WHALE WATCHING!
Today, I’m heading 7 hours south of here for the weekend to go whale watching (with a friend, or two?). Apparently there are like 400 whales in Guerrero Negro right now. There is a big bay, and it is a popular calving area for the whales. I’m sooooooo excited! It will be the first time I’ve really traveled in Mexico WITHOUT my girls. I need to remember to borrow some binoculars, but apparently they come right up to the boat (it’s a small fisherman’s boat, not a big cruiser!)
It will be 80 degrees (but I don’t think there is a beach to lay on, they take salt out of the sea, and have lots of fishing, it’s an industrial area, not very touristy.) and if you recall, I use my computer while it’s charging just to warm up a bit! I wanted to “camp” but we don’t really have a small tent, and we’re taking a bus down, not our own vehicle, so I can’t imagine taking the gear with us, and I also can’t imagine just leaving our sleeping bags at our campsite without a tent. I hope we’ve found a cheap hotel, that is clean. I LOVE nature.
OLD HYMNAL
Last week I found an old hymnal, not a really old hymnal, actually, I found the hymnal my church switched to maybe in 1990? I'm a sucker for reminiscing... It has hymns in it, but also those Twila Paris, Michael W. Smith songs that bridged the gap between hymns and choruses as (some) churches transitioned. I haven’t heard many of the songs since the early 90’s, so it was great to find. Plus it has parts of The Messiah in it, so I’ve had fun with that. I like the nice surprises in our donations. I also found an old Lutheran Hymnal, in new binding. The earliest date in it’s table of Easter Sundays is 1941. That’s a stinking early date! And the only clue to it’s age that I could find. It was bound in Minnesota.
IMITATION CANDY
In shopping for V-day surprises (I made the kids cupcakes) I found some imitation American candy. Things that have similar logo, but are definitely not the real thing. I bought the fake Milky Way bars, called Winky (and HALF the price!!) but they must still be working on perfecting the secret recipe (I tasted coconut, there is NO coconut in a real Milky Way)…It was still a fabulous surprise!
MEXICAN CANDY
On the kids cupcakes I sprinkled already dyed sugar that I had bought at the store for one dollar. I hadn’t ever bought it before, or tasted it, turns out it’s a sweet/sour/salty/chile candy. I wouldn’t want it on my cupcake, but I know the kids loved it! It comes in these little plastic cups you might give a patient in the hospital with their pills in it, the size of those cough syrup cups, plastic on top, held on with rubber bands, with little pieces of paper inside the containers...crookedly cut, but graced with drawings of disney characters. Daisy's bow was half cut off on one, and on another the piece is 98% white, with the slightest hint on the edge that a drawing was intended for the piece of paper. Almost like a kindergartner, or someone less skilled, was in charge of the cutting out process. (and it was only a dollar for 30 little packages?)
MARRY ME FOR MY BAKING
We always have guests at our house, and I only made 24 cupcakes, so several people didn’t get any, and I felt bad, next time I’ll make extra just in case. (and I burned them on the bottom, while they were undercooked in the middle, but Eli’s boyfriend approved and told me he wanted to marry me! Haha.)
NEW RED TOWELS
For V-day, Johanne and Steve got me a towel set! 2 body towels, 2 face towels, 2 wash clothes. So thoughtful. She hadn’t been here in 3 weeks b/c she was helping out her daughter-in-law have her 3rd baby. When she was gone, you could tell the kids missed her and needed her. It seemed like they got sick easier, whined more, seemed more insecure…She gives them so much more love than I do, I've realized I just try to provide for their education, and nutrition. She said, I hope it all fits in your suitcase on your way back!
Happy BIRTHDAY Mom.
.
.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
the meanest mom of the whole stinking town...
Someone said it’s 14c or 57f inside the house. I wish I knew for sure what it was in my bedroom!
On Thursday, last week, I felt like I fought with culture/time the WHOLE day. The first thing that happened was M—‘s English teacher Louise phoned me asking her where she was. M— (19) is usually pretty good about getting to class, so I don’t generally check up on her. She was 47 minutes late to English. I went upstairs, and there she was “getting ready” as teenage girls affectionately call it. I alerted her to the grave situation, and she said, “y que?” the equivalent of “so what?”
