Play-doh & gadgets

Time is just slip-sliding away. Exhausted and shopped-out, with D just a wee bit sniffly, we decided to take Sunday off and not go anywhere. No shopping, no errands, no activities. It was very relaxing, hibernating in the a/c. We played animal hospital, puppet show, got out the play-doh, and read almost every book in D's library. Also invented a new game called Mail Carrier. A nice way to recycle two common household nuisances: junk mail and empty shoeboxes. Hmm, why do I have more shoeboxes than shoes?

The following contains a brief, shameless commercial plug. M called in the afternoon using Skype, a really cool Internet telephony service. If you live a long-distance call away from loved ones, or just love technology, this is great stuff. Secure and totally free, over your regular Internet connection. And unlike a lot of other P2P applications, works on Macs! Yay! Try it today! Okay, back to the call... M finally had a chance to get out and about visiting some of the parks. I get the impression they were very nice, unlike most of Pristina which is de-forested, rubbly, dusty and under construction. Ah, the trials of rebuilding after a war. Since I consider it a major inconvenience when a lane on the interstate is blocked due to construction, I'm not sure how I'll react to a whole city undergoing the same.

Since Kosovo isn't an area of the world typically covered on the Weather Channel, here's a site that shows the local 5-day forecast, for anyone interested.

Today is our last playgroup until July. We're going to a local park to play and have a picnic. I'm taking pictures of D's little friends for an album I'm taking with us. Then later, we're going to buy some accessories for my iPod. I know I said no more shopping, but M said to get a set of portable speakers since we have no radio there and the Albanian version of MTV features hot tunes like the Macarena. Plus then we'll be fully mobilized for any occasion that may call for an iPod stocked with nostalgia-inducing 80s tunes (Madness, anyone?) -- wait a minute, maybe that Albanian MTV is right up my alley after all.

My packing list is now dominated by play-doh and electronic gadgets. Watch, I'll forget to pack my jeans.