I don't do this very often, but it's worth it!

You simply MUST go read this. I had to try very hard to keep from spewing coffee all over our brand-new monitor whilst reading this. It is HILARIOUS--especially to those of us who can identify!
How to Hide a Front Butt by Cindy Beall
Go read it. DO IT!!!!

Simple Woman's Daybook 10/6/08

FOR TODAY, OCTOBER 6th, 2008...

Outside My Window... it is once again clear and cloudless. That's supposed to change later on in the week as we have another cold front roll in, so I'm going to take the opportunity to enjoy the sun!
I am thinking... that we are going to be in for quite a challenge when we start looking for a house next year. There's that "planner" in me again, hard at work. Pete picked up two real estate booklets yesterday and we realized just how unalike our preferences really are as we looked through them before bed!
I am thankful... that my cyst did not take three or four days to rupture like they usually do. A few hours of excrutiating pain was enough, thanksmuch! God had mercy on this tired mom!
From the kitchen... I'm making up my menu and shopping list, and here's what I've got so far:

• Monday--shepherd's pie
• Tuesday--chicken tacos
• Wednesday--clam chowder, fresh veggies, and dip
• Thursday--baked chicken, spaghetti squash, and brown rice
• Friday--mazotti and green beans
• Saturday--ravioli with meat sauce, garlic bread, and salad

I am wearing... black capris and a white tee (it's supposed to be 84 degrees today!)
I am creating... the last of the girls' nature-treasure-keepers; I got Morgan's and Danica's done last week, but needed ribbon to finish Jamie's. We'll be ready for a nature hike by the week's end!
I am reading... Welcome Home by Emilie Barnes
I am hearing... Dani's little voice practicing the new words she's started repeating the last week or so. It's great that she's finally using words instead of grunts more often!
Around the house... I finally have the girls' room and the master bedroom cleaned up and in order. Today, it's on to the playroom/nursery, and then, thank goodness, I'll have most of the big stuff done!
One of my favorite things... my laundry room. Odd, yes, but this is the first house we've been in that I've had a laundry room that truly works for me. It's big enough for a shelf for my diaper bags and laundry supplies, the diaper pail, a shoe rack, the dog/cat food bowls, the litter pan, and the girls' dresser! I've got hooks on the walls to hang clothes fresh from the dryer, I can fold the girls' clothes and put them right into their drawers, Pete can hang up his uniform top as soon as he walks in the door, we hang our keys there, and I even have a little clothesline to hang diaper covers on! Having a well-organized "work" room really makes things easier on me and that will be one of the things I look for when we go house-hunting!
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Not much. In fact, other than school and some simple crafts, I have NO plans! Yay!
Here is picture thought I am sharing... of Danica last Tuesday afternoon, bowling like the big girls. Have you noticed how impatient adult bowlers are? Kids are especially content to live in the moment...no matter how long that ball takes to get to the pins. The anticipation never wavers, the excitement never dulls. Even when it takes five minutes...and a bowling alley attendant doing a balancing act between the gutters to go and retrieve the ball that has stopped completely mid-lane!


Wanna share your simple thoughts this week? Go visit Peggy's site and see how to!

Homeschool Weekly Report #2

Okay, so this was supposed to have been Saturday's blog post....but considering that I was out of commission thanks to a nasty bout with a rupturing ovarian cyst....it waited!

Last week was sort of a "light" week with the littles. We stuck with the read-alouds and the girls decided on Monday that I just had to repeat that day's reading in Mother Goose for the rest of the week. We must have heard "One, Two, Buckle my Shoe" six hundred times last week! Both Morgan and Jamie find it side-splitting that the rhyme to "nine, ten" is not what they hear on Barney, but instead, it is "A big, fat hen"! You can only imagine how much giggling went on here over that! We are learning about seasons as well as calendars, and this week (now that I finally have the printer cooperating) we are creating the girls' very own calendars.