She has grown up around Americans all her life, and would presumably know what our standards and values are, so this shocked me. I asked her what an adult does if they aren’t going to be on time to something and she said, “you don’t go?” (what a severe answer!)
“You phone the person to advise them you are running late.” I recommended. She immediately said, “would you call my teacher and tell her I’m late?” And I said, well, the reason I know you aren’t there is because she called ME, worried.
Later that day, my friend Danielle, said to me “You know what they say, ‘You’re not a good Mexican if you aren’t an hour late’ ”
At 4 o’clock (American time) we were supposed to have a town party at the local school. A workgroup had come down and built an extra room. My littlest kids didn’t have school that day, and at 9 am were asking me to go. “We’re going to miss the party.” “There won’t be any food left” etc. I had ABSOLUTELY no idea, why they were asking to leave so early... I said, "we don’t need to be there till 4", and then they produced a note from their teacher that said parents should show up at 12. Sleuthing, I found out that those parents were ones helping out with the event/cooking food. They asked them to be there at 12, so that they would really show up at 1, and then the food would be ready by 4. I explained to the girls that we didn’t need to leave, but they wouldn’t listen. The told me it’d be all my fault, and that I was no fun. So I started sending them to their room for a few minutes every time they asked/complained to me about the party. Eventually, I got a text at 3:40 asking us to bring a few things. I decided to get ready to leave the house, when I got another text “YA” (already). By the time we got there, 4 on the dot, the festivities had already started, but nobody had left. It seemed like EVERYONE came. It was nuts. There was a steady stream of people till 5 when we left, and even then there was chicken left over.
A couple days before that one of my girls WAS responsible and called her guitar teacher telling him she’d be late. That was all she did. She thought she could still show up like an hour late and he’d be waiting around for her. I told her that when you call someone, they think you’re on your way, or that you’ll be like 15 minutes late.
(side note on the party. While we were waiting in line for food, some little boys (3rd graders?) were jabbing their forks into the bag of RAW chicken. I told them they had better stop in my best Spanish mom voice, and that they’d get sick when my little girl, E— 9 whispered in my ear in Spanish, “they speak English too”. I gave them the same speech in English, ending with “I don’t want you to get a tummy ache.” ***ALERT FUNNY THING.*** And the little boy said, “I don’t get tummy aches. ever.” Later on we bumped into him again, and I guess I had made a friend as he inexplicably introduced me to his older brother. I guess mean people can make friends?)
FUNNIEST THING:
The little girls teacher told them "have whichever sister is living with you bring you and the whole family to the party"
-WHICHEVER SISTER??? wow, we have really confused their school, with all the different chaperones they see with the kids, picking them up from school, or I sound like a nun.
On Thursday, last week, I felt like I fought with culture/time the WHOLE day. The first thing that happened was M—‘s English teacher Louise phoned me asking her where she was. M— (19) is usually pretty good about getting to class, so I don’t generally check up on her. She was 47 minutes late to English. I went upstairs, and there she was “getting ready” as teenage girls affectionately call it. I alerted her to the grave situation, and she said, “y que?” the equivalent of “so what?”
She has grown up around Americans all her life, and would presumably know what our standards and values are, so this shocked me. I asked her what an adult does if they aren’t going to be on time to something and she said, “you don’t go?” (what a severe answer!)
“You phone the person to advise them you are running late.” I recommended. She immediately said, “would you call my teacher and tell her I’m late?” And I said, well, the reason I know you aren’t there is because she called ME, worried.
