Just A Southern Girl

Monday Meanderings

2012-01-30T11:21:00.000-03:00

Oh my word, but it's HOT! Here's what we had at midnight:

Note that it FELT like 90! It didn't get much cooler either; I think it only went down to 86. UGH.

The forecast is for a storm, but so far there are no clouds in sight. I think maybe the weatherman has it wrong AGAIN.

Days like this it's hard to get motivated to do anything. I just want to sit directly in front of my fan, occasionally removing the washcloth from around my neck to give it a fresh dip in some icy cold water, while sipping on something equally icy cold.

The morning walk seemed longer than usual, between the intense sun and smelly lake. Not sure what's going on but it smells like rotting fish. ICK! I made it half-way to town before turning around and heading home. Ivan was walking all the way in, to see if he can get the electric company to move a little faster on getting the electric pole installed out by the lot.

Friends who are vacationing in Carlos Paz came to our Sunday night meeting. Marcelo is a bi-vocational pastor and he and his wife are musically gifted. Ivan asked if they might want to teach us a new chorus, and they just happened to have their guitar and flute in the car. We enjoyed a wonderful time of singing together, and we even taught them a new chorus :) Silvia was actually a classmate of Ivan's brother in Santa Rosa, so the friendship goes waaaaay back.

I'm sure y'all have heard Picnik.com is shutting down. That makes me sooooo sad! They've been my go-to site for making banners, putting together collages, or just when I needed to add text to a photo. I've read several blog posts about other options, but the consensus is that no one site has all the features of Picnik... which means we'll have to use multiple sites, depending on what we want to do. If you're a fellow Picnik enthusiast, you might want to check out blog posts by Centsational Girl and The SITS Girls -- I personally found these the most helpful and informative.

During a search for ice cream and sorbet recipes I came across a Round-Up of Frozen Desserts hosted by Mike's Table back in 2008. Some of the recipes sound very weird and I probably won't be trying them (fig and rosewater ice cream with crushed pistachio and dark chocolate? roasted plums with tarragon? I think not) but I do like the sound of fat free mango frozen yogurt, no-cook coffee ice cream, as well as a host of other entries. Definitely bookmark worthy!

A recent stream on facebook led me to Moody Radio, and specifically Midday Connection. I've enjoyed listening to a few of their programs, and appreciate that their archived programs are available online. I'm always on the lookout for something good to listen to while I cook, clean or sew.

I've mentioned Sew4Home before, but if you missed it the last time around, you really should check them out. They offer a ton of tutorials! Although the main focus is on things for the house, that's definitely not all they offer. Last Monday they had directions for making his 'n her pajama shorts. I've literally gone back through their entire site, bookmarking tips and project ideas for future reference. I really want to make their pretty ruffled glasses case with a handy key ring, to use when we go on walks. They have give-aways on a regular basis, too.

The latest issue of House of Fifty is out. I haven't had a chance to look through it yet (I like to allow myself a decent amount of time to oooh and aaaah over all the pretty pictures, and read each article) but you can count on a good deal of eye candy for the home.

I've recently started reading some sewing blogs and came across this one by a Brit. She offers free video tutorials which is invaluable for a visual learner like me. She also has lots of good advice for beginning sewers. She just came out with an e-book called Fashion Sewers Guide to Great Sewing Project that looks worthwhile, too.

I think that's enough for today, don't you? If you check out all the links, you'll be busy for a while :)

Have a Happy Monday!

Fixing Higher Education

2012-01-25T09:32:00.000-03:00

There's been a lot of talk about what will happen to higher education. Burgeoning college costs are pricing a lot of young people right out of the market. Who wants to end up $60,000 in debt and no job opportunities in sight? While I've read lots about what's wrong, I had not seen anything remotely resembling a solution...

Until today. Dr. Wallis C. Metts, professor at a small, private liberal arts college in the Midwest, has written a comprehensive and -- more importantly -- comprehensible post on what we can do about it. Well written, thought-provoking, and exciting! I'm not even in higher education but I kept wanting to jump up and shout "Amen!" and send this to everyone I know.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm posting here and linking his post on facebook. Parents, politicians and those who are involved in higher education NEED to read this!

Some things to share...

2012-01-24T15:19:00.000-03:00

I often run across fun (or funny) things and think, "Oh, I should link this on my blog!" But then I never do. Only today I have an abundance of fun, and funny, things so I'm taking a break from housework to post the links...

My SIL sent me to a post called "A True Southerner Knows..." by blogger Syrup & Biscuits. My southern compatriots can nod their way through the post with me, while my northern friends will be left scratching their heads. Sorry my northern pals, it's a southern thang :)

The bloggesphere has been buzzing about Pinterest for some time now, and it won't be news to you how addictive it can be. We're all guilty! But A.J. Willingham said it better than I ever could in her tongue-in-cheek article "The Agony and Ecstasy of Pinterest".

I may be the last one to hear about something called Texture Magic, but boy does it look like FUN! I'm sure I can't get any here, so I'll have to wait until our next trip to the U.S. Meanwhile, has anyone used this stuff? What did you make with it?

I made chocolate cherry dessert bread this morning. It tastes great but looks rather unappetizing. I want to ask my bread-baking friends out there: is it really necessary to make those criss-cross cuts on the top? Because I think if I didn't have to do that, it would look a LOT better.

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On a completely unrelated note... we are having serious issues with our phones; both the land line and our cell phones. Ivan has called Telecom (we have the land line and internet through them) several times and they just keep giving him the run around -- when he gets anyone at all, and isn't just left listening to music forever. For some reason we cannot call a cell number from the land line. Telecom says we should be able to, BUT WE CAN'T. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, but WE CAN'T. They've been extremely unhelpful and it's seriously annoying, especially since they have a monopoly so it's not like we have any other options.

And our cell phones aren't working right either. We'll try sending a text message and it takes hours -- or even days -- to get delivered. Ivan was trying to get hold of me one day we were in Cordoba; he sent four messages and none of them reached me... until two days later. That's when the carrier sent me another annoying sales pitch (BUY MORE MINUTES NOW! GET DOUBLE FOR YOUR MONEY!) and when it came through, it showed I had four other messages. Yep, all the old ones from Ivan. Oh, and those annoying sales pitches come in the middle of the night as well as ALL DAY LONG. Last night Ivan tried sending me a text to open the garage door, since it was pouring cats and dogs outside. He arrived home about 15 minutes later and the garage door wasn't open. He waited... and waited... until the rain let up a little and he made a mad dash to open the gate and then garage door. He'd been inside about half an hour when my phone started buzzing to indicate I had a message. It had taken over an hour for his message to reach me. *sigh* It would be nice if at least one of the phones worked properly.

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For over a month I've been making fabric yoyo's for a Pinterest project; a few here, a few there, and they're adding up. Yesterday I counted and had over 100 of them, so decided to start laying them out and playing with a pattern. I'm so glad I did! Just didn't like the pastel ones at all, so I pulled those out, leaving about 90. So far I like how it's looking but have no idea how many I'll end up needing since I haven't yet bought the canvas on which to mount them. I don't know what sizes of canvas are even available here.

So for now I'm taking a break from the yoyo's and pulled out an old -- a very old -- hand sewing project: Parasol Girls. I started making these blocks about 20 years ago, using fabrics from dresses I made Tina. Since I didn't make her many dresses, I realized I'd need to add other fabrics into the mix, and at some point along the way cut out enough for several more girls. Not sure what happened (I'm easily distracted) but I stopped cutting at seven blocks. Obviously seven is an awkward number of blocks to work with, unless I use one for a pillow. Not sure yet whether I'll cut out enough for a few more, or go with the pillow idea. Anyway, I periodically pull this out and work on it, and then put it away again, but I've decided that it's time to finish this project. I'll let you know how that goes.

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The rain last night really helped cool things down a little. It was a very pleasant 63 degrees this morning at 6 a.m.! Hopefully the rain softened the ground enough for the guys to dig the leach bed out at the lot. A friend helped Ivan track down a crew of guys who take on digging projects like this, and the job will be a lot easier now that the ground isn't so dry and hard-packed.

What a week!

2012-01-22T11:27:00.000-03:00

I've been without a computer part of the week since we discovered that there is indeed an Apple store in Cordoba, and the nice tech guy there was able to track down the necessary part and have it sent from Buenos Aires so he could fix it. (How's that for a run-on sentence?!) It turns out the store is in the mall we couldn't find :) But our architect, who told us about the Apple store, was also kind enough to show us on a map where the mall is located. Easy peasy, once you know.

So when we went to Cordoba on Tuesday (a whole 'nother story I talk about on my P365 blog) we took the computer and left it with the nice tech guy.

I spent a good portion of my week in the kitchen, experimenting with different soups, and doing yet more baking. Including an amazing basil garlic bread recipe that I'll share at the end of this post. I also made a batch of brownies to take to the nice tech guy who fixed my computer.

As for the soups, the cold cucumber soup is one of my favorite summer soups. I'll share that recipe at the end of this post, too. A little more versatile, the hearty vegetable soup can be "dressed up" with the addition of whatever you want, at the time you serve it. For example, the first night I added a bit of chopped up chicken, some shredded cheese, a dollop of plain yogurt and a handful of crushed tortilla chips. Another night I added in some leftover vegetables (steamed green beans and roasted butternut squash) along with a bit of shredded cheese.

