What Goes Around

Sick Day

2012-02-09T23:56:00.001-08:00

Actually, this is day three of being sick. I haven't been sick in years. I also make fun of people who get sick all the time, so this is probably only right for me to get sick. I am a really lame nurse to sick people. I have no patience (ha ha). But now it is my turn and I am kind of feeling sorry for myself. No one has offered to massage my belly or bring me anything. I have had to ask for things. Boo hoo.

So here is what it is like being sick. First thing I did was eat too much food. It just sat at the base of my ribcage for the whole night. Nothing digested. So finally at 1AM I decided I needed to get things moving one way or the other. I stood at the toilet thinking about gross things. That didn't work. So then I did some twists and bent over. That started things. I gagged a few times and then presto, the food came up. I felt like a sausage maker. It just came out of me like a big chunk of dinner. I could have put it on a plate and served it. Boy did I eat a lot.

As with most barf sessions, the first is never enough. So a few hours later I was up again. I got the rest of it out and was back in bed. Until a few hours later when I got up to dry heave. I finally learned that if I don't kneel next to the toilet then it splashes too much.

I really enjoyed the dinner, which is a bummer because now I won't be able to eat that meal for a while without being reminded of barf. That happened with orange juice once. I had to drink this stuff to make me vomit and it was orange flavored. Well that ruined orange juice for years.

Sports Day

2012-02-04T03:53:00.001-08:00

This week we had Sports Day at Micah's school. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun activities happened. But it ended with a downer, the awards ceremony. The smaller classes get ribbons for participating, but not the older (Micah) kids. Then they had out ribbons for all the 3rd place awards, then second, and then first. Micah didn't get any ribbons. He did great at many of the events but being the youngest class in the 6th-8th grade level really is a bummer. I'm sure he was almost in tears because I was almost in tears. And what made it worse is that there is another Micah in this age group and so they would call "Micah" and it would always be the other one. I wish we would have left earlier and avoided the whole awards ceremony.

Jean Shopping - Mission Impossible

2012-02-01T01:59:00.001-08:00

I have been tired of my old clothes for some time now and needing to get fresh things to wear. I go to the American Women's Thrift Store occasionally and try to find things there, but lately there has been nothing. I get a shirt or two now and then, but not pants. So today I decided that since I was going to the mall to meet a friend, I might as well go early and try to find some pants.

Clothing in India is made differently than clothing for Americans. Indians are so much skinnier and just built differently than I am. I knew that it was going to be a challenge to find pants, but I didn't know it would be impossible.

First I went to the cheap store at the mall. I looked at the jeans section, which were a bit pricey for me, but there was a sale going on. I tried on several pairs that wouldn't go up pass my thighs. I left that section and walked the rest of the store. Tried on a few more pants that didn't fit and went back to the jeans. I asked a lady for help. She found one pair of jeans that were boot cut and I was able to pull them up, but the waist was 3 sizes too big. She didn't have any other boot cut jeans for me to try so I left.

Second, I went to every other store in the mall. Levi Store, Colors of Benneton, Mango, Zara, even Pepe Jeans. Not a single pair for me. I ended my search at Esprit and the sales lady asked to help me. I told her I was looking for fat jeans, not skinny jeans. She walked away. I said, "You don't have fat jeans?" She just shook her head. So I walked out and went to the coffee shop to drown my sorrows (and meet my friend).

After my coffee date I had renewed hope that I could try to look for jeans again. This time I went to the next mall over. I went in the Mark and Spencers store, no luck. How many pairs of jeans can I get stuck on my thighs? I walked out of there and bought a pair of shoes instead of jeans. At least I had something to take home.

I am sometimes inappropriate

2012-01-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

The other day I was talking to a small group of people in my home. I had just met them and brought them to my home to talk about our aftercare home. One of the guys had long hair and we were talking about how in India, if you have long hair, people confuse you with being a lady. Like at the Metro station here, there are lines for the security check. One line is for women. So the Indians often would direct him to go through the ladies security check area. My inappropriate comment of the day was, "Well wouldn't that be a surprise for the lady patting you down." I had to laugh at myself later. When I first meet someone, I should try harder to be on my best behavior.

Horror inside an Orphanage

2012-01-25T22:48:00.001-08:00

NEW DELHI: Inside a dank, dilapidated cloister for orphans in a Walled City bylane, a girl died a lonely death - writhing in pain in the dark shadows of the hellhole before bursts of diarrhoea and incessant vomiting snuffed out her life. The 11-year-old died just a day after she was brought back from hospital.

There was a curt one-liner scribbled in the orphanage records - death due to natural circumstances. But what lay hidden in the footnote was a story that can pull you up in convulsion of horror and shame.

The girl's autopsy report showed she had been repeatedly raped and even forced into unnatural sex for several months. A case has been lodged in the Jama Masjid police station and cops are questioning the orphanage staff and inmates to track down the culprits.

TOI conducted a thorough investigation into the incident and what unfolded was a shocking trail of exploitation and trample of innocence inside the orphanage - where a two-foot wall separates the girls' quarters from that of boys. There are no curbs on movement of kids and orphanage staff.

A student of Class III, the girl has been abandoned by her mother who lives in Rohini. She had been staying here for over a year and studies in the school on the orphanage campus.

The girl had complained of dizziness and stomach cramps after she returned from school on December 23 last year. She was immediately taken to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital. "I remember she was vomiting and had loose motions. It was a regular medical check up. Her condition did not improve," the chief warden of the orphanage told TOI. The next day, her condition deteriorated and she slowly began to sink. Within hours, she died. "We give proper meals to the children and take good care of them. I don't know what exactly happened to her," said the warden. Doctors at LNJP conducted the post-mortem and preserved her viscera. A month later, her autopsy report was handed over to the police. The report confirms habitual sex and unnatural sex.

Delhi Police has been jolted into action and has registered a case under Sections 376 and 377 IPC. Cops are now trying to track down the accused in the orphanage .

Officials said the orphanage houses several male employees apart from teenage boys who easily move in out of the girl's quarters. Officials say they are trying to find out whether she had been lured by the accused or gangraped.

What God will Use

2012-01-24T04:17:00.001-08:00

You just never know what God will use. I was thinking about all the skills I have learned that I could write on a resume. One of the skills that I learned to do in the past week is grant writing. At our aftercare home we applied for a UN grant. Three of us worked on it. None of us have ever written a grant proposal before. So we know that if we are selected for the grant that it will be a complete God thing. But now I can say that I have written (or helped write) a grant proposal.

So what other skills do I have? Like Napoleon Dynamite, my skills are varied. When I worked for Payless Drug Store I was probably taught the most skills. Here is a quick list of things that come to mind: cash register (before scanners and after), 10 key, laminating machine, copy machine, 1 hour photo developer, writing hunting/fishing licenses, perfume skills, make-up skills, customer service skills, bookkeeping skills, driving a fork-lift, credit card machine, facing skills. I have used some of these skills later in my life, but as of yet, no 1 hour photo developing skills have been needed and I doubt they will ever be needed.

Backpage

2012-01-24T03:30:00.000-08:00

I follow human trafficking on Twitter. I know, you didn't know I was so hip. Well, somehow I figured out how to sign up for something useful. One of the big topics in the past couple of months is about a petition to get a website called backpage to take down their escort services and body rub advertisements. Backpage is like Craigslist it seems. So you can go on and find local services or items to buy. Several ladies have been killed recently after a guy has found them on Backpage and then met up with them. So I decided today to have a look at what all the fuss is about. I just chose Portland, OR as a city and looked at the escorts section. I was shocked and saddened at what I found. There must be an age requirement on it, because the youngest girls were 18 years old. So what I saw as I looked at a few postings were R-rated pictures of girls selling their services. But what I saw under that is human trafficking. What is the story of this girl? Is she being forced to look that way? To sell herself? Is she a run-away? Or is she a missing girl? She is for sure someone's daughter. Tears filled my eyes as I thought about that. Someone out there is missing their daughter and here she is on this website, being exploited. Someone else is taking the picture of the girl as she poses. Who is that person?

I read an article that a brother of a missing girl found her photo on Backpage. He was deliberately looking for her. So the police were able to track her and it did turn out to be a trafficking case. So as I see it, the only good thing that can come from this is that some girls may be rescued.

Christmas tree

2012-01-18T06:42:00.000-08:00

We still have our Christmas tree up but we don't turn on the lights anymore. And if you ask me, the lights were the best part of the tree. Now the tree has skateboards piled around it. The lights had to plug into a electrical strip and we needed it elsewhere, so now the lights can't be turned on. I just wonder how long I can go before I put the poor tree away. But one of the problems is that I never got around to buying Micah his Christmas ornament for the 2011 Christmas, so I feel I need to have that before I can pack up he decorations. So I guess until that happens, we won't be able to put our tree away.

More Toilet Talk

2012-01-13T22:54:00.000-08:00

One thing I hate about our fancy toilets, is that the hole is too far back. So when people use it, they often leave a skid mark on the toilet bowl above the water line. It is never me though because my rear sits back far enough on the toilet. So I don' want to clean the toilet bowl every time this happens since I think it should be the person who made the mark. So the mark stays there for a day or two until enough flushing washes it away, or maybe Bimla (househelp lady) cleans it. It isn't right that Bimla should have to clean it either. Poor lady. But why doesn't the person who makes the mark ever think of cleaning it?

Peanut Butter

2012-01-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

I really wish my camera worked so I could add pictures of our peanuts, but alas, it doesn't.

When we were in Thailand several weeks ago, my friend Jennifer made homemade peanut butter. I helped. And since I did the last part, I got the most credit. I know people are just trying to encourage me to be more cookish, but I know Jennifer is the real hero.

So making peanut butter is not too hard. You roast your peanuts in a big wok and add some honey to it. Get those raskly peanuts all warm and toasty. Then you put some in a blender and add oil and blend it. That was my job. You can add more honey or sugar if you want. And presto, you have peanut butter. And it was really good. Our friend from Ethiopia was staying there too and she made a nice bread on the top of the stove. It went great with the peanut butter. And Dan (husband of Jen) bought some homemade mango jelly which also was delicious. So we all contributed to the peanut butter in our own special way.

Steve thought it would be a good idea for us to make our own peanut butter once we got home. So he and a friend went out and bought a big bag of peanuts. The only difference is that they were in the shell. The bag sat there for a few days until I got around to cracking the peanuts. It didn't take long before I realized that this was a stupid idea. It would take me hours to crack all those peanuts. And then our blender is used for making spicy chutney (salsa) and you just can't get that taste out completely. So our peanut butter, if I ever cracked all the peanuts, would be spicy and gross. So we just went out and bought a jar of peanut butter and we still have a bag of peanuts. Now we are handing out handfuls to the beggars on the street.

Ring in the New Year

2011-12-31T00:26:00.000-08:00

A ring, as in my wedding ring. I hope to get my wedding ring fixed in the new year. It has one of the prongs broken. I think that is what you call them. One of those things that hold the precious jewel in place. I could get it fixed here, but the lady at the jewelry store told me that it was a bad idea. I should just take it home to America and get it fixed there. I guess sometimes diamonds get replaced or "lost".

One thing that I hope can change in the new year is I hope people will quit dying. Too many people died that I know last year. I am now in the stage of life that I go to more funerals than weddings. Well, that would be the case if I was in America. Actually, I have gone to more weddings, but if I lived in America I would have gone to more funerals. And the deaths all seemed to be a surprise. People weren't sick and then died, they just died. Drop dead. At least they were not painful deaths. But still, for the family it is a huge shock.

Death is so bizarre. One day your loved one is with you and the next they are gone forever. And burial is weird. You put the body in the box and bury it in the dirt. So the body is close by but you will never see it again. Maybe that is why I like cremation better. There is no chance of seeing the person or imagining what they may look like after they are cremated. Death is so final. At least it seems final. We haven't experienced life eternal yet, so we don't really know what to expect. Will our loved ones look the same or will they age or get younger. Life after someone dies seems to move slowly. And then one day you realize that it speeds up. You no longer count the days or weeks or months, it is years.

Well instead of depressing you, I want to remind you of hope. We do have hope. Hope that life will continue. Hope that our loved ones are in a better place. Hope that we will see them again. Without hope, how can you carry on.

Cold Delhi

2011-12-30T00:53:00.001-08:00

When people think of India, they don't think of the cold weather. Usually you think about the extreme heat. But surprisingly, it gets cold here in the winter. And it is winter right now. Okay, so today is only 61 degrees, which isn't too cold, but inside our house is colder than it is outside. I am sitting on our new couch with a wool blanket over me. I am wearing two pair of socks, jeans, a t-shirt under a long sleeve shirt, with a jacket on. I have been wearing my stocking cap all day, but decided to tough it out. My head was starting to hurt.

Earlier today, I was at work and noticed that I could feel the coldness from the floor through my shoes. I tried sticking my feet on the room heater to try to warm them up. But I felt a little rude with my feet on the heater, so I put them back in my shoes. I don't know if it is that my shoes are old and have holes in the bottoms and that is why I can feel the cold, or if everyone can feel it. I wonder if people in Alaska can feel the ice under their feet if they are just wearing normal shoes and not snow boots. Whatever the case, it was almost impossible for me to concentrate on the meeting we were having when I was thinking about my feet.

As I get into my cold bed at night and shiver myself to sleep, I think about the people who live on the streets. If I am cold (and I am) when I have a house, a roof, several blankets, a mattress, and layers of dry clothes, then how cold must they be. It doesn't stop me from complaining or shivering, but I am thinking of what I could do to help. I know of an NGO that has put of tents throughout the city for people to at least get some shelter from the cold.

BOGO

2011-12-20T22:48:00.000-08:00

Recently I decided to go shopping for a fancy pillow. You know one of those pillows that are contour for people with neck pain. So I went into a well known store and found them. Kind of expensive if you ask me. But anyway, I was willing to pay the big bucks for no more neck pain. As I was checking out, the cashier said, "You know these are buy one get one free? Would you like your free one?" Of course I would. Anything free is great. So off I went with two contour pillows.

When I got home I immediately put my new contour pillows on the bed. And that is when I realized that I didn't need two. One was enough. So what to do with the other one. I decided to take it back to the store and get my money back. That is when the problems began.