Kelsey still had a full workload last week. Interestingly enough, she's enjoying the work on taxes that she's doing in consumer math. She is a bit shocked that the government takes THAT much of our money. Welcome to reality, my dear! She was a week ahead in chemistry, so instead of being another week ahead, she opted to just skip that subject this week and replace it with reading her new fascination--the Twilight series. I'm rolling my eyes, but allowing it. I did tell her that it's not something I'd choose to spend my time reading, but this is the first time she's voluntarily read ANYTHING, so I'm not protesting too loudly.

This week, the public schools are out for Fall Break. We aren't! Nuff said?

Have a ball?

Tonight is the annual Ordnance Corps 'birthday' Ball. Kelsey is babysitting for Pete's boss, and we're not going. I'm just not the Ball type. I don't do formal well, I detest shopping for formal wear, and personally, I feel ridiculous all dressed up. We've gone to one formal military ball, and it was...well, an experience. That's about all I can say about it. Sure, there was lots of pomp and circumstance, everybody looked amazing....but it is REALLY difficult to get comfy and enjoy yourself while you're dressed to the nines and your husband's commanding officer is sitting just feet away from you. Nevermind we were surrounded by a dozen or so drunken idiots who found it hilarious to see how high they could stack their beer bottles...

Pete is in charge of having the HIMARS launcher there and on display at the Ball, so at least he's got something to do tonight. And something very odd is crossing my mind...maybe we should plan to go next year, just one last time?

Never-ending kitten craziness

It has been 13 years since our house has been graced with the presence of a kitten. Murphy was our last little fluffy baby, and she was 11 when she died a year and a half ago. I miss my furbabies dearly, but for the most part, this little psycho black ball of fluff that we have in our house now is helping me cope. If nothing else, he certainly gives us plenty of entertainment! Ty may be the typical four-month-old kitten, but we tend to think he's got a few neuroses at work in that little brain of his! Why else would we regularly find him in places like...

the dishwasher, harassing the Jet-Dry basket...

the pantry, asleep in the mesh bag we use to hold all of those dozens of plastic shopping bags...

the refrigerator (and no, we did NOT close him in there, he simply jumps in as soon as the door's open)... ...and of course, there's the washing machine, the bathtub (while it's full), behind the TV, and climbing up the windows to attempt to sit ON the locking mechanism that is only 2 inches wide! Then there's his little fascination with attacking our very large German shepherd/husky mix and stealing Jake's bones and toys right out from under his paws! Oh well, cats will be cats, and they've all got "issues". I guess it's a good thing they're just so cute!

The eyes have it!

I must hear fifteen times a week how much our girls look like their dad. It's a bit odd, considering how much they really don't look alike, to all somehow look the same. Well, it's their eyes. They all have Daddy's eyes. They've all got that really pronounced "Harker brow", and deep-set eyes, just like Dad (and Opa). All except Jamie. Poor Jamie got her eye-genes from MY side, and try as she might, she just canNOT do the "mean face" that the rest of the kids can do. Wanna see? Oh, and even though I don't have a picture, when Kelsey does this, her eyes nearly disappear!

Here's the original, in close competition with Mr. Potato Head's "angry eyes":
Morgan's interpretation of "mean face":
And Danica's:
And now, Jamie's....she just can't do it no matter how hard she tries, bless her little heart! She's too cute to look mean!

The Simple Woman's Daybook 9/29/08

Oh, how I long for simplicity! Life is just far too complicated and busy; it's so nice to be able to start the week focused on some of the simpler things instead of poring over that overly full to-do list that just screams at me. I was so thankful to have stumbled across Peggy's blog The Simple Woman...at home and I think her weekly simplicity meme is a wonderful idea! If you'd like to 'play' too, go check out her guidelines and have fun!