We put on so much weight while in the U.S., and we really want to not only get those extra pounds off, but just eat healthier in general.

So instead of making more ice cream with our handy-dandy KitchenAid ice cream attachment for the stand mixer, we tried an orange sorbet. It tasted great but was rather more icey than I'd like, so we'll try again with a different recipe.

Our architect sent a preliminary draft of the floor plan, and we loved it but have asked him to make a few minor changes:

One of the bigger changes is moving the house back farther on the lot. We'd like to put it at the required six meters distance from the casita Our street is already a busy one and we expect it to get even busier as the street becomes a main thoroughfare to the new costanera. I'd prefer as much space between the house and street as possible because of the noise. Other changes include a one-car garage door rather than two, moving the toilet and sink in the bathroom (and adding in a bidet), and putting two windows on the long wall in the main living area.

Ivan's spent some time at the lot figuring out that there is indeed a septic tank already in the ground, but we do have to put in a leach field. He's also been trying to track down someone with a back hoe to level out the area on the side of the lot so we can install a fence. He discovered that where we want to put the house is an area that's been filled... to the tune of about two meters. Which means we'll have to have posts sunk every few meters of the perimeter of the building, going down 2-1/2 to 3 meters so it's firmly anchored into solid ground. Not the best of news, but offset by the discovery of the existing septic tank. As anyone who has ever built knows, you can expect to run into the unexpected!

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CUCUMBER SOUP

3 medium cucumbers

3 cups chicken broth

3 cups sour cream

3 T. cider vinegar

2 t. salt

1 clove garlic*

Peel and seed cucumbers. Cut in chunks and puree in blender, along with the broth, in small batches. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in remaining ingredients. Chill for at least four hours. Serve with optional toppings: chopped tomatoes, chopped green onions, chopped avocado, cilantro, slivered and toasted almonds.
*I used three cloves of mashed roasted garlic instead.
(My friend Katie gave me this recipe. She serves it with the most delicious little cheesey scones!)

BASIL GARLIC BREAD

1 cup fresh basil (hard packed)
6 garlic cloves (peeled)
1/4 cup olive oil
1-1/4 cup lukewarm water

2 t. sugar

2-1/4 t. active dry yeast

1 t. salt

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Chop basil leaves and garlic finely, or place in a food processor and chop finely. Do not turn into a liquid. Add olive oil slowly. Set aside. In another bowl add lukewarm water and sugar, sprinkle yeast on top of water. Set aside to activate the yeast; about 5 minutes. Add yeast to basil mixture and mix. Add flour 1 cup at a time till dough is smooth. Place dough on a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes. Place dough into a greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Let rise till dough doubles in size. Punch down dough. Form dough into a loaf and place in a greased pan. Cover let dough double in size. Place loaf in a 350 F oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
(This recipe is from the cookingbread.com website.)

Asado y Arquitecto

2012-01-14T19:52:00.000-03:00

So today our architect and his family came over for lunch and Ivan made an asado. We had a lot of questions (mostly technical in nature) and I was ready with what was probably the 1,357th floor plan I've drawn in the past year or so.

What can I say? Drawing floor plans is addictive.

It was a very productive "working lunch" and it's pretty safe to say we're über excited! Roberto liked the floor plan and had some excellent suggestions that will be easy to implement in the final design. He took both the floor plan and the site plan we'd created and he'll prepare the professional drawings from those.

Here's the floor plan after he'd gotten done scratching down his ideas:

I know it's hard to tell what we'll end up with from just this photo, but I can already "see" our house in my mind. {doing the happy dance}

Mari, Roberto's wife, has offered to drive down Friday mornings and help me practice my Spanish (and she'll practice her English). I gladly accepted the offer since I need all the help I can get! It's crazy how much I forgot after being away just six months :(

Mari has summers off because she's a teacher. The church they attend built a school in an area that might be called "economically challenged". They wanted to provide a quality education for those who wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise, so the vast majority of students attend on a scholarship.

By the way, I've posted week 2 of Project 365 on my other blog. Included is a photo of Roberto and Mari's daughter who is an absolute cutie.

Musical Trash

2012-01-13T21:25:00.000-03:00

I found this news article interesting, and thought I'd share the accompanying video with you. It all started with a strategy session at the Taiwanese EPA. Someone with the ability to think outside the box came up with this idea: In an effort to keep garbage from collecting curb-side, stinking up the place AND attracting critters, they encourage people to wait until they hear the music before taking out the trash. And in the process they made one of life's LITTLE chores a LOT more enjoyable.

Now I call that some creative problem-solving!

Project 365, Week 1

2012-01-10T08:52:00.000-03:00

I'm doing all my Project 365 posts over here this year. Finally posted week #1! Best viewed in "classic" mode, if you want an explanation of the photos.

Paperwork for Permanent Residency Almost Done!

2012-01-06T12:49:00.001-03:00

Yesterday was Ivan's birthday! He had the choice to do what he wanted, and you know what he chose? To trek back into Cordoba AGAIN and see if we couldn't get the paperwork filed for my permanent residency :) Since we'd gotten the police report showing I wasn't a criminal, we were pretty sure we had everything we needed, document-wise.

What was slowing us down was an appointment to actually file the paperwork. Ivan's friend in Bs. As. had done what he could, but the earliest he could get an appointment for us was July! He did, however, suggest we stop in at the immigration office sometime before that, and see if we did indeed have everything we needed, so things would go smoothly when the appointment rolled around.

It's a long-ish story (the only kind I know how to tell)...

When we arrived at the immigrations office yesterday, there was hardly anyone waiting (miracle #1). Ivan was able to go right up to the desk and talk to someone about our situation. At first it didn't seem like he was getting anywhere, but then he remembered to "say the magic words" (told to us by one of the people who had helped us at the Ministry of Justice). What were the magic words, you wonder? Simply a name! And it turned out the name was that of the head honcho. It truly was like magic, how speaking his name suddenly changed the demeanor of the guy at the front desk, who jumped up and said he'd be right back. A minute later he was ushering us back into the inner sanctum, all the way to the big guy's office.

We've run into so many "public servants" whose idea of helping is to bully, harangue and see how obnoxious they can be, that we were more than pleasantly surprised to find out the head man at the immigration office in Cordoba is a genuinely nice man! (miracle #2)

He looked over our paperwork and called his assistant, and together they said the only things lacking were: a photo, a copy of my passport (all pages), and a translation of the FBI report.

Oh, and miracle #3 involved that report. We'd had the reports done at the end of 2010, when we'd hoped to get this done, only to be told that wasn't possible. Then this past summer the lady at the consulate in Chicago indicated the initial report was too old, and we'd need to get a new one. Which we did. Or thought we did. But when we opened the envelope yesterday (waiting until we were in the office, as we'd been instructed to, to make sure they knew it was a legit document), we discovered they had not completed a new report because we'd failed to send one piece of information with the application. Uh oh! But Ivan quickly opened the old envelope which we still had, and that was accepted! Whew!

They told us where we could get the photo done, as well as the photocopies (just a couple blocks away), so we hurried and did that and then rushed back to file the paperwork. Once that was done, we were given a form to take to the bank to pay the requisite fee (quite a hefty one, too, I might add! -- but totally worth it!). It was 1:15 and the bank was closing at 1:30 and was about 12 blocks away (at least, we weren't sure exactly) so we grabbed a taxi and took off. The taxi couldn't take us all the way there, so we Ivan ran the last few blocks. He got there 5 minutes before they closed (me a couple minutes later, sliding in just before they started locking the doors). (miracle #4) Ivan stood in a long line and I found a seat.

[Side Note: I'd never been in the big national bank in Cordoba, and was amazed at how truly BIG it is! It's several floors, with the lower level being a huge cavernous space with various lines. There were at least 300 people waiting in one line or another, plus another 150 of us sitting on chairs in the center area. HUGE, I tell you!]

We were finally all done by about 1:45.

By that time we were exhausted from all the running around in the heat (it's always hotter in the city, with all the concrete and tall buildings that block any breezes) so we decided to find a place to eat and catch our breath. But first we planned to stop at the Apple store on the way out of town, to see what can be done about a problem I'm having with my Mac. A line appeared across the screen the other day, and our son diagnosed it as a hardware problem. Which shouldn't be a problem since it's still under warranty.

Except we couldn't find the store!

There used to be one in downtown Cordoba, but it's no longer there, and our search (both physical and virtual) has yielded no clue as to whether the store simply moved, or no longer exists at all. We may have to wait until March when we go to conference, and can visit an Apple store in Buenos Aires or Montevideo.

We also couldn't find the place where we were going to have lunch. Actually we were looking for a particular mall. They're kinda big and hard to miss, but miss it we did. Still not sure how. But we did find another mall. Unfortunately we chose probably the WORST place in it to have lunch. Yuck! It was a café and only offered salad and quiche. Okay, we ordered one of each. The food was both expensive (made the mistake of not asking for a menu or the prices first) and practically inedible. So sad that's Ivan's birthday lunch was such an epic fail :(

But the victory of being able to get the paperwork done over-rode any lingering disappointment over the food :)

Oh, and in regards to the permanent residency application...

