Happy Easter!

Well, we've come to the end of a nice quiet day. We cleaned up around here, did laundry, and had a "date night" this evening. Yesterday was full but very good. We had our Easter celebration yesterday. A few of our friends came over around 11:30 and we prepared a BBQ lunch together...it wasn't ready until 2pm to actually eat, but it was worth it! Woo! We had some good eats. We had the shishkabobs, ribs, and a platter with veggies and ranch dip among other goodies..... it was a great food experience. People dug out from their special stores of stuff that they had squirrelled away for a rainy day....meaning things that they brought from Canada or somebody brought in for them. I offered up my ranch dressing. I carted it over with us last summer. It was good. I'd forgotten how much I like Ranch dressing. Someone else dug out their smoked salmon that someone sent over for them, and made salmon pinwheels with some cream cheese that I found at one of the stores downtown. (It's very exciting that we can now buy cream cheese here in our city!) It was nice to bring some special items out to celebrate the special day. And it was nice to spend it together.
After eating we had a worship time together, just singing praise to God for His amazing victory on our behalf. Rejoicing that He truly is alive, and a part of our lives. It was good.
So, after all that, we had today to get things back in order. We'll probably go to bed early. We are both tired and the next few days look to be very busy.
Hope you had a very meaningful Easter, and that you got to truly worship Him for His indescribable gift!!

Peace!

80 Facts about Elizabeth

I am not a royal watcher or fanatic, but I thought this list of 80 facts about the Queen was interesting. In preparation for her 80th birthday Buckingham Palace released this list.
(I got it from this website .)

Buckingham Palace. 80 fascinating facts about the Queen

1 Queen Elizabeth II is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England.
2 In 2002, aged 76, the Queen was the oldest monarch to celebrate a Golden Jubilee. The youngest was James VI and I at 51.
3 Since 1952 the Queen has conferred more than 387,700 honours and awards.
4 The Queen has personally held more than 540 Investitures.
5 The Queen speaks fluent French and regularly uses it.
6 The Queen has received more than 3 million items of correspondence during her reign.
7 Around 1.1 million people have attended her garden parties at Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
8 The Queen has given regular Tuesday-evening audiences to ten British prime ministers. The first was Winston Churchill (1951-55).
9 Tony Blair is the first prime minister to have been born during the Queen's reign. He was born in May 1953 - a month before her coronation.
10 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh introduced small, informal luncheon parties at Buckingham Palace to meet distinguished people from all professions, trades and vocations. The first was held on 11 May, 1956.
11 The Queen is patron of more than 620 charities and organisations.
12 The Queen has undertaken more than 256 official overseas visits to 129 different countries.
13 The Royal Yacht Britannia was launched by the Queen on 16 April, 1953 and was commissioned for service on 7 January, 1954. It was de-commissioned in December 1997.
14 The Royal Yacht Britannia was first used by the Queen when she embarked with the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954 at Tobruk, for the final stage of their Commonwealth Tour. The last time the Queen was on board Britannia for an official visit was on 9 August, 1997 for a visit to Arran.
15 The Queen has visited Australia 15 times, Canada 23 times, Jamaica six times and New Zealand ten times.
16 Since her accession to the throne in 1952, the Queen has visited Edinburgh nearly every year, staying in the Palace of Holyroodhouse during Holyrood Week.
17 During her reign, the Queen has received many unusual gifts, including live animals; among them jaguars and sloths from Brazil, and two black beavers from Canada.
18 The Queen has sent around 100,000 telegrams to centenarians in the UK and the Commonwealth.
19 The Queen has sent more than 280,000 telegrams to couples celebrating their diamond wedding anniversaries.
20 The Queen's real birthday is on 21 April, but it is celebrated officially in June. This monarch's tradition dates back to the reign of Edward VII, who felt that his November birthday was unsuitable for celebratory parades owing to the cold weather.
21 The Queen has attended 34 Royal Variety Performances.
22 The Queen has opened 15 bridges in the UK.
23 The Queen has given at least 91 state banquets.
24 Since 1952 the Queen has undertaken 78 state visits accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh.
25 The Queen has launched 23 ships in her lifetime. The first was HMS Vanguard which she launched, as Princess Elizabeth, on 30 November 1944 in Clydebank. The first ship which she launched as Queen was the Royal Yacht Britannia, also from Clydebank.
26 The Queen has sent about 37,500 Christmas cards.
27 The Queen has given out around 78,000 Christmas puddings to staff, continuing the custom of King George V.
28 Every year the Queen sends Christmas trees to Westminster Abbey, Wellington Barracks, St Paul's Cathedral, St Giles', Edinburgh, the Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, Crathie Church and schools and churches near Sandringham.
29 The Queen learned to drive aged 19 in 1945 in the army.
30 As a young woman, the Queen was a Girl Guide and a Sea Ranger.
31 While a princess, the Queen travelled on the London Underground for the first time in May 1939.
32 The Queen is a keen photographer and enjoys taking photographs of her family. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is also a keen photographer and has taken a number of photographs of the Queen, including an official photograph for her Golden Jubilee in 2002.
33 The Queen was born at 17 Bruton Street, London W1, on 21 April, 1926, and was christened on 29 May, 1926 in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace.
34 With the birth of Prince Andrew in 1960, the Queen became the first reigning British sovereign since Queen Victoria to have a child.
35 The Queen has 30 godchildren.
36 The first football match the Queen attended was the 1953 Blackpool v Bolton FA Cup Final.
37 The Queen has taken the salute in every Trooping the Colour ceremony since the start of her reign, with the exception of 1955, when a national rail strike forced its cancellation.
38 The Queen has sat for 139 official portraits during her lifetime, two of which were with the Duke of Edinburgh. The most recent sitting was for Rolf Harris (2005).
39 The Queen sat for the first and only hologram portrait in 2003.
40 There have been 11 sculptures of the Queen. The most recent was in 2005 by Miss Angela Conner for St George's Chapel, Windsor.
41 The first "Royal walkabout" took place during the visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to Australia and New Zealand in 1970.
42 In 1969 the first television film about the family life of the Royal Family was made, and shown on the eve of the Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.
43 An important innovation during the Queen's reign was the opening in 1962 of a new gallery at Buckingham Palace to display items from the Royal Collection. It was the first time that parts of the palace had been opened to the general public.
44 The only time the Queen has had to interrupt an overseas tour was in 1974, during a tour of Australia and Indonesia. She was called home when a general election was called suddenly.
45 The Queen has opened Parliament every year except 1959 and 1963, when she was expecting Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively.
46 The Queen went on her first state visit as Princess Elizabeth, to South Africa with her mother and father, in 1947. The tour included Rhodesia and Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland (now Lesotho).
47 The Queen's first Commonwealth tour in November 1953 included visits to Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, the Cocos Islands, Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Libya, Malta and Gibraltar.
48 The Queen was the first British monarch to go to China. She made the trip in 1986.
49 The Queen has made a Christmas broadcast to the Commonwealth every year of her reign except 1969.
50 In 1953, the Queen made the first Christmas broadcast from overseas, broadcasting live from New Zealand.
51 The Queen sent a message of congratulations to the Apollo 11 astronauts for the first Moon landing on 21 July, 1969. The message was micro-filmed and deposited on the Moon in a metal container.
52 The Queen has met the following astronauts at Buckingham Palace: Major Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereschkova, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.
53 The Queen sent her first e-mail in 1976, from an army base.
54 There have been six different Archbishops of Canterbury during the Queen's reign.
55 In 1982, when Pope John Paul II visited Britain, he was the first pope to do so in 450 years. The Queen, as titular head of the Church of England, received him at
56 The Queen visited a mosque in the UK for the first time in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, in July 2002.
57 The Queen has attended 50 Royal Maundy services during her reign at more than 39 different cathedrals.
58 The Queen has owned more than 30 corgis during her reign, starting with Susan, who was a present for her 18th birthday in 1944. The Queen currently has five corgis, Emma, Linnet, Monty, Holly and Willow.
59 The Queen also introduced a new breed of dog known as the "dorgi" when one of the Queen's corgis was mated with a dachshund which belonged to Princess Margaret. The Queen currently has four dorgis: Cider, Berry, Candy and Vulcan.
60 As well as corgis and dorgis, the Queen also breeds and trains labradors and cocker spaniels at Sandringham. There is a special Sandringham strain of black labrador founded in 1911.
61 The Queen's first pony was a gift from her grandfather, King George V, when she was four. This was a Shetland pony called Peggy. The Queen continues to ride at Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor.
62 Horses bred at the Royal studs over the last 200 years have won virtually every major race in Britain. The Queen has about 25 horses in training each season.
63 The Queen's racing colours are purple body with gold braid, scarlet sleeves and black velvet cap with gold fringe.
64 The Queen continues the Royal Family's long association with racing pigeons, which began in 1886 when King Leopold II of Belgium made a gift of racing pigeons to the Royal Family. The Queen is patron of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association.
65 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were married on 20 November 1947 in Westminster Abbey. The Queen's wedding dress, designed by Sir Norman Hartnell, was woven at Winterthur Silks Ltd, Dunfermline.
66 The Queen's dressmakers have included Sir Hardy Amies, Sir Norman Hartnell, Karl-Ludwig Couture and Maureen Rose. The Queen's milliners have been Frederick Fox, Philip Somerville and Marie O'Regan.
67 The Queen's wedding ring was made from a nugget of Welsh gold from the Clogau St David's mine, near Dolgellau.
68 The Queen has an extensive collection of jewellery, most of which are Crown Jewels, including the largest pink diamond in the world.
69 The Queen has laid a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday every year of her reign, except in 1959, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1983 and 1999, when she was either pregnant or overseas on an official visit.
70 The Queen has visited the sets of Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale.
71 In 1997, the Queen launched Buckingham Palace's first official website.
72 In 1998, the Queen introduced "theme days" to promote and celebrate aspects of British culture. The first theme day was "City Day" focusing on financial institutions.
73 In June 2002, the Queen hosted the first public concerts - the "Party at the Palace" - in the garden of Buckingham Palace to celebrate her Golden Jubilee.
74 The Queen is the first member of the Royal Family to be awarded a gold disc from the recording industry. 100,000 copies of the CD of the "Party at the Palace" were sold within a week of release.
75 The Queen hosted the first women's-only event, "Women of Achievement", at Buckingham Palace in March 2004.
76 In November 2004, the Queen invited the cast of Les Misérables in the West End to perform for the French president, Jacques Chirac, at Windsor Castle.
77 As a young girl, the Queen acted in a number of pantomimes during the Second World War, including playing the part of Prince Florizel in Cinderella in 1941. These took place every year at Windsor Castle.
78 In 2005, the Queen claimed ownership of 88 cygnets on the Thames. They are looked after by the swan marker. The first royal swan keeper was appointed in the 12th century.
79 The Queen still owns the sturgeons, whales and dolphins in the waters around the UK, thanks to a statute from 1324, when King Edward II reigned. Sturgeons, porpoises, whales and dolphins are recognised as "Fishes Royal". When captured or washed ashore within three miles of UK shores, they may be claimed on behalf of the Crown.
80 In 2005, the Queen opened the first "children's trail" in the Buckingham Palace garden for the summer opening.
10 more things you may not know
• 1 In 1964, the postage-stamp designer David Gentleman suggested to Tony Benn, then the postmaster-general, that a new set of stamps be issued without the Queen's head on them. Benn was open to the idea but, after these were mocked up for viewing, word came from the Queen that the status quo was to be observed. She did, however, like Gentleman's idea of substituting her full-face portrait with a profile in silhouette.
• 2 The Queen takes breakfast in the first-floor dining room of Buckingham Palace. Tupperware boxes of cornflakes and porridge are left on the table with a pot of Earl Grey tea. There are silver spoons for the marmalade.
• 3 The Queen carries a comb, a handkerchief, a small gold compact and a tube of lipstick in her handbag.
• 4 Most people think that the Queen never carries money, but she does on Sundays - a folded note, of unknown denomination, which she places in the collection plate at church.
• 5 As a child she was known as "Lilibet" by her close family.
• 6 Touching the Queen is strongly discouraged. Paul Keating, the Australian prime minister, below, broke this rule when he was photographed with his arm around the Queen in 1992 and was afterwards dubbed the "Lizard of Oz" by the British media.
• 7 The Queen, as Princess Elizabeth, spoke on Children's Hour in October 1940. Many British children had been evacuated to the countryside, and Princess Elizabeth wished them luck in their new homes.
• 8 The Queen does not accept honorary degrees from any university.
• 9 As part of the royal prerogative, the Queen does not require a driving licence.
• 10 Orkney is the only part of the UK in which the Queen cannot claim ownership of swans.