FOR TODAY, SEPTEMBER 29th 2008...
Outside My Window... it's cloudless and sunny, and if predictions are correct, today is one of the last days we'll have our A/C running, because it looks as if Autumn is on its way with a cold front tomorrow! We're just starting to see little shocks of color here and there on the mountains, but in our front yard is a tree that is giving in to Fall color-changing a bit early--we already have a yard that needs raking!
I am thinking... that it won't be long before we'll be enjoying some beautiful walks through the nature trails on Monte Sano on cool, crisp Saturday mornings like we've dreamed about for so many years. I can't WAIT for this sticky summer heat to give way; I LOVE the Fall!
I am thankful for... God's provision through Pete's job. As stressful as military life is, and as meager an existence as we're sometimes forced to live with, even in tight times we've never worried about where our next meal was coming from or if he'd have a job next week. I just know too many people who have life very rough right now, and I'm thankful we don't.
From the kitchen... we'll feast on steak and potatoes tonight! I've had a London Broil marinating since Saturday, and my mouth is already watering!
I am wearing... white yoga pants and a t-shirt I borrowed from Pete; it's laundry day!
I am creating... some scrapbook pages from our time in Germany. I'd better get to it before I forget what all of those buildings are!
I am going... grocery shopping later on today after the girls' naps. Eventually, everything needs to be replenished!
I am reading... Homeschooling With a Meek and Quiet Spirit by Teri Maxwell....again!
I am hoping... that this illness will finally leave our house so we can all get some much-needed sleep instead of having someone coughing all night long!
I am hearing... little baby sounds. Music to the ears! Shelby is finally figuring out how to make little noises on purpose, and right now she's intent on grabbing the dragonfly that is dangling in front of her on her bouncy seat, so it needs to be 'talked to' too!
Around the house... is the evidence of a long-sick mom and the typical busy Sunday--a pile of laundry (thanks to Jon taking over my laundry room this past weekend, I didn't get anything washed!), the remains of a carrot cake we took to potluck yesterday, a diaper bag that needs to be restocked, and a playroom that is in DIRE need of an overhaul!
One of my favorite things... a steaming cup of coffee with creamy chocolate creamer--YUM!
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I'm hoping this week to be able to get to the boxes of Fall/Winter clothes to rotate some of the girls' things. It's going to be far too chilly by the end of the week for shorts and tees! I'm also hoping to get to Michael's to pick up some plastic canvas so I can make the girls each a little nature treasure box so when we do get out for those nature walks, they will have containers for their 'finds'! Pete wants me to try out my German goulaschsuppe recipe and to make my first attempt at brotchen too, so with this cooler weather on its way, this week might be a great time to put it on the menu!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...This was a picture I found during my print-to-scrap task that didn't really fit into the sightseeing annals but is such a great reminder to find joy in unexpected places. We'd spent the day wandering through Worms, Germany, among cathedrals and cemeteries that begged to tell their stories, walking through the streets where Martin Luther walked and the Edict of Worms was penned. Reformation history, so serious in nature, was a true bore to Morgan and Jamie, but this little bubbling fountain and the sight of a few birds taking to flight struck their curiosity and they just had to join in. They make their own fun where there is none to be found, and that's something few adults can remember to do! When life gets dull, play in puddles and flap your "wings", you never know how far you could fly!

A peek into our homeschool week

I have been wanting to do something like this for a while, to have some sort of written "progress report" of sorts but just never had the right format--every time I tried, it just looked dumb to me. Lo and behold, Mrs. Cuddles has a weekly meme on her blog Cuddles on the Couch, see?

Neato mosquito! I'll play! Sounds like a great way for me to keep myself in check...not to mention to disspel the myths that all I do is sit on the couch eating bonbons all day long....'tis to laugh!