In this whole process we are once again reminded that Paperwork Makes The World Go 'Round. Although Ivan never saw the program, he's heard a lot about a variety/comedy show on Argentine t.v. years ago with a running gag about this very thing. A man wanted to plant a tree but before he could do that, he had to get the proper approval, and the process required all kinds of paperwork. Each time he'd get another required document, he was told he needed "one more" trámite (can be loosely translated as red tape). Each time he'd go away saying, "Un tramitecito mas y plantamos el arbolito." ["One more little step and we'll plant the tree."] The phrase caught on and become part of the culture, still used when referring to any kind of government or business red tape.

Today Ivan is tracking down a translator, and our hope is that we can get it done in the next few days so he can deliver the translation of the FBI report, along with the form from the bank showing we've paid, to the immigrations office on Monday or Tuesday. The sooner the better! And from what we were told, it's entirely possible I'll have my permanent residency document in hand before our trip to Uruguay in March. Which would make that miracle #5.

"Un tramitecito mas y plantamos el arbolito."

Baking in the heat

2012-01-04T16:55:00.000-03:00

By that I mean we're baking in the heat (or at least it feels like that -- it's been in the high 90s for over a week) AND I've been busy baking in the midst of all the heat.

Besides baking cakes for the neighbors on either side, I also tried my hand at a homemade version of the Pepperidge Farms Brussels-style cookies. They're not available down here, so I knew that if I was going to satisfy the craving I'd have to make my own. I found a recipe for lacey oatmeal cookies so I made those, then simply melted some chocolate and spread between two cookies to create a sandwich. YUM!

Today I decided to make chocolate meringue cookies, in an effort to use up the egg whites that had accumulated due to some recent ice cream making.

[Side Note: Because I have no desire to heat up my kitchen any more than necessary, my survival technique during the summer months is to move our toaster oven out to the garage. Although it's a rather large toaster oven, it's still not as big as the regular oven and I only have a few pans that I can use with it. Which means cookies take a SWEET FOREVER to make. Depending on the cookie, I can make between 4 to 9 at a time (only 4 lacey oatmeal cookies, 9 chocolate meringues).]

Okay, back to the cookies. Since I had enough egg whites to triple the recipe, and each pan takes 1/2 hour to bake, I was working on cookies ALL MORNING LONG.

I also had a hankering to make a pineapple upside down cake. Lately I've been wanting old-fashioned style desserts, like pineapple upside down cake and banana pudding. Not sure where that's coming from.

Anyway, I found a great recipe on the Joy of Baking website and had the cake ready to go in the oven once the cookies were finally finished. In the process of making this cake I ran into two problems. For one thing, we don't have the option of light or dark brown sugar here. There's one kind, and it's DARK. Even darker than the dark we get in the U.S. So I'm a little disappointed in how dark the top of the cake turned out.

And the other problem was the baking time. The recipe called for 35-45 minutes, and since I know the toaster oven runs a little on the slow side I left it in for the full 45 minutes. But when I pulled it out, the center was still jiggly. So back in it went, for another 10 minutes. At that point it had stopped jiggling, but a toothpick came out with a little batter. So in again for another 5 minutes. Finally done! But that meant it baked a full 15 minutes extra, for a total of one hour. Not a huge problem, but I'm wondering why? I've not had this issue with other cakes.

And I think it's the high heat that's causing the meringue cookies to stay rather soft. Usually they firm up once they've cooled for a while, but that's not happening this time. Maybe because when it's 99 degrees, there's not much cooling going on.

Oh well, es lo que hay. And for what it's worth, no matter how my baked goods look (or feel), they taste just fine. Wish I could share them with you! I'd love to have y'all stop by and enjoy a few cookies or a piece of cake, and some iced tea. I could use some girlfriend time.

P.S. No, we're not going to eat all this ourselves. Most will be given to friends and neighbors.

Looking ahead

2012-01-02T19:52:00.001-03:00

While 2011 definitely had some great moments, I can't say that I'm sad to see it go. It was also a tough year in a lot of ways. So bye-bye 2011!

Looking ahead to this year, I'm excited about shifting our focus to the other side of town... where we'll be building a house and moving to a different neighborhood. It's like that sense of anticipation I always had at the start of each school year. What new friends would I make? What would I learn? What kind of new experiences would I get to enjoy?

To say nothing of the absolute joy I felt in getting brand-spanking-new school supplies. The smell makes me heady, even today.

So does the smell of fresh paint :)

Which is a good thing, since there will be plenty of that in my future!

I've mentioned my obsession with drawing floor plans. We've gone back and forth numerous times on whether to build one story or two stories. Each time I've gone back to the drawing board. I think (fingers crossed) that we've finally settled on one floor.

Other important considerations:
1) We want to orient our house toward the river, to take advantage of the views. Which means our house will face sideways, not toward the street.
2) I want a screened-in porch, since we can practically live outside 10 months out of the year. Our rental has a back patio that gets utilized a LOT, and it's not screened. But! Lot located by river = many mosquitoes. So a screened-in porch is mandatory in my book.
3) Also mandatory is a pantry. It cuts down on the amount of cabinets Ivan will have to build AND will allow me to keep my counter cleaned off. The plan is to have a space in the pantry with an electrical outlet so all the small appliances can live (and work) in there, without me having to drag them out all the time.
4) The laundry hook-up must be INSIDE. Right now my washer resides on the back patio, inside a nifty metal cabinet that Ivan made to house it. This works here, in an area that's considered pretty safe. But our lot is in a sketchier area and anything left out, even in a fenced-in yard, will disappear faster than you can say "abacadabra". It's disappearing magic of a different kind.
5) While we like the concept of an open living space, there are some things better kept behind closed doors. Like my sewing/crafting space. The newest floor plan has a rather ingenious cubby hole beyond the pantry, so nobody is going to wander in there by accident, insuring my creations-in-progress-mess remains hidden.
6) A large garage/shop area for my handy husband. He needs a place to house his tools AND space to work.

Now that the holidays are almost over (today's a bridge holiday here), he can get busy nailing down quotes and hammering out the details. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.) We have a LOT to get done in the next three and a half months, before a construction team comes down to help us get the basic structure up.

Before then we must:
1) get a fence up
2) finish the casita and get it live-able (which in and of itself is a multi-step process)
3) have the septic system installed
4) hire a crew to put in the foundation

While doing all that, we'll also be busy getting to know the neighborhood and our new neighbors. The realtor who helped us find the house we're currently renting will be a neighbor; she and her husband live a block or two up our street. Recently she called and asked to come and talk about the Bible. We're hoping that first meeting (which went very well) will lead to a Bible study in her home. We shall see!

After we have the structure up, our plan is to move into the casita temporarily while we finish off the inside of the garage and house. Ivan's hoping to use that experience to teach some of the young men basic construction skills. And in the process also share more about what God has to say about every area of our life. Have you noticed it's those times when we're in the midst of just living that provide the best opportunities to share truth from Scripture?!

After six+ months in the U.S. and not speaking Spanish very often, I've regressed a bit in the language area. I'm looking forward to catching up and then progressing further. While I'm more comfortable speaking, I still have a LOT of trouble understanding what others say. So a big part of the learning process involves listening, listening and MORE listening!

I know three young ladies who are expecting babies. I'm not sure I'll have time to make quilts for all of them, but I can at least make something. There are some really cute ideas on Pinterest :) Like burp cloths or a diaper bag. Whatever I decide to make, I just look forward to the joy I get from creating something pretty AND useful. I'm also planning to get a few hand-sewing projects ready for the time we'll be living in the casita. I won't have room for my sewing machine, but I can't imagine going months without doing SOMETHING.

For me it's not so much a matter of resolutions, as it is just seeking to greet each day as a gift and do the most I can with what God has given me.

Project 365: The 2011 Finale

2012-01-01T08:48:00.000-03:00

I'm ending Project 365 for 2011 with a whimper. Which sadly reflects the status of my participation most of the year. I just had no idea how crazy furlough was going to be, or how difficult to post on a regular basis. To say nothing of totally dropping the ball with the basic premise of a photo-a-day. I didn't even manage to get the final post in the actual year of 2011 :(

BUT... that said, I did stick with it to the very end!

So here you have it folks, the final photos of 2011!

Stuck in traffic.

The story of our life this week as we dealt with yet more paperwork.

Fireworks!

New Year's Eve here is like 4th of July in the U.S. We walked a block over to the lake and had a great vantage point for viewing the fireworks. We could turn 360 degrees and see fireworks in every direction! While the city does have a (usually) decent show, private citizens and clubs put on some pretty impressive displays as well. We stayed down at the lake for about 20 minutes, then walked home and watched the fireworks in our own neighborhood.

Having only two photos for the week is about par for the course this year. Hoping I can do better in 2012! Anyone care to join us this year? It's a great way to (1) photo journal your year, and (2) share your life in pictures with friends and family.

Adventures...

2011-12-28T19:51:00.000-03:00

I can't remember if I've mentioned the issue we ran into with my VISA expiring while we were in the U.S.