I went back to the same cashier who sold me the pillows and told her that I only needed one pillow and would like my money back. She looked at me strange. She said that they were buy one get one free. Duh. I knew that, but I didn't need two, so just refund my money on this one. She again looked like she had just been given a calculus problem to solve. It seemed simple to me, just refund the money to me. But she tried to tell me that if I only wanted one it was fine, but I wouldn't be getting any money back. Then I realized the problem. I told her that I had kept the free one and put it on my bed already. This pillow was the firs one I had picked out. It was the one I paid for. She insisted that it was the free one I was returning. I know they looked alike, but I was sure I had put the free one on my bed.

Soon a line of people were waiting at the cash register, starting to look impatient. I talked her through how I had the first pillow in the bag and the second pillow was not in a bag, so I know it was the second pillow that I had put on my bad. It was the free pillow. I again stated that I didn't need two pillows and I had just gotten excited about the great deal, but since I am a minimalist, I don't want two.

All this reminds me somehow of Romans 6. I'm sure if I spent longer a it, I could come up with a great sermon analogy, but I will leave that up to you.

P.S. The story is fiction, just in case you really thought I was a moron.

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Cooking Sauce

2011-12-15T22:07:00.000-08:00

While we were in Thailand a few weeks ago, I discovered a delicious sauce at the buffet table. It is a brown sauce that you add to your food and it makes it taste so yummy. So when I went to the grocery store to buy the things I like to take back to India (tuna fish, thai iced tea mix, fisho, thai curry), I found the sauce isle and bought me the big bottle of cooking sauce. That is what it is called, cooking sauce.

Cooking sauce is a brown sauce, like soy sauce, only yummier. I add it to rice, to eggs, to vegetables, to soup, to almost any dish. And it makes it taste better. I don't know what it is because it is in Thai, but Maggi makes a similar sauce and they call it brown sauce. So my brown cooking sauce is my new obsession.

Opposites Attract

2011-12-12T03:28:00.000-08:00

Steve and I are opposites. I am still amazed at this fact after 16 years of marriage. Take the other day. We were in the Bangkok airport, walking to the taxi area. We had just gotten of the plane and gone through baggage and we were heading to the taxi. We had to go up two floors to the drop-off area, where it is 50 baht cheaper to get a taxi. Steve was talking about this "diamond" that he found on the plane. He thought maybe it was the lady in front of him. But then he lost sight of her. So he was wondering if he should search for her. I had my mind set on going straight to the taxi area. So I was leading the way.

We got to the escalators, where there were two options. One is the stair kind and one is for luggage carts. One was on our left and the other was on our right. I pointed to the stair one and said, "Should we take this one?" But then I changed my mind in a flash and said, "No, we should just take this one." And I headed up the cart one. Steve was already on the stair one, while Micah, our friend, and I went up the cart one. The stair one went up two floors. The cart one went up one and then you had to get on another one. So when we arrived on the next floor up I noticed that Steve was no where to be seen. I didn't know he went on the other one.

So we stood there waiting for him. I thought maybe he had seen the diamond lady and wanted to return her diamond. So he was probably running around down on the floor below us. We waited. I got irritated. I made comments about frustrations. Waiting more. Finally I decided to go look for him. I went down and looked around for Steve. No Steve. So I came up more frustrated and waited a little more before deciding to look on the floor above us. I went up and looked around and didn't see him there either. But then I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a man pushing a cart at me. And sure enough, it was Steve. He had been up there the whole time, looking around for me.

I felt like saying, "What the hell!!!" But I didn't. So I told Steve how I looked around for him down on the bottom floor and looked around for him on the middle floor. He told me how he was looking around for me on the top floor since that is where we were heading. And of course when I went up and looked around up there, he was out side looking at the taxi area.

And what I kicked myself for not remembering is that I should look in the opposite area from where I think to look, because Steve is always in the opposite area.

12,600 Monks

2011-11-27T02:50:00.000-08:00

We are in Chiang Mai, Thailand right now. Every six months we have to leave India, so we use it as a time of vacation also. We come visit friends, go shopping, and have massages. Sounds like an easy life, huh? Well, when massages cost $4. you can’t pass it up.

Today we were woken up by the sound of someone talking in a loud speaker. It was 5 am. Way too early for people to be talking outside, into a microphone. We ignored it until we got out of bed. Then I looked out the window to see what the noise was all about. It was the gathering of the 12,600 monks. A stream of bald men in orange sheets wrapped around them were walking down the street. And many more people in white who were worshiping or serving or something.

We are in a hotel and we get a breakfast buffet with our room. This morning it was crowded with people in white and a small table of monks. There were no glasses, no cups, no plates and no silverware. Micah was a bit perturbed by that. I just got a small salad plate and put my morning fried rice on it. Eventually there was a cup for tea. There never was a bowl for cereal for Micah.

12,600 is a lot of monks in one place. I’m not sure where they all came from. Could that really be all the monks in Chiang Mai??? I asked a man if he knew what it was all about. He is a Christian Thai man who use to be a monk, so I figured he would know. He explained that because of the recent flooding many people believe Thailand is under a curse. So this gathering of monks is an opportunity for people to give their offerings and offer prayers (or whatever Buddhists do) in order to remove the curse.

I wonder what we do in America when we have large calamities like this flood. Do we think we are being punished by God? Do we seek forgiveness? Or do we curse God for sending it? I sure wouldn’t blame God for punishing America for turning from Him. I would love to see America seeking forgiveness and taking just one day to come together to seek God. Or even just 12,600 of us.

Communication

2011-11-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

I just tried to order pizza on the phone. This can sometimes be a tedious feat. It was tonight. Here was my conversation.

"Hello Domino's.. would you like to try our gabalygook pidally poop something or other special blahdi blah blah?"

Me: "Hello? My phone number?"
"Yes, go ahead"
Me: "Nine seven"
"Nine double"
Me: "one double seven"
"one double double"
Me: "four seven"
"four double"
Me: "eight four eight"
"Is this your first time calling?"
Me: "No"
"Give me your number again"
Me: "Nine seven"
"Nine double"
Me: "No, nine seven"
"Nine double"
Me: "No double, seven."
"double"
Me: "No double. Let me try again. Nou sath (trying my Hindi)"
"Nine seven"
Me: "ek sath sath"
"eight seven"
Me: "No, Hindi mai (in Hindi) ek, ek"
"eight"
Me: Is there someone else I can talk to?"
Silence
Me: "Let me try again. In Hindi. Nou sath, ek sath"
"nou sath, eight sath"
Me: "No, in Hindi. Ek! One!
This went on like this for a few more painful moments until finally she handed the phone to a guy who got it right the first time.

Saved a Life Today

2011-11-10T02:43:00.000-08:00

Well maybe not.... but I might have. I gave blood today for a friend who has Dengue Fever. She needed my platelets. So in a way, my platelets are helping to save her life. Therefore, I am a hero.

This is the first time to donate blood in India. It turns out that all my experience donating plasma in America really paid off. It was just the same.

A friend and I went to the hospital to donate for another friend. First we filled out a form and they asked us questions, then we did the finger prick. For some reason, my friend's veins weren't good enough to donate plasma or platelets, so she just donated blood. We really didn't ever find out why she couldn't give platelets too, but whatever. We just go with the flow, not completely understanding what is going on.

The nurses were really nice to us. One sat with me the whole time. And when I got hungry, she went and got a small pack of cookies. And she fed me. She put the cookie in my mouth. So sweet.

It is different to donate plasma (platelets) when you know the person who will be receiving them. She and I will be blood sisters. A part of me is in her. And it is really special if it helps her get better. This has changed how I feel about donating. I am more willing to donate blood or plasma now because I really see the benefits to a sick person. I wonder how many people are walking around with little bits of me in them.

Teaching 3-5 year olds

2011-11-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

One Sunday a month, I get to teach the 3-5 year olds in sunday school. This past Sunday was my turn. Thankfully there was also a guy who was my helper. I have been by myself before and it isn't a pretty sight.

This weeks lesson was pretty lame as far as the material goes. It was about Jesus teaching in the synagogue. There weren't any games with the lesson nor was there much of a story. So after doing the lesson I still had a bunch of time with the kids. They can get pretty restless.

The kids played a game of "Find the Bible". We took turns hiding the Bible, and then trying to find it. This age is funny. They always run to the same place that it was hidden the time before. And what is funnier is that it is often there. Then the kids started jumping on me to try to get the Bible after I said we were done playing that game. One kid was so hyper that he put his head under my shirt. He was trying to climb up me on several occasions. Since there was a guy in the room, I felt a little bit odd having a kid under my shirt. So I got him out and picked him up because he was trying to lift my shirt up again.

It was communion sunday, which means the service goes longer. Oh boy! SO even after the "Find the Bible" game, we still had lots of time. So I had kids doing push-ups and sit-ups and jumping jacks. Then I told them about Bakari Eid, the Muslim holiday that was on Monday. Then we went through the lesson again and I told my lesson on Jonah. I asked simple questions and got some good answers. Usually I try to have the answer to the questions be "Jesus". There is usually a kid or two that answers "Jesus" to every question and I want them to get some right.

Finally parents came for their kids. I'm thankful for the help and I am thankful this is only once a month.

That's Not Fair!

2011-11-05T04:12:00.000-07:00

This week, I spoke at the chapel for the elementary kids at Micah's school. I thought I could talk about selfishness. Here is kind of what I said.

"Sometimes my family will order a pizza from Dominoes. There are three people in my family. A large pizza has 8 slices. So that means that two people will get three slices and one will just get two. Do you think that is fair? Do you ever get upset when everyone gets a big bowl of ice cream and you get a small one? Or how about when your brother or sister gets to stay up later then you do? It's not fair!"

So then I gave the kids situations and they got to yell, "That's not fair!"

Then I read from James 4:1 "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?" And I explained that we fight with each other when we don't get what we want. It is our selfishness that is causing these quarrels. Then I read from Phil. 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." I talked about how we should think of others as more important and to be thoughtful of the other person's interests.

Then I said how sometimes God is not fair with us. And I told the story of Jonah quickly and got to how God did not give the people of Ninnevah what they deserved. And how I imagined Jonah sitting under his tree saying "that's not fair!"

I then read Psalm 103:10-11 "he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth,so great is his love for those who fear him;" I explained that we do bad things and we deserve death like the people of Ninnevah did. But that God had mercy on us and he gave us a second chance (like he did for Jonah also). Our second chance is Jesus. Jesus was punished for everyone's sin. He could have yelled out on the cross "That's not fair!" but instead he did the most unselfish thing and said, "Father, forgive them."

We prayed, thanking God for the second chance and asked Him to help us to think of others first.

One of the things I had asked during the talk was "Who knows what selfishness is?" Several kids raised their hands and I called on one or two. One boy kept his hand in the air until the end of my talk and then I called on him. He gave his definition of selfishness. I thought it was funny that he kept his hand up the whole time and then gave his answer as if I had just asked the question. Kids are funny.

You'd be Surprised.

2011-10-31T03:07:00.000-07:00

You'd be Surprised.

My Friends

2011-10-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

Now I know that if you are reading this, you are hoping that I will be talking about you in this posting, because you are my friend. But most likely, the people I talk about here are not going to be reading this posting. Sadly, we are no longer friends.

There was Joshua (I think that was his name) in kindergarten. He lived across the street from us on Maple Street. We played outside on Big Wheels and he had the cool pump scooter. This was decades before the scooter fad of these days. Life was good for us. Outside playing with friends without a care in the world.

Heike and I are still friends on Facebook. She was my grade school best friend. We rode our bikes to each others homes on weekends and in the summer. We played dress up, dolls, had sleep overs, and rode bikes together.

Yvonne also became a friend in grade school. She lived down the street with her dad. She had a hard life and was a bit odd. She was socially different. Her dad was abusive it seemed. He yelled and hit her. She liked coming to my house to play. Sometimes she would come up to our sliding glass door and stare in while we ate dinner. One thing I remember is that I prayed with her to accept Jesus as her savior.

There was a friend named Melissa in grade school who was the one I played dolls with the most. We would pretend to be pushing our baby carriage around the play ground. I suppose that means we just walked around with our hands in front of us and talking to our invisible babies. Great imaginations.

I wish I could go back in time and watch myself with my friends. As I watch Micah with his different friend playing, I imagine myself with my friends and the joy we had together. Life was so easy. Spending all day Saturday just playing with friends... that's the life.

Homework

2011-10-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

Micah is doing homework right now. I'm not helping him because I will only cause us both to end up in tears. Actually, only he will be in tears because I don't cry. But I will have to eat the other half of the cinnomon roll if I'm not careful.

When I was Micah's age, I also fell apart when I was doing my homework. I would flop around and have no clue what I was suppose to be doing. My parents would help me. My sister seems to remember that my dad would end up doing part of my homework. I didn't believe that was true until now.

When I help Micah with his homework, I often times give in and start "helping" him too much. Like right now, he is trying to write an outline. I have already given him the topic sentence and have strongly encouraged him in the first point of the outline. I had to walk away because my sister's voice was in my head again saying, "Dad always did your homework." I want Micah to do his homework. Even if he ends up in tears.

So now Steve is out there with Micah helping him. I'm trying not to listen or offer advice. Oh, and I went to see if the other half of that cinnomon roll was there (I was actually going to eat it) and someone else beat me to it.

Half Broke Horses

2011-10-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls. Another great read by Jeannette. This is actually the story that is before her book Glass Castle. I enjoy her writing style and the characters in her family.

The main character is Jeannette's grandmother. The story follows her life on a ranch. She was an extremely hard worker and a big dreamer. She followed those dreams to move to Chicago, learn to drive, learn to fly, and to become a teacher.

This book, unlike the Glass Castle, did not remind me of my own life. But I imagine my dad would relate more to it, or my Grandparents. I loved seeing how smart the girl was and how tenacious. I would have loved to meet her and be friends with her. But I think I would have been too timid to hang out with her and go on her adventures. She could lasso a wild horse and ride the silly thing.

I highly recommend this book to all my friends.