Later that day, my friend Danielle, said to me “You know what they say, ‘You’re not a good Mexican if you aren’t an hour late’ ”
At 4 o’clock (American time) we were supposed to have a town party at the local school. A workgroup had come down and built an extra room. My littlest kids didn’t have school that day, and at 9 am were asking me to go. “We’re going to miss the party.” “There won’t be any food left” etc. I had ABSOLUTELY no idea, why they were asking to leave so early... I said, "we don’t need to be there till 4", and then they produced a note from their teacher that said parents should show up at 12. Sleuthing, I found out that those parents were ones helping out with the event/cooking food. They asked them to be there at 12, so that they would really show up at 1, and then the food would be ready by 4. I explained to the girls that we didn’t need to leave, but they wouldn’t listen. The told me it’d be all my fault, and that I was no fun. So I started sending them to their room for a few minutes every time they asked/complained to me about the party. Eventually, I got a text at 3:40 asking us to bring a few things. I decided to get ready to leave the house, when I got another text “YA” (already). By the time we got there, 4 on the dot, the festivities had already started, but nobody had left. It seemed like EVERYONE came. It was nuts. There was a steady stream of people till 5 when we left, and even then there was chicken left over.
A couple days before that one of my girls WAS responsible and called her guitar teacher telling him she’d be late. That was all she did. She thought she could still show up like an hour late and he’d be waiting around for her. I told her that when you call someone, they think you’re on your way, or that you’ll be like 15 minutes late.
(side note on the party. While we were waiting in line for food, some little boys (3rd graders?) were jabbing their forks into the bag of RAW chicken. I told them they had better stop in my best Spanish mom voice, and that they’d get sick when my little girl, E— 9 whispered in my ear in Spanish, “they speak English too”. I gave them the same speech in English, ending with “I don’t want you to get a tummy ache.” ***ALERT FUNNY THING.*** And the little boy said, “I don’t get tummy aches. ever.” Later on we bumped into him again, and I guess I had made a friend as he inexplicably introduced me to his older brother. I guess mean people can make friends?)
FUNNIEST THING:
The little girls teacher told them "have whichever sister is living with you bring you and the whole family to the party"
-WHICHEVER SISTER??? wow, we have really confused their school, with all the different chaperones they see with the kids, picking them up from school, or I sound like a nun.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
How we view ourselves at any given moment may have very little to do with who we really are.
IT SHALL BE RESOLVED THAT...
I’ve decided to avoid talking about dieting/healthy eating and other sub topics with women. I noticed that we use it (or I use it) as a tool(crutch) for connecting with others. There are so many other things we can connect with about! God, Children, Books, Hopes, Fears, Failings, Accomplishments…things close to our heart, not things we use to distance people. This is me boycotting my own attempts at superficiality. Plus the little girls imitate our talk and thus acquire our guilt. “I shouldn’t be eating this, but calories don’t count with friends.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t like hearing 11 year olds talking like us (quite unnecessarily) I’m not saying you shouldn’t privately support a friend who is eating healthy, or exercising, but that it shouldn’t be an all-encompassing thing, maybe like sports is to some groups of men?
FUNNY? FUNNY? FUNNY?
On Sunday, while I was trying to get some reading (day off) snuggled up in my warm bed, C—knocks at my door. I begrudgingly got out of bed to see what she wanted, imagining that it was not urgent, and that i should ignore it. She said “Church is in half an hour, are you going?” and I said, “yes”, surprised that it was a timely matter and then she said, “I’m not”, teased me with a childish finger gesture and ran up the stairs. As she ran off laughing, I realized that I probably should trust my instinct more often. She might have thought I wasn't even home had I ignored her.
QUOTEY QUOTEY QUOTEY
Quote from The Jesus I Never Knew
“The miracles he did perform…give me a glimpse of what the world was meant to be and instill hope that one day God will right its wrongs.”
Quotes from Posers, Fakers and Wannabes
Scarcity and broken relationships aren’t about God finding out what I’m made of—God knows what I’m made of- it’s the other way around. In or out of friendship, in scarcity or abundance or just enough, my life is about finding out what God is made of.
….a child to earn the affection of her parents does everything right, she be never whines or cries, never expresses a need, and learns to conceal her negative feelings.
This is the way of Pharisees. They follow the Law flawlessly in order to provoke god’s love. When necessary, they rewrite the Law to emphasize things they weren’t planning to do anyway: No Dancing Allowed; No Smoking; No Drinking. Or things they prefer: Commitment to Church Programs Equals Commitment to God; Voting (Write Your Political Affiliation Here) Is What Jesus Would Do. Their image of God locks them into a theology of working in exchange for approval from on high.