So in case I haven't, here's the back story: When we moved to Argentina, I came into the country on a two-year VISA. Which we renewed for one year (all that was allowed) when the first expired. The plan was to apply for permanent residency at the three year mark, which is usually granted at that point. However, knowing we would be in the U.S. then, Ivan tried to get things handled before we left on furlough. But was told that wasn't possible.

While in the U.S. Ivan talked with folks at the Argentine consulate in Chicago on numerous occasions, trying to figure out how to handle things. In the end they had no suggestions, except for me to return to Argentina as a "tourist" and then file the paperwork for permanent residency.

Easier said than done, because we haven't been "home" much since we returned November 22nd. Which brings us to this, the final week of the year. Monday was a holiday for government offices and banks, but yesterday morning we were up bright and early, and out the door a little after 6:30 a.m.

I'm so glad we don't live in the capital city of our province! This kind of traffic would make me crazy. We have enough of it during the summer, when tourists flood our little city, but most of the time we do not have to deal with bumper-to-bumper, stop-go-stop traffic.

Even with the traffic we were in line at the Ministerio de Justicia (Ministry of Justice) by 7:30 a.m., and wonder of all wonders, the doors opened early! We were ushered into the building at 7:40 a.m., settled on a long bench in a long hallway, and then a government employee spent about 5 minutes explaining the paperwork.

Oh, and this was not to apply for permanent residency. This was for paperwork necessary for the permanent residency application. You see, they want to make sure I'm not a criminal.

We'd already applied for, and received, the same thing from the FBI in the U.S. before we came back. It took 10 minutes to download the form off the internet, fill it out, and mail it to them with a check. A few weeks later and my criminal check had been performed and the report was sent to us by mail.

It doesn't work like that here.
Nothing is ever that simple.
Not even paying your light bill.

We had to go stand in line and hope that we weren't too far back, because they only give out a certain number of forms each day and everyone after that is turned away and told to come back another day.

So imagine our chagrin when the line re-formed and the man began handing out forms, only to give the man in front of us the last set!

Not to worry! Ivan, while researching exactly what documents we would need, had found the forms online, printed them, and filled them out.

The government employee took one look at our forms and said, "No, those are old ones."

*sigh*

But the man must have still been filled with good cheer left over from Christmas -- or maybe we just looked pitiful. For whatever reason, he said to hold on, he'd go get us a set of forms.

And a half hour later, he did actually return with a set.

Ivan, an old pro at this since he's been the chief filler-outer-of-forms since we moved to Argentina, knew the drill and first thing he did was have us fill out the two forms needed to take to the bank.

Because corruption is such a problem we cannot pay the required fees to the Ministry of Justice. We have to go to the bank (not just any bank, a specific bank that was about 12 blocks away), stand in yet another line, pay the fees, and then return to the Ministry of Justice with the stamped form from the bank showing we had paid.

Ivan spent the time in line at the bank filling out the other forms, so when we finally got back to the Ministry, we were ready to get in the next line.

The lady who took care of us first dismissed the copy of my national I.D. as being inadequate so we had to leave, find a copy shop and have a bigger, clearer copy made, and then take that back to the Ministry. Thankfully we didn't have to wait in that line again, but got in fairly quickly (maybe 5 minutes or so?) and then we were given a number and told to go back to the waiting area.

We were #798. I was not the 798th client of the day. I don't think they give out more than 30-40 or so forms a day. They just keep using a big roll of numbers until they run out. But as we sat down and began listening to the numbers, we realized we were about 30 down the line. Which made sense, since we were the last ones given forms.

When it was finally our turn, the man who waited on us made a big deal out of my passport being in one name and my national I.D. being in another. Well, duh! In the U.S. I legally go by my married name. In Argentina that is not permitted, so my national I.D. is in my maiden name. Of course they're not the same. And it's not like this is the first time they've ever run across this problem. There are thousands of Americans living in this province who have gotten permanent residency, so you KNOW they've encountered this issue before.

Ivan asked to speak to someone higher up the food chain so we were ushered next door to the supervisor, who also tried to give us a run-around.

I'm not sure what Ivan said but he made it clear that immigrations knew all this, and it was NOT.A.PROBLEM. There was some more back-and-forth chatter and they finally backed down, and we were allowed to finish the process of applying for a background check by the police to make sure I am not a criminal.

It only took three hours.

We get to go back to Cordoba on Friday to pick it up.

That wasn't all we did while in Cordoba yesterday. We're not going to waste a trip, since it's expensive in terms of tolls, gas, parking fees and time.

We also stopped by the immigration office -- which was packed and standing-room-only in the waiting area -- but learned we'd need to get an appointment. Ivan has a contact at immigrations in Buenos Aires who is walking us through the process, and he's going to get the appointment set up for us.

Then we had a hitch installed on our car, so Ivan can pull the little trailer we brought from the states. While they had it up on the lift, he asked if he could check things out and he discovered the front brake pads and a few other parts needed to be replaced a.s.a.p. It was basically metal-on-metal.

Because prices and inflation are so high here, he decided to do the work himself. So he bought the parts last night and that's what he's working on right now.

But back to yesterday...

On the way to the place where we had the hitch installed we were stopped in traffic several times. I took the opportunity to snap some photos. Here's a church with the coolest mosaic domes:

You probably can't tell how pretty they are unless you click on the photo and enlarge it. Absolutely lovely!

And on a building that houses a labor union was this interesting frieze showing workers protesting:

I wasn't able to get the entire frieze into the photo, since part of it wrapped around the corner and was obscured by the building next to it.

After that we grabbed lunch and stopped at a mall that has businesses related to construction. We were pricing some things we know we'll need when we build next year: a garage door, electrical supplies, etc. Didn't stay too long because by that time it was about 5 p.m. and we were getting tired, and we knew we had one more stop: Walmart.

I do most of my shopping locally, but there are some things I just can't get anywhere but Walmart. Or the price difference is great enough to make it worthwhile to buy there. My list was fairly short, so it didn't take long and soon we were on our way home.

Pulled into the driveway at 7:30 p.m.
Ivan's pedometer showed we had walked over 13,000 steps.

The adventure isn't over yet. Once we have the police report, the really fun part begins. Not sure yet if we can file the paperwork for permanent residency in Cordoba, or if we'll have to make a trip to Buenos Aires. It's important to get it expedited because otherwise we'll run into problems in March when we have to go to Uruguay for our annual missionary conference. Getting out of the country won't be a problem, but getting back in could be if I haven't been granted permanent residency yet.

It took 18 months to get our national I.D.s
Hoping and praying we get my new I.D. with permanent residency status in two months.
Care to join us in praying?!

Project 365 -- We're in the home stretch

2011-12-25T19:37:00.001-03:00

I'm a bit behind with P365 and admit with shame I took absolutely NO photos week before last. It was our first full week home and we were BUSY with a capital B. However, I more than make up for the lack of photos from then by having too many this week.

We just returned from our first real vacation in years. We've had little 2-3 day breaks, but not a whole week since about 2000, I think. Friends gave us a week through RCI (time share), and we found the Colina Del Valle Resort about two hours away that's part of the RCI network. Here's the outside of our little home-away-from-home for the week:

We spent most of the week right there, because our room had lovely, refreshing, wonderful air conditioning! Not to be taken lightly when the temps are in the 100s! In fact, one day it got up to 108 and we were especially grateful for the a.c.

But heat or no heat, we'd venture out daily to grab lunch in town, and then over to the clubhouse where they had wifi so we could check e-mails.

It wasn't air conditioned, so we didn't stay long. The sun beating in all those windows turned it into an oven during the day.

Ivan was on a mission to find good ice cream. This first place had a quaint setting but the ice cream wasn't very good.

We did finally find some great helado in a nearby town; actually the best chocolate I've had in Argentina. For some reason it usually tastes fruity rather than chocolatey -- but the chocolate we found at Crillon's in Villa Dolores tasted like cocoa and was not so icky sweet. YUM!

A few years ago Ivan learned that there's an orchid indigenous to this area of Argentina, but until recently we hadn't seen one. Here's a close-up of a couple we found during a walk one morning:

Very pretty, isn't it? Not a typical looking orchid at all, but that's what it is.

Although the resort is within the city limits, it's up a hill along a dirt road and really feels like you're out in the country. Here's a shot of the pool area and in the distance you can see mountains. No matter which direction you looked, you could see mountains.

And here's the aforementioned clubhouse from the outside:

We had to drive 40 km to get to a gas station with GNC, so twice we made the trip to Villa Dolores. While sitting on a park bench in the town plaza, I saw this cute little Fiat 600 painted turquoise!

We're not sure how old it is, but Ivan thinks those were made back in the 60s.

Most days we'd go into Mina Clavero for lunch or to buy groceries (usually ate a light dinner in our room). On one of the main downtown streets, amidst all the shops and businesses, was this little private home:

As cute as it is, I don't think I'd want to live smack dab in the middle of town.

Just two stores over is this great verdularia -- I don't think I've ever seen one this big or as well stocked!

On our last morning we stocked up on a bunch of fruits and vegetables to bring home.