I guess the website added on those last 10. My personal favourite it the fact about the "Dorgi's." I wonder why the Queen can't own the swans in Orkney?

Quiet Sunday

Had a quiet day today. Mostly just relaxed and spent some time with my husband. Wanted to catch up on writing some personal emails, but I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Popped in to see our friends who have the baby. Once again, the baby smiled for me...and he was even having a grumpy day. And once again I was informed that other than the immediate family...I am the only person he will smile for. :)

Testa Della Benna!

One of my friends told me once that when he would travel or meet people from different countries he would make a point of asking them how to say "Bucket Head" in their language. Why you ask? No real point to it. After playing around with an online translation website I felt inspired. So, here ladies and gentlemen is "Bucket Head" in 10 languages. (Why?........................ no real reason)

1.Het Hoofd van de emmer
2.Tête De Seau
3.Wanne Kopf
4.Κεφάλι κάδων
5.Testa Della Benna
6.バケツの頭部
7.물통 머리
8.Cabeça Da Cubeta
9.Головка Ведра
10.Cabeza Del Cubo

Now, here's your turn to take a guess at what each language is.....if you are so inclined, and a little brave... then leave your best guesses in the comments box. Or are you afraid you might end up looking like a het hoofd van de emmer?

*Note: to all you fluent in other languages smartie pants out there.... yes yes I know- the grammar may not be correct on all of them...blame the machine!!

But....but...I don't speak the language

I have to write a 500 word essay on any topic. Any suggestions for a topic anyone?
Maybe I'll write it on how to fly to the moon and back.

It finally happen. I knew it would. Instead of saying his name properly I accidentally called a guy "Little Step Mother."

Then after that I taught a guy to say "You're the man!" Which brought me great satisfaction.

You should be more careful next time

Living overseas can be a very "romantic" thing. Romantic in the Anne of Green Gables sense. It can be fun, it can be interesting, adventerous, and definately stretching.
But, those of us who live or have lived overseas in a foreign culture know that with all of the "good stuff" also comes the stuff that threatens to drive you absolutely cuckoo.
There are just those moments that leave you feeling like you would like to throw your hat on the ground, jump up and down on it, with steam pouring out your ears, while letting out a blood curdling yell from the bottom of your gut. I won't get into a big discussion about it all here right now...but I will talk about it sometime. All in all- cultural differences are healthy. They make you, nay force you to choose whether you will walk in step with the Spirit or not. And they develop your character. But there are those choice moments when it's just so hard to not be an angry foreigner!

Here is an example. Tonight, I went to work out with a couple friends. We checked out a step aroebics class. Quite good. We were feeling fine. It was a little late, so we just popped into a little restaurant nearby to grab something quick to eat. They had some food that we were looking forward to eating. So, we order, the food comes...we start to eat. My friend finds an egg shell in her food.... we keep eating, I chomp down on a hard piece of bone, I spit it out. We keep eating. Then I bite on something hard and sharp. OUch!! What is it? I take it out...it's a jagged little piece of glass!!! (So, I must say here, I've never had glass in my food here, so it is an out of the ordinary experience) So, immediately I worry that maybe there was other glass in my food that I ate already, or something. I definately felt unsettled! So I go up to the girl behind the counter and I show her the glass. And she replies "You should be more careful next time." That's it. That's all I get. Fortunately I didn't make a scene because at that moment I didn't understand what she said until I went back to my table and repeated it to my tablemates who informed me of the meaning of the response.
So, I saw the manager, brought her to our table and told her what happened. and she basically just offered my money back or another bowlful. I appreciated that she was fair about it. We didn't say too much other than that is not safe. And she really didn't say much other than making that offer. Now I wish we would have given her a long speech about what to tell the guys in the kitchen. About how if they break something and they aren't sure where the glass went, then they should throw it out, and to be careful not to get egg shells in stuff..etc etc... Not angry like, but long and descriptive so as to stress how unsafe the situation was. And I wished we would have coached her on how the staff should respond if someone complains that there is glass in their food. ie you don't say "You should be more careful next time." Anyway, stuff is like that here. You always second guess how you handled something. Oh, maybe I was too hard on them, oh maybe I was too easy on them, maybe I didn't say enough, oh maybe I embarrassed them, oh maybe they cheated me, oh, maybe they didn't understand what we were saying!.... and etc!

ANyway, my point wasn't about the manager, but about the first girl. "You should be more careful next time" girl. She and I should both be very thankful that I couldn't understand her response right away. Sometimes it's grace to not have all the words you need to express what you are feeling!! But in the situation, she said what she could say. In her mind she wasn't being a twit. I don't exactly know what was going on in her mind, but I do know this.... that here, someone with her job has no power. So she only has permission to do her little job and nothing else. She can't step out of her little job "box." She has no power to say- "Oh that's terrible!! I'm so sorry let me see what I can do for you!" Nope, she doesn't have that authority. Only the manager has the authority to do anything or offer any consideration. So, actually even as I walked up to the counter to complain, I knew in my heart, "this is going to go nowhere. "( While I realize that in canada a lot of clerks and restaurant personelle are limited too, that they have to get the manager to ok a lot of stuff... it's just a whole different level here)

SO, anyway, all this to say. While I do really love living here, and there are so many things that are all those great things- fun, interesting, adventurous, new and we love the people here.....Sometimes living here isn't "romantic." Sometimes it's hard, and it tempts you to be grouchy, and irritable, especially when people say things that you think "Dude, why would you even remotely think that is an ok thing to say to me?" "Why would you tell ME to be careful when YOUR restaurant served ME a shard of glass hidden in my food?" Ok, calm down....so, sometimes it's hard. But it's always healthy. The harder cultural things here do serve to refine you. It shows you your own ugly side, and calls you to make sure that you are walking with Christ. And sometimes you bungle it, you scowl when you should smile, you snap when you should be gently firm....and often you feel rotten later -"Oh why did I handle that so badly?" but even in that you grow. You grow because it only reinforces how great the grace is that we stand in.

