Wednesday Afternoon

The project. We're working on the handwriting.

It's Wednesday afternoon, and I am home with both kids. Liam stayed home from school today. Which was very unfortunate, because he had a presentation to do in class today. And we spent a total of 3 hours (!!!) preparing for it yesterday.

The time consuming part was making the poster for it. It probably wouldn't have taken that long if Liam didn't have to be prodded the whole time to get it finished. I can't blame him though. He got very tired. It was a lot of work with just a day's notice! (What is up with First Grade homework?) I was tired after researching, making him rewrite things and reducing information into concise forms. I was impressed with the ideas Liam came up with though! For example, his idea for the map to show the journey.


We were up all night with Liam. He had a croupy cough that made him scared. Of course, his panicking scared me. I leapt out of a deep sleep several times during the night. We decided to keep him home. He hadn't slept enough, and had a low-grade fever, and cough.


They're having International Day at Liam's school tomorrow. Each class has a different country as its focus. Liam's class has Germany. The project he was supposed to present today was on the life of Levi Strauss. He immigrated to the U.S. from Germany as a teenager. Moved across the U.S. to San Francisco from New York during the Gold Rush in California. Invented the blue jeans for gold prospectors to wear. Got rich! I was telling Liam the prospectors were probably down to wearing rags before the blue jean came along. Imagine being out there digging and panning for gold wearing a weaker material.

I hope Liam is well and can make it to school tomorrow. It would be too bad if he missed out on roaming the classrooms to discover other countries with his class tomorrow.

Key Lime Pie

It was a low-key birthday for Edilberto. We didn't do much except sing 'Happy Birthday' and eat pie. Life is surreal for us at the moment. We're hanging-in there, doing what we can to move forward, and waiting.

The birthday boy with his 'Key Lime' pie.

Oh soooo Delicious!

Happy Birthday Edilberto!

Happy Birthday, Meu Edil!

(Jan. 28)

Saturday Night

It's Saturday night. I am sitting here reflecting on the past week. Next week begins busy for us with having places to be every night from Sunday to Tuesday. This past week was crazy for a lot of reasons.

Some things about the past week:

- I was beginning to feel so ill that I thought I might take myself to an emergency room. One of my lungs was hurting along with my ribs after weeks of coughing.

- I went to see a doctor finally, one afternoon, but she wouldn't see me. They didn't take the type of insurance I had and, even though I was going to pay cash at the time of my appointment, they wouldn't take me! It was because of in case I needed to be admitted to the hospital, and something or other. I cried. It turned-out to be a blessing as that afternoon, I started feeling (in my opionion, miraculously) better. This is after over 2 months of feeling like I was on the edge of pneumonia. Amazing. It's from all the prayers that are being lifted-up for me. I know it is. For so many reasons, it is obvious people are praying for me and our whole family.

- Since we're in an unexpected situation here and find ourselves now inbetween jobs and in financial difficulty, we've had our church and other friends rally to help us. We have been so blessed this week and feel a lot of the burden of what we're going through has been lifted in many ways. A humbling process. But it is also a feeling of being cared for and loved that is so special. It also teaches us what other families go through when something unexpected happens. And how important it is to be ready to help. Practical acts and help may seem small, but when in fact, its impact is tremendous to those who are in need.

- I discovered I could get a job as a fire dog. I smelled a fire happening last night, one hour before the fire engines arrived. I actually had gone outside to look around the neighborhood to see if anyone's house had smoke coming out of it. I looked around our house for the source of the smell. I saw nothing. Until one hour or so later, there were sirens (probably around eight fire trucks came to the scene.) The sounds of sirens was coming from the back of our neighborhood, in the neighborhood next door. Bordering that neighborhood is a big warehouse. There was fire inside of the warehouse. Not until the firefighters opened up the side of the building, did the smoke appear! I was amazed my nose had smelled the fire so much earlier. But not really. I have always had a keen sense of smell. It showed me that I really was getting well because my sense of smell was coming back.

- Now Liam's sick. He has had a fever all day today and complaining of feeling awful. His eyes are glazed and he's just not himself. I hate it when the kids are sick. It's such a feeling of helplessness to see them like that. It's such a relief when they are well again.

- I haven't felt well in over two months, and am in awe of feeling well again. It's such a huge turn around and happened so suddenly. I am grateful to be almost completely well, able to breathe again and breathing without pain.