Mrs. Nibbles

2011-10-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

We are babysitting a hamster for some friends this week. Her name is either Mrs. Nibbles, Mrs. Wiggles, or Mrs. Giggles. I can't remember. Two days ago, Steve decided to let her run around the house. So he let her out and didn't watch where she went. So we lost her. We looked all through the house and couldn't find her anywhere. The problem is that hamsters sleep during the day.

So last night I told Steve that he should get up in the middle of the night and look for her since he is the one who lost her. He said he would. So sometime in the night, Steve got up and started to look. He found her within two minutes, hiding by his guitar. So he put her back in her cage and went to bed.

This morning I got up and noticed the cage was empty. Assuming that Steve didn't find her, I started looking a bit. Since she is active in the morning, I decided to turn on some lights to let her know to run around. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, she was sitting right outside the bathroom door. So I put her in her cage.

When Micah woke up, I told him I had found Mrs. Nibbles. He said, "Really? I thought Dad found her." Steve had already told Micah that he had found her, so he was confused that I had said that I had found her. So I asked Steve to tell me how he found her. It turns out that Steve found her but then didn't notice that the top of the cage, where the house usually fits, was open. So he put her in and she got out again, probably falling off the bookshelf that the cage is on.

Now Mrs. Nibble is found and glad to be in her cage with the water and food. And we are glad she is found so that we can return her safely to her owners. Next time we babysit, I hope they give us her ball to travel around in.

Getty Crafty

2011-10-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to make something for a long time now. I decided I wanted to make pillow cushions out of old dupattas (scarves) since I have so many of those that don't really go with things, and I hate wearing them anyway. So I finally got my sewing machine out (thanks Caroline for the machine) and made cut up the dupattas and here is what I made. Warning to my family and friends: You may be getting cushion covers for Christmas. As with the stocking caps made a couple of years ago, I can't just stop at one.

Chai Time

2011-10-07T21:50:00.001-07:00

Steve went shopping for tea and sugar this week. We go through so much sugar that it is scary. He decided to get the big bag of tea. I guess it is a good deal to get the big bag of things instead of the small bags. He also bought 1KG of sugar. When he got to the check-out counter they informed him that the big bag of tea also came with 2 bags of 1kg each of sugar. So the guy at the counter sent another guy to get the 2 bags of sugar. So Steve came home with three bags of sugar and one big bag of tea. Not sure why they just didn't give him one more bag of sugar since he had one already, but sometimes you just don't think straight.

Still Got It!

2011-10-07T05:17:00.000-07:00

I few years ago, Steve and I went to some intense counseling. We needed it. But what is really a bummer is that we are not perfect yet. You would think that after all of that time and money that we could at least be perfect. But I have issues. And more than just issues of magazines. I still have problems. I still react badly to situations. I still put myself down. I still act like a parent to my husband. I still am a messed up person in an imperfect world.

I just wish I had all the money I spent on counseling so I could buy something to celebrate my humanity.

Insane Day

2011-10-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

I started out the day with my second week of the Insanity workout. I think I have been working on it for three weeks or so, maybe more. But I don't do it every day, so a week of workouts takes more than 7 days. That said, my week two is just as hard as week one. I think I pooped out about the same spot as the first time through the routine. I couldn't do the last set of the last circuit, but I still had a great workout. It was enough calories burned that I put extra butter on my apple bread.

I Hate My Clothes

2011-09-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

Lately I have had a hard time getting dressed in the morning. I put something on and take it off again because it is stupid. Either it is too tight (which doesn't make sense because I haven't gained weight) or it is too big (because they are second hand).

A friend moved away a few months ago and left some clothes with me. I'm not sure if they were intended for me or for Courage Homes (our NGO for girls), but I kept them and have been wearing them. My friend is taller than I am so her clothes are all too long for me. And for some reason, she had a lot of v-neck shirts which go too far down my neck. So I don't feel comfortable in most of her clothes. But I have kept them because I was desperate for new clothes this summer and wouldn't dream of going shopping in the crazy heat.

So yesterday when I was trying to find something to wear, I ended up with a pile of clothes to give to Courage Homes. Nice shirts that are now too tight for me. And I have some clothes for the Thrift Store at the Embassy, the ones that were too big for me. And I have some clothes left in my closet that I will wear but will not like.

I have very few clothes to choose from now. Most are several years old and have stains. All of them need ironing. Even my t-shirts are getting too old to wear. I think I need another friend to move away.

Britney

2011-09-22T03:21:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at a short story.

Once upon a time, there was a couple who were going to have a baby. They went to the doctor to find out what they would be having. The doctor looked at the ultrasound and told them that he was pretty sure that they were having a baby girl.

The man and his wife went home, rejoicing at the fact that they were going to have a daughter. They sat together and talked for hours about their little girl. They made plans for her room, what it would look like. And they came up with a name, Britney.

The wife started making a baby quilt for Britney. It was so sweet. The quilt was all the letters of her name in different pink fabrics. And they painted a mural on the wall of a little girl on a tree swing, smiling so big. The room was perfect.

The husband and wife talked to Britney all the time. They sang sweet songs to her. Britney became part of their lives before she was even born. Britney knew their voices and kicked or moved when they talked to her through her mom’s belly.

Finally the day came for the baby to be born. The husband and wife were so ready to see their baby daughter. They had her first outfit ready for her to wear. In fact, they had her first outfits for her first week. All pink and soft little clothes for their daughter to wear.

Britney was born at 4AM like all good little children are. They like to come in the middle of the night so that their parents can start out their parenting job exhausted. But something was wrong. Britney was healthy, but she was a boy. A strong and healthy little boy.

This little boy was a surprise for his parents. They were in shock to hear that they had a son. And they were overcome with emotion. But the emotion wasn’t joy, like you would imagine at the birth of a baby. It was sorrow. For they had planned the next 20 years of their life with Britney. Now they had a son and didn’t know what to do.

They took that little boy home from the hospital. He cried and pooped like all babies do. His parents were tired, like all new parents are. After a few days they gave him a name. Brett. Brett’s mom still gave him the baby quilt with the name Britney on it. He still wore the pink clothes. And his room was still decorated for a girl.

Brett’s parents were sad and a little angry that they didn’t get their daughter. They didn’t feel a love for Brett. In fact, they felt like he was the reason that their dreams were shattered. He made them mad. He cried all the time. They couldn’t seem to make him happy. But part of them didn’t care. He didn’t make them happy either.

When Brett was a few weeks old, he got sick. It wasn’t a big sickness, so his parents didn’t take him to the doctor. Brett got sicker and sicker, but still his parents didn’t take him to see the doctor. He was just more of a problem to them. They actually felt that if he was gone, they could get the daughter, and the life, that they wanted.

Eventually Brett did die. Mostly he died from a broken heart. He was unloved. All he desired was for his parents to love him. But they didn’t because they wanted their daughter. Even as they buried him, they somehow felt relief as they said good-bye to this little life that wasn’t what they wanted.

*** This is a story, only a story. But it represents the stories of hundreds of babies who are unloved by their parents here in India. Mostly the babies that are unwanted are girls. Girls are seen as a burden because you have to pay so much for their education and then their marriage and you get nothing in return.

The Experience

2011-09-11T04:03:00.000-07:00

I have been reading the old book, The Practice of Christ's Presence, by W. Y. Fullerton. One chapter has really been interesting to me. That is the one called The Experience. He takes the 23rd Psalm and looks at it as if it is one day with Jesus. So since I liked it so much, I thought maybe someone else might get something out of it too.

"The Lord is my shepherd" He cares for us. He knows us. Jesus found us and became our shepherd. In the book of Ezekiel it talks of the Lord God who searches for his sheep and seek them out. He will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered. He will feed them in a good pasture. And He will cause them to lie down.

First there is the waking consciousness of the day. Before we wipe the sleep from our eyes, we can prepare ourselves for the day ahead by saying "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Waking up with the assurance of His constant care.

The morning feast. He calls his sheep out of the fold and into the green pastures. We can begin our day in calm. Every day we may be refreshed before the busyness starts, if we follow the Lord and lay down in the green pasture he leads us to. The shepherd has led us close to it the night before so that it is easy for us to get to it in the morning. We eat and our satisfied, so we can rest.

Noontide Refreshing. So we go out to do the duties of the day. "He leads me beside still waters". The shepherd has fixed this journey for us and knew there was a quiet stream for us. The waters never lack for He himself is the great fountain of life.

Then there is the Midday Pause. "He restoreth my soul". We need to know the blessing of pause in our daily life. Our strength is naturally weakening and we must wait to have it renewed. During the day, take a break and come to Jesus to be restored. Then we have strength for the rest of the day.

Afternoon Progress. "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness" We have to climb hills and go along our busy way. But our shepherd has taken the difficult task of leading. He is before us, making sure the way is safe for us. He goes before and I follow. We are not responsible for choosing the way. We are responsible for following and for obeying.

The Evening Danger. We must go into the valley of the shadow of death. Remember that it is only death's shadow. We follow the shepherd through the valley. He doesn't take us through at noontime because it would be too hot. He doesn't take us through at night time because it would be too dangerous. But we pass through with the shepherd, boldly. Our enemies are around us, yet we don't have to run. We stay close to the shepherd and he protects us. This is the time that we draw closest to the Lord himself. "Thou art with me"

The Sunset Grace. We have gone through the hard day and he leads us now to a table he has prepared for us. He knew that the green patch was there and he led us to it. It is necessary to go through the valley of the shadow of death to get to the feast.

Twilight Healing. "Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over." The shepherd stands at the gate with a great pitcher of water and some oil. The sheep are weary and wounded. The Lord pours his healing oil on the sheep and lets us drink all we need. Never evade the shepherd at nightfall. Come near to Him and you will find he has what we need.

The Night Assurance. All day long I have been thinking that I have been following, but now, in review of the day, I find that I have been followed. "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me." The shepherd again has provided for all that we need. And because I see that they have followed me today, I know that they will follow me tomorrow.

Sleeping Resolve. "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." At night we have resolve that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, never desiring any other. And if we end the night light that, we will begin the next morning acknowledging that the Lord is my Shepherd.

This are not my thoughts but they are all from the book. My thoughts are that I hope I can experience this daily in my life.

Bomb, Earthquake, and Flood.... Oh My!

2011-09-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think I am living in Oz. Life is just so strange. People are strange. Everything around me is strange. Not bad, just strange. Like the cows gathered around the garbage dumpster eating their dinner. Or the people who hang on the outside of buses rushing through the city. Or the little two year olds that play on the edge of busy streets and survive. Crazy life!

This week was full of excitement. It started with a bomb at the High Court. Horrible that someone desires to kill people in order to make a point. And no one knows what their point was. Then we had a small earthquake. I am usually scared of earthquakes, but this one didn't cause me to have a heart attack. And finally, the week ended with flooding and chaos around the city when we received 96mm of rain (or something like that). Streets were flooded, homes were flooded, and the little bird's nest outside the office window was flooded.

Imagine what it would be like to have a big bomb, a big earthquake, and a big flood. I guess we can be thankful that these were all smaller than they could have been.

Day Two of Insanity

2011-09-09T22:27:00.001-07:00

Since I am not really doing the Insanity Workout program, I thought I would just try to do it every other day. But yesterday I started craving an Insanity Workout. So I put on the second workout and gave it a whirl. I did it! I did the whole thing. Certainly not as well as the people in the video, but I made it through. I am surprised at myself for being able to do it. And I am not in pain. I am tired from too much working out, but not in pain. So I am letting myself have the weekend off. Even if I start craving it, I am going to say "no".

Insane

2011-09-08T18:51:00.001-07:00

I tried the Insanity Workout yesterday, kind of just to see if I could do it. Steve joined me in the fun. We made it through the workout without barfing or passing out. It is pretty intense. But I was extremely proud of us for finishing it. Steve is amazing. He could keep up with it for the most part. He did make a big puddle of sweat on the floor that I mopped up afterwards though. I won't be doing it every day, as that is really insane. But I will try to keep doing it and build my cardiovascular health up so I don't die of a heart attack at age 40 or something.

Bladder Control

2011-09-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

Some days I just don't have bladder control. It isn't because I am old. I have had this problem for years. Maybe I can blame it on giving birth. I usually only have a problem when I get a knot in my pant's string or can't get the bathroom door locked in time. Once I see a toilet, I have about 5 seconds.

One of our bathrooms in our house has a trick seat. The trick is that the lid doesn't stay up all the time. So this is a problem when I am having a bad bladder day. By the time I get the seat up, I need to be pulling my pants down, and starting to sit. It is all fine unless the seat falls down while I am in the process. This happens more than it should.

Today is one of those days that my bladder is gladder when it is flatter. So I keep rushing to the bathroom and throwing the seat up, while I turn around to start the sitting. Unbeknownst to me (how do you spell that?) the seat is in the falling down process. Usually I can beat it, but sometimes I can't. This has meant some embarrassing moments for me (even though I am alone right now). Maybe I should just get some adult diapers for today so it doesn't happen at work and really embarrass me. Today is a good day for elastic pants.

Stairs

2011-08-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

Down one flight of stairs to go outside. Down two flights at the Metro. Up by escalator. Up two flights to an office. Down two flights to go outside. Down two flights of stairs to go to the Metro. Up by escalator. Up a flight of stairs to my home, only to find it is locked and I have no key. Down the flight of stairs. Up a flight of stairs at Courage Homes to look for my husband who has the key. Up another two flights to continue looking. Down three flights to go back outside. Up a flight of stairs to go home again.

Eat Lunch

Down a flight of stairs to go back to Courage Homes. Up a flight of stairs to say hello to people. Up two more flights to do some work. Down to flights to go to the inside stairs to go up a flight of stairs to do work. Down a flight of stairs to look for something. Back up a flight of stairs. Down a flight of stairs to go to the outside stairs to go up two flights of stairs. Down and up a few more times. Finally down three flights of stairs to the outside.

Go Home

Up a flight of stairs to my house. Down a flight of stairs to go to a friend's house. Up two flights of stairs to go to their house. Down two flights to go home. Up a flight of stairs to be home. Hopefully I will stay home.

No wonder my legs are tired.