My "Most" moments for this last little while

Here are the winning moments in various categories of everyday living over the last couple weeks:

My most Pleased with myself moment: had a few friends over- made a meal of squash soup and a chicken couscous dish. And, hey whatdya know -it all turned out well. My dear Hubby also made strawberry smoothies for everyone! The crowd went away satisfied!

My Most displeased with myself moment: Discovered I've lost my bike key, with the lock locked. Arg!

My Most Fearful moment: In the middle of the night I heard a noise in the corner of the room. While I am not afraid of mice, it's still alarming to have some unidentified -"could be a rodent" noise in the corner. We later identified the noise as our blind sweeping an airfreshner across the window sill- it was soooo windy the air was coming right through the closed windows, and moving the blinds.

Most windy moment: A few nights ago. It was really windy.

Lowest moment: the other morning laying on my bed, sick as a dog.

Most encouraged by others moments: 1. - a friend here told me the story of how her daughter broke her arm a few months ago but God healed it in 7 days. Apparently the doctor said "This is not possible" when she looked at the healed arm. 2. An encouraging email from Amy about what God has done in her life recently. Yeah!

Most inspired moment: Did a word study on the word "guard" from Philippians 4:6.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
The Greek word for "guard" here is used in other places in the NT in a military sense....


Moment most lacking in closure: Watched half of "The Sound of Music" then the disc was all wonky and couldn't finish it. (Yes I have seen it before, but i was really into it)

My most pleasant turn of events moment: Got message that one of my teachers from last term is taking over my conversation class- it's the lady who does the splits.... I like her.

My most anti climactic moment: Had this lovely couple over for lunch- they are also foreigners here, but not from North America. I spent a good part of the morning getting ready, served Shepherd's pie and stir fried veggies.....they were very polite, but I could tell they didn't really dig the food. (Not used to it...I've served that same dish to nationals here, and they really liked it, so I thought it would go over for them too....) We still had a good conversation, and we'll hang out again which is great, I really like them.

Alrighty - well that's enough of that!
Hope you are having lots of notable moments too. For all kinds of reasons.

Nick names

There's a new friend that we recently met, his english is quite good. He has this super sincere personality. Very friendly and loves to speak english with you. I just had to post this little story that I heard about him tonight!!

He also knows two of my North American friends-Brad and Rhonda.
So, one day our friend (Let's call him Earl) walks up to Brad and says "Hey! I have a new name for you! Want to hear what it is?"
Brad:" OK!"
Earl: "It's Chubby Boy!"
Ok, so Brad at this point is none too thrilled with the new nick name.... (he's not chubby at all either..)
so then Earl goes over to Rhonda and says "Oh! Brad doesn't like his new nick name!! Hey I have one for you too! It's "Hot Chick"

(Where he got these names - I have no idea!!)
Seeing as how Brad was thumbs down on Chubby Boy, Earl comes back to him again and says:

Earl: Hey Brad - I have a new name for you!"
Brad: "Ok, what is it?"
Earl: "It's Hank"
Brad:"Hank, oh ok, Hank."
Earl:" Don't you like it!!!! ????It means handsome man!"
Brad realized later that he was trying to say "Hunk"

Ok, I don't know about you ...but i find everything from "Chubby Boy to Hot Chick, to Hank and Hunk" very funny.

Spring sniffles

Well, it's a sunny gorgeous day here. The sun is streaming in and its very springy all around.
Last week was the first time I noticed that the bushes were starting to bud. Now there are bonafide leaves on some of them, and I noticed green clover that was starting to come up on my walk to school yesterday. The trees still look pretty bare, but it is amazing how far just a little bit of green goes in giving you hope!

But, while it is nice outside, my head feels like it is in a foggy cloud. I have come down with this nasty cold or flu. It's one of those very contradictory kinds- I'm really really cold, so I cover up, then I'm really really hot, so I take off some covers, then I'm really cold etc...and I feel like I need to lie down but when I lie down I get a headache, and earlier I felt hungry and nauseous at the same time. Very Contradictory. Right now, I'm feeling somewhat better, but I'm prepared that I may feel worse again soon.

My husband also has it, but it seems much more low grade for him. He seems hardly effected. So that's good. He has been slowly working at coming off of his medication for his other health problem. He still has a number of weeks left. It seems to be going well so far though.

Well, there's your health and weather update for today!!

UPdate: Apparently my husband feels quite rotten too.(with this cold)

My fav Jack Handy saying- or close to it.

A quote on Tiffany's blog reminded me of something that I once found very very funny.
It goes something like this....


"The most fearsome animal in the world is not the lion, tiger or bear. It is a shark riding on an elephant, trampling and biting everything in sight."



Note: I wrote this from memory- it's pretty close to the original saying in my Deep Thoughts book.

The difference

Does anyone know the difference between regular vinegar and distilled vinegar?

Things that speak of the splendor of God

While we were away I really enjoyed the flowers, and shrubbery- it was a feast for the eyes!

The Make over

My husband and I have been talking about sprucing up this one little corner of our place, the area that is our guest "room." I'm sort of excited about the result of our make over so far! We spruced it up some things we recently found along the way in our travels!

Before

And after!

Well, you may think- "Umm, actually, I really like the brown plaid couch better." Well, while I realize that brown is really "in" in Canada right now, uh, well, everything here is brown or grey outside right now, so why add to the depressive colour scheme by our own choice? (when we bought it it was supposed to be blue) ....

I intentionally posted these house make over pictures just after the flower pictures. The reason being that both sets express creativity. The first, God's handiwork, the second, a creative project of ours. I love the idea that when we are being creative, we are simply reflecting the fact that we are made in the image of God. He is creative, (flowers, trees, animals, the universe, people) we are made in His image, and therefore we also have that characteristic. (we decorate, write, draw, write music etc) We are simply reflecting Him. Our ability to be creative is a gift from Him, but it's extra special because we not only have this wonderful gift but we are also reflecting the giver when we use the gift.

I got so much satisfaction and joy out of simply creating a new look for that couch. My mind can only conceive of a fraction of the joy and satisfaction that God must derive from all of His creative projects!

Humans can make some really cool stuff. But His work blows our away everytime!!(Of course anything we make, is actually made up of things that He has created first, and He gives us the capacity in the first place to even have a remotely creative thought!) In a nutshell, I think the idea that my creativity is a reflection of the Creator of the universe is incredibly wild, and beyond cool at the same time.

What is this? DeGrassi Junior High?

Do you ever have those moments that bring back those insecure feelings from Junior high school?

The other day I was sitting at the back of my class. My friend didn't come that day, so I was the only one back there. There were a smattering of other students from various countries there....amongst them - 4 Russian girls. They just transfered into our class, and are quite good with the language- and are eager beavers to say the least. They like to be the first to answer the questions, and are good at reading, will correct you if you give the wrong answer etc.

For me, it was one of my first days back at school after being away for quite some time, so I was just getting back in the swing of things. Feeling rusty.

I was sitting with my head in my hand staring at my book...the teacher was saying "waw waw waw waw waw" (think Charlie Brown- that is literally how it sounds to me- 60% of the time I have no idea what they are saying. If I don't pay attention it sounds like that 80% if the time.)

After a few minutes it dawned on me that I was hearing "Waw waw pause" ....."Waw waw pause".... "Waw waw? pause" .... I realized that the teacher was talking to someone in the class and they weren't responding. Upon lifting my head I realized it was me. If it were in english it would have sounded like this " Stella...", "Stella", ....."Stella?" which makes no sense right? Yeah, cuz my name is not Stella. So, understandably I was a little confused....who is Stella? Is that the name of one of the people in the dialogue? Or does she think I'm Stella? So, in my flustered state,I fumbled through explaining that my name is not Stella, my name is actually blah blah blah.... etc..." I don't think the teacher understood me as she just moved on to asking someone else to read the dialogue and didn't ask me to read anything else after that. Which was ok with me actually, but what bothered me was that the Russian girls laughed at me. And I felt a sting of that kind of embarrassment that you become well acquanted with in Junior High School, but rarely experience after that time. I don't think they were trying to be mean, I think it was actually a funny moment- if you weren't the person being called Stella...

I realized from this event that it doesn't take much to bias you against people. Really. I felt a touch of distaste for the eager beavers after that. Most likely that distaste is based on a misperception. Regardless though, I decided I'm going to make a move to be friendly and choose to be gracious. Forgive it, move on, reach out. I know it sounds like a petty little thing-....but even the little things can cause rifts. I know that I have the capacity to let that tiny bit of embarrassment cause me to be just a little bit less friendly, to be a little less warm...and to be truthful, they probably wouldn't care. But I would know it. And God would know it. And my heart would be a little colder for it. And really, isn't life too short for that? After all, I'm really not in junior high anymore.