I made two batches of yogurt before we went, and also some homemade granola, so we were set for breakfast for the first five days. When we ran out, we went into town for desayuno at a great little café. You could sit inside, or out in this covered patio area:

We arrived home early afternoon on Saturday and hadn't been home too long before friends called, inviting us to their Christmas Eve party. It didn't start until 9 p.m. It was a potluck so I made potato salad. We appreciate our friends including us even though we're not family, since it was a family affair. Their kids and spouses, and the spouses families were all there. What a meal! We started with appetizers like pickled tongue, pretty pinwheel sandwiches, slices of salami, and various salads. Then they brought out grilled pork and vegetables. Oh, and by the way, we didn't start eating until about 10:30 p.m. :)

We were in the middle of dessert (fruit salad and panettone) when it struck midnight and the fireworks started. So of course we stopped eating and rushed out to watch them -- and the guys shot off some of their own -- before trooping in to finish dessert. Even though I paced myself, I was still stuffed by the time it was over! We left around 1:30 a.m.; the first to leave :) I'm guessing everyone else stayed at least another hour or two. Sadly, although I took the camera, I never thought to get it out of my purse and actually use it.

Today is Christmas, and we had a traditional Argentine asado. I'm guessing most of you sat down to a turkey or ham dinner. Ours was rather different. Ivan grilled pork, slices of butternut squash, an onion, tomato, and Basque-style morcilla (with nuts and raisins added). I made pasta salad, and we had a little potato salad left from last night. Oh, and Ivan baked a loaf of bread. Later on we'll have dessert: homemade vanilla ice cream and sliced fresh peaches. YUM!

I did get my tree up and decorated (the decorating took place yesterday!) and am now enjoying it, all lit up even though it's the middle of the day. Have to enjoy it while I can.

I thought about cropping out the fan, but then decided to leave it. After all, our Christmas season is in summer and it's HOT so the fan is a necessary piece of equipment. Since this house doesn't have many outlets, I have to position the fans where I can. In this case, it happens to be right next to the tree :)

Hoping each one of you has a wonderful, blessed Christmas!

Time for a weekly post

2011-12-21T17:37:00.000-03:00

I just realized the last time I posted was a week ago, and thought it might be about time to check back in.

We're on vacation this week. A real, honest-to-goodness vacation; the kind we haven't had in years. All thanks to some dear friends in our home church, who gave us a week at a time share. What a HUGE blessing! Thanks again, Dennis and Lois!!!

We've never had a vacation before where our primary activity was SLEEPING but we're thoroughly enjoying it :) We're also getting quite a bit of reading done, and I keep drawing floor plan after floor plan. I can't seem to stop.

To be honest, we haven't ventured far from our lovely, AIR CONDITIONED room. And here's a clue as to why:

Even though Ivan had the a.c. in the car re-charged before we left, it's not working so I have no desire to go very far in it. Basically we leave only to have lunch at a restaurant or buy food to eat in our room for dinner.

And each day we walk over to the club house where there is wifi, to check e-mails and see what's happening in the world.

We had no idea how tired we were until we got here and started relaxing....and sleeping, then sleeping, and sleeping some more. It's been a pretty crazy year, and we're so grateful for this week to unwind and REST.

Looking forward to starting the new year fresh and ready to go. Meanwhile...

Wishing all of you a wonderful, blessed and joyful Christmas!

Back into the swing of things

2011-12-14T07:37:00.000-03:00

After a couple of days of uninterrupted unpacking and getting re-settled, we've jumped right back into the thick of things -- although the unpacking continues around other activities and responsibilities.

On Sunday we went to a birthday party. Our friend Magdalena turned 75! I didn't count, but I'm guessing there were over 30 there that day to help her celebrate the milestone. Here's a shot of them setting up when we arrived, some of the first ones there (being on time here means being early).

Guests kept straggling in for over an hour, some traveling quite a distance. Magdalena, or Kooky as she's called by family, has a lot of relatives! She's told us stories of growing up in a close-knit community where all the aunts and uncles lived nearby and everyone spent the weekends hanging out at the grandparents' hacienda. The sole surviving aunt and quite a few of the cousins were at the party Sunday and I found their relationship and interaction interesting. Here's a shot of the aunt and some of the female cousins chatting before the asado started:

That's Magdalena on the far right. These women represent a slice of the social strata in Argentina, from lower middle class to very well-to-do (as in, they have homes in several countries). But Sunday they were just family, and no one paid the slightest attention to where they fit in the economic hierarchy. Which is unusual in Argentina, as they tend to be rather class conscious.

The food was plentiful and quite varied -- which was also unusual; I think because Magdalena is a vegetarian (although there was grilled chicken as well). Some of the offerings were *ahem* rather different, like the cheese and fruit sandwiches: three thin slices of white bread separating a thin slice of cheese and chunks of canned pineapple and chopped maraschino cherries. Sounds weird but it was actually very good! I also tried gluten "meat" with an oil and herb dressing.

(that's the stuff that looks sorta like spam with parsley on top)

After everyone had their fill of food, they started breaking up into groups to talk. As in cultures everywhere, the men went off to the quincho which was as far as they could get from the gaggle of women without actually leaving the yard. Women outnumbered men by at least four-to-one. It wasn't too long before half the women changed into bathing suits and headed for the pool.

It was a perfectly lovely day for the party; the rain holding off until the very end.

Ivan didn't really have an opportunity to talk privately with Julio, Magdalena's husband, but it was obvious he was upset about the death of their mutual friend, José. José was killed in an accident Thursday, when his tractor rolled over on him, but his body wasn't found until Saturday. José's wife and youngest daughter stay in Carlos Paz during the school year because they feel the schools are better here, going home to Tanti on weekends and holidays.

As you can imagine, the family is devastated. Because it was an accident the police sent the body to the morgue for an autopsy. Normally the dead are buried the very next day because they don't typically embalm the bodies, but they didn't release José's remains until late Monday. The family cannot bury (or cremate) him until the autopsy report is complete in 15 days; they're also required to keep the body in Tanti, where the accident occurred. But they held a wake in Carlos Paz Monday night. Ivan was there until 2 a.m. Over the year and a half that he's known José he's gotten to know a lot of his friends and family, so he stayed longer than he'd intended, talking with many of them.

Ivan wasn't able to leave for the wake until after 10 p.m. because he was waiting for me to finish up at Wallace Academy, the English institute in town where we help with oral exams during mid-terms and finals. Last night he helped at Wallace so I could work on unpacking, and preparing some food for today.

We're having a couple of young ladies over for merienda about 4 p.m. Maria and Mariella (sisters) have been living and working in Carlos Paz while Maria attended university in Cordoba the past four years. She just finished and they're moving back to Corrientes.

Then tonight we're having pollo asado (grilled chicken) with Tómas and Andrew. Ivan met Tómas last year when he was renting Marce's basement apartment. She introduced us to him because she knew he and Ivan share a passion for aviation. Found out in the process that his dad is a third generation missionary from England, and Ivan's been chatting with Andrew online for months. Tonight we're finally going to get to meet him.

And then Thursday is already planned, and so is Friday... Nothing like jumping right back into the swing of things!

Project 365, Week 49 & 50

2011-12-10T20:00:00.000-03:00

Finally home, sweet home, where we have internet. Such as it is :) Better than none at all, though!

Since we were in Santa Rosa, sans internet, last weekend, I'm catching up by including two weeks of P365 photos.

We drove out there in our "new" car. We're so thankful for the Lord's provision in this area! We bought this 1994 Ford Galaxy from the same family that sold us our Fiat Uno :)

It has the requisite power steering (main reason we sold the Fiat) and, as an added bonus, it had already been converted to run on GNC (natural gas). This is a HUGE blessing, as we can get about 150 km on a tank of GNC, at the cost of about $5.40 U.S.! Woot! Even with the big tank for GNC in the trunk, we still have more room back there than we had in the Fiat.

I sadly have no photos from our first few days in Sta. Rosa as we were busy with company (fellow missionaries). Both couples were getting ready to leave for furlough and we had a nice time together, catching up.

Toward the end of the week we decided to drive to Yacanto, a little town about 30 km from Sta. Rosa, and then continued on to the even smaller village of Durazno, and the scenery was breathtaking! I have several photos from our expedition to share with you:

Can you imagine living out there, with the high sierras in the background?

This llama was wandering around loose behind the little gas station in Yacanto

I thought this gate was so picturesque

We stopped for a picnic...

...beside this river.

It was an absolutely lovely, wonderfully relaxing day! One of two we had during our ten days in Sta. Rosa :) The rest of the time we were busy working our way through a rather long list of repairs and maintenance issues that had to be addressed before summer renters begin arriving. We are praying for a sufficient number of renters to cover the annual expenses for the house, plus enough to pay for having the house re-wired. There were some problems while we were gone, and it's getting dangerous to leave it as is; we use a lot more electrical items today than when my in-laws built the house about 40 years ago.

But we did take time most days for a walk (when it wasn't raining, which it did a LOT). I like how the bark on a eucalyptus tree peels off like this:

The next photo is more for family members. This is the big new warehouse type store in Sta. Rosa!

It's on Route 5, toward Belgrano. It reminds us a bit of a Sam's Club (although not as big). They sell everything from dry goods to household items, cleaning supplies, dairy products and meat.

I mentioned our car can run on GNC. Here's a picture of us filling up:

Gas stations require that everyone get out of the car before they start filling the tank. Although not every station sells GNC, quite a few of them do, so it's not usually a problem getting it. But sometimes the lines for GNC are really, REALLY long. Reminds me a bit of the lines back in the 70s during the oil embargo.