A Gun Pointed At My Head

2011-08-28T04:25:00.000-07:00

Every Friday, I take the Delhi Metro to the US Embassy. I work for a few hours in a thrift store that gives it's profits to different NGOs. I have talked before about the Delhi Metro and how I like it. I especially like the ladies only areas. Like the security that I have to walk through. The line is probably 20 times shorter than the men's line. And we are hardly ever crowded in our metro car. The guys are squished like sardines. But the one thing I don't like is that going in and out of the station is a security guard, behind a pile of sandbags, who is holding his rifle pointed at head level. So I have to walk right past these guys both going to the metro and leaving. I feel like I am risking my life every time I do. Weren't these guys ever told not to point their guns at people?

Why It Takes So Long To Fold Laundry

2011-08-13T00:32:00.000-07:00

I decided I needed to do a load of darks this morning, as Micah's uniform is dark. He only has three shirts and two pairs of shorts, so we have to keep up on the laundry. I put the load in and thought about the drying rack full of clothes that was needing folding. So I went in to fold all the clothes. As I folded one top I realized that I wanted to try it on and see if it fit. I liked the color of it. It was left by someone who had stayed at our house. So I stopped folding clothes and went and tried it on. It fit! So I put my old shirt in the dirty clothes and noticed my pants didn't match. But luckily, the shirt also came with a pair of purple pants. So back to the drying rack I went. I pulled off the pants but realized that they were the really long, tight Indian chuuridar pants that I don't like. So I folded the pants and decided against the shirt too. Back I went to change. This time into a shirt I had already folded.

After changing into the new shirt, I noticed that the book shelf in my room needed dusting. So I searched for a rag, finally finding one. But I got it too wet when I dampened it so it was no good for dusting. I proceeded to look for another rag but I don't know where Steve put the bag of rags. I gave up on dusting for the time being and laid out the wet rag to dry a bit.

I don't remember why right now, but I went into the bathroom with the washing machine and cleaned the floor in there. Then the water started draining out of the washing machine so I got a bucket and gathered some of the water into the bucket so I could use the water to wash the balcony. I poured the water on the balcony and wiped it clean.

I went back and folded some more clothes. The doorbell rang. It was the painter from upstairs. He needed his paint that was suppose to be delivered, but hadn't been. So I called our friends and figured out that the paint wouldn't be delivered quite yet. I walked to the kitchen and put a few dishes away. Then I looked for something to eat. I went back to the bookshelf and wiped it clean and let it dry. The books are out of it now. I pushed the dresser back against the wall after having to pull it out to mop up the water that leaked last night from our air conditioner. I dusted the dresser too. I then dusted the night stand and straightened up. I went back to the folding of the laundry and did a few more folds.

My food was done so I ate it. Now the laundry was done. I brought the damp clothes into the drying room and threw them on the floor while I finished folding. I took the pile of folded clothes into the bedroom and put them on the bed. I went back and hung the wet clothes. I remembered that I wanted to wash the bathroom carpet too. So I put that in the wash.

I will have to put the clothes away now that are sitting on my bed. But for now I need to take a rest after such a busy morning.

Riding the Metro

2011-08-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

The Delhi Metro is the city train or subway system here. It is only a few years old so it is still a novelty for some. I have been using it lately to go to different parts of the city. Our new house is close to a Metro stop so it makes travel easy.

The Metro has a car that is just for women. Like the Delhi buses, the Metro can get packed full of people. So they have made an area that women will not be pressed against men and will be safe from the eve-teasing.

There is also a separate security line for women as you enter the station. Sometimes the line for men going through security is 50 long. Whereas the ladies line is one or two. So the Metro is great for women. We get to buzz through security and rush to our spacious car for a pleasant ride to our destination.

There is a fine on men if they try to ride in the "ladies only" car. I think it is like 1000/-. The other day I saw a guy riding in the car and the young lady next to me took out her big camera and took his picture. Not sure why. She took about 5 shots of him looking directly at her. It was very obvious. She did close ups of his face and full body shots of him standing there. He made no move. Then the lady next to her tapped on her shoulder and pointed to the sign that said, "no photos". And the young lady said, "I know." It was odd that she was so concerned with the guy who was in the wrong car (not bothering anyone) and yet she disregarded the rule of no photos so blatantly. Boy, talk about taking the log out of your own eye first.

The other thing I like to do on the Metro is look at the size of peoples' heads. I find it quite interesting that there are some really odd heads. So I ride, usually standing, and stare at heads.

People are staring at me all the way because I really stick out, being a foreigner. I find they look at my feet a lot. Probably because I wear the cheapest flip flops and they all have nice shoes on. They probably think I walked out of the house with my house shoes on. They happen to be the most comfortable shoes I have.

Loving the Metro!

Still Weaning

2011-08-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

I know I wrote a year or more ago about the weaning process. Micah is ten years old now. I have been working on weaning him for the past year or so. But today I found myself enjoying the closeness so much that I thought about just forgetting about the process all together. I love snuggling with Micah.

Well before you get all grossed out, let me also add that I am not talking about breast feeding my 10 year old son. I went over that on my blog here I am talking about his mole habit. Since he was a baby he has held a mole on my neck. It is his security comfort. So today, he was feeling sick and he reached for the mole. I have been trying to stop him from having the mole during the day and only letting him hold it at bedtime for comfort. But today I just let him hold it and enjoyed the closeness again.

Micah is a very cuddly person. He likes to be touching. If he sits next to me, he sits so that we are touching. Touch is his love language. Touch is not my love language. In fact, I feel hot when someone touches me. So for me to let him touch me, I have to be in a good mood. If I am irritated, I make him move away. But it makes him feel bad. But the mole is a different thing. He can hold it and I like to feel his fingers on my neck. He loves that silly mole so much. He likes to look at it, or kiss it, or just rub his arm on it. I know, weird. I looked online to see if there are others who have a mole obsession and they do. The only difference is that usually they stop before they are 10.

Slut Walk

2011-07-30T00:41:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine sent a link to the Slut Walk in Delhi and asked what I thought about it. So now I have been thinking about it for a couple of days. I really don’t think it is worth the time to participate in the walk. I may be old fashioned or very conservative in my views, but that’s okay.

I understand it started in Toronto after an official made a comment that women wouldn’t get raped if they didn’t dress like sluts or tramps. That is a poor comment to make but unfortunately, there is some truth to it.

In a perfect society, it wouldn’t matter what a woman wore. In fact, she could walk around naked, and nothing would happen to her. But in the imperfect societies, a woman needs to use wisdom in the way she dresses. She is never at fault for a rape happening to her, or any other violent crime. As with other crimes, it is smart and helpful to not put yourself in vulnerable situations. Like we lock our doors. Is it right that we have to lock our doors? No, of course not. In that perfect society that I mentioned above, no one has to lock their doors.

We all know that men are visual people. They get aroused by sight. Obviously, a woman wearing provocative clothing, or revealing clothing, is a eye catcher for a guy. That is just how they are wired. This is in no way a justification for rape. It is just a fact.

I feel it is my responsibility to dress in a way as to not make me vulnerable to unwanted attention. It is also out of respect to my “brothers” that I do this. And I would tell all women that it is just plain common sense to dress socially acceptable. If you are in a tribe that only wears a loin cloth, it is fine to dress that way. But walking around Delhi dressed like that is not wise.

It will take a lot more than a Slut Walk to change society. In my opinion, the Slut Walk is not the right way to make the statement that they are trying to make. I don’t see anything good resulting from the Slut Walk. I do imagine that there will be a lot of men out to watch the Slut Walk. Many women walk in the Slut Walk dressed in very inappropriate attires and the only thing they are doing is entertaining the men who are watching.

How Low Can You Go

2011-07-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

It has come down to this.... My friends aren't writing on their blogs very much these days (because they are having too much fun to take time to write, I guess) so I have to get my blog reading fill by hitting the "next blog" button on the top of the page. I'm not sure how it organizes the blogs, but I tend to read similar blogs that are on the same topic. I guess Blogger knows what interests me. Scary.

Full House

2011-07-28T02:22:00.001-07:00

We have had a full house lately, and I'm not talking about Poker. Although I would love to play some Poker. We have a family staying with us for a while. They are looking for their own home, so until they find a place, they have our home away from home. We also had a single lady friend stay with us for a few nights. She was visiting from America. And this morning, we had our good friends over who returned from the States last night. We all ate breakfast together and had a small devotional time. It is so good to have this full house.

Proud Mama

2011-07-24T00:49:00.000-07:00

This is a new comic series that Micah is making when he isn't working on Larry and Lenny. It is called Mushrooms. I think it is awesome and I am sure you will agree. Micah is so talented in his ability to make comics. I am so proud of him.

Burning Night

2011-07-23T02:12:00.000-07:00

We have a family staying with us for a couple of days. It is their first time to India. They have Micah’s room. Last night, while they were sleeping, the lights suddenly came on in their room. The father went over to the switch to turn the lights off and noticed the board was hot and there was a red glow and black smoke. He quickly woke us up and I turned the circuit board off. For some reason, an electrical fire started in the wires and it somehow opened the switch which then made it impossible to turn off the power from the light switch. We had to turn it off by the main circuit. Weird. I would assume that the fire would have broke the circuit and the power would actually go off, not on.

We all went back to sleep, but not very well. Especially for the family that was in a room without power, smelled like burned wires, and no fan. We all woke up early. Steve tried the circuit breaker again to see what would happen and we heard a popping noise and again smoke. We quickly turned it off again.

On today’s agenda: Call the electrician.

Falling In Love

2011-07-23T02:11:00.000-07:00

I am doing a Bible Study called Falling In Love With Jesus. Today’s lesson was on Jewish Weddings and what we can learn from them. I found it very interesting and encouraging.

In a Jewish wedding there is a betrothal. This is a ceremony that is like a formal engagement. The couple is basically married and after this time they would have to get divorced to call off the wedding. After the ceremony, the groom goes back home to start preparing a place for his wife, like a room off of his parents’ house. The bride goes home to start preparing her wedding dress. When the groom’s father decides the room is ready, he will send the groom to go collect his bride. The word used for this means “carry” or “take”. The bride doesn’t know when this will happen, so she needs to be ready at all times.

Then there is the official marriage ceremony, which is more of a celebration of the coming together of husband and wife. This is a very joyous time with a feast. After this, the bride and groom can live together.

After looking at the Jewish wedding ceremony, it made several verses in the Bible mean so much more. For instance, “In my father’s house are many mansions.... I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive (take) you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Also in Rev. 19 it says, “ Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” This is a picture of how we need to be preparing our wedding attire as we wait for Jesus to come for us. We are to be doing righteous acts.

I also think that this is a great picture of salvation and works. The bride is already married, but she now prepares herself by doing good works. We are saved when we confess Jesus as Lord. Once we are saved we can prepare ourselves for his return by doing good works. The good works don’t effect our salvation but it does effect our readiness. I want to be ready for my bridegroom.

2 Hour Massage

2011-07-19T23:27:00.001-07:00

Susie and I spent two hours getting a massage on our third day in Nepal. We trekked our way over a block to the small coffee and massage shop. The shop is called Aroma. They used nice scented oils. First they gave us a nice foot bath, probably for their benefit. Then we were told to strip down to just our panties and get under the sheet. The lady leaves the room while we stip. Susie was in a room next to me. There was nice, calm music playing and the table had a heating pad under the sheet. So I got on my table laying face down in the face hole. My lady came in and put some smelly something under my face and I think she said to breath in. As I took deep breaths, she pressed down on my back.

Then she started the massage. It was wonderful. So extremely relaxing. Not like a Thai massage that is deep tissue massage and twisting, but it was rubbing and working out the knots in my back. She did a great job. After an hour she has us flip over. Then she massaged my face and front side. The only awkward moment was when she tried to tell me something. I figured out that she wanted something to go down. At first I thought she meant the sheet, which would leave me exposed. Thankfully I didn’t pull the sheet down. I tried to figure out for sure what she was saying. She meant for ME to scoot down, not the sheet. But actually she wanted me to scoot up. So after I scooted down she motioned for me to scoot up. Then she massaged my neck.

So two hours came to an end and I was ready to just lay there all day long. But we had to get up and continue on our vacation.

Lazy Gringo

2011-07-19T23:26:00.003-07:00

Day 2 ended with a trip to another restaurant close by, The Lazy Gringo. It is a Arizona Mexican restaurant, which I guess is like TexMex. We were all excited to eat Mexican since we don’t get it often in Delhi. The Lazy Gringo did not disappoint. The only thing lacking is that they don’t give you baskets of chips and salsa. The food was delicious.

Day 1 and 2

2011-07-19T23:26:00.001-07:00

Nepal sure does seem prettier than Delhi. At least Kathmandu does. It is so green and lush. Plus there are mountains. This is the rainy season so we are unable to see the Himalayas. We saw a few peaks from the airplane but didn’t take any pictures.

Our guesthouse was a little hard to find. It is actually not a legal guesthouse so there was no sign up to say that we found the right place. Once we found it, we decided to go try the near by restaurant that we were told had great pizza. And it was GREAT. There was canadian bacon and pineapple.

Day 2 was Sunday. We started the day going to church. It was a good message and we met some interesting people. There was a team from Singapore that led the music time. The people behind us were from Costa Rica and they knew some of the same people that we know. And Micah’s counselor from camp was there. So Micah was excited to see him and spend a little time with him playing Ultimate Ninja.

After church we walked to another recommended restaurant. On the walk, we stopped at a store to buy some sugar for coffee at the guesthouse. I was surprised to find Dr. Pepper. I bought four cans. Then we made our way to the restaurant. It is called Sing Ma. It is a combination of Singaporian food and Malaysian. We all enjoyed our meal.

After lunch we walked down the street to a donut shop. We were all looking forward to donuts. This shop is called Hased Donuts. It is run by a Korean family. Very good donuts.

After donuts we made a quick stop to buy some videos. We got Kung Fu Panda 2 (which doesn’t work), Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver’s Travels, and A Bee Story. Then we walked back to the guesthouse and Micah was excited to realize that the guesthouse has a DVD player so he could watch one of his movies.