Remnants of March 8th - International Womans Day!

It must be noted that only one of these lily stalks was given me for International Womens Day. The other one that you see in the picture is a gift from my husband, for no reason in particular, which is also a great reason to get flowers.

Some time ago, I mentioned a few things that I was going to share about our time away that I haven't told you about yet. On the whole- it was very good. I can't possibly go into it all here. So, suffice it to say, it was good, we are glad we went. So, that is the overall synopsis... however I feel compelled to say that it was (as is painfully obvious from the previous posts) an unusual trip for us due to unusual mishaps minor and major.

Both my husband and I have traveled a fair amount, but this trip stood out in having an unusually high number of critter run-ins. As I've already mentioned- there was Buffy the vampire cat, and my husband's illness which may have be caused by something mosquito born (the jury is still out on that one.) Here is where I throw in a disclaimer.....disclaimer: I'm sharing about this due to the fact that it seemed unusual, so if you are given to a controlling fear and aversion to creepy crawly critters, then don't let this add fuel to a fear of travelling!

Ok then. When we arrived in our first local, it was a great place. A clean, bright place....but what I noticed upon inspection of the place was a HUGE spider....no......think biggger....... no think bigger....as it sat on the glass of our window the span from one side to the other was about 10 cm....or 4ish inches....neither of us were really scared of it but both of us wanted that thing out of our room! So, my husband was kind enough to somehow get it into a glass and take it outside.

The second thing that we discovered in that room was a thick trail of ants that went from the window in the bathroom along a ledge around the back wall behind the toilet and up over the doorframe. They disappeared into a hole in the doorframe. We didn't even attempt to get rid of them. There were thousands of them. They stuck to their little trail for the most part. And they would disappear during the hottest part of the day, then come back later. So we just ignored them.

The third thing in that place was the hardest to shrug off. I get the willies just thinking about it. One night, we turned out the lights and I flopped down on the pristinely made bed get some shut eye (it was too hot to go under the covers so I just lay down on top of the sheets without disturbing the covers. ) I was laying down for all of about 1 minute when I felt something prickle me. I shot around with a gasp to see what it was and saw this guy zipping away over the side of the bed. (click on it to see picture) Brrrrrrrr! I was out of that bed faster than lightening. (faster than the mouse incident in Winnipeg Karen D) We searched and destroyed that thing. Should have taken a picture of it. It was huge. (we were on ground floor by the way, and there was a huge crack at the bottom of our door, so I think that's where some of our little friends were coming in..)

Later, we went to a different place, no critter incidence. But the third place we went to we also had a night time visitor. There were a lot of little geckos around everywhere. They are these very nice little lizards that eat mosquitos. They don't hurt you or want anything to do with you. Generally they mind their own business. But we did have some in our room that would chirp at night. One night my husband was thrashing around in bed- one of them had fallen off the ceiling onto the foot of the bed in the middle of the night. That gecko will definately be more careful next time.

I can say, while being not super critter tolerant. We still had a very good time. Even with my husband's illness, he would still say it was a good trip.

Ok, gonna go relax now!

Classic moments

Just a few odds n ends about things I've enjoyed recently .

I was thinking about this tonight that one of my favourite phrases that I've learned here is, "Hello little friend".... useful. I use it a lot. Since lots of kids stare at, approach , or yell HA-LOW! at me, it's nice to be able to say something to them. Also, lots of people with babies respond really warmly to me if I talk to their baby. So I say "Hello little friend" (usually with raised eyebrows and high pitched voice) and then the mom, dad or grandparent will say "Say hello to auntie!" (They call everybody auntie and uncle here)

A favourite moment the other day was riding my bike with a friend. We were coming home from something that we had been out doing and we happened upon a strawberry cart. That in itself was fun, but get this- the strawberries were $1.40 Cdn for 3 pounds. Amazing. Anway,as we were pulling away, I hear this commotion behind me, this girl laughing. She had walked into this massive pole, but wasn't hurt. I think she walked into it because she was staring at me. Ah, that gave me a chuckle.

Some friends of ours just had a baby. He's about 2 months old right now, I've seen him twice. Huge kiddo. (For here that is) I got to hold him for the first time this week. Oh it was fun! And for some reason he smiles for me. Apparently I'm the only person he's smiley with. I consider myself greatly blessed in this. Apparently I'm also the first person he's peed on. Can't say that that is such a blessing, but hey, I guess he's comfortable with me.

Wednesday was International Women's Day. I recieved a stem of stargazer lilies and a free dinner. Canadian women, I'm telling ya, we gotta get on this international women's day thing. Here there are big sales in stores, restaurants often offer deals, and some people get time off. Some Russian girls in my class said that Russians get a 3 day holiday. At least that's what I think they were saying. Why don't we do more?

Ok, well, I'm going to go now, I need to go do some baking, before it gets too late.

Hubs health update

Friday night. At home for once. It was a full Looooong day. But a reasonably good one none the less.

My husband and I are going to watch an episode of Lost in a little while. To unwind. He is digging around right now for a "Big Turk" to eat for a treat. (That's a chocolate bar that is made of turkish delight. He likes that kind. It's an aquired taste.) He got some as a gift awhile ago and has been storing them away for times like this. Generally we've been watching what we eat, as he is still on the medication from his illness, and it raises his blood sugar levels so it's a bad idea to eat a lot of sugar right now.

As for his health, it's going ok. We've made to trips up to the big hospital about 3 hours away. He's being tapered off the meds, but last week had to raise the amount he was taking as it seemed to be a little too rapid for his body to respond rightly. So, he gets his blood checked again in a few days.

I asked him if he wanted to be a guest blogger to share some things about his experience. So, that may be an upcoming post!

This guy didn't do so well during our time away

Yeah, when I bought him, he looked great. Green and tons of leaves. When we came back from our travels he was a brown scraggly mess, so I pruned him with high hopes that he would be on the mend and rebound. He's always been a fighter.

I think he needs a high dose of intense sun, but he just doesn't get that in our living room. Or maybe i've watered him too much since I came back- or not enough....
I think that I am almost ready to admit defeat. How I regret all those months of neglect that led into a lowered ability to survive while we were gone!

Joni Mitchell was right, you don't know what you've got til it's gone. I'll miss you hardy corner plant. Boo hoo.

The Rest of the story

Ok, so sorry to leave you hanging there.

So, to set the stage- there we were ....just been transfered to what we now realized was a world class hospital (at least to me, having a Star Bucks ranks you up there....even though I hate coffee) and it was late, but my Dh was in good spirits, and so was I. I guess for both of us, by this point we were both feeling that God was in control. I had been much more fearful earlier just after getting the very low platlet result back, and in the crazy ambulance ride. In the midst of things I had had a talk with God and told Him that of course my hand was open and if He wanted to take my husband home, that was His decision, and I wouldn't be bitter....but I also asked Him to spare His life, to heal him, because I love him. After that, my husband and I had bit of a quiet talk together and after that although things were stressful....both of us had a calm sense of God's overarching sovereignty in the situation. That was comforting.

So, we had to wait for his test results til morning. There was a bed for me in his hospital room so that was great. (Except for the endless stream of people coming in and out giving him medicine etc. )
In the morning the test results came back- his platlets had gone from 2.5% to 10%....now 10% is not the best amount in the world, but at that point it was fantastic!! what it meant was that the medicine was working!! SOOOOOO, he didn't need a platlet transfusion! That was an amazing relief for both of us.

Later the doctor told us that that seemed like too big of a jump in too short a time, so they were calling into question the results from the other hospital, thinking that they made a mistake. And, that could be. However, I think that God did it. During that stretch of time between those two tests, there were a bunch of people praying for him. I wasn't able to call or email many people, but some of our friends prayed and got on email right away and asked a bunch of other people to pray for us. So, we were thanking God. Hugely.

So, that was a turning point. We ended up being in the hospital for almost a week before his platlets were up high enough to leave. Now we are back home and it looks like it will hopefully be a one time problem, however do pray for him if you get the chance that it will be only a one time thing.

He got checked for all kinds of stuff while he was in the hospital, to try to figure out what caused it. So, far it is still a mystery.

Ok, once again it is late, so I MUST go to bed now.

Peace to you wherever you are!

We are back!

Back at home. Yes, I have a bit of a cold, but that is minor compared to what my hubby came back with! While we were away, we had a really good time of it. Really. But I have to say, we did have our share of strange "mishaps." Although all turned out fine.

The first incident was that Dh(dear husband) got bit on the ankle by a cat. Yes, a cat. I kid you not. He was playing with the thing, (it was a little rough) but it didn't break his skin until he started walking away. It was then that the thing pounced on his ankle and bit him, leaving two little vampire - cat puncture marks. So, after doing some research we decide its prudent for him to get rabie shots. So, ok.... which actually are not as bad as "the old days" ....so Dh informs me. He said the needle is in the arm and quite small now. But he did have to get 5 shots. Poor guy.

