The Simple Woman's Daybook 04/07/2010

Outside my window…HOT, HOT, HOT. Its funny to say that its that way ‘outside’ my window, b/c its that way ‘inside’ my window also! (all the windows are open!) Also, its very loud with kids yelling…school is out of session here for summer break for the months of April and May. In mid May, the rainy season starts.

I am thinking…..that surely we will never ever have to register at the immigration office here ever again. The wait was very, very long….we were there for 7 hours. The building was old and crowded and no A/C. (A small piece of wood fell on Steve's head while in there.) We had a local man go with us to help....its not clear exactly what paperwork they want....and after waiting for hours, you hear "every application (all 5 of us, not just Steve's) needs a copy of your lease attached".....so our Indian friend dashed out across the street to make those copies so we didn't have to get out of line once we made it inside the building to the first of 3 desks. At least until it was time to pay the fee, which couldn't be paid there, but instead at a state bank, so Steve and the local man took a rickshaw and paid that there, got the receipt, went somewhere to make copies of the receipt (thankfully we were told that beforehand-others were not and had to leave yet again to get a copy of that receipt), and 45 min. later came back to stand in line yet again. Me and the kids just waited outside some more during that time instead of traveling to the bank. Elizabeth got pooped on by a pigeon TWICE and Noah once. There was hardly anywhere to sit, and some of the chairs were under an awning (ahhh, shade!) which apparently is a popular pigeon hangout. There was bird poop all over some of the chairs, but after all that many hours we were desperate for a chair. I perched on the front edge of my chair b/c the back half was covered in yuck...I'm telling you, it was a LONG LONG aggravating sort of day. And did I mention it was hot? :o) But we got to know this local man which is a blessing and hopefully a future partner in our work here. And we all got to practice patience.....lots, and lots of patience.

I am thankful….for the overwhelming numbers of friends who have been lifting our family up before the Father, all the emails, and encouraging words, and helpful information has been a huge blessing for all of us. We feel so very loved and blessed.

From the kitchen….rice, Pollock (spinach), cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots for lunch today.

I am wearing…gray cotton jersey shorts, pink Arkansas t-shirt, barefoot, pony tail. I’ll have to change clothes before going out later as this would be a major no-no to go out and about in here! People already stare….

I am reading…..Breaking Free new B!ble study by Beth Moore…I just watched the week 6 dvd last night. Soooo good.

I am hoping…..that the allergy dr. will help me figure out how to live here in light of the list of things that turned up on my allergy test results. Its quite an interesting list! Lots of pollens and foods. I am not as bad as I was…I am taking 4 new meds and they seem to be helping tone down my reactions. But still, every 3 days or so, I wake up with a new round of eye swelling, red hive like places around my eyes that itch like crazy and later turn into thick dry eczema like places before going away. By the time one round ends, the next one begins. And vertigo to go with it…not sure if that’s a med side effect or part of the allergy thing. Just ready to be over it! But even Paul had a thorn….

I am creating…..book list for next school year (I haven’t actually started this but need to soon).

I am hearing…..hammering noises from several floors up, birds chirping, fan on high, washing machine whirling (now that is a sweet, sweet sound indeed!), sawing noises coming from the new buildings nearby, kids yelling, and always rickshaw sounds.

Around the house…..school for the kids…we have it mapped out that they will finish in June, have off for July and maybe August, before starting up again. We will have a visa run in early Sept.. that we’ll just have to bring books with us. We’ve had some neat hands on things: we made a model of a DNA double helix using pipe cleaners and beads, a model of a lung with the top of a 2 liter bottle, Ziploc bag, and a balloon, Noah grew a triops for a few days before it died (I think it got too hot), and other fun things with baking soda and vinegar. We are thankful for the stuff that we brought with us to do science projects!!!

One of my favorite things…..Sweet-tarts candy. I have a box of them in my nightstand drawer and I get out a few some nights before going to bed. They are almost gone and I will be so sad!

A few plans for the rest of the week….back to the office to pick up our registration papers (only available the next day after making application, from 4:30 to 5:30pm), trip to the allergy dr, and maybe a trip to eat some Mexican food at a new place we found here.

Here are a few picture thoughts I am sharing with you….

This is the very beginning of our day at the registration office...we were some of the first ones to arrive there.

Emma riding her new bike....she's soooo excited and she has her baby doll in the front basket!

This is one excited little girl right before she went to the first day of summer camp here at our apartment complex. They meet for 2 hours every afternoon for the month of April and do fun stuff.

Up these stairs and to the right is my allergy dr's office.....nope, I'm not kidding!

This is something I discovered -not outside- in my refrigerator! I've mentioned that often in our lunch are some kind of leaves that look (and taste) like they have come off of a nearby shrub. Well, here you have it! Sometimes there even seems to be pieces of the branch in there too!!! Wowzers....our sweet househelper does an amazing job and we love her dearly. But we do pick out the leaves and bark and scoot it aside on our plates! ha!