in chaos there lies opportunity...

Mud/Weather:
I’m writing! I know it’s been two weeks, I just haven’t had the “ganas” (desire). (and i've been trying to spend more time with people, and playing piano) Read it a little bit at a time if you want. It’s a lot.
1. Steve’s surgery went fine, he’s recuperating and I hope to give more good news in the future.
2. My friend’s husband has 3 tumors interconnected with brain tissue. Please pray for them, It sounds like they are going to do 5 weeks of radiation. Their names are David and Elizabeth. They are both under 30.
3. Perfect quote about my Mexican house “in chaos there lies opportunity”. It was on one of those dove chocolate things. My house is all chaos almost all the time, while I was home in the states I felt so lonely without having noise and chaos and interruption all the time. Then I came back here, and it was hard to adjust to the loudness and crazyness again.
4. It’s gotten cold here, REALLY STINKING COLD. So cold, I took a “bath” this morning, and decided there wasn’t enough warm water to make it worth my while, as my house isn’t heated. It’s probably in the low 60s at the hottest part of the day, and only in the sun. (low 40s in the middle of the night) But on the upside, there is less BO ☺
One of my kids got a cold, and her sister said that it’s b/c she doesn’t cover her head with her blanket when she sleeps at night. I love little kid logic. We’ve had strange weather, when it was extremely windy here, it was also crazy windy at my mom and dad’s house. And we live HOW MANY THOUSAND miles apart?
The last couple weeks it’s actually been raining!
5. When it rains that means I stop wearing my shoes. Most of our yard is clay/sand. The sand is less slippery to walk on. It's not about getting your shoes dirty, it's about falling on your butt, the mud slurping up your shoes like quicksand, you have to bend over and use your fingers to rescue your shoes. So I don rain boots (or easily rinsed off flip flops) until it dries up again. I even wore them out grocery shopping, and my girls didn’t tell me that I looked bad! When it rains, I get scared of driving. I got one car stuck TWICE. Once was when I’d decided going up a particular road was a bad idea, and I got stuck (quite poetically) while turning around to avoid a similar fate. I enjoy biking in this town, but on Friday I took the wrong road, and had to backtrack a quarter mile to get home without getting mud all up my backside….
6. Marina DID get mud all up her backside. It was pretty funny. She had biked to English and came back splatter painted with dried chunks up to her shoulders. I told her (being helpful) but it was asking for trouble as she tried to back into me and get ME ALL MUDDY!
7. I do try to thank God for seasonal weather. The rain makes everything inconvenient. It takes longer to get places, there is more laundry, sometimes the rain messes up our water/septic, but it turns our valley such a beautiful GREEN. (in the places there IS vegetation)
8. Mud at night. We have two houses, and there is mud between the two. When it’s dark you have to use your brain power to remember which parts of the yard haven’t dried up yet, and walk carefully. I was overconfident the other night and almost ended up on my butt!
9. One of my girls, J—absolutely avoids the sun, to stay at “güera” (whitey) but I noticed her spending a few minutes every morning sitting in the sun. I thought it was strange, and then I realized, she’s cold and she’s trying to get warm! So I’ve sat with her a few times and realize how much I enjoy it too.

Watched: Fireproof, while a cheesy movie, it had good points. Like sometimes when you don't feel like loving someone, you still have to show them love in your actions, and those actions can change your attitude/heart. Your actions really betray your real priorities.

Read: Posers, Fakers, and Wannabees by Brennen Manning, quotes to come.
Currently Avoiding: Theology of the body and Divine Conspiracy, apparently I'm on a short-er book kick.