So that was number one. The second major health issue we had was that Dh developed something called ITP. THat is short for "not good, this can kill you." Actually it stands for something else and actually it kills very few people, but you can die from it. And at one point we weren't too sure what the outcome would be.

For those of you who know my husband, he is generally a very healthy, very physically strong person. But one evening I noticed some red dots on his skin. We thought maybe it was an allergic reaction to the detergent used to wash the sheets or something like that.

The next day the dots spread, then he started bruising very easily. We decided that although it was probably nothing, that we would pop into the hospital and get him checked quickly that evening ...just in case it was "something."

So, long story short....he got a bloodtest, and it was discovered that his blood platlet level was at 10% of what it should be. That is not good. You need your platlets for your blood to clot normally. He was admitted to the hospital immediately. They were afraid that he would start to bleed somewhere in his body- (joints, or brain) The doctor was very good. He spoke english and reassurred us that he sees a few cases of this every year and usually it responds well to some medication. So, they put him on some medication within the hour.( The name ITP simply means a loss of platlets due to some unknown cause. )

We were both very surprised that it was something that serious. And we were both nervous about him starting to spontaneously bleed. He had had a headache all day. But we were expecting that by morning he would be somewhat better.....that the medicine would kick in and do it's thing.

The next day was an incredible crazy wild ride. I went back to the hospital the next day, he was in good spirits, and had had a good sleep. The nurses took his blood in the afternoon, and the results came back worse that before!! His platlet level had dropped to only 2.5% of what they are supposed to be. So the doctor said that they would have to transfer him to a larger hospital in a big city to get a platlet transfusion. Hooo boy - we did not expect that. Immediately your mind starts going through all the "what ifs".... "What if he has a brain hemmorage on the way to the hospital?" "What if the platlets are somehow infected with something else that will kill him?" ....well, those were actually my only two big what ifs, but they went around in my head multiple times, plus they have other what if's associated with them.

The ambulance wasn't ready to go until 10pm, so I had time to run back to the hotel and grab stuff for both of us to take with us. Then I rode along in the ambulance with him. We made what I think is a two and a half to three hours drive in two hours. We practically flew there. Which on the whole is a bad idea for someone with ITP on bumpy roads. But maybe no one told the ambulance driver that. It was incredibly bumpy.

Once we got to the hospital in the larger center, any fears that I had about quality of service quickly disappeard. It was nicer than the Hilton. It was crazy nice. Very clean, professional and amazing service! Dh got looked over in the ER, blood tests taken...they concluded that he had survived the trip with no bleeding, and they said they'd evaluate in the morning when the results of his blood test would come back and the it could be decided as to whether or not they'd do the transfusion. They said that the hematologist would be in in the morning.


Ok, I know this is lame, but it is getting late and I have to get up early in the morning, so I will have to leave you hanging on the proverbial cliff. Just until tomorrow...... when I will finish this story--------- as there is no way I can finish tonight!! (sheepishly) SOrrryy!!

TO BE CONTINUED

Quick note

Ok, we are back, and I am tired. I have the sniffles and a sore throat, so I need to go to bed...especially since tomorrow will be a busy day with an early morning. We are fine though. I will write up an actual post on sunday. Sorry for the lack of posting.

Upon arriving back, the weather has been quite nice... nicer than I expected...I was bracing myself for grey, cold misty....but it's been reasonably sunny, and quite warm.

Ok...will write something soon!!

Questions....

Ok, while I will share later about our trip, I would like to respond to Peg's questions that she tagged me with awhile back- (sorry if the responses aren't too interesting- internet cafe- can't think)

Here's the deal: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place.
Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

Clare Pink Cupcake
Queen of West Procrastination(oops I did something to this one!)
VanderMeander
following the herd
The confused foreigner
(Sorry I haven't learned to link yet)


Next select five people to tag (only if you wanna, no pressure):
Kirsten
Amy
Tiffany

What were you doing 10 years ago? Just started work as an egg farmer, bought my first pair of overalls. I was moonlighting as an undercover RCMP officer in Rosthern SK....well, no, just kidding...... I had just reported to my first assignment working with you know who. If you don't know who that is you can email me. :) I was living in Saskatoon, with 4 other roomates at 204 Central. It was all quite a blast.Good memories.

What were you doing one year ago?
Living overseas trying to learn a new language among other things.

Five snacks you enjoy:
milk chocolate
vegetable thins with milk
hummus on wheat thins
ice cream
chocolate chip cookies


Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
I like papayas
Theme to the Flintstones
Lord Most High (From the Ends of the Earth)
Brown Eyed Girl
Faithful One



Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Let me think about that one....


Five bad habits:Leaving some food on my plate....even if it's just a bite, I almost always leave a morsel...I don't know why( I didn't even notice until someone pointed it out recently) ; letting receipts and papers accumulate in my purse; slouching; eating too much fattening stuff!; forgetting the clothes in the washer for too long.

Five things you like doing: Dancing; being in nature; swimming; singing worship songs; good conversation with friends (usually should include something we all find quite funny).

Five things you would never wear again:
1994 red satin bridesmaid dress; skin tight acid wash jeans; mall bangs; very very large glasses; duck boots (killer blisters!)

Favourite toys:
Settlers of Catan- have you played? very fun.
Skip Bo: my husband and I play this a lot, it is one of the only games I can fairly consistently beat him at. He is good at most games.
Fashion Plates: I think it was a Christmas gift from my parents when I was about 10- it's a fashion design sketch plate thing for kids it could easily go on the list of all time best little girl gifts.
Barbies: they were one of my all time fav's
Lego: no explanation needed.

Note: someone in this small internet cafe has intense onion breath.

At long last!

Ok ok, I know, I know, I've been gone for a long time....sorry for the long hiatus. I've been on the road so to speak, and I didn't end up having a lot of online time...so not much posting has happened. I will write some hilights and low lights of our trip soon,but we are currently still on the road and I can't think very well in internet cafes for some reason. Let's just say it's been an eventful time- including rabie shots, an attack of the flying gecko, a frightful night time visitor, and one fairly close to near death experience. Stay tuned for this and more. ("the more" being things like rest, helpful learnings, and refocused perspective..etc) And we are both just fine.

Travelling

Well, we are away from home for a little while. (and have been away for a few days) Doing some travelling. We are having a pretty good time. It's been a combination of relaxing, reading, exploring and being with friends. So far, so good. I did put in a new post but it is down below the cute overload pictures that I posted if you want to read it, for some reason I couldn't get the date to change to the real date I posted it.... so just scroll down if you would like to read it.

Hope all's well where you are!!

A small trip

Yesterday I accompanied a friend to the airport in another city to pick up her parents who are here visiting. Here is what I managed to do during that time:
1-get up at 5:40 am after going to bed around 1am. (I don't recommend this)
2-catch an early morning train.
3- enjoyed a raspberry frapuchinno
4-ate but did not particularly enjoy a "new" chicken burger from a chain restaurant. (I usually do like chicken burgers by the way)
5-people watched while waiting for her parents
6-was awed by the idea that God knows and actually cares for each person in the world.
7-Greeted her parents
8-caught shuttle
9-managed to get the jet lagged parents and all our luggage stranded on a street corner while trying to get to the train station. (supposed to take a taxi, but the first one refused, saying it was close enough to walk- which it was NOT)
10-misunderstood the very nice taxi driver who actually did take us. He was asking me which country I was from. I basically told him I was a native of our city that we live in now. He laughed.
11-finally got everyone safe and sound to the station without toooo much pain.
12-got caught in a mob of people desperately trying to catch their train. It was insanity.
13-Stopped for a little bit of food before catching our train.
14-flipped some "hot" spice into my eye. Now I know why they call it "pepper" spray.
15-Joined the mob getting on to our train
16-made it back home.
17-watched some "Alias" with my husband. And ate chocolate.
18-Finally landed exhausted back in bed.

Usually travelling here is not quite so crazy as it was yesterday.(Right Charlene??Karen??) It is just a busy time right now. If any of you come and visit, it will most likely be much more relaxed!!! :) And I promise I won't flip any hot spice into your eye. Not on purpose anyway. And I will share my chocolate.

Oh for the love of cuteness...

Got these pics from cuteoverload.com .... you can make up captions.

Something I found encouraging

Below I have cut and pasted a story from Randall's blog. It was such an encouraging story I thought it beared repeating. He got the story from a magazine that he gets every few months. He was reading it and thought it was cool and wanted to remember it...so do I ...so here it is.( I took out all reference to specific places....) It is a true story.