Terminal

2011-07-19T23:25:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Nepal at the small airport in Kathmandu. You can get a visa on arrival there, so that is what our plan was. It seemed easier to get it there then to go to the Nepal Embassy and wait in line. You have to pay 25USD for the visa. They don’t accept Nepal Rupees or Indian Rupees. We had enough dollars for three of us, but we were traveling with a friend, so there were four of us. And actually, the dollars were hers. So there is an ATM at the immigrations area for travelers that don’t have dollars. You are able to withdrawal Nepal Rupees and then step two steps over to the money changer and exchange them for dollars. No problem. Or so we thought. The problem was that the ATM wasn’t working. The lady before us got 9,000 rupees. She had asked for 10,000. So I guess the ATM ran out of money.

The money exchange will take Indian Rupees, but not the 500 or 1000 notes. We didn’t have enough 100 notes to make 25USD, so we can up with plan B. Plan B was for two of us to go out and find an ATM. We were told there were more in the airport. The officials said we would be allowed back in, no problem. So the two of us, Susie and I, went out, collected our bags, and got outside. I stayed inside the airport while Susie went in search of the ATMs. She found three, all of which were not working. She came back with the sad news. So we gathered up all our Indian Rupees and some left over Nepal Rupees from Susie’s last trip to Nepal, and our last 16 USD. I went back in to the immigrations area and went to the money changer. He took pity on me and allowed me to give him a combination of money and gave me the rest of the money we needed.

This all reminded us of the movie Terminal, where the guy gets stuck in the airport. We wondered how it would be for Steve to be stuck in the immigrations area for a couple of days. Not too fun for him. There are no restaurants and no TVs and basically nothing to do. So thankfully he was able to leave the airport and enjoy the rest of Kathmandu.

Man Vs. Food

2011-07-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

Micah and I just finished watching an episode of Man Vs. Food. It was one where the guy went to Idaho and ate a 4 and a half pound burger, a plate of chili fries, and a 16oz. milkshake. If he could eat it in 30 minutes, he would win a guitar.

I have seen this show a couple of times and each time I have the same reaction. I am disgusted! I seriously hate the fact that American restaurants even make food like that. Huger than any one person needs to eat. Not only is it so unhealthy but it also is a slap in the face to the hunger in the world. I hate seeing food being wasted, and one person eating all that food is a waste.

So why do I watch it? Well, partly it is because I miss American food, like hamburgers. And then partly it makes me thankful I am here and not around such gluttony. I see people without enough food and it makes me thankful for what I have. I also have compassion and will give our left-overs away from a restaurant, even though it would make a great second meal. So the next time my you go to a restaurant, my dear American friends, remember that there are many people in need and maybe take a to-go box for the guy standing on the side of the street.

Stoked to be Soaked

2011-07-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

I went on another shared auto today and enjoyed my squishy ride. I took it to the metro station, took the metro to the train station, but didn't take a train. Instead I took a cycle rickshaw to a hotel to meet a group of students. I shared with them about trafficking and what we are hoping to do with our after-care home. Then I had them all get on rickshaws and go through the red-light area to pray for the people there.

Apparently 4 American women are too much for one cycle rickshaw. We were two on the seat and two on a small seat on the back. Mostly kids sit on this seat. But today I and another young lady sat on it. We got lots of laughs and points. But the real excitement came when our rickshaw puller got off to pull us up a little incline. The whole thing started tipping backwards because of the weight on back (me). We put our feet down and the guy grabbed his seat and pulled us back up. But boy, did that cause a lot of laughs.

We got to the red-light area and the skies opened up and rain poured down on us. It was crazy. The rain not only came down, it came sideways right at us. We were completely drenched. The rickshaw puller stopped and got under a covering for 5 minutes to try to wait it out with everyone else. We ladies sat on the rickshaw and waited. Finally he gave up and decided to just take us in the rain. I don't know how he could see with it raining so hard. He even handed me his cell phone to try to keep it dry.

There was nothing we could do except laugh. The rain is glorious. It cooled us off. Especially when we went inside an a/c restaurant and were still wet. I am just happy that everyone made it back from their rickshaw in the rain experience.

Shared Auto

2011-07-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

A shared auto is a small vehicle that is open and is able to squish a lot of people in it. On the road that we live close to, there are shared autos that take you to the metro station for just eight rupees (20 cents). They ply the road all day long, picking up passengers and making a killing. There are two bench seats in the back that face each other and 3 can sit on each side comfortably. There are usually more than three however. I don’t like to get in one that is full of men, so I will let those go by. If there is a woman in it, I will get in and try to sit by her. But more often then not, I still end up thigh to thigh against a guy.

I just came back from a trip to the metro station and enjoyed my ride. I was still a sardine in a tin can, but the people were nice enough. I was one of the first ones in the auto so I couldn’t choose my company, they chose me. I chose to sit on the edge so that I would only get one neighbor next to me. An old guy sat between me and the other person who was not touching me, which means there is enough room for one more.

In a country that has such conservative beliefs on touch of the opposite sex, these shared autos are a curious invention. Why is it that you can’t hold your husband’s hand while walking down the street, but you can press your thigh against a stranger and no one bats an eye?

A few of my FAVORITE things

2011-06-26T02:16:00.001-07:00

After my negative post yesterday, I thought I had better change my attitude.

Rain, a/c, being with my family, eating tasty food, Dr. Pepper, Mt. Hood, Fall leaves, Micah's comics, pretty flowers, soft bunnies, knowing God loves me, a comfy pair of shoes, my pillow, sweats and t-shirts, someone else cooking, thai iced tea, Steve, watching fish, people falling (but not getting hurt), Micah, friends, dessert at the Big Chill, and quietness.

Vent

2011-06-25T04:37:00.000-07:00

Warning! Do not read this post! I am venting. Complaining. You have been warned.

So today is one of those days that just seems to need to end. It started with a lack of sleep because the power kept going off. Now I know that I should be thankful that we have an inverter, and I am, extremely thankful actually, but I am still complaining about the disturbance. I woke up early to do my workout with my dear friend, Jessica. That was a good part of the day. We just finished day 10 of the first part of Jillian's 30 day shred.

I had a good workout and got sweaty, which isn't too hard because just sitting here writing this I am sweating. So I was looking forward to my shower. But it was not to be. There was just a dribble of water coming out of the faucet. So I splashed a bit on myself and called it good.

It has taken me two days to do one load of laundry because of the lack of water. I am still working on filling the second cycle of water right now and it is 5PM. Micah has worn the same pair of socks for three or more days now. I just can't seem to get any washed. And I now realize I didn't put any in this load either. Well we are going to the mall later so I will buy him some socks there.

There were some people suppose to show up to start building bunk-beds for our home for girls, but they didn't show up. I sat around waiting and waiting. Also, the lady who is suppose to clean the home didn't show up. Both of them were suppose to come in the morning. Around 12:30 I got a call letting me know the bunk-bed makers would come on Monday. And I never did get a hold of the cleaner. So I wasted hours of time that I could have been going to the movies with Micah.

Micah and I finally made our way to the mall. We took a rickshaw and another lady got a much cheaper ride with us. I never seem to be the one who gets the cheap ride. She went almost as far as us and just paid 10 rupees. I paid the full fare of 30 when we went two more blocks. Oh well.

We went to the movie theater but the movie was sold out for the afternoon show. So I bought tickets for the 7PM. Then it occurred to me to check out the other theater in the mall next to us. Sure enough, they had tickets for the show starting in an hour. We went back to the first one and asked for a refund, but didn't get it. So now we will wait for our 7PM showing.

The mall was super crowded. I guess everyone is trying to escape the heat. All the people bugged me. I kept bumping into people and trying to direct Micah around all the slow walkers. I really get irritated by groups of slow walkers in the mall. Micah and I went to KFC, which happened to be extremely crowded also. We got our food and found a corner to eat. I felt like people were staring at me. I started to think that maybe my hair was crazy looking from riding in the rickshaw.

Finally we made it back outside and tried to get a ride home. About 10 rickshaws tried to take us for a ride, not literally, but financially. They wanted 2 to 3 times as much as it should be. We kept walking as we looked for one to take us. Then there was a funeral possession right through the entrance driveway of the mall. So we stood aside while the body was walked past us. And then a rickshaw agreed to give us the correct fair.

The rickshaw we got in had super loud music playing. Micah and I just looked at each other in shock when he turned it on. The speakers were next to our ears. But he took us home. When he dropped us off he tried to cheat me of 10 rupees, but I didn't budge. We walked the block to our home, sweating and tired.

Now it is almost time for us to make the trip back to the mall. I imagine it will be even more crowded. Wish me luck! (oh yeah, you aren't suppose to be reading this)

Part of me I would remove

2011-06-22T00:08:00.000-07:00

This may gross some people out, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. I have a part of me that I would remove. No, it isn't my fat apron (pannus)(I just love saying that to shock you), but it is my mole on my armpit. This mole has been a part of me for many years. More than I remember. But it seems to have grown. It might not even be a mole. It could be one of those skin tabs or tags. Which reminds me of Tab soda. Remember that one? I think it was the first diet soda. Do they still make that?

Anyway, back to my mole problem. I have a few moles on my body that bother me. Right now this is the one that bothers me the most. I am afraid I will shave it off when I shave my armpits. I thought about tying a thread around it to remove it like farmers remove lambs tails. Or maybe I could just have Steve slice it off with his swiss army knife. That just sounds painful. I've had moles removed before and they do sting. I remember seeing them in the little dish that they send off to the lab. They are gross. For now, I will keep the mole, but if I ever remove it, I will for sure give you the play by play of how it happens.

So what is your problem area?

Lost in the Umpqua River

2011-06-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

I just read on the news that a young man is lost on the Umpqua River. That reminded me of a time, back in college, that I almost died on the Umpqua River. I was with my girl friends and we decided to go tubing. I don't know how to swim. I can doggie paddle and float, but I can't have my head go under water, or I drown. Seriously, I have almost drowned in the shower. Anyway, on this fated trip, I decided to not put on my life jacket. Instead, I tied it to the inner-tube. We each sat in our tube with our feet hanging over and went down the fast flowing river. It was a lot of fun. I actually really love rivers. Well I hit a little rapid and my body fell down through the tube. The problem was that my legs didn't make it all the way down. They were stuck in the middle of the tube between my knees and feet. Perfectly wedged in the hole. So I was trapped! It probably all took two seconds in reality, but I felt like I would certainly die. And my parents would be so disappointed in me for not wearing the life jacket. After I panicked, I reached up and pulled my legs free and was able to come up for air. My friends were shocked to see me fall through the tube, but they were too far ahead to help me anyway.

The moral of the story is to wear your life jacket and don't get lost.

Several blog postings

2011-06-14T05:23:00.000-07:00

Since we don't have internet access yet, I have to write my blogs and wait to post them. So here are three at a time.

Snack

Around 5PM I got hungry. We aren’t eating for a couple more hours. So I needed a snack. Micah also needed something. So we went into the kitchen to see what we could find. There was alfredo sauce left over from last night that I could have on bread, cereal, or left over okra Indian food. I decided I should eat the Indian food. Micah was about to have cereal when I said I was going to eat the left over Indian food. He said, “Ooooh, me too!” I was a bit surprised. He said he really liked it yesterday. So I heated up two bowls of okra and rice for us and we just finished our snack.

No Water

In our new house we have three bathrooms. They are all shiny, new and clean. The first day we had a plumber come and fix something so that the water pressure would be good. It worked great. I did several loads of wash (I have many more to go). Well for the last two days there hasn’t been any water in two of the bathrooms. One of the bathrooms is the one that has the washing machine in it. So we haven’t been able to use those. The plumber is suppose to return, but hasn’t yet.

It isn’t so bad as long as we have one toilet that flushes. But today that hasn’t been possible either. It seems that the water works in the one bathroom, except for the toilet. I HATE toilets that don’t flush.

Where is that plumber?

Electrician

Yesterday we had the electrician come to hook up our inverter. An inverter is a battery back-up for when the electricity goes out. Ours was going out more than we liked, so it became a priority. The guy came and did his thing and then Steve asked him how much it cost. The guy leaned in close to Steve and said, “Ek hazar.” One thousand rupees! About 5 times what it should cost. Steve got upset. It really is frustrating to get taken advantage of over and over again. So Steve argued with the guy and he came down to seven hundred pretty quickly and then down to 5 hundred. Still more than it should be. Steve tried calling our landlord to talk some sense into the electrician, but there was no answer. Finally, Steve paid the five hundred and erased the guys phone number off our phone, never to use him again. The lesson learned is, ask the price before the work is done.

Token Old People

2011-06-12T03:36:00.001-07:00

One evening this week, while at Kids Camp, Steve and I were shocked. We all knelt on the ground to pray and when we go back up, Steve and I were stiff and slow. We were sitting in the back, watching the kids. And then it hit us... we are the token old people at camp!

Water Spark

2011-06-12T03:33:00.000-07:00

I am at Kid’s Camp this week, helping out with whatever they need me to do. Today was the day we took them all to the water park. Now I know in most people’s minds that would make you think of some really cool, fun place that has super pools, slides, and other fun water activities, but this is India.

First, we took a bus to the water park. This was about an hour long drive, down many one lane roads that have cows laying in the middle of them. Winding around blind corners. Squeezing by cars that have to pull their side mirror in to get by us. Just bumping along the mountain roads trying to find the way to the park.

When we arrived, the park wasn’t quite open for business yet. The parking lot was empty. It looked like a ghost water park, meaning it had gone out of business 10 years ago. Then the doors opened and we all went in. It was still quite a disappointment to look at. The slides looked rickety, the water was greenish and a bit slimy, and there was no place to sit. But the kids were so excited. I even heard someone say, “This is awesome!”

I have a fear of water. I didn’t want to go to the water park, but I was guilted into it. I tried to have fun, but there wasn’t even a pool just to stand around in. I went over to the kiddie area and rode down a small slide. The floor of the pool was so slimy that it was hard to stand up at the end of the slide. And then we saw a frog swimming in the pool. That was a high-light for some.

I am scared of the water slides too. But I decided to go with Micah down one of them, just to have a good attitude. I forgot to hold my nose at the end and ended up with a brain enema. Now I know to hold my nose. The kids loved the slides! Micah thought it was great.

