Summer stuff out, Winter stuff in

I just took down my trustworthy IKEA organizers to swap my summer clothing with the winter ones. Clothing items that are hung in my closet never get touched. They will keep on staying where they are hung. While I was at it, I found two brand new sweaters I bought last year and could not wear due to my size, along with two t-shirts. One, a turtleneck, the other a basic T. I asked my uncle to try them on and they fit him perfectly. These things still had tags on. Now, they have found a new owner who can actually wear them. Perfect! Due to my size, I shop men's clothing and pick up unisex items. 

I took out my winter clothes. As I get older, I need a lot less than I used to. However, I am hoping to lose more weight and need more new clothes. Lol! 

With that said, I am happy to report that I have lost another 3 pounds since last time I reported my weight. I think Intermittent Fasting and metformin are helping me lose weight. When you eat only two meals a day, controlling the calories is easier. Besides, I am mindful of what I am eating. I like sweet treats like most people but, I stay away from processed and packaged ones. I also have decided to be choosy. For instance, you can get baklava even in grocery stores but, they are mediocre to me. In my opinion, there are only a couple of places that make it really well. So, unless the treat I am having is really something worthwhile and special to eat, I will not touch it. When I do, I eat half or even less of it than I would normally eat. I am not feeling deprived of anything really and I think, I will stick to this for life.

Friday was a National Holiday, the 98th Anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of  Turkey so, uncle and I went out to see the celebrations. It was a nice and sunny day so, we even sat by the sea and had sandwiches for lunch. We walked around quiet a bit, 16K steps with small breaks and watched the parade. It took us a while, to get back home but, it was totally worth it.

One his HS buddies invited uncle over for an early dinner so, I am going to drive him there in a couple of hours. 

Hope, everyone had a good weekend.

Spaghetti Squash

Years and years and years we had one kind of pumpkin in this country and a few varieties of zucchini. Some people cooked some gourds locally grown and most of us even did not know about those.

During the recent 10-20 years, there have been more varieties available in grocery stores. However, I had never been able to find a sphagetti squash. Not one! 

The day before yesterday, I went to the grocery store and came accross a bunch of  different gourds. Lo and behold I found my sphagetti squash! My uncle doesn't think he will like it so, I will cook it when he goes to Ankara. Lol! 

Uncle has been having a good time in Istanbul seeing his friends and walking around. Tomorrow we will go to a Big Cat Park. It has been his dream to hold and pet a big cat cub and he may get a chance to do it tomorrow but, we do not know yet. 

I had to work for a few hours today and have a meeting tomorrow morning. We shall go out for lunch before we visit the cats.

Question for One Family One Income

This post is meant for the writer of the One Family One Income so, the rest of you may skip reading this one. If you have any insight to offer on dual citizenship and taxes, please do comment.

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Hi!

I remember you writing about filing tax forms for your sister living in Canada. I am assuming she has dual citizenship.

A friend of mine and her son have dual citizenships too. They have both Turkish and American passports. They both live in Turkey and have always lived here. I understand until recently, they were not responsible for any tax forms or anything like that. Now, they have to file tax forms. So far, they have tried looking for someone to do this in Turkey on their behalf but, they have been unable to do so.

On top of that, the son recently had a job offer. He has to establish his own company and he will probably be billed from the US. He will keep on living in Turkey and pay taxes here. He just doesn't understand why the person offering him the job is not just putting him on his payroll but ,rather asking him to establish his own company. I am assuming it is some kind of tax evasion in Turkey. Doesn't sound illegal.

So, based on your knowledge, do you have any advice to offer? What are the tax ramifications for dual citizens? 

They are completely lost and so far haven't been able to find enough information to deal with this new situation. I told them to reach out to the US Consulate. However due to COVID-19, they are kind of slow to respond.

I appreciate if you can make time to provide some insight or point them towards some online resources. Thanks!

Saturday Locksmith's Table

Today both uncle and I woke up pretty late around 11 a.m. in the morning. He is meeting with his best buddies from HS for an early and prolonged dinner, a Locksmith's Table.