This happened in Country P
Nasir's death was another one of those tragedies that people have to deal with. At seventeen years of age he had been diagnosed with bowel cancer. He was a boy from a very rich family living in a town an hour's drive from the capital city. The doctor he consulted admitted him to the hospital and operated on him. However, Nasir didn't recover as hoped, but deteriorated rapidly. Five days later, surrounded by relatives, Nasir died. The doctors confirmed his death. It was Monday afternoon, 2nd May, 2005.
The hospital staff started to prepare his body for burial. The cannulas and IV lines were removed. They tied his two big toes together, strapped his jaw up to close his mouth tightly, and stuffed cotton wool into his nostrils. The ambulance was called to take the body home for the funeral.
In that same hospital two young Christian men worked as orderlies. During the course of work, one of these had become friendly with Nasir and his relatives. When he saw Nasir dead he went and told the other Christian orderly to come and pray. However, Shoquat didn't want to pray as Nasir was already dead. Still the friend pressured Shoquat. So the two friends went to Nasir's room. There lay the boy, destroyed by sickness, surrounded by fifteen grief-stricken relatives.
Because of the friend's insistence, Shoquat took courage and picked up the dead boys hand. As he prayed he began to sense the power of God. Trembling, he prayed in Jesus' name that the boy would come back to life. The corpse started to move and opened his eyes. Wild cries of disbelief and tears of joy began to flow from the seventeen witnesses. They set Nasir's face and nose free and watched as he sat up, very much alive and healed. Shoquat was swamped with kisses and hugs. For some twenty-five minutes Nasir had been dead, with no breathing or a pulse. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Lord Jesus had done an amazing work - for a youth like him. He was discharged from the hospital at 11 p.m. that night, completely well.
The doctors were baffled and embarrassed. That same day Shoquat was questioned by the hospital superintendent. The administration concluded that it was impossible. They were unwilling to admit that the Christians' Jesus had done a great miracle. When Shoquat and his friend arrived for work the following day they were handed their pay and told they were fired. The only reason given was that other men were being employed in their place.
There was great rejoicing - late into the night as the church celebrated the great work that the Lord Jesus had done. And there was great rejoicing in Nasir's home.
(Names have been changed)

"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."- Jesus

Oh and one more thing

One more thing!

I realized after writing those lists of 7 answers to 7 questions below that I also wanted to put Charlene M and Cherrah on the tag list as well. You two, if you so choose can also send me your answers via email.....:)

Odd and Ends

It's late sunday night and I need to go to bed. Just wanted to write a little something though.

I have an exam tomorrow, which I didn't know about until tonight......argh. Actually the train of events went like this.

Last week I thought all my exams were this coming week. That is what our teachers announced the week before. They also announced a three day holiday to celebrate the New Year. So I thought "great ...Monday Tuesday Wednesday. I'm off, celebrate good times, c'mon. Let's celebrate. " Except on Wednesday I learned (after staying home guilt free that morning) that we actually did have class, that when they announced the 3 day holiday they were including SUNDAY. So I actually didn't have wednesday off at all.....(a number of others also skipped thinking it was a holiday too!) Also on wednesday morning, my cell phone card ran out of money. (this becomes important later)

So wednesday night after the lights are out and my husband and I are talking about the day, just ready to doze off to sleep, he mentions that another guy in my class told him that he has an exam the next day....meaning that I also have an exam the next day. Apparently it was switched from this coming week, to a week earlier! and they had announced it that day in class- the one that I had a "holiday" from! (the guy, our friend from my class had sent me a message apprently, which i never got because my phone needed to be recharged.)

So, ok, now this weekend, I am supposing my other two exams are wednesday....but tonight, sunday, early evening, I discover that I have an exam...tomorrow morning. Changed! Also probably announced on my "holiday" and my friend also probably let me know via the dead phone.

I'd like to say that this is an uncommon experience in my world, but no, it's not. There are certain things which seem to characterize my life thus far.... and this kind of thing for some reason is one of them. But some how it all seems to work out. And really, not much I can do about it now!

I've heard that perhaps tomorrow's exam will be a take home..... let's hope for that shall we??
Ok, well, I really need to get to bed now. I'm ready for a peaceful nights sleep.
Good night!

2006!

Ok, first post of 2006! Phewf! The last two weeks have been a swirling vortex of activity. Mostly good.
We had a very quite Christmas. We spent it with a few friends, eating, goofing around, more eating, and remembering the special meaning of Christmas. It was good.

On Christmas eve we also watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special. I forgot how terribly cute Snoopy is. I think it was kind of fresh because I haven't watched it for a few years, and I was watching it with some people who have never seen it (yes they were from North America- amazing, I know.) Now though it is a week and a half later, occasionally still one of us will imitate the dancing style of one of the Peanuts characters.

Our big meal together was brunch on Christmas morning. We had drawn names from a hat as to who would give gifts to who. It was a secret until Christmas day who your secret santa was. I have to say I had a lot of fun buying for my person, and the person who bought for me did a smash up job! Can you believe it- she bought me a bike! (Now to give some context, it is used, and used bikes are very cheap here...often you can buy them for around $10) But it was great!!! It's yellow with a black and white checkered cover for the seat!! I have a bike now!!!! wa HOO!! The very best thing about it is that she saved me all the hassle of going to the bike market and haggling for it myself! THAT is a gift!

My husband and I missed being home with family on Christmas, so we were thankful for the friends we could gather with and still enjoy a celebration.

One funny thing from the season...lots of people here don't have their own Christmas trees, but we bought one, and put it up awhile before Christmas....then took it down twice to lend out to people who wanted to borrow it for parties. We totally didn't mind, but it is funny when you think about it- you would never ask someone in Canada if you could borrow their Christmas tree AFTER they have gone through the trouble of setting it all up and it is adorning the corner of their living room. We really didn't mind at all, why not spread the cheer around. And, after all, we're not in Canada. Different rules.

Well, I need to go, we are going to supper with friends, I will write more later.

December 16

HAppy Birthday Jackie!! Hope it's a great day friend!
And remember...

Ooohhh nooo, you can't pass the clay!
meep meep ...lights on, lights off
next time you come, you stay two weeks, we catch lobsta! (pat pat)
you eat mo, you eat mo
We come in peace!
the big brown babe mobile
Are we in Nebraska?
Point-setttaaaa, point-settaaaa every Christmas you greet me....



On this your birthday, I wish you many more stupid things to laugh at.
with love, and a special birthday prayer for you.

ps. doo doo doo! doo doo doo doo doo doo dow! doo doo doo! doo doo doo doo doo doo dow! -Mariah Carey- (you know the rest of the song.)

Tagged

Ok here goes attempt number 3. I have started working on this 3 times and twice I've managed to erase it by accident.
So, the deal is, I have been "tagged" by my old friend Peg, (or shall I say, friend of long duration? ;) for 7 questions with 7 answers...so here goes....

Seven things to do before I die:

1. Write a children's book
2. Become a person with great depth of character.
3. Learn to love people more unconditionally.
4. Have a fireside chat with Oprah. There's something specific I'd like to discuss with her. (Ha, ha, I thought of this BEFORE reading Gavin's blog... )
5. Overcome my irrational fear of bears, sharks and airplanes.
6. Have kids
7. Learn photography, and to make videos. (uh, not like a Van Halen video, but just learn to use computer programs to do visual arts/multi- media kind of stuff. )


Seven things I can not do:
1. Watch golf on TV.
2. Win a wrestling match with my husband.
3. Make food that tastes just like my Mom's.
4. Hem a pair of pants.
5. Walk by a cute dog, cat or baby without raising my eyebrows and speaking to them in a high "Hello aren't you cute" voice.
6. Eat raw onions.
7. Sleep on my stomach (bad back)


Seven Books I love:

1. In the Eye of the Storm" - Max Lucado
2. The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
3. When God Speaks - Henry and Richard Blackaby
4. Any of the Far Side comics
5. Anne of Green Gables series
6. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire - Jim Cymbabla
7. The Bible


Seven movies I could watch again and again:

1. While You Were Sleeping
2. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - original
4. 13 Going on 30
5. Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas
6. Sabrina
7. Star Wars (the 3 oldest ones)


7 THings I love about my spouse: (or best friend if you aren't married)

1. He has a deep love for God.
2. He is kind.
3. He's playful and funny.
4. He often wears his heart on his sleeve.
5. He's terribly handsome.
6. He is committed to growing and changing.(in the good way)
7. He loves me.


7 things I often say:

1. We're outta here like a herd of turtles. (this due to Candi's influence)
2. NO- WAY!- G-ET OUT! (when I say this it is a term of surprise, not actually telling someone to leave.)
3. What do you feel like eating?
4. Know what I mean jelly bean?
5. How much does this cost? Too expensive!! Can you make it cheaper?
6. What did he/she/they just say? I didn't quite catch all of that.
7. Sorry, I can't understand you.


7 People I want to join in (if you want to of course...you can consider yourself tagged)

1. Tiffany
2. Amy
3. Kirsten A
I don't know that many bloggers, especially ones who haven't already posted this, so the next few are people, that if they so choose to participate, they can email me their 7 questions!
4. Karen D
5. Candi
6. Karyn and Al
7. Celeste
8. Cherise
9. Jackie
10. Anyone else reading this whom I didn't name by name but wants to participate, you can post in the comments section or send me an email!
Ok that's more than 7, so sue me.

A restful weekend

This weekend, my husband and I decided to have a little getaway, to rest and relax. We found a very good deal at a local hotel, and decided to have a weekend away from, phones, people, and all busyness. So, we are just goofing off, watching some movies, reading, and being together.