With the water park there were amusement park rides. Again, if you can imagine a very old, rundown park, you are getting close to imagining what it looked like. There was one of those swing rides which is fun. I road on it with Micah. Several of the older kids thought it was fun to stand under the swings as they went around and then jump and high-five the kid on the swing. There was a safety fence, but it was too close to the swings, so the kids could stand under them when they were going fast. I think the fear of the rides adds to the rush and excitement.

Later some of the kids told us their story of the roller coaster. Apparently the operator couldn’t get it started. It went a little ways forward and then rolled back again. So he had the kids get out, kind of shake the cars back on the track, and PUSH IT! Then they jumped back in once it got going. When it came to the end, the operator couldn’t get it to stop, so they kept going until it slowed down by momentum. The final hill they stopped and rolled back down and came to a rest. All I have to say is ... Why did the kids get back in????

Another long ride home, starting to feel car sick.

All and all, I would rate the day a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. But the kids all thought it was a 10! So the day was a success. I will never go again, but I will gladly send Micah with the kids camp next year. Much cheaper than Disneyland and just as fun for him.

So what did I learn? What was the spark? The spark was learning that I have a bad attitude. I need to kill the attitude like a weed that is growing in my life. Dig it out from the roots. I need to learn to see the positive and not focus on the negative. I have looked too close to find what is wrong around me instead of what is right. Like at the water park, I could have seen it with a positive perspective and noticed that all the rides were working, all the pools were open, the kids were having a great time, and I wasn’t all hot and sweaty. But because of my rotten attitude, the day wasn’t fun for me. So next time I have the opportunity to go to the water park, I won’t go. But if I ever “have to” go, I will work at having a better outlook on the day.

London Bridge is....

2011-06-03T02:25:00.000-07:00

falling down. That is what I did today. It has been a while since I last fell. I guess moving day is a good day to fall. I can then use the excuse that I am hurt so I obviously can't help. But I didn't get hurt. I slipped on a step because I was wearing my house flip=flops that are smooth on the bottom, and the stairs are sandy. I only fell to my rear-end and got up right away and dusted off. The sad thing is that Steve, the guard, and the moving guys all saw me. I got the "tsk tsk" and a surprised expression from everyone.

Later, when I saw Steve again, I asked him if he laughed after he saw me fall. I know I would laugh and I do laugh when Steve falls. He said, "Yes." That made me laugh too. So all is well that ends well. Laugh!

Authorities dismissive of missing children | Deccan Chronicle

2011-05-31T02:40:00.000-07:00

Authorities dismissive of missing children | Deccan Chronicle

Anger in the Air

2011-05-27T05:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I responded to a post on Facebook and made people angry. The person I was writing to had written a poem or writing and used curse words, the worst ones too. So anyway, I couldn't hold back, I had to respond. I said that there were better words to use and that those were icky words. So then his friend wrote a comment saying that it was so horrible of me to try to censor someone's writing and she used curse words too. Then I noticed that from then on the cursing just got worse. Like, "In Your Face!"

I'm not bothered that I made someone angry. I am bothered by the fact that the person has changed. I wonder what has happened that made him a different person. He comes from a good family of loving people, but there is a lot of hatred in his heart and darkness. Is it like Anakin who went to the dark side?

This incident has also made me feel old. These young kids, who are in their early 20's, seem so immature to me. And then I started thinking about more and more kids their age and I see a connection to anger. Too many of them are boiling in hate.

As I ponder this further I see another factor. Several of these angry young guys went in to the military. Not the real military, but the want-to-be military. I didn't even know there was a short military. Maybe that is new too. But anyway, these guys did the 6 week course of bootcamp and training. It seems they came out with a chip on their shoulders. But in reality I think they had pent up anger before they entered and the short military training made them feel tough and not afraid to let their anger out. I am almost afraid to have these guys get a gun.

I don't want my baby to grow up. (as I just told him to give me a minute and not talk to me while I am typing, so he threw something at me)

Ugly People

2011-05-25T23:07:00.001-07:00

Have you ever looked at a picture of a person you know and thought to yourself, "Boy, this person sure isn't very attractive." I have. I know, I'm a horrible person for admitting this, but it is true. I was just looking at a person and thinking to myself that they are really nice and fun to be around, but they really are a bit weird looking. It is weird how you no longer notice a person's looks once you get to know their heart. But it also makes me sad. How many people are overlooked because of their looks? How many times does the pretty person get noticed? I can look weird sometimes, but I also can clean up nicely. But since I have these mean thoughts about peoples' looks, does that make me ugly?

Fitness Circle #2

2011-05-24T00:45:00.001-07:00

The Grand Re-Opening of Fitness Circle #2 was last month. The gym is located in Darbungu, Bihar in India. Bihar is a state in India which has the most illiteracy and I think it is the poorest state.

The gym has been in Darbunga for several years, but had to close last year because of problems with the landlord. A new location was found and ladies are starting to join. The manager called me this morning to say there were already 5 members. That is great for the first month in Darbunga. So I am excited to hear what happens with the gym there.

Global Earthquake

2011-05-18T02:24:00.000-07:00

There is suppose to be a global earthquake on Saturday, according to a self-proclaimed prophet.

Way back in the 1990's there was a similar prediction. I think it was actually just for Portland, OR. But there was suppose to be a big earthquake that was God's judgment on us. My best friend and I made big plans for that day. I spent the night at her apartment because it was only a single level. My place had an apartment above me. We also wanted to be at her apartment because it was only two blocks from the chocolate factory. Our plan was to go loot the chocolate factory right after the earthquake. For some reason we saw nothing wrong with this plan. I guess it would all be wasted anyway.

So for this coming Saturday's global earthquake, I don't have any big plans. If I knew where a chocolate factory was, I might plan to go there. It seems like I have matured since the first prediction. I think now that if there was a huge earthquake I might actually be concerned about people. Instead of running to go steal chocolate I might want to help rescue trapped people. Life use to be so much simpler.

No P in the Pool

2011-05-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Now that the temperature is scorching, I am happy to put on my swimming suit and jump in a pool. The problem is in finding a pool. Yesterday we did our best at looking for a pool, but failed miserably.

The first hotel we went to is the one we use to have a pool membership at. We paid an arm and a leg one summer to be able to use their pool. It was such a welcome relief from the horrible heat that summer. So we drove to the hotel and had our bag of swimwear and walked to the pool. I didn't notice the signs that said, "Pool under renovation." Sure enough, to our disappointment, it was closed. Now, who works on a pool during the best swimming time of the year? Why not work on it in March or February?

The second hotel is one that doesn't have a great pool, but I thought it was worth a try. We drove to it and I went in. We could see the pool from the car. No one was in it. It looked cool and refreshing. But the manager said it is only for hotel guests. Strike two!

So we decided we would try the 5 star hotel that is close to our home. We were with our friends who even offered to help pay for our pool experience (because I am cheap and they really wanted us to swim with them because we are fun people). I wasn't really going to let them pay for us. So we all walked down to the pool and went outside to the pool man. Again, no one was in the pool. It looked so lovely. We knew it would be expensive since it was expensive 8 years ago. Something like $10. to swim. The pool guy looked at his list and quoted us a price of around $23 per person. And it would only be for two hours. Then a swim class would be starting. We couldn't bring ourselves to spending that kind of money on a swimming outing, so we left. Strike three!

And our last try was the community pool that is close by to our house. Men have to wear speedos there. We didn't feel like driving all the way over there to be disappointed again, so we called. Last week, when our friends went to go swimming there, it was closed for renovations or something. Since no one answered the phone, we didn't drive over. We just cried and drove home.

By that point we were all hot and tired and getting grouchy. Very disappointed. I would say I was as disappointed as I would be if I opened a birthday gift and found it was empty. A cruel joke. So we never got a chance to P in the Pool.

Freezing

2011-05-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

When I was a child, we lived in Oregon and often drove to Eastern Washington for Christmas at my grandparents' house. We made the trek in our old, white van. It was kind of a camper van. It had two seats in front, with the motor cover in the middle that we could sit on. And it had a sink. And a bed. We would put in folding lawn chairs to have two more seats.

On this particular Christmas trip, the van didn't have any heat. We usually started our trip out at 4 or 5 in the morning, when it is already cold. We would go in our pajamas and rest on the bed for a few hours. Well since we didn't have heat, we took our thick sleeping bags and bundled up for the trip. My dad wore his ski mobile outfit. My sister and I and our mom huddled together for most of the trip.

Who in their right mind drives 8 hours in the freezing Northwest without a heater? Well I guess our family did.

And now I find that I wish I was in that van right now, driving through the freezing Northwest. I would be happy to snuggle up in a sleeping bag with my sister and know that my parents knew what they were doing and we weren't going to die. OK, mostly I just wish I was freezing.

Moms

2011-05-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have four moms! I started out with one. I never dreamed of having four. But God must of known that it would take four moms to help raise me. My mom did the hard part of getting me to adulthood. Then I guess I really needed some work. So God saw that it was best to spread out the job to 3 more ladies. My mother in-laws took turns at speaking into my life in their own ways. And now I am what I am because of these moms. (so don't blame me)

Anyway, I have three mother in-laws. Life is funny. My first mother in-law is Steve's birth mom. She has always been a part of his life of course, but he hasn't always lived with her. Second comes my ex step mother in-law, but I prefer to drop the first part and just say mother in-law. She did a lot of the hard years of raising a boy. She probably had the hardest work of all three. And thirdly, my step mother in-law, or momette (I pretend that is French). She became part of the family a year or two before me, so she got the easiest job of raising a grown son.

I am a ten year mom now. I remember that first Mother's Day. We had only been in India for a couple of weeks and it was very hot and dirty. Micah was a bad sleeper, so we were all tired. All I wanted for Mother's Day was to be left alone so I could sleep. But Steve wanted to celebrate my first Mother's Day. He wrote me a nice card and we went to church. I was miserable. What a horrible mother I thought I was because I just wanted some time away from my kid on Mother's Day. But I don't feel that anymore. I realize I was overly tired and very much in culture shock and probably heat stroke. I love Micah very much and I love spending time with him. I also love sleeping and not being interrupted. I'm glad we are through those first years and on to the more sane years.

Mom's do a lot and their job never ends. From the first moment that you know you are pregnant you are a mom. You realize that a life is dependent on you. It is a huge responsibility. And when you get your kid raised it still isn't over. You end up paying for them whenever they come to visit. You worry about them. You miss them. You can't believe how short the time was. You never stop being a mother.

So thanks to all my mothers for the jobs you have done! This is how life goes. On and on it goes. Until one day we all end up as orphans.

Burger

2011-05-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

Craving one of these!

I Cooked

2011-05-03T06:19:00.000-07:00

Last night I had to come up with a meal for the three of us. Thankfully, my mom had sent a package with some food items in it, otherwise there would have been a call to Dominoes. So I made some Mac N Cheese and some eggs with refried beans. My mom had sent the Mac N Cheese and the refried beans. I just had to have eggs.

We were all tired after a long day out, so I was trying to save time. I didn't actually wash the pan that I made the eggs in. The night before, eggs were made in it and my househelp hadn't come to do dishes, so it still sat on the stove. I rinsed it out, but there were still a few dried egg spots in it. And I rinsed off the eggs. They come farm fresh here, which means they have chicken poop on the shells still. Maybe one of these errors were the cause of the effect that happened to Micah's body at 1 AM.

Micah was having a hard time falling asleep. We moved him into our room with a mattress on the floor so that he could enjoy the a/c. But he kept getting up because he was restless. So finally I traded places with him. I went to the floor and he got to be in the bed. I actually think the floor was cooler. Around 1 I heard some commotion. Then Steve and Micah were up. I guess Micah was getting sick. So after he came back from throwing up, I had him sleep with me so I could make sure he was okay. That was all fine and dandy until I felt a warm, wet spot on the back of my shirt. I was sleeping with my back to him and he had his face nuzzled against my back. He got sick in his sleep and tried to keep it in, but had to let it out... ON MY BACK! So we all got up and cleaned up the mess. I took a shower while Steve cleaned the mattress. Micah also changed and we all got back in bed.

So the moral of the story is..... Don't cook. Tonight we have ordered Dominoes.

Hot in the City

2011-04-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

We have had a wonderful April with cooler than normal weather. But now it is hot! Today must have been 150 degrees! Well, maybe that is not quite right, but it might as well be that hot. I think the computer said it was 103 degrees, which is only 39.5 for those who only know celsius. I think 103 sounds much hotter.

I always have a hard time at the beginning of the hot season. My body takes a long time to adjust to the heat. So today I turned the a/c on and brought a mattress into the dining room (where the a/c was) and just laid there for a while. I won't tell you how long. Micah and his friends were in the front room without a fan even on. I went out there and asked them if they needed it. They didn't sound like they cared, but I turned it on anyway. Then one of them said that it hurt his wasp bite to have the wind blow on it, so I turned it off and laid back down in the other room.

The mattress was hot! It seemed like it could burst into a flame. Then I thought that maybe I would burst into flames at any moment. But alas, I survived. I think I may forget about cultural acceptance and wear shorts and a tank top. Look out Delhi, hear I come. Prepare to stare!

Easter Eggs

2011-04-24T02:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Micah and friends colored Easter eggs. Today they were hid and the kids found them. For some reason, I took two of them to church with me. I don't know why, but Micah didn't want to eat these two. So I thought, "I will give them to the beggar kids on the way to church." But whenever we bring food to give to the kids, there aren't any. So ended up with them at church.

Luckily, our church is next to a small slum area. There are always kids playing outside the church. So I just had to go give the eggs away. I saw a small group of boys playing with sticks and decided to give them the eggs. I made the mistake of asking, "who wants eggs?" So all the boys ran over to me with my two eggs in my hand. They all grabbed them and squished them out of my hand. Seriously squished eggs. One kid tried to eat some of the squished egg but then decided to throw it at his friend instead.

I walked away a little amused and a little annoyed.

It's a Juggle Out There

2011-04-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

I am learning to juggle. It seems that a lot of skateboarders (I know of two or three) are also jugglers, so since I am learning to skateboard I also thought I should learn to juggle.