Kelsey--week 3: Kelsey is finally getting into the groove of what independent learning really feels like. It is SOOOO much easier not having to prod her along, but rather to say, "Here's your schedule, I will trust you to grade your daily math work with the understanding that if you don't pass your quizzes and biweekly tests with flying colors, all grading rights and privileges return to Mom." She's loving it, and so far she seems to be learning BETTER this way! Consumer math, while it isn't really a 'tough' math course, is still rather meaty and full of practical application (something Kelsey desperately needs work in), and once we got past the inevitable "Mom, they're asking me to do something that's not in the book" arguments that have happened EVERY year since the first grade, she did just fine. She is truly enjoying her Starting Points worldview/philosophy/literature/history/Bible course. She says she likes being able to see HOW things make sense. Funny, that's what I've been trying to.....oh, forget it. I'm not going to get into that again. All in all, great week. No fighting about getting anything done, chemistry is not stumping her like she thought it would, and she is finally starting to look like a high schooler, academically speaking.

Morgan/Jamie--week 2: This week went incredibly well, all things considered. Last week, our first "official" week of kindergarten/jr.K, did not go so well, but week 2 was much better. For starters, this week, Mom had a voice and wasn't coughing up a lung every ten mintues! So yes, we actually got our reading DONE! Sonlight's Pre-K (ages 4-5) program is a great fit for us, and I'm supplementing with 'Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons', Horizons Math K for Morgan, and Comprehensive Curriculum pre-K/kindergarten workbooks for Jamie. As I had guessed (and partially feared), Jamie is catching on to writing, while for Morgan, it's a chore she'd rather not deal with. I think for now I might just go ahead and focus on learning to read with Morgan and leave the handwriting for when her fine motor skills catch up. No hurry, she's only 4!

Jamie is continuing to shock us all weekly with the things she can memorize. She can spell the names of just about every family member (we haven't quite gotten Shelby's and Danica's names in the mix yet), and thanks to a couple of really neat PBS shows, she's learned how to spell several other words as well.

She's also the one who will analyze a story, making sure I stop so she can ask WHY the mouse would be so nice as to help the lion when the lion wanted to eat the mouse....while Morgan just loves to listen to the stories. Morgan is not thrilled with the Poky Little Puppy--the injustice of Poky's siblings not getting the pudding, chocolate custard, and strawberry shortcake is just too much for her sensitive little mind! OH the injustice!

Of course, Dani can just not abide with being left behind in anything, so we had to make sure she had some "school books" of her own to scribble on while the big girls are doing their own seatwork! You'll notice, by the way, that she's wearing a pajama top that is not her own, a cloth diaper on bottom, and Morgan's flip-flops. Standard homeschool uniform, is it not?

"Mama said there'll be days like this..."

Every mother knows what I'm talking about. You wake up with a stiff and sore neck because you spent the entire night with the pillow wrapped around your head just trying to squelch the ear-piercing snores coming from your beloved, the kids all wake up "in a mood", fighting about every little thing that could potentially be fought about all day long, the coffee is too weak, you forget to take anything out for dinner, the two-year-old gets into literally everything that you have ever proclaimed "off limits" (spilling powdered baby formula all over the bathroom floor, "digging" in the coffee creamer, unrolling an entire roll of toilet paper, emptying the whole soap dispenser to wash her hands), your attempts at occupying the kids with art projects goes awry when you take one two-minute trip to the bathroom and the two-year-old paints herself, the kitchen table, and her now-screaming three-year-old sister's hair with finger paint (and then drips finger paint all the way down the carpeted hallway to come tell you "Mess, mama"), the four-year-old spills every single drink poured, no matter who the owner of the cup is, and the three-year-old spends the entire day picking up the cat (which, of course, you've told her umpteen bazillion times in the last three months NOT to do) and taking away every toy the two-year-old tries to play with.

Yesterday was one of those "Calgon, TAKE ME AWAY!!!" days for me. By 7pm, I was ready to run away. Thankfully, though, the little balls of mess and energy do go to bed. And thankfully, only ONE woke up coughing and crying in the middle of the night. It was just "one of those days".