Pictures of the Kids from Today

Well, I guess if I don't post soon...

If I don't post soon, those ugly snake pictures won't go down the page. So I better get to some posting. Right? How about some completely random lovely things to ponder (to take our minds off of that yucky snake).

We can always post pictures of something more desireable. Like the other day, I baked some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Photos:

Oh, and here's a cute picture of Pepper taken a couple of days ago, in this picture looking much younger than she really is:

And the nice family photo. Very random, since it was taken in 2006!

Random fun for the camera shots:

There...now all you who were creeped-out by the snake can come back. I think I've got him pushed down the page!

I knew I didn't like snakes

Check this out. In Brazil, a snake was captured after swallowing a BABY COW! Poor cow.

Found at the Universo On-Line Website, Brazil:

http://noticias.uol.com.br/ultnot/album/080121_album.jhtm?abrefoto=39

A Cat & Fish Tale

Have you ever heard of a cat and fish being in cahoots? Well, we have a cat and a fish who are. Whenever the fish sees the cat coming, he swims around like crazy to call attention to himself. The cat then proceeds to follow me around meowing loudly. She is telling me the fish wants to eat. Only, she has ulterior motives for helping the fish out. She is nuts about the fish food, wants me to feed the fish so she can have a taste of a couple of flakes of fish food.

It is quite funny to watch the pair of them. Pepper (the cat) and the fish (who I want to call 'Cleo' after the fish in Pinocchio, but who Liam wants to call 'Goldie' - like millions of other goldfish are called) are friends. Even when there's no food around, sometimes Pepper will jump up on the desk and visit Cleo Goldie. Cleo Goldie will swim up to the front of the tank to say hello to Pepper, her cat friend.

Just see for yourself:

17 Years Ago Today

It's been 17 years ago today that I met my Tarzan (who I would one day marry!) I was with a Primary Health Care team and we'd just flown in to the city at the mouth of the Amazon, Belem, Brazil. Edilberto was on staff at the base where we were working. He was an interpreter for a health care seminar we gave to the base staff.

I remember the date because the day we landed in Brazil, was the day that the Gulf War started in 1991. We spent a week at the base in the city of Belem before heading-up river to stay in two different villages to plant clinics and train local health care workers. It was difficult being in those places and not having any news about what was happening with the war. We'd only get snippets of news by word of mouth from places that had shortwave radios.

Edilberto and I married many years later. But I'll never forget the first time I saw him. He was wearing a white v-neck t-shirt, pea green safari looking pants, was all sweaty and with a machete in his hand (he was clearing brush). He'd just killed a snake and flung it to hang in one of the branches of the bush he was working on. I asked him if he only killed the poisonous ones. He replied, "I don't wait to find out."

Strange was to have an attraction for someone so instantly. To have a lasting impression of someone I'd just met. For we left upriver after just one week at the base, for two months, and I only saw him on one occasion during the time we were staying in the villages. That was when he transported two of our late arriving team members to meet us. He didn't stay long and was off again. But it made me ponder why I felt somehow we'd be together. Even our team leader said, "I have a feeling about those two." Weird! And here we are today, married with two children.

Feeling Really Down Today

I'm feeling very discouraged today pondering our current circumstances. I feel lost and with no clue yet what we're supposed to be doing. We came all the way here with our family. The move was costly for us. We left friends and family. People sacrificed to help us get here. Sent us off with their love and blessings. We were hopeful and excited for the new course that was set.

We arrived and things were not the way we thought they were. We feel we came here under false pretenses on many levels. That all doesn't matter now. The fact is, we're here, we're not doing what we came here to do, we're not able to exist here under the present circumstances, and we have no idea where to go or what to do. It's such a scary place to be. Especially with having small children, with one of them in school and not wanting to disrupt their lives because of what's going on.

Some days, I can get through, walking in faith, and keeping the routine going. But on days like this, when there's a little more time to think and face reality, I feel overwhelmed and without hope.

Pit Bull attack in our neighborhood

Last night I was oblivious to the events that were taking place just around the corner from our house, in our own neighborhood. Edilberto was out in the back barbecuing, and saw a news helicopter hovering overhead. He came in and turned on the news on television to see what was happening. I was in another room and wasn't paying any attention.