2011-04-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

Twitter

2011-04-11T02:11:00.000-07:00

I signed up for a Twitter account a few days ago. I wanted to see what was so cool about it. Turns out that it is stupid. But I am still Twittering to see if it gets fun after a while or something. I think I need to take a Twitter course or at least listen to a Twitter tutorial. Maybe then I will understand why I need a Twitter account.

Got Turbo?

2011-04-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

Over the years, Steve's dad has had many cars. I think there is a different car each time we come for a visit. I remember one time that he told us he was trying to cut down on the car expense so he sold one expensive car and bought two old Mercedes (I think that is right). We were always shocked at the cars, which were almost always nicer than any car we ever dreamed of having.

On one of our trips to visit Steve's parents, we were surprised to be picked up at the airport in a new, red Dodge Ram truck. This was a big truck with the four wheels in the back (if I remember correctly). We climbed in and I am pretty sure I had to sit on the back bench seat thing that is smaller than the backseat of a Pinto. He needed a truck because, 1. men like trucks. 2. he hauls things. and 3. he just got a boat so he needed something to pull it with.

On this particular trip we were lucky enough to be invited to go to Mexico with Steve's parents to a resort. So after a very stressful day of trying to leave (there was an interruption to the plans and we ended up having to help someone move, someone went to jail, and the police raided someone's house), we left around 7PM for our trip. Steve and I got the back, bench seat, like little kids. We had to sit sideways for several hours. It is funny how the driver never has to experience his back seat to know how horrible it really is. So off we went to Mexico.

The resort was a huge disappointment and joke of a place. It was in ruins. The bedrooms were dirty. The golf course hadn't been taken care of. The pool wasn't open and the hot tub was filthy. But there were free drinks to help you forget everything. We made the best of it for a couple of days of relaxation and then made our trip back to L.A. We had to stop to try to find some prescription drugs that are cheaper in Mexico, which meant trying to find a quack, I mean doctor, who would help write a prescription. After doing that, we headed for the boarder. There was a huge line up of cars waiting to cross so we ended up sitting in the truck (bench seat again) for several hours.

It was at the boarder crossing that we came side to side with another Dodge Ram truck that was just like Steve's dad's truck, only blue. So Steve's dad rolled the window down and started chatting with the driver about his truck. They both loved their trucks. Then the blue truck guy asked Steve's Dad, "How do you like the turbo?" And Steve's dad responded, "I didn't get the turbo." Mr. Blue said, "Yes you did. It says it right on the side of the truck." We all laughed and Steve's dad felt silly for not knowing he had a turbo. We sat a few more eternities there at the boarder until finally we drove home.

My spiritual analogy: The Holy Spirit is like our turbo. All Christians have the Holy Spirit in their lives. Many times we don't realize it though and we don't use the power that comes from Him being in our lives. So let me be the one to tell you that you do in fact have turbo!

Heart Attack

2011-04-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

I have been doing the workout by Jillian Michaels lately instead of my P90X. I just finished an hour workout and feel great. I will get back to P90X again because I like the muscle building in it, but it is nice to have a change.

Micah has developed a fear recently. His fear is that I am going to have a heart attack while I am working out. Several people we know have died in the last couple of months from heart attacks, so I think his fear comes from that. So now when I work out he asks me how to do CPR. He wants to be in the same room as I am when I work out so he will see me collapse and be able to revive me. So I tell him how to do CPR because I really don't want to die either.

Micah has a heart valve issue that isn't serious. A few years ago he found out about it while we were at the dentist's office. I am suppose to let the dentist know about the issue so that they can prescribe antibiotics if they think he needs it. I guess one of the complications could be that a virus or bacteria will get into the blood stream and go to his heart. So anyway, he was shocked when I mentioned that he had this issue and became obsessed with talking about it. He calls it his "heart problem".

Today Micah asked me if kids ever have heart attacks. I said that sometimes kids that do hard sports that don't know that they have a heart issue may have heart attacks. But I made sure to tell him that his doctor specifically said that we don't have to worry about this with Micah's valve issue. It will not cause any problems when exercising. So now Micah thinks he can workout as hard as he can without worrying about a heart attack, but everyone else should be careful since they don't know if they have any heart issues.

Why is it that Micah takes after me so much? When I had the gym, I would be waiting for someone to have a heart attack so that I could perform CPR on them. One time a lady had pain in her arm and was very light headed and I was sure she was having a hear attack. I was just rehearsing in my head the correct breaths to chest pumps, preparing for when she collapsed. But she never did. Now, that is what Micah is doing with me.

Boaz

2011-04-04T19:51:00.001-07:00

I am reading a book (that is on my bedside table and I am too lazy to get up to look at the title) about 4 women from the Bible. One is Rahab that prostitute who hid the spies of Jericho. I also just recently listened to a sermon on Ruth, preached by my dad. As I finished the chapter on Rahab, it ended by saying that she is the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth. I had never connected them before.

The sermon on Ruth talked about the faithfulness of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. Boaz must have been a God-fearing, or at least a law-following man. He kept part of his field for the poor to harvest and he married Ruth, his dead relative's wife. So Boaz was probably raised by parents who were God followers.

Then I read about Rahab and how she was the mother of Boaz. So here is this woman who was "grafted" in to the people of God. She must have given herself fully to the law to raise her son to be the man Boaz.

I think of the girls we hope to help at Courage Homes who have been forced into prostitution. This gives me hope. They could become like Rahab, the mother of Boaz, grafted in to the family of God.

3 Ways

2011-04-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

There are three ways to leave the house. One is to think through all the things you need for the day and walk around gathering the stuff before you walk out the door, often running here and there as your think of more things.

Two is the way Steve does it. He says good-bye and wonders around the house, says a few more "good-byes" or "I'm leaving" and continues to gather his stuff. Once he leaves I have to get up and lock the door. But I often times don't get up right away, because this second kind of leaving means that you leave two times. He usually comes back for something he has forgotten. If I lock the door too quickly, I will have to get up again to let him in.

The third way of leaving is the way I do it. I get my stuff together and walk out the door. Once I pass through the door I don't come back. If I forgot something (and I usually have) it is just "sorry Charlie" for me. I get to the car and realize it would be nice to have sun glasses, but too bad, I have left already. Once I am out, I don't go back.

You are a Dog

2011-04-04T02:50:00.000-07:00

Not one of my best moments.

I was riding in the car with some friends when we came to an intersection with street kids. There were about three boys who appeared high. They weren't begging, they were just being irritating. One pretended to hit the window with his stick in his hand. Another opened the driver's door. Then he called me a dog. I reacted immediately with, "No, you're a dog!" It came out as trying to be funny, partly, but also with anger. Mostly anger I guess.

Why is it that my Tourettes hits when I am with people? Now I will probably be fired from my job with trafficked girls.

Worst $4 Pedicure

2011-04-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I and my friend Chrissy went to have an Indian experience of a pedicure. I had never gone to the local beauty parlor so I thought this would be a good chance to try it out and see how good it is.

We walked up to the very small shop and there were three ladies sitting outside on the massage table/bed thing. I asked if we could have pedicures and they started scrambling to help us. They had to clean off the chair on the inside of the shop and make room for another chair to be brought in. The day before, the shop had been painted with some strong smelling paint and everything was out of place. There were boxes of old supplies everywhere.

So we sat down while the ladies looked for buckets for our feet to go in. They dug through bags to find their files and soap. I really wanted to walk out and go somewhere else, but I hate making people feel bad by saying that their business is gross, so we stayed. We thought we would just get high off the paint and not care anyway.

The ladies had a small electric water heater, like to make two cups of water at a time. So they heated up water and poured it into our buckets. Then they added some cold water. Then they cut open a packet of shampoo and dumped that in the water. We didn't really soak our feet much, but they started taking off our old nail polish. The owner stood over the two ladies working on our feet and barked her orders, not knowing that I could understand her. She told them what to do like they had never done a pedicure before. Again I wanted to leave.

My feet were scrubbed first with a razor file. I thought for sure I would bleed. But even with all that scrubbing, my feet were not really that clean at the end. And then Chrissy got the same file, without it being cleaned off. So I figure if I have hepatitis that she will now get it too. I wonder how many people have had their dirty feet scrapped with that file. Anyway, probably not many because they did a lousy job. Our toes still have old polish on them.

Finally, my lady finished my feet and asked if I wanted anything else. I looked at my bare toes and said, "Color?" She hadn't painted my toes. So she searched through every bag and box in the very small room and wasn't able to find any nail polish. She yelled for the owner to tell her where the polish was, but she didn't know either. So the owner sent the girl to the store to buy a few bottles of polish. She brought back 5 for us to choose from. I chose red and Chrissy chose purple. We got one quick coat of paint and tried not to rush out of the place in disgust (but I wanted to).

Our feet don't look extremely nice, but we are probably the only ones who will notice. Soon we will re-polish our toes. And if I can find the card reader for my camera I will show you what the place looked like. Check back later for pictures of the worst $4 pedicure ever.

Flight Problems

2011-03-29T02:43:00.000-07:00

Our group of friends who are here to build skateboard ramps left yesterday to go back to the States. But now they are back today, in my home. Two of them made it out because they made their reservations separately, but the others had the misfortune of making their reservations for a month later and none of them realized it until they tried to get in to the airport.

The night started off with a frantic search for one passport. The search continued through the house and on the way to the airport. Finally it was found in a bag. Then came the disappointment of the date of the ticket. So the guys had to find a hotel since they weren't able to call us, or we didn't answer the phone or something. And now they are exhausted and sleeping all over the house.

To change a ticket it costs a lot of money. So that is added stress. Stress on the pocketbook is one of the worst. Sickness is the worst, divorce is second, and money is third.

And today is one of the guy's birthday. Happy Birthday Berkley!

Peer Pressure

2011-03-28T03:21:00.000-07:00

I find myself contemplating peer pressure today. You think it is something that teenagers go through, but in reality I find that all ages continue on through it until they are at peace with who they are. Deep thoughts by Leslie.

Yesterday I was at the shopping center that the guys are skateboarding at. They really are cool to watch. And it makes me wish that I could be cool too. There were also some kids who were rip-sticking. I also can't do that. Micah also can't skate or rip-stick. He likes to use his scooter. I asked him if he doesn't want to skate because he is afraid to get hurt. He said that is right. He didn't have his scooter with us so he was just watching the other kids. He said, "It seems like everyone has a rip-stick. I am probably the only foreigner to not have one." I doubt that is true, but I know what he was feeling. He was feeling left out.

I kind of want Micah to take up skateboarding or rip=sticking just so he can have fun with the other kids when they are doing that. But I don't want him to give in to peer pressure just because he is feeling left out. So what can I encourage him to do? I guess he can bring something else to do, like his drawing stuff or something. But the thing is, this is the time of skateboarding and rip-sticking, so if he isn't doing that then he will feel left out.

Today I found myself feeling left out. All the group of people staying at our house went shopping and to the school to skate. I really didn't feel like squishing into our car and spending hours shopping again or watching them skate (even though it is cool to watch them). So I am staying at home. I thought I would be busy at home, but I'm not. So I was feeling left out and sorry for myself. Not that I want to do the things that others are doing, but I want to be included. But because I am so mature now that I am 40, I realize that I don't need to feel left out. Instead I am enjoying what I like to do. Today that is working out, reading a bit, taking a nap, and just being by myself.

Another thing about peer pressure that I was thinking about today is, why is it that we want to be noticed as part of the cool group? Like for instance, the skate dudes. I find myself wanting to be noticed as one of them. Like I want to say the right lingo or look like I know them so that people will think that I am cool. But the truth is, I'm not a cool skater. I don't know the lingo. I probably don't even carry the board correctly. So why do I want to be recognized as one of them? And I have seen it in others. People that aren't really skaters but are hanging out with them are trying to use the right lingo and trying to be included in their coolness. So I may be 40, but I still have a ways to go before I am grown up. At least I notice it. I guess that is the first step in maturity.

What boys and men talk about

2011-03-26T20:05:00.001-07:00

So we have a house full of boys and men right now. There are only three of us women. As we sit around the breakfast table, there is a lot of conversation. We start out talking about skating or building ramps and then someone makes a comment about a butt or some other part of the male anatomy and the conversation changes. This happens over and over again. Every single conversation can somehow be changed. They are amazing.

Unpredictable

2011-03-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

So we have this group here who are helping Steve build skate ramps. They are super busy. So far I haven't even seen the work they are doing, but today I hope to go. There is so much going on that we never know when they will get back here and if they will want to eat. So yesterday I had our house help lady make dinner for us. She made a big pot of pumpkin curry and I made rice. Enough for 13 people. And then it was just me and one other person who actually ate.

How do you plan for the unplannable?

Water Shortage

2011-03-23T22:56:00.000-07:00

We seem to have a water shortage. For the last two nights we have run out of water. Or maybe it is because we have so many people at our house that are flushing the toilet and taking showers.

There are still a bunch of people at our house. They don't take long showers or anything. We have learned to keep a bucket in your shower to rinse off with and to keep the water to use for flushing. We actually need more buckets for all the water that is being collected. So what we do is take a quick rinse off, turn off the water while you soap up, and then rinse it off. All the while you have the bucket at your feet to catch all the wasted water. I have taken a shower with less than a half a bucket of water. Not that I am bragging about that. I'm just saying that I know how to use very little water.

So we bought a 20L jug of water to have some drinking water, but when we dumped it into our water jug it had floaties. Not sure if that was already in our jug or if it was in the new one we bought. We had to use that water for flushing.

The little store down the way is sure making a killing off of all our people. Every day the guys are buying drinks and chips. And I am buying cereal, milk, bread and eggs daily. I bet we make 5 or six trips to the store each day. At least it is close by.

Beans

2011-03-20T06:25:00.001-07:00

We have 10 visitors staying with us this week. Yes, 10. And most of them are boys. Boys eat a lot. For breakfast I made oatmeal. Then I put out cereal to in case they were still hungry. One kid ate a bowl of oatmeal and then three bowls of cereal. That is when I realized that I was not thinking big enough. I only bought two boxes of cereal.