Thing is, though, for some odd reason, once you have the third child, people become far less sympathetic. One of the weirdest things I've noticed is that mothers of "many" (whatever that means) are expected to NEVER have "days like that", and when we do, it's inevitably blamed on the number of children. "Bless your heart, you've just got your hands too full," or "Well, of course you're overwhelmed, there's SO MANY of them," is the typical response. Why is that? You know, I've really noticed that my inevitable awful days aren't really a reflection on the number of kids in the house, because I'd have "those days" even with just one child. Kids are kids. They need training...and the days when I completely lose control over everything that is going on around me is more of a reflection of ME--I lose control because I've failed in some aspect of training. I see that with my teenagers so much more as the days progress--their rebellion doesn't have to be considered "the norm", because that "norm" as society knows it is a relatively new development. It's a result of a very child-centered way of life; give the little guys everything their little hearts desire when they're teeny, and what on earth else could you expect but teens who expect to have that same treatment?

Maybe I'm just ranting and raving because I'm reaping the "rewards" of the new way of thinking with regard to child-rearing. It's days like yesterday when I really do wonder how moms like Michelle Duggar, Marilyn Boyer, and Teri Maxwell do it. But then, they did things MUCH differently when their children were younger.

Praise God, "those days" don't come in direct succession. I get to take a long, hot shower after the girls are in bed, spend some time in prayer and studying life's "owner's manual", and I can hope in a new day...one that looks more like this:

And so begins the madness.

Since we arrived in Alabama just a few short months ago, Pete has had to confront a very obvious elephant in the room--his looming military retirement. As we've learned, one can pretty much do an entire military career without *too* much planning. Pete's not a planner. He's a dreamer. He is perfectly content to take life as it comes, and for the most part, that's perfectly fine. But this is one time when it's just not going to happen. There is too much that he/we simply must do--real, live legwork. We live in military housing, so at some point we're going to have to get real about finding a mailbox to put our name on outside the gates of Redstone Arsenal. Of course, then there's another biggie--his post-retirement JOB.

God is amazing us over and over when we see how well 'staged' this move was in preparation for Pete's Army retirement. But there was always the possibility of just riding out the last few years without making any real efforts at making a civilian life until he's pretty much forced out of the Army. We've spent a LOT of time the last few days talking about that, and he admitted to really not even knowing how to go about making that decision. I told him it would be a great idea to go talk to some men who have actually transitioned from the military to civilian life and get their take on things, get advice, etc., but I also asked him if he would rather spend the next few years wearing camouflage or donning civilian clothing to go to work. He finally said it--"I want to be a civilian."

Yesterday, he went and had a conversation with the installation antiterrorism head honchos to ask about the job they're advertising vacancies in. He came home with a TON of paperwork.

And so it begins!

Why the fascination?

I don't get it, truly. I struggle to find just ONE outfit to wear every day, why on earth would Dani revel so in the neverending delights of dresser-diving for a new fashion every fifteen minutes? SERIOUSLY, kid......I wonder sometimes why I even put clothes away when all Dani is going to do is take the dresser's entire contents out, turn them all inside-out, and put EVERYTHING on. WHY??????

We already relocated the girls' dresser downstairs into the laundry room so Dani didn't disappear into silent rummaging upstairs where I couldn't at least have a chance at intercepting...plus it makes it easier for me to clean up after her fashion experiments. But so far today, she's put on four different shirts, two pairs of [Morgan's] shorts, a sundress, and three of Jamie's pajama tops. All before lunch. What's next, locking the dresser up? Of course we'd also have to lock up the diaper closet where all the dozens of cloth diapers "live", because her second favorite fascination is dressing her dolls (and everyone else's) in hers and Shelby's diapers. No WONDER my diaper laundry has doubled, yet the diapers seem to be so clean!

If this wasn't so funny, I think I'd be a basket case.

Spoke too soon

God has a funny way of forcing me to eat my words. Jamie and I went to Bible study last night because it's driving me BATTY to be cooped up in the house. I actually felt pretty good, and I told people so.

