Monday Meanderings

It's been said that if a marriage can survive building a house, it can survive anything. Hmmmm.

So far no major issues, but we've definitely had our moments of miscommunication! It doesn't help that I'm really, REALLY good at being clear as mud.

I'm also really good at running ahead, which confuses Ivan to no end at times. I'll be talking about something that's months down the road and he's focused on what is happening this week.

But overall we make a very good team, and it feels GREAT to be working together on a home of our very own.

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We've been enjoying fruit smoothies almost daily. Orange juice, peach juice, a banana, plain yogurt and "ice" cubes made out of more fruit juice. I just finished the one for today. YUM!

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As I mention on my P365 blog, we're having some car issues. Some are easy and (relatively) inexpensive fixes. The head gasket is another story. But Ivan was encouraged when he went to buy parts the other day and the store owner told him they hate Ford Galaxies because the engines never break! So far that's been true for us. We came close with the timing belt, but God protected us (and the car) from serious damage. Head gasket, shmead gasket... not going to spend too much time thinking about it. But we do need to get out to Sta. Rosa soon so our favorite mechanic can do his magic.

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I just had to stop and clean my glasses. Does anyone else let theirs go until you can barely see two feet in front of you?

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Tomorrow we'll be visiting missionary friends who live a few hours north of us. Looking forward to that! Also looking forward to meeting a professor from Hillsdale College on Wednesday. He's visiting a university in Cordoba where students from all over the world come to study for a semester. Over the years we've been able to provide a "home away from home" for some of the students, since we're close enough for them to hop on the bus and come out for a day or two. They always seem to appreciate American-style food :)  Our primary connection has been our home church. Quite a few Hillsdale students attend Countryside Bible Church while they're at college, since it's only about 10 miles from the school.

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In two weeks we'll have four men from Countryside here to help put up walls! We are pretty excited about that :) They'll also be bringing a few suitcases full of goodies for us. If you remember, I pre-packed a few bunch ton of them before we returned to Argentina last November. I plan on asking anyone coming in the next year to please, pretty-please-with-sugar-on-top, bring one of the suitcases with them. Hopefully by the end of the year, we'll have them all in hand. They're filled with mostly household items (dishes, pots and pans, a few rugs, towels...) but also winter clothes and fabric. Of course.

In May a group of students from another college will be visiting Argentina and they'll bring a few more of the suitcases.

Hopefully followed by more helpers on the house project from other supporting churches. No for sures yet, but we have several possibilities on the horizon. We're confident God will send exactly who we need, at exactly the right time! I'm especially praying for some finish carpenters in the fall, who can help us build kitchen cabinets... including a built-in china cabinet in the dining room. With a fairly small space, we want to make the most out of what we have.

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Saturday we went to Cordoba for just a few hours. We had a very specific goal: gifts for those who are coming to help. And the reason we went Saturday is that it was the last day of the big artisan fair. We picked up one gift and ordered the others. 

Normally I could spend hours wandering the aisles and looking at the wonderful arts and crafts but a migraine ensured that we were in and out of there in no time flat. I think I shocked Ivan :)

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I've been battling migraines for a week. I've had problems with them off and on for years, but it is unusual to have them day after day like this. I'm ready to be over them!

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My computer has been "in the shop" for ten days now. I miss it. Ivan's really good about sharing his, but we typically have the same time available to be online. He often cedes the computer to me, and uses the iPhone that our son gave him to check e-mails and surf the web. But it makes me feel guilty to hog it, so I'm trying to not be so greedy.

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Do you ever stop and wonder what you'll think in ten years about what you post on your blog? I started the blog for one reason, have continued it for multiple ones, but mainly it has served as a journal of sorts. I'm careful about what I write concerning ministry things because of the whole privacy issue, but I do want the blog to accurately reflect our every day lives. I still wonder what I'll think though...

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I also wonder how many of my blog friends I'll get to meet in person. I'm hoping to connect with more of you next furlough!

Which by the way, will be next summer. We're going to start going on furlough every two years, for a shorter amount of time. Six months was TOO long to be on furlough, and three years is TOO long between visits to friends and family. So we're going to do four months every two years.

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I have deleted at least a dozen "free" books from my Kindle recently. Talk about dreck! Trying to read some of it hurt my eyeballs.

Hey!, maybe that's what brought on this round of migraines.

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I started reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan over the weekend, and am enjoying that. But I'm only half a chapter into it. The other day they had three of his books for free via the Kindle, and I took advantage of it. Has anyone read Crazy Love? What were your thoughts? This is the first "interactive" book I've read that directs you to online videos and other resources. Which would be a lot cooler if our internet worked at a decent speed. It took me fifteen minutes to get through a three-minute video. I haven't tried to watch the fifteen minute video yet since I'm guessing I'll need a really BIG block of time for that.

I'm also reading In The Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, which was another free-for-a-limited-time offer.

I like to have several books going simultaneously, so I can read what I'm in the mood for. Besides Crazy Love and In The Bleak Midwinter, I'm also slowly working my way through Climbing the Mango Tree, a memoir of growing up in India. I really like this book but the food descriptions have me running to the kitchen, meaning I have to read it sparingly.

So I have a devotional-type book, a mystery, and a memoir "on my nightstand". What are you reading? I'm always on the lookout for good books. Tell me your favorites!