Tonight they are all out skateboarding so I imagine they will come back hungry. I'm afraid. Really afraid. What am I going to feed them???? I could order food, but I don't have any money until they come back. And then it will take some time for the food to arrive. And that is, if anything is open. Today is a holiday. So what is my back-up plan? Beans. But I hadn't soaked them. I decided all of this at 4:00, so I started soaking them for two hours. Then I through some Indian spices in the pressure cooker and added some onion and garlic and threw in the beans. Now how long do I cook them? I can only figure it is somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes. The only problem with that is that I don't know what time I started cooking them. So now the whistle has blown maybe 10 times and I am wondering when I should let the pressure out to check on the beans.

Again I am reminded why I don't cook. It is hard work. A lot of anxiety builds up inside me like a pressure cooker. I start sweating. I fret. I worry that it won't taste good (which is very possible). And what if it isn't enough? Where is my dear friend Hiroko to feed me without any pressure? Oh well, it will be an adventure to see what I look like when my pressure steams out like the cooker does. Will I make a lot of noise? Will I steam up the whole room? Or will everything turn out perfect? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

Japan Earthquake

2011-03-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

Like many people, I am still drawn to the news stations to read all I can about the earthquake and tsunami. I hope for good news of survival, but there isn't much. Mostly it is bad. It is heart wrenching to watch the people scream in fear as the tsunami is seen in the distance. Now to hear their stories of watching a loved one get washed away. Or to hear them say that they saw bodies in the water. This would be like the worst horror story to watch. And it is real. No movie could make it look any worse than it really is. I wish I could be there to help dig out whatever could be saved. I wish I could do something to help. And every day there is still so many earthquakes and tsunami warnings for them. How can they begin to clean up when they are afraid to go near the ocean.

I am reminded again of my fears of earthquakes and tsunamis. It will be a battle again when I face the ocean, but I know that I can overcome fear with the knowledge that God is with me.

Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear,
though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

Not Ready

2011-03-13T03:12:00.001-07:00

I was thinking today about the story of the 10 virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom to come. It really made sense to me in light of my recent not-readiness. Yesterday we didn't have electricity for 3 and a half hours. Our inverter only lasts about 10 minutes. We haven't fixed it for six months. It is suppose to last 8 hours. Then when the electricity is out for 8 hours we can at least have a fan running. But we will only get 10 minutes. We are definitely not ready for summer.

And also yesterday we didn't have cooking gas (still). So without electricity to run the microwave and no cooking gas, I couldn't make chai. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Thankfully it isn't hot yet, so nothing melted in the freezer. I didn't even think about eating the ice cream. You would think that we would be pro-active about the gas and fill our extra cylinder before we actually needed it. But here we sit, two days later, with two empties.

So as I sat thinking about being ready, I realized I am not ready. What if Jesus came to visit and I couldn't even offer him chai.

Tea Time

2011-03-11T01:48:00.000-08:00

I love chai. I love my own the most. I love my house helper's second. And after us I like the guy's on the street in my old neighborhood.

When I use to work at the gym in our old neighborhood, I would often times get tea from the chai-wala outside of the gym. We would bring a tray with our own glasses and he would fill them up with boiling hot tea. I guess we didn't trust that his glasses were clean enough. Several times, when the chai was brought back in to drink, the person would pick up their cup of chai and the bottom would break off and chai would spill all over the place. The glasses weren't made to hold boiling chai I guess. Then the rest of us would pour some of our chai into another glass for the poor soul who had theirs spill.

Today I am hostessing a tea party. I don't really get in to tea parties. To me, the most important thing is to be together. I don't care about what the cups look like or what I wear. I may or may not wear make-up today. My cups will be mix and match. No silly hats to wear. And I will make the tea. The only problem today is that we ran out of gas for our stove. So now I will have to make my chai outside of our home. Maybe on a campfire or at a friend's house. Probably not the campfire since I don't have any wood.

So here is my recipe for chai if you care to try it:

Get a steel pot
put enough water in it for however many people you have, approx. one cup per person.
put a spoonful of tea leaves in for every cup and a half of water
crush a half an inch of ginger
one crushed cardomon pod
a shake of pumpkin spice seasoning
boil it
add a spoon of sugar for every cup and a half of water
when it boils, add milk until it is a nice milky brown color
boil again
strain it into cups
drink and relax

Are You Deaf?

2011-03-08T02:57:00.000-08:00

The man who lives in the apartment next to ours is very hard of hearing. He is an older gentleman that doesn't work, so he is home all day. He is often sitting in his living room with his front door open so I can see in. He has a screen shut, but I can still see in. He doesn't seem to be doing much in there. Probably about 15 times a day, someone will come to his door. Sometimes they just walk in, like a neighbor or a servant of some sort. But other times the person knocks. Then he yells, "Who is it?" in Hindi. If they don't know him they don't know to yell. So the person may answer and he can't hear them, so he yells again, "Who is it?" The person will reply louder, but usually not loud enough. This can go on and on for 4 or 5 times. Others who come to the door that know him will already speak loudly. Sometimes he will carry on a loud conversation with the person. Other times I hear him speaking loudly to someone in the house. Usually the parts of the conversation get repeated. I, for the most part, don't understand what is being said. He doesn't speak clearly for me.

I wonder how I will be when Steve is deaf. He is already showing signs of deafness. I often have to repeat myself. I wonder if I will just learn to speak louder or if it will take me repeating myself four or five times.

Apple of My Eye

2011-03-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

YOUTUBE
Here is another Benny Hester song that I LOVE.

Whoever Touches You
Words & Music by Benny Hester & John Parenti

You're the one that I have chosen
You are mine and that's forever
I will love you like no other
In My house we'll be together

When you call Me I will hear you
Always know that I am near you
Watching over to protect you
In My arms just remember

chorus:
Whoever touches you
Touches the apple of My eye
Oh My child
Whoever touches you
Touches the apple of My eye
You are My treasure
In Me you can hide
Whoever touches you

If you’re lonely, when you’re threatened
In your trials you’re scared and troubled
When you’re burdened, if you’re running
Call to Me and hear Me answer

(chorus)

God Ran!

2011-03-05T00:25:00.000-08:00

I was reminded again this week of a song I have loved for a long time. When God Ran, by Benny Hester.

This week I thought of it from a new perspective. I was imagining a trafficked girl who comes to our aftercare home and her picture of a father. And then teaching her about the perfect father, God. So here are the words to the song.

When God Ran
Written by: Benny Hester & John Parenti
Recorded by: Benny Hester

Almighty God
The Great I Am
Immovable Rock,
Omnipotent powerful

Awesome Lord
Victorious Warrior
Commanding King of Kings
Mighty Conquerer

And the only time
The only time I ever saw Him run

Was when He ran to me
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
Said "My son's come home again"
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"

It caught me by surprise when God ran

The day I left home
I knew I'd broken His heart
I wondered then
If things could ever be the same

Then one night
I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road
Ahead I could see

It's the only time
The only time I ever saw Him run

When He ran to me
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
Said "My son's come home again"
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"

It caught me by surprise
It brought me to my knees
When God ran

I saw Him run to me
And then I ran to Him

(Instrumental)

Holy One, Righteous Judge
He turned my way
Now I know He's been waiting
For this day

And then He ran to me
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
Said "My son's come home again"
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
I felt His love for me and then He

Ran to me
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
Said "My son's come home again"
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said Son, He said Son, My Son
Do you know I still love you
Oh He ran to me
When God ran

This is about the son who sins against his father, but the girls we work with have been victims of someone else who sinned against them. But the picture is still a wonderful view of God wanting his child to come home.

Results

2011-02-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

Here is the results of the experiment I did on how many countries I could get of people who look at my blog. Thanks to all who helped (Jessica).

United States

India

Latvia

Thailand

Canada

France

United Kingdom

Malaysia

Netherlands

Germany

Butt Crack

2011-02-20T04:01:00.000-08:00

This is a totally random thought blog post and probably isn't worth your reading.

Last night, as I was drying off after a shower, I noticed something that I don't think I had noticed before. I was looking for a wild hair that sometimes grows on my lower back. I hadn't seen it in a while so I was looking to see if it was growing or not. Wild hairs are weird. Why does a hair just grow super long in a day some places? Or do they grow slowly but we just don't notice them?

I couldn't find the wild hair. I had talked before about hanging a bead on that one hair and celebrating it. It would probably pull the hair out though, since the wild hairs are usually pretty thin. If I had three hairs all together, I would braid them. I would like to see how long I can grow one someday.

But getting back to last night and my discovery. As I cranked my head around to see my back I realized that I could see my own butt crack (sorry Mom and Dad). Why did I never realize this before? Or is it because I have been doing P90X and the stretching is helping me to turn my head farther? I think I will give P90X the credit for this one. Or maybe I should thank my parents for the genes. I'm sure they would appreciate the credit. Or maybe everyone can see their own crack and we just don't talk about it. I have been told I talk about things that others know not to talk about in public, so this is possible.

So the next time you take a shower and are drying off, check to see how far your head can turn. And tell someone!

Pity Party

2011-02-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry for my last, pathetic blog posting. I was having an early pity party for my birthday I guess. I am feeling better and less stressful about the whole "having no money" thing. I know I have friends to borrow from and I know we won't be poor for very long. It is good to remember how lots of people have to live month to month and go without things. I know one day we will be millionaires and won't have to worry about money anymore. And when I am a millionaire, I will still hate spending money.

Too Poor to Pay Attention

2011-02-10T18:25:00.000-08:00

Lately I have felt the sting of poorness. I have an issue with anxiety anyway, and this is a new test for me in seeing if I can survive through it. It is also a good test in learning to trust, both God and my husband.

We are importing skateboards to sell here in India and right now we are waiting to get them out of customs. I guess we didn't figure in the long delay of customs here when we planned. So there sits our boards (and money).

So anyway, we had to leave India for our visa renewal and we came to Thailand. When we got here we withdrew money and the ATM shows us the balance in our bank. After withdrawing, we have around $30. left. I have never had that little of money. I know that my idea of broke is different than others, but to me, we are broke.

So I lay in bed worrying about our finances and wonder if I am suppose to trust God to take care of us, or if it is our own poor planning that is making us suffer. Like, does God take care of you when you are foolish?

I also lay in bed feeling sorry for myself. My birthday is next week and I wanted a few things. Nothing big, but at least something. I wanted a special cake. But now I just can't justify buying the cake with our last dime. We will get paid on my birthday, but not in time for the cake to be bought. I also wanted to buy a pair of jeans here in Thailand and maybe get my nose pierced. Both are totally cheap here. Six dollars for the jeans and another six dollars for the piercing. But both are things I don't "need".

I do allow myself to buy a few Thai iced teas. Those are treats for me. So I guess I need to enjoy the moment and not worry about eating cake. I will put a few thai bhat away for the last day here. Enough to pay for the extra baggage they will likely charge us at the airport.

Traveling is no fun anymore

2011-02-07T21:57:00.001-08:00

Every six months, we have to leave India. Our visa stipulates that we go out of the country after 180 days. We can just cross the border and come back in, but we choose to use the time as a break from life in India. We also like to visit friends in close by countries. So this time, we went to Thailand. Actually, we almost always go to Thailand. So we flew here on Air Asia because it was cheapest. But I didn't realize that they nickle and dime you until it isn't so cheap or comfortable. Here is where I lost it.

When I say "I lost it" I don't mean that I lost my mind. I mean that I lost my cool. Traveling is stressful for me. If I was alone I don't think it would be too stressful, but I am with my husband and son, which makes it a little more stressful. Steve normally packs his bags a half hour before we leave and that is stressful to me. So I have learned a skill to help me. I ask him a day before, "When will you pack your bags?" And he is suppose to give a time that he will be ready. Well, I forgot to do that this time. So he went back to his normal routine of packing the last minute. He was actually out skateboarding just a couple of hours before we were suppose to leave. So he would need to come home, eat, take a shower, and pack. Just the time issue stresses me. Then riding in the taxi is stressful, just regular traffic and no seat belts.

So we got in the airport and it seems we always pick the slowest lines. Neither of us want to commit to choosing the line, so we get all wishy-washy. We ended up in the check-in line of "Ms. Grouchy Pants". She was yelling at her co-workers to do things and trying to check us in at the same time. She didn't acknowledge us until it was time to weigh the bags. I had paid for 15kg for one checked bag, when we bought the ticket online. So we planned to take carry-ons and one check bag. Our bag was 4kg too heavy. So then she weighed the carry-on bags to see which one we could put a few things into. But our carry-on bags weighed too much. I HATE having to reshuffle our stuff as we wait to check in at the airport. So we thought, we will just put more stuff in the check-in bag and pay the difference. So we got our carry-ons almost completely empty, since they weigh almost the limit when they are empty, and we got back in line. Now our bag was 11kg too heavy. She calculated how much we would have to pay extra and came up with the figure of around $80. I couldn't help but repeating this figure quite loudly and rolling my eyes. I told her that I would have to eat the gulab jamin (sweets) that we were taking. The guy helping with the bags asked me if I liked Indian sweets. I said, "Yes, I like gulab jamin, but I don't like your airline." So I asked how much it would cost for us to just check in another bag. She didn't answer me. Instead she said she would ask her boss if we could just pay a lesser fee. So somehow she figured that we could pay around $18 and take the extra weight.

I was frustrated because it seems that our empty bags would be about the right weight limit. What does the airline expect people to do? We fly places and take clothes to wear on our trip. It seems ridiculous to charge more than my clothes are worth to take stuff. I know Air Asia isn't the only airline doing this, but this is international and I didn't think airlines did that on international flights. They also charge for food, which is fine. We just didn't get any food. And then they have the audacity to charge for a blanket and a pillow. Oh, we also paid for our seat assignment. I wanted to ask if they charge for toilet paper, but I never needed to use the toilet.

It has gotten ridiculous. Why not just tell the poor passengers what the cost is going to be up front, and then treat them nice? Isn't there enough air rage and stress without adding more difficulty to the passenger? No wonder people go crazy on flights. I vote we go back to honest pricing and give people a pleasant experience.

For our flight home, we might just throw our bags away and pack in garbage bags so we can actually take some clothes home with us. That way our bags won't weigh much at all.