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUOTE
How we view ourselves at any given moment may have very little to do with who we really are.- Gerald May
(my funny favorite is... "rewrite the Law to emphasize things they weren't planning to do anyway" hehehe )
I’ve decided to avoid talking about dieting/healthy eating and other sub topics with women. I noticed that we use it (or I use it) as a tool(crutch) for connecting with others. There are so many other things we can connect with about! God, Children, Books, Hopes, Fears, Failings, Accomplishments…things close to our heart, not things we use to distance people. This is me boycotting my own attempts at superficiality. Plus the little girls imitate our talk and thus acquire our guilt. “I shouldn’t be eating this, but calories don’t count with friends.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t like hearing 11 year olds talking like us (quite unnecessarily) I’m not saying you shouldn’t privately support a friend who is eating healthy, or exercising, but that it shouldn’t be an all-encompassing thing, maybe like sports is to some groups of men?
FUNNY? FUNNY? FUNNY?
On Sunday, while I was trying to get some reading (day off) snuggled up in my warm bed, C—knocks at my door. I begrudgingly got out of bed to see what she wanted, imagining that it was not urgent, and that i should ignore it. She said “Church is in half an hour, are you going?” and I said, “yes”, surprised that it was a timely matter and then she said, “I’m not”, teased me with a childish finger gesture and ran up the stairs. As she ran off laughing, I realized that I probably should trust my instinct more often. She might have thought I wasn't even home had I ignored her.
QUOTEY QUOTEY QUOTEY
Quote from The Jesus I Never Knew
“The miracles he did perform…give me a glimpse of what the world was meant to be and instill hope that one day God will right its wrongs.”
Quotes from Posers, Fakers and Wannabes
Scarcity and broken relationships aren’t about God finding out what I’m made of—God knows what I’m made of- it’s the other way around. In or out of friendship, in scarcity or abundance or just enough, my life is about finding out what God is made of.
….a child to earn the affection of her parents does everything right, she be never whines or cries, never expresses a need, and learns to conceal her negative feelings.
This is the way of Pharisees. They follow the Law flawlessly in order to provoke god’s love. When necessary, they rewrite the Law to emphasize things they weren’t planning to do anyway: No Dancing Allowed; No Smoking; No Drinking. Or things they prefer: Commitment to Church Programs Equals Commitment to God; Voting (Write Your Political Affiliation Here) Is What Jesus Would Do. Their image of God locks them into a theology of working in exchange for approval from on high.
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUOTE
How we view ourselves at any given moment may have very little to do with who we really are.- Gerald May
(my funny favorite is... "rewrite the Law to emphasize things they weren't planning to do anyway" hehehe )
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Special Gifts, V-Day
M, my 19 year old, trash picked for me!! (oh, but let me clarify) I’ve never had a problem taking furniture that people leave at the edge of the curb, but the other day a child (A--, 12?) was throwing out stuff from her room. She had plastic bags of photographs, notes, papers, books, who knows what. Apparently M, looked through what she threw out and rescued the book Knowing God by J.I. Packer, proudly giving it to me, saying “I bet you’d like to read this one.”
It was such a genuine thoughtful gift. She said “I got it just for you” I asked, wow, where’d you get the money to buy this? And where? And she said sheepishly, “A— was throwing stuff out, and I knew you’d want this.” Then she showed off the cool stuff she got for herself!
I think/know there is a boy out there that likes M. But I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I think she likes him, but isn’t very trust worthy (of him) or confident (or herself). It could be nothing. But it was my first time encouraging one of my girls to try something a little scary. I told her she can just be his friend. He came by the house on Friday the 13th, but she wouldn’t let him come in, and she wouldn’t go out there, but just sent messengers to him. Maybe this is how Mexican courtship goes?
