Monday Meanderings

Haven't done one of these posts in a sweet forever, but decided to resurrect it. The meandering part matches perfectly with my mind -- which resembles the little silver ball in a pinball machine more than anything else. I can't remember the last time I had a linear thought.

So here we go, in no particular order...

I'm having a terrible time finding Nescafé decaf instant coffee. I've known for a few weeks that I'd soon be running out of the decaf beans that friends brought from the states last September, and have been on the look-out for my favorite decaf instant. But for some unknown reason, all the stores that used to carry it, no longer do. They have other Nescafé products, but not the decaf instant.

Before you ask, there is one coffee store here that sells a single variety of decaf beans. And it's horrible! Seriously, it's so bad I'd rather drink the Nescafé instant. If I could find it. 

The good news is, friends coming in March are going to bring me a fresh supply of decaf beans. Yeah!

Meanwhile I'm drinking tea. We bought a small tin of some lovely red rooibus from our favorite tea shop in Belgrano our last time out there, and we also have some excellent chai from Starbucks. We have to go into Cordoba later this week to deal with some paperwork, and I hope to find some Nescafé decaf while we're there. We shall see.

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In other news, I've picked up some unwanted friends. The kind that take advantage of you, and definitely do not have your best interests at heart. So I am doing my best to get rid of them! I'm doing a three-day regimen to get rid of the pesky little parasites, and once I'm through this round, I'll wait two weeks and do it all over again. That's what our trusted pharmacist recommended, to be on the safe side.

Ever since I was so sick with them our first year in Argentina, I've been paranoid about drinking tap water and stick strictly to bottled. But now we are being more careful with foods. We're starting to wash our fruits and vegetables with a bit of clorox added to the water. I've learned celiacs are more prone to picking up parasites. Aren't we special?

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It tickles us that Ivan and I are a unit in Simon's mind. We are NinaPapa, NinaPapa! We love that he asks to call us sometimes, and gets so excited when he sees us.

We are definitely prejudiced, but rightly so (in my humble opinion), and think our grandkids are the best! Cute, smart, funny... What's the phrase from The Prairie Home Companion? "...all the children are above average". Yep, that's our grands! Although we can't understand everything he says, Simon is speaking more and more clearly, and we get such a kick out of our conversations with him! We can tell from Betsy's videos that she's also going to be a very verbal young lady! And Adalyn definitely has some sort of future in music; the girl's got rhythm and she stops and listens whenever music is played -- and then starts dancing most of the time too.

In fact, now's a good time to share some of the cuteness, don't you think?

Simon playing in the snow for the first time!

Adalyn feeding her baby doll. So sweet!

Betsy expressing how she feels about photo shoots :) 

One of those sweet (but rare) sibling moments. 

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I finally put away our nativity set, the one and only holiday decoration we used this time. Unlike a Christmas tree, it was so small and unobtrusive that we sort of forgot it was even there. But periodically I do dust that shelf over the bed, and decided that was a good time to put the nativity away.

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Currently Ivan and I are reading "The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction" by Adam McHugh. It's very good so far, but we haven't had much time to read together lately. It's one of those things we have to be very intentional about, and some weeks are just too crowded with other things. But we are enjoying it.

In our last prayer update we asked for recommendations for books to read, and received quite a few suggestions. I have a growing list on my amazon wish list. Which I finally took the time to divide into categories covering fiction, non-fiction, creative pursuits (sewing, quilting, creating), and gift ideas. So many books, so little time!

Last year I made the decision that we'd get books for the grandkids' birthdays. I'm so happy that Simon and Adalyn already show such an interest in books! And my hope is Betsy will follow suit. Anyway, when I see or hear about a particularly good book, I throw that in the gifts for grandkids category, which makes it easier when it's time to actually place an order. Grandparenting from overseas carries a few challenges.

That brings up something I've been thinking about for a while: our family history but in a kid's story format, that we could give each of the grandkids. For now I'm letting the idea percolate, and it probably won't happen this year, but maybe by 2017 I'll be organized enough to actually put it together. I'd like to combine photos with graphics and other fun stuff. We scanned a ton of things a few years ago, and have more to scan, so it would include those images of awards, artwork, playbills... Who knows what all will end up in the final book?!