The day before we left Sta. Rosa, Sergio and Cristina came to visit. They're the young couple we allowed to use the back part of the house while we were gone, and here they are by their former "front" door:

We had a nice time catching up and sharing photos. They work with Word of Life Argentina, and had gone to a facility the organization owns down in Neuquen, to help clean up ash and they had lots of photos from that. The volcano that erupted is in Chile, but all the ash ended up in Argentina! There's an inch to several inches across a wide swath of the country. It's wreaking havoc on the tourism industry in that province, and as a result, we are seeing more tourists in our area.

This week we were able to get back into our house, arriving Wednesday evening. Surprised to find virtually the entire contents of our house (minus furniture) had been packed into boxes and stored in the garage, we have been busy unpacking, washing things, and putting them back where they belong. It's like moving, all over again.

I'm happy to report that after two days plus a few hours this morning, the kitchen is back in order! We took time out yesterday afternoon to go ahead and carry all the boxes in, figure out where they went, and then put them there. Here's a few photos of our house in the throes of unpacking...

living room

study/sewing room

spare room

No photos of the kitchen since I was too busy trying to find what I needed so I could prepare and serve something besides sandwiches.

While I've been busy unpacking, Ivan tackled the yard. Keep in mind that things always look worse before they look better...

The yard, especially around the walls, was/is an overgrown mess. And, as you can see, another branch of the peach tree broke; that makes a branch per year -- pretty soon there won't be any branches left :( It's going to take him several days to get the yard back in shape.

While he was outside working he noticed a commotion next door. Next thing I knew he was running in to grab the camera:

Those men actually got that pool up and over the roof from the front of the house! And you can't tell from the photo, but it's a two-story structure. Remember the house that was built right next to us? It is actually two townhouses and the pool is going into the backyard of one of them.

I can't even tell you how good it is to be home! And I'm sure it will be even better when everything is back in order. Now, not to make anyone jealous or anything :) but I thought I'd share what the banner on weather.com looked like when I checked it a short time ago. I have our old hometown and our current hometown in my "saved locations".

I much prefer hot to cold, so while y'all sip hot cocoa and warm yourself beside the fire (or heating vent), I'll just go get another glass of ice water.

Thankful Thursday

2011-12-01T18:05:00.000-03:00

As I sit on the patio at Hebras Casa de Te, just outside Villa General Belgrano, I am thankful for many things. Like the gorgeous weather that allows us to sit outside (84 and sunny), the yummy peach, banana and basil smoothie I just finished drinking, the car that we drove to get here...

... and the time to just sit and relax.

You'd think relaxing is a fairly easy thing to do. But it's only today that we are beginning to relax, after being back in Argentina more than a week (and six days in Sta. Rosa).

I'm also thankful for the house here in Sta. Rosa. I'm sure when Ivan's dad and mom built it, they had no idea that some 40 years later, we'd be enjoying it as our favorite get-away spot. It's location two hours from where we live and work is ideal. And it's location in the country, four kilometers from Sta. Rosa is an added bonus. The peace and quiet of the country is broken only by the raucous cries of wild parrots who have built condos in our trees, and the occasional passing vehicle. Oh, and the bleating of sheep:

That's the view I had while hanging out clothes on the line today.

Yep, enjoying the country life, even if it means we have to drive into town every few days to find a place with wifi so we can get online.

We plan to talk to some neighbors down the road that run a small hostelería and have internet for their guests, and find out how they managed to get it where there are no phone lines. We met them while on a walk the other day, and they gave us their promotional postcard. They've cleared the land and built the place themselves, settling here after looking at various locations in Argentina. We look forward to hearing their story, and finding out how a Russian and a South African ended up in Argentina. Hopefully we'll be able to have merienda (afternoon tea) with them soon.

Anyway, all that to say that some day we hope to have internet at the house here in Sta. Rosa. It would make it easier for us to stay connected when we come out, and our many guests who use the house would also appreciate the convenience.

That's all for now. I want to get back to just relaxing on the patio here at Hebras.

Project 365, The "I've given up trying to keep track" Edition

2011-11-26T09:19:00.000-03:00

I think technically we're at week 48, but I'm so behind that I quit using the week designation a long time ago! Today I have photos going back almost a month. I hereby promise to do better... NEXT YEAR! lol

I really can't promise to keep up this year since we still have some traveling ahead of us. Later today we head to Sta. Rosa! Woot! And we also have a week-long trip coming up in December because dear friends from the U.S. gave us a week at a time share so we'll be going to an RCI resort in Mina Clavero. Double Woot!

But I do promise to do the best I can and post Project 365 photos when possible.

Okay, these first two photos are from November 6th, which was supposed to be our last Sunday in the U.S. The ladies in my home church gave me a prayer shawl...

...and prayed over me.

I'm so thankful for these women who pray for me, encourage me, laugh with me, and teach me so much.

Now fast forward to last Sunday, November 20th. After church we wrangled a strong young man with a truck to help us transport the suitcases we were leaving (to come later with different groups) to another location. They'll be stored until the groups start coming -- hopefully next April!

No photos (with the camera) until we'd arrived in Argentina. [Note to self: Must figure out how to download photos from phone.] Our second day back we managed a walk around the neighborhood where we're staying. There's a nice little park nearby and an owl started fussing at us.

It did not move from that spot, even when we walked within three or four feet, but it sure did make a lot of noise! We wondered if there wasn't a nest in that hole it was guarding. And then we heard it in stereo, turned around and saw another owl up on this pole:

The sign combined with the owls' racket cracked us up!

I'm constantly learning, and while waiting for a taxi yesterday I saw this sign with a phrase that made no sense to me:

"...no pague derecho de piso"

Huh?! My literal word-for-word translation made me think "Don't pay for the right of the floor" (or something like that; remember my Spanish is rusty!). Like I said, it made no sense to me. So I asked Ivan. Well, to begin with "derecho de piso" refers to dues paid to join a club. And just as we say in the U.S. that someone has to "pay their dues" and we're not talking about a literal sum of money, in this case it's saying that when you invest in Carlos Paz, you don't have to "pay your dues", because you're immediately part of the "club". That's the gist of it anyway.

Yesterday evening I snapped this shot of downtown Cordoba:

We'd gone to Eduardo's apartment to deal with the paperwork involved in buying a car. He lives on the 8th/9th floors (it's a two-story apartment) on a street downtown. He has an absolutely lovely departamento -- which he owns, so I guess in the states we'd call it a condo. This shot was taken from the balcony on the 10th floor, which houses the common area, including a pool and deck, a quincho (area with parrilla and tables), and a small kitchenette. Eduardo also rents a double garage space several blocks away where he has set up a very nice space to work on his vehicles. Super organized and neat, which are good qualities in a doctor!

A funny side to this story: we bought our first car from Eduardo too! He sold us the Fiat Uno back in 2008, and we've kept in touch via e-mail and facebook ever since. When he learned we needed to buy another car, this time one with power steering, he wrote and said his sister was ready to sell a car that had everything on our "wish list". A flurry of messages back and forth culminated in us buying the car yesterday! More on that later -- it's quite the experience buying a car in Argentina :)

Now, it's time for me to start packing and getting organized myself, for a trip to Sta. Rosa! Hasta luego, mis amigos!

90°F

2011-11-24T14:38:00.001-03:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. friends and family!

Here we are enjoying a rather warm day :) Spent the morning with our co-workers and decided to walk back to where we were staying. I made it half way before crying "uncle" and asking Ivan to call a taxi. Whew! It's going to take me a little time to get used to the heat again.

Our trip back to Argentina was fairly uneventful. Aduana (customs) ended up making us pay import taxes on things that had been given to us as well as things we had bought (and had receipts for), which was disappointing but not surprising. The amount made us wince but we are thankful that at least all our luggage arrived intact!

Waiting to see if we'll be able to look at the car we might buy before heading to Sta. Rosa on Saturday. Learned after we got back that the car is (was?) actually in another province. But it sounds like the man we're dealing with traveled there yesterday to pick it up, and he might bring it today. But we've learned not to count on things like that. It might happen; it might not. Quien sabe?

We arrived Tuesday and that evening there was a science fair at the school our co-workers' daughters attend, so we went to that. During the last three years of high school the kids focus on a specific area of communication: print media, radio, audio/visual. One of their daughters was involved in a video project which was shown during the fair, and both had worked with partners to create a science project/display. Ivan was even briefly interviewed on the radio by two of the young people involved in that program.

Afterward we all went out to a pizza place we had never been to before, and I have to say it was delicious! I'm not normally fond of Argentine pizza (they tend to be a little skimpy for my taste) but the wood oven fired crust was loaded with toppings. This place sells it by the meter and the seven of us polished off an entire meter of pizza! We had four different kinds (25 cm of each) and my favorite, hands down, was Valenciana which had caramelized onions, pancetta, olives and two kinds of cheese.

We're staying in the apartment where we started out three years ago :) My Spanish tutor has a very nice walk-out basement apartment. She also loaned us her car for a few hours yesterday. We drove over to our lot and arrived at the same time our neighbor was getting home, so we had a chance to talk to him. He said some kids had tried to break in recently but he chased them off. They managed to knock a couple of blocks in, so that will have to be fixed, but we were going to reinforce that wall anyway. It's sure nice to have good neighbors who watch out for you!