The preferred alcoholic beverage in this country is "Rakı" which is similar to the Lebanese Arak or the Greek Uzo. Usually, it is had over a long dinner with small dishes to sample, followed by fish and dessert. The small dishes served are generally called "meze". Hummus, Baba Ganoush, cold eggplant dishes, bean varieties in olive oil, cold served seafood, fried seafood, cold dips/spreads, olives and anything served to sample in small quantities can be called meze. 

Meze is accompanied by toasted bread, a nice piece of white cheese (similar to Feta but not as sharp) and melon. This meal is supposed to go on for several hours. The point is not to stuff yourself or drink a lot but, rather enjoy a long chat with the people you really care for as you nibble food and drink sips of rakı. This ritual is traditionally called "Çilingir Sofrası" / Locksmith's Table because, as you gradually drink and relax and as you are surrounded by the people you care for, you start pouring your heart out and the others offer their advice, support and cheer you up. The Locksmith apparently opens your heart. If you get too drunk or too upset, friends will pick you up and drop off at home. What is talked about at the Locksmith's Table stays at the table. More often though, these dinners are cheerful occasions where you get together with your friends, eat, drink and be merry. 

Here is a sample Locksmith's Table:

I am not a big drinker of Rakı because alcohol actually doesn't agree with me much, especially in the summer. I prefer an occasional glass of wine or a bottle of beer.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day and, I am going to make Penne a la Vodka (I am going to use Barilla Gnochetti actually) for dinner and open a bottle of red wine for us.

One of my uncle's friends just picked him up even though I had offered to drive him. They will have their dinner at a nice restaurant by the Bosphorus, watching boats in and out of the harbor and seagulls accompanying the ferries. It is a bit chilly but, they will sit outside. Restaurants provide space heaters so, people can stay out.

I am going out for a walk and will pick up a couple of items from the grocery store on my way back. 

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

This and That

This morning I had the first meeting regarding the part-time gig. It was rushed and one of the important participants did not participate. Oh well...

Then I went to meet a friend over a cup of coffee while my uncle went to enjoy Istanbul by himself. I came back home and he called to see if I would like fish for tonight. Why not? 

I just went over my finances and updated my Xcel sheets and transferred some money from Savings to Checking for some upcoming bills.

After I finish writing, I will work a little bit. I have decided to jot down the hours I work. So, at the end of the project, I will compare my earnings against the total hours spent to see if what I am doing is justifiable or not.

I have postponed the cleaning lady again this week because, Sunday will be a rainy day and uncle and I will probably be home. The apartment needs a good cleaning but, it will have to wait another week.

When you read this, you may easily understand I am feeling "meh!" today. May be I should jump on the treadmill for endorphins. I haven't had a good night's sleep. May be I should nap as well.

Hope everybody gets to have a nice and relaxing weekend.

Part -time Gig and Socks and Some Fun Pictures

I sat down with my friend and made it very clear that I have 0 motivation for this. I also told her that I would be willing to help her till  April and I would only take two positions at a time, not more and that she needs to find someone who is retired like me but, who still needs to earn money. I could not say a firm no but, at least I laid down my terms. I also told her that if I get stressed and mess up my blood pressure, I will drop this for good. She agreed and here we go again.

For some stupid reason, yesterday I decided I needed new socks for the winter and got online to order some. Luckily, I could not find anything I liked. Then, it hit me. I went to check out my sock drawer and realized that it was overflowing. So, I took the drawer out, sorted through the socks and decided to purge half of it. I do not need any socks at all. There are brand new pairs that I cannot possibly wear out this winter. 

In the sock drawer, I found two pairs of leggings that can be worn under jeans in cold days. I was plannng to buy some sweatpants and I decided not to. The jeans and leggings will be just fine. Besides, I am losing weight. I do not need anything in my current size.

Now I am thinking that I need underpants. Tomorrow's chore is to check out the underwear drawer. I am sure, there are many worn pairs that I need to toss and may be I need a few new pairs but, I doubt that.

I should constantly remind myself that I do not need any clothing items including footwear.

Here are  some more images from my vacation. At our last hotel, they had a day of Oktoberfest. There are some pictures from that too.