Interestingly enough, in our attempt to "getaway", we have met or "run into" a number of interesting people. Two very interesting people that I met were an American lady and her newly adopted 5 year old daughter from this country. (I guess international adoption is happening more and more in many countries, this one no exception.) They are staying at the same hotel as us. We first met them down at the hotel's main restaurant..... Anne came to get her new little daughter by herself.... speaking nothing beyond "hello" of the local language. Her little daughter speaks no english. So, Anne came, took care of some paper work, took her back to the hotel, and just like that, they are family.

Now, they do have to do a couple more things before leaving the country, but pretty soon they'll be back in the states, going on with their new life together. I had a bright idea that maybe I could help with things a little by giving Anne a list of some helpful words that she could use to communicate. Like, "tired?", "hungry?", "I love you", etc... so I did just that. It was so much fun to be helpful with the little language ability I have.

I think that Anne quite appreciated the list when I delivered it to her room. I also think that she was in need of some english speaking company after being with this new little person in a foreign country by herself for a good 4 or 5 days. We had a good visit and she told me all about how things had been for her in the whole adoption process. She was very thrilled about her new little one, but at the same time, it's a big decision to suddenly have a new child, and to go to a foreign land to get her. An adventure yes, but also an intense experience.

I found Anne to be a lovely person, even though I just met her. What I enjoyed the very most though was little Emma...her new little daughter. It was amazing that, though everything that was familiar to her was being taken away, she was so happy, and adjusting very quickly. You could tell that despite the language barrier, there was quite a bond formed already between mother and daughter, Emma was radiantly happy with her new mom.

It is a little sad that Emma will likely lose all of her native language, as I don't think her mom knows anyone right now who speaks her language who could speak it with her. It's a little sad to lose that, but at the same time, she is gaining a loving family, and that's more important.

A whole new journey has just begun for that little girl. Part of that journey will be learning english. It was kinda neat that I got her to say one of her first english words ... I taught her to say "Banana"!

It's pretty amazing also how much they communicated to each other without any common words. It seemed that the little girl could let her needs be known quite well. (she is smart) Her need to go to the bathroom, hunger, etc.... and it was very easy to read the delight in her. Although a quieter little girl, she was quite giddy when I was visiting them. Smiling, laughing and giggling. You could tell she was basking in all the one on one attention. She was very happy to be held by her mom. She also wanted to show me all kinds of things, pictures, and papers, a few new toys....etc... Her mom showed me a new outfit that she bought for her (as the little girl is very small for her age, all the clothes that Anne brought with her were way too big.) Emma pointed to the outfit and then pointed to herself. She was really cute.

So, that was kind of a fun part to the day today. Now we are just kicking back. Relaxing. It's nice. My husband is watching a movie that I've never heard of before. It's a Disney channel type movie.

That's all for now!

Another Pseudo - Psychology quiz

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Yes, "Lucky for me" ......

(all this from picking ONE picture)

What's up.

Just a quick post here. Things have turned cold! Dumbest thing I did today- went to school with wet hair and no hat. Won't do that again any time soon. I felt so gross... feel better now though.

Hilight of the day - I broke out a Soft Taco making kit that I brought over with us in the summer and we had taco night. Ahhhhh. Taaacccoooosss.

Still haven't put the Christmas tree up, that is on the to do list for this week.

As I am sitting here, I am all snuggled up in the fuzziest blanket we have (ie - extremely fuzzy soft goodness) and our extra little heater is on, so I'm feeling pretty cozy. Now to get down to business and study my lesson for tomorrow.....Guess I should get to it. Hopefully this fuzzy soft goodness won't be a distraction.

Ok, good night to all....or Good morning, depending on your hemisphere!

Thought for the day

Anywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
- quoted from a pamphlet on Betty's cubicle wall.

Quiz :Who were you in high school?

All American Kid

Popular but not plastic. Athletic but not a jock. Smart but not a brain. You were well rounded and well liked in high school.

Who Were You In High School?

ok, small correction yah. I'm not American, but hey that's ok, we get the general idea. Oh yeah, the other thing is it doesn't say anything about being the girl with the big honking glasses.

Hmmm, what to make of this?

You Should Learn Spanish

For you, learning a language is about career advancement and communication. Knowing Spanish will bring you tons of possiblities for jobs and travel. Bárbaro!

What Language Should You Learn?

Mrs. Moo's antics

That Mrs. Moo cracks me up. She is a character. I guessed that her age might be late 40's, or early 50's....apparently she is in her 60's. This is important information for being appropriately amazed at what I'm going to relate to you next.

Monday, headed back to class after a busy weekend. During a break, I was chatting with the person next to me, suddenly it became hard to focus on our conversation as Mrs. Moo had come into the room and was saying loudly that we foreigners need to be in better shape, get more exercise. She said that she gets up at 6 every morning and exercises. She said "See look at this!" And she whips her leg up on this tall desk to show how flexible she is. "See look how flexible I am !" This was all moderately distracting....then I went back to my conversation only to stop in mid sentance as I happened to glance over and see Mrs Moo doing nothing less than the splits on the floor. The cameras came out and she threw her arms out to the side for a nice pose, like a gymnast or something. It was quite a moment.

I think it was truly amazing for two reasons:

First of all, most floors around here are disgusting. That she was brave enough to get down on the floor, to me, shows a lot of committment to making her point.

Second of all, if we see a 6 year old do the splits, we aren't surprized, but we are impressed. To see a sixty+ year old do the splits, well there's no catagory for that because you never see it happen. So I was surprized and impressed. Yep, she's flexible. (I've never been able to get anywhere close to doing the splits, not at 6 nor 26 and not now)

She made her point.

What kind of candy are you??

Gummy Bears

You may be smooshie and taste unnatural, but you're so darn cute.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

Smooshie and unnatural? What on earth does that mean?? Stupid quiz.

Home again. Good to be back. When I got home the house was clean and laundry done. And my hubby was feeling great again. Oh so good to return.

Back to class too!! These days I think a lot about language learning. I am really not a good language learner. So, sometimes it's a bit of slogging for me, the grammar really bogs me down.

There are some funny little moments in the classroom though. Thought I'd post a few of mine below here- this is origionally from an email I sent last year...sorry if these sound familiar to you!!

Our teacher was a little giggly today too. I made up a sentence this morning saying that after breakfast I put on my clothes….(assuming I was in my pj’s for breakfast) and my teacher started laughing so hard I didn’t finish the sentence. Apparently people here get dressed before breakfast, not after. Of course maybe she thought I was saying I was naked eating breakfast. She was too polite to spell out why exactly she was laughing so hard.

Then I meant to tell her I was reading a book, and instead said I was writing a book. She looked surprised. This Russian guy in my class told me that he wanted the first copy. I told him he could have the first copy when it comes out in Russian.

OK, while we are on the topic, the other day we were amazed that our teacher could keep a straight face-( same teacher) we had this lesson about being sick and going to the doctor but it was about someone with dysentery … so there were words like diarrhea and poo. We could not figure out how the teacher could keep a straight face with 10 foreigners all saying “Poo” …..“Poo” over and over again. And also one time when she was quizzing me on the word list, I was supposed to say the one for poo, but instead I said "Big Bread. " (which sounds very similar) My friend informed me of my mistake later, as she was talking about things that made her laugh in class.

I guess it's all part of acquiring the language, if you try to perfect it before you speak you will never speak well.

It’s the same for those learning english.

One of my friends- her english is excellent. She is at the point where she is adding idioms into her daily speech.

Just before Christmas a friend explained to her what it meant to “nurse a grudge” in your marriage. This really impacted her, and so once in awhile she will ask me, “Oh! Are you nursing a grouchy baby?” ( I think she thinks this is the idiom “to nurse a grudge”) She makes me laugh every time, she laughs too.

She is quite inspiring because she has learned english so well, and I think it is partly because she isn’t afraid to try things,and make mistakes.
She also got the idiom “Quit cold turkey” down just recently.

She went through
"Quit cold turkeys”
“Quit a turkey”
and I’m sure I heard her say “Kick a turkey”

That email exerpt was from last spring I think.

Actually today a friend of mine about one of his language follies. A few years ago he took a trip to a foreign country. He was shopping around for a pair of jeans, and many of the vendors were after him to buy from them in the market place. So, after awhile he became frustrated and tried to say something to the equivalent of "Forget it!" which he said making the appropriate arm crossing motion in the front for extra emphasis. Apparently what he actually said was "I have a rash on my butt." But he didn't know that at the time. Who knew two phrases with such different meanings could sound so similar?

Not going to that restaurant again

My husband has salmonella poisoning. We thought it was the stomach flu but he went and got checked out yesterday and it seems that it is salmonella or something like it. It hasn't been a "violent" case of salmonella, but it definately hasn't been a picnic for him either. He should be getting better now though, he has some medication that should help. Today we are both supposed to travel to another city for the weekend, looks like he won't go, but I will. I would love to spend the weekend at home with him, but no can do. Too bad.

