and talked to me. One of the guys said, "I bet you don't mind that they left you alone. You don't get to be alone a lot do you?"
"Haha how could you tell?"
And we chatted for a bit which was nice. He gave me a chocolate milkshake to take up to the room with me while I packed their stuff. I love the kindness of strangers.

Update: Caresse and I talked and it wouldn't make sense for me to ask for a 25% more on holidays since I'm a live-in. What Laura says is that she just sucks it up and goes the whole time then takes the days off she's missed and uses them when she get back all together to take a real holiday....so I guess that's what I'll do. And I won't ask her to pay for my phone if she pays me the reasonable amount because all I will have to do is periodically buy units which I don't go through fast since I mostly just call A. So really, the pay raise is the biggest issue right now. I think I'll say since I agreed to what I'm getting now, she can still pay me that for this past month of work but from now on, something more reasonable. And day and a half a week off is standan so I'll still ask for all Sundays and Monday mornings.

She also went online with me to show me how I could open a bank account and it actually looks pretty simple. She said she'd even go to the bank with me one day to help me open the account. How great is that? She's not back until the 23rd but I can wait :)

Anyway, E is begging me to go play foozeball so I'm off. Hopefully I'll be able to update after we're back to Istanbul.

Love to you :)