Someone decided to turn the poor VW Beetle into a piece of art at a Cafe in Bodrum

A shopping area in Fethiye

Harvest time

Not a fan of macaroons but they were colorful

Uncle is going to visit me

My uncle is going to come for a visit on Wednesday. I am glad, he finally made up his mind to move a little bit. A week after mom's passing, he went to Antalya and never went back to Ankara or visited us. He does not have many friends over there, only a handful. 

Here in Istanbul, he has some beloved friends whom he does not get to see often and we can do fun things together as well. I think he will take the train to go to Ankara when he is done visiting me. He needs a change of pace for sure. 

In my spare room, I keep the bed with just a cover and a bunch of pillows on top so that, sometimes I can use it like a day bed or sort of like a sofa. Now I need to make the bed and fish out his pajamas he had left last time. 

Today, I finally managed to clear the stuff I dumped on my dinner table when I came back from vacation. I put on a new tablecloth with Fall colors and placed my fake sunflowers on it. I love homes that are decorated for every season but, I am too lazy to do it for my home. Just small stuff. I would like to get a big pot of mums. They remind me of my grandma on my mom's side. She had beautiful mums in her garden and she loved them.

Last time I went to the endochrinologist, he put me on metformin for Type 2 diabetes. First few weeks, I felt a bit nauseous. Nowadays, I do not have much of an appetite. I am going to see him on Wednesday morning and will tell about this.

Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the friend who insists I work with her. Wish me luck! 

I am prepared to tell her that I truly do not have any motivation for this and that she should find someone else who does, within a few months. For now, I will help her by taking only two positions to fill at a time and see how this goes. If it goes well, may be I will take on two more. If not, I will bow out for good. Meanwhile, she absolutely has to look for a long-term person. I do not intend to continue beyond early Spring, if that.

When I sat down to think of this work subject, I have realized that it also brings memories of the extremely hard times during mom's hospitalization and passing. So, my reluctance is possibly because of that too. I was feeling way too depressed up until last May when I went for a long visit to my uncle in Antalya. Ever since, I have been OK but, nowadays, the rainy colder days and lack of sunlight are affecting my mood again. May be at the back of my mind, I am associating this work with mom's sickness and feeling responsible for not being with her at the time. If I were in Ankara, may be I would recognize that her health was not good, may be I could have taken her to a different doctor. All these make me choke up even as type them. I do not know... 

I hope, uncle's visit will lift my mood back up.

Some news and St. Nicholas

My grandma on mom's side used to say "they named exhaustion, vacation!". I think she had a point. After I came back home, I was ready to tackle my car service, my endochrinologist visit and the cleaning lady. I ended up postponing all three. I never realized how tired I was. I did spend some time in Ankara but, I barely put my bottom on the couch. Did tons of laundry, ran errands for my BIL's dad, and an old couple who used to be my parents' friends. 

So, this weekend I am taking it easy. Basically knitting and drinking tea and coffee. I have a few good books lined up too.

If you recall I was doing a part-time headhunting gig and got extremely stressed and left. Well, my friend who owns the business called me a couple of weeks ago. She was very apologetic and she told me the idea I gave her turned out to be extremely helpful and she made a lot of money. She said she wanted to share some of it with me. I was so surprised and I wanted to say no but, she pressed on and she said she was soryy for the stress the job caused me and that it was partly her fault assigning me an impossible Customer. It turns aout they never hired anyone for the two positions I was trying to fill. 

To make a long story short, she paid me a nice sum of money and asked me if I would be willing to give it another go. I refused because, I have no need for this. However she pressed on and promised me I would select my own cases and that I would not do any of the stuff I was unwilling to do. So, this Monday, we will sit down and discuss this. The things she said about me made me feel good about myself but, I know she is in need of help like right away and that is why she has been so persistent. We'll see what I will finally decide on Monday. Honestly, I do not know if I want this.

Have you watched The Christmas Chronicles: Part II? In that movie Mrs. Claus tells the hids about the origins of Santa being in Turkey. So, here are some images from St. Nicholas Museum in Demre, Antalya. I must have thought I was taking a picture. That is why one of the videos is so short. I thought I had taken better pictures but, it was the end of a tiring day so, not such a great job. If interested please check out the link above.

