The fog has lifted!

...no, I don't mean the smog over Jakarta!  The last couple of days, I was so tired, I could hardly function. It may have been the lack of caffeine and sugar from my once daily Dr. Pepper.  They have Pepsi, Coke, Sprite and Orange Fanta so I'm not going to miss out on soda altogether.  Anyway, today I was able to grab a Starbucks while grocery shopping at the mall and found the energy to scrub the bathrooms!  I really feel much better and the fact that we found Krispy Kreme donuts didn't hurt any either.  You can pretty much get anything you need here, it is just a matter of being able to get a ride.  The church has a car that we can use to get the kids to and from school and then we will share it with others, but we don't have a driver yet.  We borrowed a driver today and were able to get groceries, etc...  The grocery stores are part of these huge malls and you can push your grocery cart through the mall with you.  Very nice.  We brought Anna and George to their school today for entrance testing.  The school is beautiful and I think they will adjust well.  They both were remembering Millbrook today and all their friends back home.  It looks like they might get to start class next week and we will hope to have a driver by then.  If you want to see pictures of the school, you can look up ACS-IBS International School in Jakarta.  Shout out to my Thirty-One extra large carry all bag!  I use it to do laundry and grocery shopping and also to lug beach towels and snacks.  Loving it!  We are all getting a little testy around the apartment.  The space is small and the kids are over the "fun" of all sleeping in the same bed.  They bought us a toaster today, so that will be a nice change of pace.  The mosquitoes have been attacking while we sleep and I have bright red dots all over my face.  If it doesn't improve in our permanent apartment, I think I will get netting for my bed.  Last night we were treated to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted by Dr. Tong.  Amazing!  When the full choir joined in with the four soloists and the orchestra was at its peak...oh it just resonated to the core of my being!  The kids made it through the concert without a peep and it was over two hours!  Ok, so Della was asleep for most of it, but my prayers were answered!  Dr. Tong is 72 and conducted brilliantly.  I don't know the man well, but I have seen that he is supernaturally gifted and has energy that could only come from above.  He dropped in for an unexpected visit after the concert and the kids were so happy to see him.  He is like a Grandpa to them already!  He left early this morning for a week long crusade to one of Indonesia's many islands.  A very sweet lady dropped off some native fruit for us today.  I think it is called Jampur Air.  The are about the size of a golf ball and shaped like a bell.  You peel the brown skin off and eat the segments inside.  Very crunchy and sort of sweet and kind of reminds Jim of a large chestnut.  The days are dry and the sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm.  The sun usually doesn't get super hot as it is filtered by the smog.  Probably a good thing or we would be scorched.  Sunday's service and sermon went well and we look forward to seeing how God is going to use us here.  We met a couple from Brooklyn that now live in Bandung, a couple of hours away from Jakarta.  They have started a classical school there and we would like to try and visit sometime if we can.  I'm learning bits and pieces of Indonesian like "chair" is "kursi" and "kamar mandi" is bathroom!  Some words like "cup" are the same as in English.  Go figure!  We are off to the government offices tomorrow to get some more paperwork taken care of.  I think we are getting something called a "kitsas" which I think gives us residence opportunities like opening up a bank account, paying local prices at tourist attractions and so forth.  After our outing, I'll get started on some more laundry.  The washer is just down the hall and you hang everything to dry in a big room with a fan.  The clothes dry in a day which is great as I can usually hang two loads per day.  Anyway, I should get to bed now.  I miss everyone so much and wish I could show you everything that I'm seeing and have you experiencing it here with me.  That would be just perfect.  Love to all and prayers, too!