Today, I'm eating it. I'm just glad I went out and got the last few days of groceries we'll need for the weekend yesterday, because I think I'm going to be stuck in the house for a few more days. This cough is going to be my end, and my much-loved narcotic cough syrup is down to the last few drops in the bottle. No refills for that stuff, it's too highly addictive.

I don't like viruses.

I guess I may actually get some scrapbooking done this weekend!

A crabby crustacean

It was nineteen years ago. Pete and I were on day 2 of our honeymoon in Hutchinson Island, Florida, and even though we were both beach bums, we knew better than to brave the waves that were pounding the sand. Hurricane Hugo was ravaging the South Carolina coast several hundred miles north, but the surf was churned up all over the East Coast of the US! We opted out of swimming in favor of the more "safe" choice--walking along the beach. We were enjoying our leisurely stroll, walking hand-in-hand and dreaming out loud together about the life we were going to live together (funny how absolutely NONE of those dreams ever left that beach!), you know, just doing that newlywed thing. The romance was squelched in a hurry, however, when Pete decided to investigate a small piece of fleshy-looking "something" just under the surface of the sand that we'd come across. With a hurricane brewing off the coastline, we native Floridians knew that *anything* could be washed ashore, so we really had no idea what to expect. It resembled what we knew shark flesh to look like but was far too small to be a buried shark. Pete reached down to "poke" it (why do men always do this? it never ends well...)........and........

IT REACHED BACK!!!

Eight inches of very angry blue crab leg came hurling itself out of the sand at Pete, followed by a body and another eight-inch-long leg. Pete jumped higher than I'd ever seen him jump (or have seen him jump since), and somehow avoided getting his pinky TOO caught in the crab's claw. The crab went skittering off toward the water, displaying his claws for the whole world to see as he dashed away from his would-be-poker, and Pete ran behind, muttering something about not letting the crab get away.

We ate at Red Lobster that night. What did we order? Crab legs, of course! Pete wanted his revenge for having the you-know-what scared out of him!

Big expenses?

Pete read a section of the newspaper that caught his interest to me, and it set my little brain's hamster wheels grinding about something I've been pondering for quite some time. A local church (I don't remember which one, nor do I really care) is seeking permits to begin construction on a building expansion plan that will include an administrative wing. Not only did that just *sound* weird, but what really made us choke on our cheap coffee was that this project is supposed to cost $6.2 million! For an EXPANSION project??? Pete's first thought (as was mine, initially) is that the congregation we're with now is stressing over a roadway expansion project that the city is doing that will be taking 20 parking spaces from our front parking lot. That loss will be a good half of our biggest parking lot, and the city is only offering $20K in compensation for the land they're taking. The only land available to us will cost us in the neighborhood of $100K, and it's only a third of an acre. And yes, the congregation is getting a bit stressed over being kind of *forced* to purchase this land at a time when we really need a new roof and an internal overhaul on the rest of the church building.

SIX POINT TWO MILLION DOLLARS???? My head started spinning thinking about what the REST of this church building must be like!

A few weeks ago, I drove past what had to have been the biggest, most opulent church building I've seen in the U.S. (let's not mention those German cathedrals!), wondering to myself if that--the flashy building, the "my church is bigger than your church" feel truly is what brings people in? If the doctrine being taught from the pulpit and the love being lived by the church is the same, then why are these big, flashy church buildings filling up while the older, more well-loved buildings lose their membership year after year? Is it really the church building that keeps the membership up? If it is, shame on us as a body, across the board, for letting it get to that point.

Another even more humbling fact came to memory last night whilst I was still pondering this $6.2 million administrative wing.....if that amount of money would pay for (five times over) everything that my congregation could think to repair or add to our existing building to get it where it's "acceptable", then what of that $100K for the land we're purchasing? You always hear that one man's trash is another man's treasure....one church's administrative wing could be another's entire building--and then some! In our spend-happy culture, $100K doesn't really seem like much, until you put it in a global context. Then it just becomes humbling...and a tad humiliating.