More pictures and Videos

I was thinking of posting things in chronological order but, decided that against it. Just too much to share. 

My goal was to not gain any weight during vacation and I have accomplished that. Yay me! My friend has a unhealthy relationship with food and she has been a yoyo dieter all her life. She loves food. However, her enthusiasm and love for food had the opposite effect on me. I did my best to keep myself in check, stayed away from desserts and ate food that was tasty. And.... Drum roll please! On top of not gaining any weight, I lost over 2 pounds. I am so glad. Now that I am home, I will keep on doing my IF thing because, it does work for me. I will also get back to walking which I had replaced with swimming during vacation.

Anyway, here are some videos and an image taken at Kekova. We rented a huge boat just the two of us for about USD 45 for 3 hours and our captain took us to see all the nice swimming spots and over the sunken city of Dolchiste, a Lycian settlement ruined due to a severe earth quake. An island then formed and the city was rebuilt. It was a major trade spot in ancient times.

The last picture is yours truly enjoying the water. It was absolutely fantastic.

Picture Heavy Vacation Post

I am so glad to be back home. Almost a month of vacation at 7 different places to stay was a little too much. Opening and closing suitcases and bags get tiring after a while. We have had very good swim days and I ended up with a tan I never had before.

Despite knowing each other for over 50 years, it was clear that my friend and I have different interests. Would I go with her again? Yes, but not for so long. A week should be sufficient. With that said, we still had a very nice time and made it back home safe and sound.

Our first stop was a place owned and run by Central Bank of Turkey which my friend retired from. The place is only available to the people who are or have worked for the Central Bank. My father's organization had two places that we used to go to like this when I was young. Many Government organizations used to have such places the workforce to have a decent and low cost vacation when the Government was more of a social government. Most organizations were forced to shutting those places down by the more Capitalist Governments over time. Only a handful of organizations have been able to resist.

Think of a simple resort with a limited selection of food, no alcohol (rolling my eyes at that), beautiful and well kept grounds and a sufficient beach. We stayed in a two bedroom unit and it was clean and comfortable. The first few pictures are from this place.

Rooms and Suites

The Beach

Our Dinner View 

Head of Medusa anyone? @Apollon Temple in Didyma on our way to Bodrum

Our second stop was Bodrum, a favorite spot for vacationers local and foreign. We stayed at a hotel that was on top of a hill overlooking the Bodrum Bay. Below 2 pictures show our view from our hotel room.

Bodrum has a very nice Castle and right in it, there is a beautiful underwater museum of archaelogy full of artifacts collected from under the sea. Here is a link for details about the following pictures. The ship below dates back to around 1024 BC. It is assumed to have set sail from Syria towards a glass factory somewhere unknown in the Byzantian Empire. Lots of amphoras, glass artifacts, broken glass and coins were found. 

Here is a video of Bodrum where we had beer and snacks on our first night. Look at the water and how clear it was.

There are many more pictures and videos that I plan to post. Gotta go and sleep. Need to get up early to take my car for it's 60.000 Km. Service in the morning.

I'm back home! YAY!

First of all, here is a note for Heloise who will be traveling to Turkey soon: If you email me at tpolthetrekkie@yahoo.com, I will share my real name and phone number with you. In case you are in Istanbul, I would love to meet in person. If not, you may keep my phone number handy just in case. Safe travels!

Another note for Treaders: I cannot see you blog anymore. It says, invitation only. If you have decided to take a break or stop blogging, I respect your decision but, I will miss your posts.... A lot! Take care and be well!

I am so glad to be home. Promise to write, share more photos and catch up with your blogs asap!

Ugh!

I couldn't figure out how to post on my cell phone. This is possibly the only post I can publish. I am using an old unused draft. Can't find the new post step on the cell phone version of blogger. I can say that, we had a good vacation overall. The weather was nice, the beaches beautiful. On Sunday, we are leaving the last place on our vacation.

Here are a few teaser photos for you. I am hoping to resume posting regularly by 12th or so. BTW, I couldn't figure out how to find and answer the comments if anybody left any either  Sorry about this!

Vacation Map