My neighbor friend phoned me to ask if I had seen what was happening. I said I hadn't. She informed me that a pit bull had gotten loose and that another neighbor had shot and killed it. Apparently, the owner of the dog wasn't home and the dog had gotten out. A neighbor heard kids yelling about the dog being out loose. He went to investigate and was attacked by the dog. The dog bit up his arms and backside. He had a concealed weapon on him and pulled it out and shot the dog three times, killing it.

We all went outside (it was dark by then) to peer down the street from a distance. The kids were with me and so was the neighbor who had called me. We were at a distance, and in the dark, and still, the television news crew saw us and came running-up to interview us. I guess since I was with small children, they asked me to give my thoughts on what had taken place. They also interviewed Liam. I told the neighbors it wouldn't make the cut in the editing because we hadn't seen anything, and therefore we weren't a very interesting or relevant interview. Although I must say, Liam was pretty darned cute in his interview!

I was right that we weren't on the news, but we saw the interviews of several of our neighbors. The guy who owned the dog said that he was more concerned for the neighbor who was hurt, rather than his dog having died. That same dog had attacked the guy's own father a few years ago. Unfortunately, I think there are at least two other pit bulls in our neighborhood.

----UPDATE:
I guess I was on tonight's news. I didn't watch television tonight so I didn't know. I just saw this on the news website. This is the story as well as the video (you'll have to click on to watch)and a portion of the interview I gave them towards the end of the footage:

http://www1.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI73027/

Secrets of a Fruitful Life and Ministry

I just visited the blog of Floyd and Sally McClung. There I found a very timely article on The Secrets of a Fruitful Life and Ministry. There were several other interesting more recent posts after that as well. Click on the title of this post to go to the link.

Nothing Much To Blog About

Nothing much to say today. We appreciate your prayers though as we seek direction about what's next in our lives. We continue to plug along here. Liam stayed home from school yesterday with this cold we've all had. He went today, but it was a hard call for me to know whether or not he should. He did O.K. though.

Back to the Weekly Routine

What's nice for the kids, in the midst of all the uncertainty in our lives right now, is for them to be back into their weekly routine. Liam returned to school (barely, as he seems on the edge of getting the bad cold we've had. So far, it hasn't taken hold and I pray it doesn't). Isabella had her Monday ballet/tap class for the first time since the Christmas break.

Isabella seems to have been inspired by seeing The Nutcracker. She seemed to have matured in her dancing over the break. They were learning some new dance steps and moves. She caught-on a lot more quickly than in the past. Things seem to click more easily for the whole group of girls. Things that they've learned before seemed much easier. She was very excited to return to her class and was really into it the entire hour. She had a great time.

Liam read his reading assignment book to me this afternoon, and his reading seems to have gotten better as well. It was much smoother and quicker and didn't seem a huge drudgery to him like before. Which is a good thing because he was losing interest and I was concerned.

At least the kids will be back to routine and busyness and hopefully won't notice as much our efforts to figure-out what's next for us all. Hopefully too, we will all be completely over this terrible cold soon. Isabella and I are at the end of that it seems, but Edilberto is just starting. Hopefully, it won't take a hold of him like it did us.

What's the story for 2008?

It will be interesting to see how 2008 unfolds for our family. We are in a unique place in not knowing what we'll be doing and exactly what's ahead. We have some ideas, but no path has clearly come to the surface of those ideas. It is a challenging place to find ourselves in. At least we have the Rock to stand on, and an Anchor to hitch ourselves to in the midst of the not knowing and in somewhat blindly walking ahead. We know we'll be lead to where we're supposed to be. We will keep on learning, trusting and walking by faith.

We feel this time is essential to bring us to the place that we are supposed to be. Though we don't understand it all now. We at least have this sense and feeling that this hard time is going to drive us there. But yes there are times I feel like crying out and saying, "Enough!" Let's get there already. Otherwise, I try to stay focused on the moment and the day I am living and not worry about the future.

Winter's Finally Here!

It's cold here in the Sunshine State. Yes, it's true. We had the heat on last night and part of today. And even still, the cold penetrated any body part that wasn't covered by the blanket on our bed. Frozen elbow, frozen finger. Homes here aren't built for the cold. With unsealed windows, and tile floors, you might as well be sleeping outdoors! It got down into the 30s last night. I welcome the cold, but in moderation please.

Speaking of cold...or "colds," Isabella and I saw the doctor today and got some medicines. After being sick for over a month (me), I look forward to feeling well again. The holidays slipped right by me. I saw them happen through a Kleenex.