Valentine’s day was perfect. I had pancakes with friends (éclair! Chocolate! Strawberries!) and we watched movies and talked ALL day long. I was there for almost 12 hours. While I was there, one of the teenage boys I live with was making his “rose” deliveries. I was touched to be one of the recipients. Not quite sure how I earned it, since I’m always telling him to take out the trash, or fill up the water, or clean up the rancid watermelon or to clean up a poo diaper that a dog had drug out of the trash and onto the floor. But I was honored none the less.
*He had stabbed a hole in the top of a watermelon, and it was bubbling and fizzing out of that hole ready to rupture like a flat, oblong volcano. And it smelled bad. He said the best thing would be to throw it out, but we said we wanted to see what the inside looked like, so he carried it to the sink, started to cut it in half when it EXPLODED all over him, his pants and the floor, but not US, fortunately. Can’t decide if the mess was his fault for doing the deed, or us, for suggesting to him to do it….
It was such a genuine thoughtful gift. She said “I got it just for you” I asked, wow, where’d you get the money to buy this? And where? And she said sheepishly, “A— was throwing stuff out, and I knew you’d want this.” Then she showed off the cool stuff she got for herself!
I think/know there is a boy out there that likes M. But I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I think she likes him, but isn’t very trust worthy (of him) or confident (or herself). It could be nothing. But it was my first time encouraging one of my girls to try something a little scary. I told her she can just be his friend. He came by the house on Friday the 13th, but she wouldn’t let him come in, and she wouldn’t go out there, but just sent messengers to him. Maybe this is how Mexican courtship goes?
Valentine’s day was perfect. I had pancakes with friends (éclair! Chocolate! Strawberries!) and we watched movies and talked ALL day long. I was there for almost 12 hours. While I was there, one of the teenage boys I live with was making his “rose” deliveries. I was touched to be one of the recipients. Not quite sure how I earned it, since I’m always telling him to take out the trash, or fill up the water, or clean up the rancid watermelon or to clean up a poo diaper that a dog had drug out of the trash and onto the floor. But I was honored none the less.
*He had stabbed a hole in the top of a watermelon, and it was bubbling and fizzing out of that hole ready to rupture like a flat, oblong volcano. And it smelled bad. He said the best thing would be to throw it out, but we said we wanted to see what the inside looked like, so he carried it to the sink, started to cut it in half when it EXPLODED all over him, his pants and the floor, but not US, fortunately. Can’t decide if the mess was his fault for doing the deed, or us, for suggesting to him to do it….
Monday, February 16, 2009
Restaurant? American Dancing?
New Experiences!
Last weekend we had a birthday party for one of our girls. She turned 15, which is a big deal here, but we didn’t throw her a quinceanera. She’ll get a big birthday party when she turns 16. We did however take the WHOLE family out to eat. We do that like once a year, and maybe order pizza twice a year, because if we don’t make our own food, it’s expensive! Two of our little girls (M and E, 10 and 9) have only been with us about 9 months, so to my knowledge, they hadn’t been to a sit down restaurant before. We went to a buffet, and the one little girl had taken too much food, and as the waiter was clearing plates, she said “I’m saving that to take home.” I told her she couldn’t do that, and she was like “but it’s mine.” I also had to tell her, that if she was still eating something, she shouldn’t let the waiter take it off the table. She was eating some dessert, and set down her fork to drink, when the waiter absentmindedly picked up her plate to throw it in the trash. I was like, “are you still eating” and she said, “yeah” and I told her, “you have to tell him not to take your plate, that you still want it” and she gave me this look like, but he’s an adult, and I shouldn’t tell him to NOT DO SOMETHING!
I never imagined I would have to teach a child how to go out to eat, but I suppose that is part of education. I showed off my advanced mothering skills by finishing the food on her plate. ;)
Then we danced like crazy people, the chicken dance. (not my favorite, but nice to do with little kids, and really, I’ll take any dancing!) Except the two little ones, M & E, were just looking at us trying to figure out what we were doing. I think they might not have heard/seen that before. As soon as they got comfortable with the “swing your partner” part of it, we switched to the hokey-pokey. Granted, they don’t know a lot of English yet (even though Gabe was teaching E, “eyes, ears, mouth and nose” with the WRONG body parts. And E seems to have that down!) So they tried to do the hokey-pokey, all the while I was grabbing E’s elbows, and legs, hands, and waists to facilitate movement. They were so confused. Haha. And our dance moves were always one step behind everyone else, except for the spinning around in place! We were good at that.