A funny little moment I had yesterday...I and a friend went to go visit some of her friends at one of the dorms. It was fun, they were a lively bunch. I was asking them what they do for fun, and the topic of hip hop dancing came up. I asked one girl if she was into hip hop dancing, and she said, "Oh I like it, but you should picture me dancing! I'm not very good!" Then another girl said "Yes...she...dance...like...a...bear!" To which we all burst into laughter....including the girl who dances like a bear. Cute.

Circumstances: Explained by God

From "When God Speaks" - by Henry and Richard Blackaby p 73


"Jesus is the truth in the midst of life's circumstances (I am the way, the truth and the life!-John 14:6) I have always applied this not merely to doctrine but to life. The disciples saw the storm on the Sea of Galilee as a moment when they might "perish" (Matt 8:25) Jesus saw that they were perfectly safe because Jesus was safe, under the watchcare of His Heavenly Father. As a result, Jesus stilled the storm and then rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. Jesus often said, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matt 19:26) For Jesus, God's prescence always determined the truth of any situation.

Are you in a situation where God's presence is making a difference?


Are you afraid because you do not believe God's presence can make a difference?"

Another Saturday Night

Today was a full Saturday. One hilight was a date with my husband. We went out for supper- Pizza. It was a good treat, and nice to spend the time together. Afterward we came home and had a little movie night. I was quite proud of him....it was totally a girl movie....we watched "The Notebook." It's not his favourite thing in the world to watch anything girly, he likes guy movies! Really he likes a lot of different kinds of movies but top of the list is anything with action, in fact a few weeks ago he found an old copy of "Rambo: First Blood" and he was soo thrilled. He was telling everyone about it, and inviting them to watch it. There was a sparkle in his eye as he told them about what a masterpiece it was and that it is a truly "iconic" film. Most of the movies I like are nothing like "Rambo: First Blood" but sometimes we do happen upon something that we both like. (Like Mr. Bean.) Generally though we have a different taste in movies, so I really appreciate it so much when he watches something with me that I know isn't exactly his first choice (or second choice, or third choice...)
Tonight I was especially appreciative of him.....not only did he watch a very girly movie with me, but also with 4 of my other female friends as well!!! He was the only guy watching a tear jerking romance in a room with 5, count them 5 sniffing, dewy eyed women!
And he only left the room for an extended period once!

I wouldn't have blamed him if he had scooted off to do something else, but I did appreciate the fact that he stuck around with us and watched together, somehow it made it more fun to have him there too.
I'm so thankful for that guy! (He's braver than Rambo!)

My Book Corner

I do a lot more reading now than I used to. It used to (generally) take me a long long time to finish one book... now although not a voracious reader, I do go through a number of books per year. I really enjoy reading and it helps keep me a thinking person. And an encouraged person. (Yes language learning does stimulate the brain but its in the same way over and over again...and it gets exhausting sometimes..so it's nice to read and learn something in my own language.)

I was thinking about my favourite books..... over the years, ones that made a difference in the way I see the world, ones that I keep going back to, ones that were fun.... ones that I should recommend more to others.... I decided to list some of them ....in categories.... here they are....

Books that really encouraged me:
-In the Eye of the Storm- Max Lucado (Karyn H gave me this book as a birthday gift! THANKS! Good for anyone who is tired, busy or going through something difficult)
-Sacred Romance- John Eldredge and Brent ____(sorry his name escapes me just now)
-The Fragrance of Beauty -Joyce Landorf (my mom gave me this book when I was a teenager and I read it multiple times.... )
-Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ- John Piper (I think I should read this again, when I read part of it the first time I was deathly ill (fever, cough, blah's..) so I think I would enjoy it even more if I read it again.
-The Power of a Praying Woman- Stormie Omartian... Looks at prayer but also looks at having a right heart before God as well.
-My Heart Christ's Home- Robert Munger...a very little book, but huge message about letting God transform our hearts and lives and enjoying His friendship and Lordship!
-Becoming a Woman of Excellence- Cynthia Heald, It's a Bible study that I've done multiple times, sooo good! It's safe to say that I am a Cynthia Heald fan, I love the way she comes at topics!
Know Why You Believe- Paul E. Little. Good intellectual reaons to believe. Quick read.
More Than A Carpenter- Josh MacDowell - Also about why it's reasonable intellectually to believe in Jesus. Also a quick read.
Evidence That Demands A Verdict- Josh MacDowell- I've only read part of it, but is also along that same theme, but more indepth.

Must reads for every Christian (In my humble opinion):

-Victory Over the Darkness-Neil Anderson (good words for knowing who you are and how to walk victoriously as a Christian!)

-Bondage Breaker- Neil Anderson (Breaking free of spiritual strongholds)

-The Master Plan of Evangelism- Robert Coleman(How Jesus went about fulfilling His purpose while walking here on earth....)

-When God Speaks - Henry and Richard Blackaby

-Faith is Not a Feeling- Ney Bailey (Principals and stories from her life about walking in faith...)

- The Case for Faith - Lee Strobel- Excellent book looking at intellectual questions about belief, questions like - "If God is good why it there evil and suffering"etc.... He sought out leading theologians and philosophers to answer these questions. Highly recommend this book.

Current Reads:
Captivating- John and Stasi Eldredge (good book about how God sees and values women- a question that has been on my heart for a few years..)
When God Speaks- Henry and Richard Blackaby- good principals about how to discern the voice of God in our lives...it's hitting home with me right now, I think I would put it on the must read list too....
Lineage of Grace -Francine Rivers - wow, this is the first Christian fiction book I've read in years, and I must say I was caught off guard at how drawn into it I've been. It looks at different women from the Bible and tells the story from what might have been their point of view.... really thought provoking and gives cultural insights which really help understand the stories)
That I May Know Him- Kay Arthur and David Lawson- A guide to study Philippians and Colossians Inductively, (I'm just doing Philippians for now) finding it helpful, it's walking me step by step through the Inductive Bible Study method, which helps keep me doing it...and it has some of their insights as well.

I LOVE biographies.... some good ones I've read:
Lords of the Earth- Don Richardson..(this one was recommended to me by the Cain children..they were reading it with their parents!)
The Hiding Place: The Corrie TenBoom story....I don't know who wrote it, but it's a classic. Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who along with her dad and sister hid Jewish people in their house to keep them safe during WW2.....they got caught and she and multiple family members went to prison. She and her sister later ended up in a concentration camp. It's her story of trusting God through it all.
The Five Silent Years of Corrie Ten Boom- Looks at the end years of her life as she suffered a number of strokes....and trusting God through that too.
Dream Big (Bio about Henrietta Miers)- (author?) Although she died in the 60's her influence is still being felt all over the world. An amazing woman!
Mission Possible - Marilyn Laszlo ....cool story of God working! She's a pretty cool woman too!
Eternity in Their Hearts- Don Richardson - I've only read parts of it, but it puts a cool informative spin on the way God has been working in the world over the years

Very Practical:
Organized Living- Sandra Felton...a great book for disorganized people, written by someone else who is disorganized.....

Favourite Children's Book:
The Giving Tree- Shel Silverstein- (Introduced to me by my friend Nancy McHenry, it took me awhile before I could read it without getting all choked up, or totally disolving into a sobbing mess)
You are Special- Max Lucado- A great children's book for adults too.

Other Popular Books that others recommend that I would like to read at some point:
The Purpose Driven Life- Rick Warren- nope I've never read it. But it is on the shelf.
What's So Amazing about Grace- Philip Yancy - heard very good reviews on it, but haven't read it yet....
The Case for Christ- Lee Strobel -similar idea to Case for Faith but specifically about answering the tough questions about who Christ really was.
How People Grow by Henry Cloud

Currently On the Upcoming Roster:
Humility- Andrew Murray - self explanatory

I know I've missed some significant books- I just couldn't think of them all and I've intentionally left a few off here. I've also read some great secular novels in recent years too. But I've listed a lot above already....

But I'd be interested to know if you have any Recommendations? What are you reading??

Mrs. Moo

There's this one teacher that I have.... I'll call her Mrs. Moo. She is really cute, and maybe all of about 4foot 10. I really have no idea how old she is....maybe in her fifties. She's one of those people who can insult you and totally get away with it. She's fiesty, with a smile. Most of the time.

Anyway, two days ago in her class, she asked these two guys to make up a dialogue. They were supposed to follow the topic that was suggested in the book which was that one of them was supposed to be sick and it had some other details with it ... what followed went something like this....

Tall guy: "Hello, I heard that you were sick."
Mrs. Moo: "NO! YOU are the one who is sick, not him! Start over!"
Tall guy: "Hello!"
Short guy: "Hello! I heard you were sick."
Tall guy: "Yes, last night I ate this meat that..."
Mrs. Moo: "NO! You have the FLU! It has nothing to do with meat that you ate! Start over!"
Tall guy:" Hello!"
Short guy:"Hello!..."
Mrs. Moo: "NO! Don't say Hello! Hello!.... you are roomates! You are in the same room with each other! You don't have to say Hello! Hello!....!

And, well, you get the picture....such is life for the confused foreigner.