The good news is that the new costanera (road along the river) is paved from Playa de Oro all the way to our street! The bad news is, it doesn't look like the city is doing anything any time soon about the squatters living nearby. We had understood those living in the shanty town were going to be relocated to a new community which the city had built outside of town -- a 400 unit "village" complete with a school. In Argentina the only way you can get squatters to move is by providing them an alternative housing arrangement. BUT it turns out that police and other municipality employees are purchasing the homes there. So we're trying to find out what, if any, plans are being made to move the squatters out.

We've enjoyed being back, and once we get some basic things taken care of, we'll head to Santa Rosa for a short break. We're both really looking forward to that!

Unpacking

2011-11-19T22:29:00.000-03:00

No, we're not home yet. But I've had to unpack some things in order to make room for others. It wasn't easy but it was necessary. Probably a good thing we took all the excess luggage to Goodwill yesterday so we weren't tempted to add another suitcase :)

Aside from the angst of letting go of some things I wanted to take, it's been a really good day. Our kids and their spouses came up and we enjoyed lunch, a play at the college and then supper together. Our son and his wife bequeathed us their iPhones since they just upgraded and I'm pretty pumped about that :) I've been too busy all day to even stop and play with mine yet, but the kids have been giving Ivan some lessons so he can, in turn, teach me.

Even more fun was the wedding 'album' they gave us! They've been married four years, but just now put together a wedding book (via Mixbook) and it was so fun to flip through the pages and remember their special day.

Kyle and Tina brought their little trailer up to hold all our luggage. We're personally taking back six suitcases plus two carry-ons, my large 'travel' purse and Ivan's backpack. I have packed the luggage we'll check through within ounces of the 50 lb. weight limit -- three are actually a few ounces over the limit but we're praying for grace on the part of the airlines :) What's kinda weird is that three weigh exactly the same, and two weigh the same. The sixth I'm not sure about because we took it down last weekend and left it at their house.

It will be interesting to see what happens when we get back into Argentina. My VISA ran out while we were gone, and after a number of phone calls with the consulate in Chicago, they advised us to just buy a tourist VISA as we enter the country. Then we can apply for my permanent residency -- which is what we planned to do this year anyway.

We spent the morning cleaning and unpacking/packing, and have just the living room and kitchen left to work on this evening. Tomorrow afternoon we'll finish loading the carry-ons and head back to Indiana with Kyle and Tina. Early Monday morning they'll take us to the airport. I've re-loaded some books on my Kindle and have one paperback as well. Ivan has a Sudoku book to work on. Since our layover in Miami is only three hours (and part of that will be spent getting our luggage, then re-checking it with the other airline) and most of our air travel will be overnight, I don't see us needing more than that.

Our co-workers are picking us up at the airport. The plan is to spend a day or two in Carlos Paz to get some things taken care of, before heading to Sta. Rosa for a little vacation. I pretty much plan to sleep, read, sleep, eat, and sleep while we're there :) And take plenty of walks! It's supposed to be quite nice, up in the 80s during the day and down in the high 50s or 60s at night. I can hardly wait!

I may not be around much for the next couple of weeks. We don't have internet in Sta. Rosa (unless we go to the tea shop). But when I can, I'll be around to visit your blogs. Meanwhile, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Hasta luego!

"Leavin' on a jet plane..."

2011-11-18T02:09:00.000-03:00

The countdown continues. Four days from now we'll be on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.

Suitcases are (mostly) packed. There are the last minute clothes and toiletries to throw in, but for all intents and purposes, it's done. I'm still not going to share how many suitcases we ended up with, since I'm still embarrassed by the number. Let's just say I did my best, and with Ivan's help in tracking down more (and more) larger pieces of luggage, I was able to consolidate a number of smaller ones.

Today I caught up on some paperwork. Since the packing is done I typed up a master list of what's in each suitcase. I also finished inputting (is that a real word?) contact info from people who signed up to get our newsletter. I hadn't had a chance to do that in a couple months so we had sign-up sheets from a number of churches we visited during that time.

My follow-up appointment with the surgeon was this morning. We spent maybe five minutes talking about the biopsy and results, and then twenty minutes about missions. I just love that my doctor has been on several overseas mission trips (including the same place in Africa where we lived for a year). Maybe he'll come visit us in Argentina!

Tomorrow will be spent visiting with people. Breakfast with friends in the next county, lunch with one of Ivan's old aviation buddies, drop-in visits to a few others... And we need to clean the house. I'd really like to get that done tomorrow so we can enjoy time with our kids on Saturday. Both kids and their spouses are coming for the day. It would be nice to be caught up with the have-to-do's and just focus on family time.

Sunday we'll be sharing at our home church during both morning services. I'm hoping I won't be too emotional, but that's probably a vain hope. We've got such an amazing and supportive church family, and it's always hard to say good-bye.

I find myself having trouble getting to sleep at night -- the mind just won't shut down, and I keep thinking of things yet to do. And no matter what time I get to sleep, I find myself waking up between 3 to 5 a.m. most mornings. Ugh. I went to bed some time ago, couldn't sleep and ended up getting up. I figured maybe working on a post would help me get sleepy. And you know what, it's working! So I think I'll end this and try to get some rest.

Pinterest Fun

2011-11-17T01:29:00.000-03:00

Pinterest -- and my obsession with home decor and DIY -- has led me to some really fun sites...

Like quietbook.blogspot.com. I love the idea of making quiet books as gifts, maybe to go along with the baby quilts :) And this blog has tons of ideas and inspiration. Besides her own projects, she shares links to other bloggers who are doing fun things with quiet books...

Like the group project on Jacki Daley's blog, The Daley News. Oh.My.Word. These women are beyond creative! Here are a few of my favorites pages:

And then there's the home decor projects that catch my eye. Like this wall art featuring adorable fabric yo-yos on painted canvas.

Isn't that gorgeous? It's actually from the Better Homes & Gardens site. Definitely going to be one of my first Pinterest projects when we get home!

I'm also ~~slightly~~ seriously obsessed with items incorporating maps. Here are just a few of the ones I've pinned:

Dresser from Domestic Ease.

Chair courtesy of Apartment Therapy.

How cute is this wall art?!

Totally love this rose made out of a map.

Finally, letters covered with maps from Callaloo Soup.

It's not possible to make everything that catches my eye on Pinterest, but it's certainly giving me lots of inspiration... for home decor, recipes, gift ideas, sewing projects, and more. There are a bunch of Pinterest challenges going on, as ladies get serious about doing more than just pinning pretty pictures. I'm just so impressed by all the creativity, and the sheer volume of projects being completed. What have you made that you found on Pinterest?

We'll be home a week from today!

2011-11-15T16:21:00.000-03:00

Yessireebob, the countdown is ON!
Not that I'm anxious or anything :)
While we've had an absolutely wonderful time on home ministries, and enjoyed every minute spent with friends and family, we are more than ready to be home.

But speaking of time with family... Had a great weekend with Kyle and Tina, and yesterday we stopped in Elkhart on the way back to Michigan so we could have lunch with our son and his wife.

While we were with them, Jon took a look at my computer in an attempt to figure out what I did the other day. He was at a conference this weekend (computer related, of course) and I sent him the following e-mail, which he shared them with some of those he was with. They found my plea for help vastly amusing:

I have NO IDEA what I've done, but all my books have disappeared off my Kindle.
I think I'm going to quit for the night before I do any more damage.
I've also made several hundred items in my downloads folder disappear too. There are two items left.
Don't ask me how I did it.
I have no idea.
Seriously.
How can one person do this much damage?!
Hope you're having a good time at the conference.
I'm going to watch some TV and call it a night.
While wondering if I should laugh or cry.
Maybe a bit of both :)
Love you bunches,
Mom

So glad I could inject some laughter into what I'm sure was a very serious geek time :)

And the upshot of it was, I really made things COMPLETELY DISAPPEAR. Like magic. [Only with magic tricks, you can make them reappear and such was not the case in this instance.]

I wasn't so upset about the downloads folder, since that stuff gets erased eventually anyway. But now I have to re-load my Kindle -- not hard, but time-consuming.

Oh, and that wasn't my first e-mail to Jon. Just prior to this one I'd sent him another S.O.S. about an entirely different problem, which he was able to talk me through.

Anyhoo, we also stopped at an outlet mall and Ivan was finally able to find tennis shoes! Which is not as easy as it sounds. He has a really hard time finding shoes that are comfortable. So our success yesterday caused me to do a happy dance right there in the parking lot.

Today Ivan had to go to Lansing to The Office of the Great Seal. No, I am not making this up. It's a real place! He's trying to get his paperwork in order to get his pilot's license validated in Argentina. He's been working on this for several years, and they keep coming up with yet more paperwork that he has to do. We're really hoping these are the final documents that they'll require.

While he's gone I'm working on re-packing. Over the weekend we found only one big suitcase although we stopped at five thrift stores. Ivan's going to check out a few more places on his way back from Lansing today. I really need another 3 large bags, and then I think I can consolidate the smaller ones and end up with a manageable number of 50 lb. suitcases.
I hope.