E-- especially is in that stage when she hugs you before asking for something....oh wait. I don't think some kids grow out of that ;)
Last weekend we had a birthday party for one of our girls. She turned 15, which is a big deal here, but we didn’t throw her a quinceanera. She’ll get a big birthday party when she turns 16. We did however take the WHOLE family out to eat. We do that like once a year, and maybe order pizza twice a year, because if we don’t make our own food, it’s expensive! Two of our little girls (M and E, 10 and 9) have only been with us about 9 months, so to my knowledge, they hadn’t been to a sit down restaurant before. We went to a buffet, and the one little girl had taken too much food, and as the waiter was clearing plates, she said “I’m saving that to take home.” I told her she couldn’t do that, and she was like “but it’s mine.” I also had to tell her, that if she was still eating something, she shouldn’t let the waiter take it off the table. She was eating some dessert, and set down her fork to drink, when the waiter absentmindedly picked up her plate to throw it in the trash. I was like, “are you still eating” and she said, “yeah” and I told her, “you have to tell him not to take your plate, that you still want it” and she gave me this look like, but he’s an adult, and I shouldn’t tell him to NOT DO SOMETHING!
I never imagined I would have to teach a child how to go out to eat, but I suppose that is part of education. I showed off my advanced mothering skills by finishing the food on her plate. ;)
Then we danced like crazy people, the chicken dance. (not my favorite, but nice to do with little kids, and really, I’ll take any dancing!) Except the two little ones, M & E, were just looking at us trying to figure out what we were doing. I think they might not have heard/seen that before. As soon as they got comfortable with the “swing your partner” part of it, we switched to the hokey-pokey. Granted, they don’t know a lot of English yet (even though Gabe was teaching E, “eyes, ears, mouth and nose” with the WRONG body parts. And E seems to have that down!) So they tried to do the hokey-pokey, all the while I was grabbing E’s elbows, and legs, hands, and waists to facilitate movement. They were so confused. Haha. And our dance moves were always one step behind everyone else, except for the spinning around in place! We were good at that.
E-- especially is in that stage when she hugs you before asking for something....oh wait. I don't think some kids grow out of that ;)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
carmel-y wafer cookies!
Tomorrow (Wednesday) Pastor Steve (not the dad at my house, but another in our organization) will be having a PSA. Whatever it stands for, it will determine whether he has prostate cancer surgery on Friday. Please be in prayer for him and his wife Kathy while they go through his second major health problem this year (this is the same Steve that had heart surgery).
I’ve had several little blessings recently. I was telling my friend Danielle about how I wanted stroopwaffles so bad, and how I almost buy the fake Mexican thing “Obleas”* that seem to be the same, and she said, “Do you want some, I have some in my room?” and there was a whole package of real European (Holandish? Sweedish?) stroopwaffles. (I thought of you Brigitta!)
Also, right when I was leaving to go grocery shopping last week, two people that visit us about once a month came over. They come from California, not sure where, and usually they come in the afternoon, but they came at 8:15 in the MORNING!! With 30 dozen eggs (that we’ve almost ate all of), 3 coolers of meat/frozen foods (I can cook hot dogs!), and all kinds of other things… I spent about half of what I normally do at the grocery! I had told my girls we were leaving at 8:15 sharp, and they enjoyed asking me repeatedly why we hadn’t left yet, wasn’t I ready? ;) while we were putting the food into the freezer.
Last week the night air smelled like rain, or ions, however you want to think of it. It didn’t rain, it just smelled like rain. I adore the smell of rain. Rain is a pleasure we don’t have here, except maybe a dozen times a year, usually all in Dec/Jan. All the benefit without the mess. It has gotten chilly here. It was hot when I first came 3 weeks ago…but I do have to say that I still wear long shorts and long sleeves. I am always reminded that I live in a desert when I covet after a neighbors grass. “wow, they have grass, that is sooo cool! They must not let their kids/animals play on it!”