A dear friend of ours and brother in Christ, Philippe Dela, is a native of Togo, Africa. We met him back in 1997 during our first tour in Germany, when he was just a student at the language school in Frankfurt. He already knew French, English, German, Belgian, and his native tongue, but his dream was to learn sign language so he could return to his homeland and open a school for the deaf that would also bring his people the Gospel. Philippe had (and still has) such a heart bent on serving God no matter what the cost, so he never even considered how long he would have to work to get this ministry started. Ten years later, through tear-filled eyes, we got to see the fruits of Philippe's labor and how powerfully God had worked through this wonderful man. The Messengers of Silence School is now fully functional, and graduated their first students last year. There is an onsite trade school where the students work to produce lovely hand-woven bags and hand-sewn clothing that are sold to benefit the school. The girls also learn how to do hair so that they may eventually enter the beauty trade if they are fortunate enough to find a need for such a worker. This school is for all ages, and all ages come face to face with the Gospel during their studies. Also, thanks to Philippe's efforts to get electricity to the school (so among other things, the workers can work with electric sewing machines instead of foot-powered models.), when his work is complete, electricity will be supplied to the entire VILLAGE--not just the school! You know what's truly amazing? Philippe does this all on a budget of roughly $5K per year. And his own family (a wife and two school-age children) sacrifice the things most people would consider standard necessities of life so that every extra penny of his own meager income can go directly to the school in Togo. To see the tears in Philippe's eyes as he speaks of how the Gospel has spread in that village...it's truly priceless. We Americans could do well to seek that type of zeal. It truly hurt Philippe's heart to learn that his biggest supporting church, the Wiesbaden church of Christ (a predominantly military congregation in Germany) was shrinking so fast that the support would be dwindling to nothing, because Philippe knew that the Messengers of Silence School was SO close to becoming self-supporting!

So....back to that little numbers game.....how much do you think it would take to get a ministry like the Messengers of Silence to where they'd need to be to support themselves? From what Philippe explained to us, $20,000 would buy enough land for the church and school to provide food for themselves. $50,000 would put that little village on the map--complete with electricity and maybe even running water, plus a school supported by a self-sufficient church with enough farmland to let the village glean from the Lord's bounty as well!

I wonder if they'll "need" an administrative wing or 20 more parking spaces? It's no wonder Philippe said he felt as if the church in the United States had lost its focus. All those dollar signs cloud our vision!

Yuck!

This picture pretty much sums up the last few days. Yes, I finally gave in and took Pete's advice to "GO TO THE DOCTOR ALREADY!!" and came home with half the pharmacy, a nice IV hole in my left wrist, and a diagnosis--bronchitis and severe dehydration. I'm not so sure I believe the severe dehydration part, tho. The doc based it on some test called 'tilts' where they take your blood pressure and pulse laying down, sitting up, and then standing. It's supposed to stay roughly the same, but my vitals were all over the place. It was the same after two bags of IV fluids....so it is most likely because of a fever that will NOT go away. In fact, said fever actually went from 101.7 to 103.3 while I was getting the IV, so, um.....it doesn't fit.

At any rate, I'm still coughing, albeit a lot less with this fascinating cough syrup they gave me that resembles radioactive snot (and probably doesn't taste much different, I would venture to guess) but happens to be a narcotic that blocks the brain's reflex signal to cough. OOOOOH, I love this stuff. Hate the taste, love the effect. After coughing nonstop for nearly four days, after fifteen minutes, I was able to get some relief--and I could practically hear the Hallelujah Chorus coming from my abdominal muscles! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be getting truly "better" even on the antibiotics, so as the doctor suspected, it's likely viral. FUN. Oh well, at least I have my icky cough syrup and some mucinex (WONDERFUL stuff!) to ease the strain on me as my body tries to figure out how to fight it. Now if this fever would go away and stay away, I'd be thrilled!