My friend Hannah has been graciously bringing me chocolate, watching my kids in the afternoons, AND letting me beat her in Canasta. ☺
Playing scrabble in Spanish is hard, but being bilingual gives me more reasons to whine… “these letters would be AMAZING if we were playing in Spanish/English, but I can’t think of any good English/Spanish words to make.” I’ve decided to only play Spanish scrabble when I’m in a very academic mood.
*”Oblea” just means wafer in Spanish, but I can only think of the word Oblation and therefore religious ceremony/Communion. Their name incapacitates me from thinking of them as just a fun food item. I like how words can have so many nuances of meaning.
ok, back to thinking about putting my clean clothes away, when I might make time to finish reading a book this week, and whether keeping an early bed time makes me nicer the next day or not. (I did finish 21 Ballons,a delightful childrens book, the short story of The Curious Case of Benjamen Button, and Yancy's The Jesus I never knew..I'm working on The Divine Conspiracy)
oh! and today I found Herbal Essences 2x1, and at a cheaper price than in the states....usually it's more expensive, and I've never seen any "deals". We don't have coupons. They don't exist, and even when I tried to redeem some on the outside of tortilla packages, (buy 4 get one free) the store said, "No, we don't do that."
I’ve had several little blessings recently. I was telling my friend Danielle about how I wanted stroopwaffles so bad, and how I almost buy the fake Mexican thing “Obleas”* that seem to be the same, and she said, “Do you want some, I have some in my room?” and there was a whole package of real European (Holandish? Sweedish?) stroopwaffles. (I thought of you Brigitta!)
Also, right when I was leaving to go grocery shopping last week, two people that visit us about once a month came over. They come from California, not sure where, and usually they come in the afternoon, but they came at 8:15 in the MORNING!! With 30 dozen eggs (that we’ve almost ate all of), 3 coolers of meat/frozen foods (I can cook hot dogs!), and all kinds of other things… I spent about half of what I normally do at the grocery! I had told my girls we were leaving at 8:15 sharp, and they enjoyed asking me repeatedly why we hadn’t left yet, wasn’t I ready? ;) while we were putting the food into the freezer.
Last week the night air smelled like rain, or ions, however you want to think of it. It didn’t rain, it just smelled like rain. I adore the smell of rain. Rain is a pleasure we don’t have here, except maybe a dozen times a year, usually all in Dec/Jan. All the benefit without the mess. It has gotten chilly here. It was hot when I first came 3 weeks ago…but I do have to say that I still wear long shorts and long sleeves. I am always reminded that I live in a desert when I covet after a neighbors grass. “wow, they have grass, that is sooo cool! They must not let their kids/animals play on it!”
My friend Hannah has been graciously bringing me chocolate, watching my kids in the afternoons, AND letting me beat her in Canasta. ☺
Playing scrabble in Spanish is hard, but being bilingual gives me more reasons to whine… “these letters would be AMAZING if we were playing in Spanish/English, but I can’t think of any good English/Spanish words to make.” I’ve decided to only play Spanish scrabble when I’m in a very academic mood.
*”Oblea” just means wafer in Spanish, but I can only think of the word Oblation and therefore religious ceremony/Communion. Their name incapacitates me from thinking of them as just a fun food item. I like how words can have so many nuances of meaning.
ok, back to thinking about putting my clean clothes away, when I might make time to finish reading a book this week, and whether keeping an early bed time makes me nicer the next day or not. (I did finish 21 Ballons,a delightful childrens book, the short story of The Curious Case of Benjamen Button, and Yancy's The Jesus I never knew..I'm working on The Divine Conspiracy)
oh! and today I found Herbal Essences 2x1, and at a cheaper price than in the states....usually it's more expensive, and I've never seen any "deals". We don't have coupons. They don't exist, and even when I tried to redeem some on the outside of tortilla packages, (buy 4 get one free) the store said, "No, we don't do that."
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