What I've done today is open up ALL the suitcases and pull out non-essentials... like Tupperware containers, some decorative items, books, and table linens -- nice but not necessary. All things I'd really like to have, but could live without.

And I've been trying to get the essentials packed together in such that each piece of luggage weighs as close to 50 lbs. as possible. Not an easy task, let me tell you. I still have several bags weighing in the 30-35 lb. range, even though I've packed them as full as can be, and tried to put heavier items in.

It's like a puzzle that I can't quite figure out.

Project 365, What Week Is It Anyway?

2011-11-11T20:49:00.000-03:00

I have been horrible at taking photos the last two weeks. I just went through the pitiful -- and very minimal -- assortment and chose six to share. I have no excuse other than my life has been completely crazy since we got back from Colorado, with all the medical stuff and... well, mainly medical stuff. But everyone's life is crazy and most of the rest of you are managing to take your photo-a-day just fine. *sigh*

Up first is a photo of our nephew and his family:

They helped so much during our trip to Colorado! Andrew picked us up at the airport and they put us up that first night. Joy fixed amazing meals while we were with them (and gave me recipes so I can try to make them myself!) and she also gave me a ton of fabric PLUS two cutting mats and assorted rulers and other fun goodies. Like the gel pens that disappear when you iron over whatever you've written with them! Über cool and will be very helpful for marking quilts. They also loaned us their car to use while we were there. Ivan and I decided when we retire we want to move out near them so Ivan can help Andrew build planes and I can quilt with Joy :)

[This is not to say we didn't have fun with the other nieces and their families, but we spent more time with Joy and Andrew this trip.]

When we got back to Michigan, there was still plenty of color on the trees!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the extended fall this year :) Which effectively ended yesterday when it started SNOWING.

Anyway, on to more pleasant topics...
I knew there was going to be an exhibit of art quilts at the college so I scooted over a few days after we got back to check it out. Barbara Bushey is an adjunct professor and, as you can see, accomplished art quilter as well.

She had a recurring theme of water and earth in her pieces for this exhibition, and does a lot of layering with different fabrics (sheer over sheer over solid) which you can't really tell from my photos. In this small piece she actually included real stones:

I don't know if you can tell, but under a thin, sheer fabric you can see where she did a photo transfer onto fabric, featuring rocks like you'd see on the bed of a lake. She also did shibori dyeing on the sheer fabric. Very pretty effect.

Ivan was able to make it to the Friday morning prayer gathering this morning:

This is a group of men from various churches who meet every Friday to encourage one another and pray together. Ivan was part of the group for many years before we went overseas.

He had the camera with him so a lot of the snow had melted before he got back and I remembered I wanted to take a picture of it:

It was a lot prettier first thing this morning when every tree was covered. BUT I don't mind a bit that it's melting :) Like I mentioned in an earlier post, we had not planned to be here this long and aren't really prepared for the colder temps. Ivan doesn't even have a coat!

But in 10 days he won't need one :) Because we are heading south. WOOT!

SNOW?! Are you serious?

2011-11-11T09:06:00.001-03:00

Yesterday it started snowing. Two weeks before Thanksgiving! We almost missed it; if we'd left on schedule we'd have been outta here by the time the snow started flying. We're not really prepared for über cold weather. We realized yesterday Ivan has no coat. He has hoodies. But he doesn't even have a sweater to put on under the hoodie. I foresee a quick stop at Goodwill on our way to Indiana tomorrow.

BTW, Ivan came through his tests the other day with flying colors. It's so nice to get good test results back!

I've been packing like a maniac this week. Sorting through closets, cabinets, a dresser, under the bathroom sink... what do we take? what do we give away? what can be thrown away? I'm pretty sure Ivan couldn't put the lid down all the way on the rolling garbage container we take out to the curb every Thursday night. And there are just flat too many suitcases. I am not even going to mention the number because it's embarrassing. I'm hoping we can track down a few more largish ones and consolidate what's in some smaller ones to bring the number down. A bunch are way under the 50# weight limit, so that's totally possible -- IF I can find bigger suitcases.

Of those we are taking with us, four are fully packed and ready to go. The remaining two are partially packed and I'm just praying we can fit the last minute items in without going over the weight limit. We're going to take as many of the four as we can to Indiana this weekend, and leave them at Kyle and Tina's. That way when they come to get us next weekend, we might not have to use their little trailer. It all depends on how much we can fit into the Saturn tomorrow. We are also going to take two large plastic bins full of things we need to leave here; they'll reside in Kyle and Tina's garage for the next couple years. Hopefully we'll have more time next furlough to go through and get rid of most of it. But it's paperwork and you can't throw that out willy-nilly.

Our purpose for going to Indiana is because Kyle and Tina are being accepted into membership at their church on Sunday. So excited to see them take this next step!

I managed to get an appointment to get my hair cut Saturday afternoon too, meaning I can return to Argentina in ten days and not have to worry about getting right in to see Florencia. Once back in Argentina, we're hoping to spend just a couple days in Carlos Paz before heading to Sta. Rosa for a little vacay. Where I'm guessing we'll spend most of our time sleeping :) It's been a FANTASTIC six months, but folks, this furlough business is EXHAUSTING.

Makes us realize the wisdom of doing four-month furloughs in the future. We just can't keep up this pace for longer than that :) Plus it just makes sense (to us anyway) to come back for shorter periods of time, more frequently. We'll also be a LOT more thoughtful about planning and organizing furloughs in the future. This was a learning curve for us, and we realize we could have been more efficient and productive if we'd put more thought into the limited amount of time.

One thing for sure: we'll be interjecting little "breaks" into future furloughs, so we're not so exhausted by the end. And by that I mean times alone, just the two of us, to unwind and unplug. I'd love to hear what you do when you need a break. I want to start building a "library" of ideas now!

Doing the happy dance

2011-11-07T22:23:00.000-03:00

GREAT news: the lumps were benign. Hallelujah!
Hadn't expected to hear anything until tomorrow at the earliest so getting the good news today was such a gift. We're grateful for God's answer to prayer and His provision in all things.
Thank you for praying!

Not only doing the happy dance because of the good news, but also because it means WE HEAD HOME IN TWO WEEKS!

WOOT!

We're also thankful for this extra time to rest up before the trip. The last month has been such a whirlwind that we are exhausted. Now we can catch our breath, and get some things done we hadn't thought we'd have time to do.

God is good all the time!

All the time God is good!

Monday Meanderings

2011-11-07T08:54:00.000-03:00

It's been a while since I've done one of these. Since my internal clock hasn't adjusted to the time change yet, I'm up earlier than I need to be and decided to use the time to write a post. [I started to say a "quick" post, but who knows if it will be quick or not?]

This was an absolutely gorgeous weekend, both in terms of weather and activity. Kyle and Tina came up Saturday afternoon and spent time with us. We so enjoyed our time together! Ivan finally started feeling better (still weak, though) so we were able to go on a walk yesterday afternoon before they headed back to Indiana. I love walking through crunchy leaves, don't you?! And we have plenty of those around. Tina was having fun with her new camera (Canon Rebel) and took this shot of us:

The ladies at church gave me with a prayer shawl yesterday! I'll share photos in the next Project 365 post. What a wonderful group of friends. We are so blessed with an amazing church family.

I made scalloped potatoes for lunch yesterday and used the only cheeses I had on hand: Parmesan and sharp white Cheddar. Oh. My. Word. I may never go back to my old recipe again :) Seriously some of the best potatoes I've ever made.

My brother is stopping by for breakfast this morning. He's on his way to Ann Arbor where he hopes to be admitted into an experimental program for those with serious lung issues.

Later on I'm getting together with friends. I'm not sure what projects they'll be working on, but I'm going to put together a few felt poinsettia kits (using the tutorial from Censational Girl). I thought these would be easy for kids to do, and would make a cute gift.

I spent some time packing on Saturday. I'm really not that sore from the biopsy. My goal is to finish packing by the end of the week. Which would leave our last week free to spend time with people -- for the most part, aside from Ivan's various doctor appointments. And possibly mine; I don't know when my follow-up will be with the surgeon.

Lord willing we will be on the plane November 21st, heading home! That's when Ivan was able to re-schedule our flight, and as long as all test results come back okay, we are outta here.

We're both really sad that we're missing two weeks in Sta. Rosa, but thankful for the Lord's provision for great medical care. Say what you will about health care here in the U.S., it is still THE BEST IN THE WORLD. Amen.

I spent way too much time on Pinterest the last few days. Mild discomfort from surgery and insomnia combined to create optimum Pinterest viewing opportunities. I now know that you can spritz your windshield with a combo of three parts vinegar/one part water at night and you won't have frost on your windshield in the morning. And that there are a gazillion decorative uses for old maps. To say nothing of all the lovely blue and turquoise rooms that are to be found on the great world wide web.

I've also started playing Words With Friends on facebook again. After so much traveling without internet, all the games I had going automatically ended (does anyone know the time limit on inactive games?), so I had to start new ones. Actually I'd completely forgotten about Words With Friends until my daughter started a game with me last week. Then I was all like, "Oh yeah, I can play again, now that I have internet!"

When I get done with this post I'm going to see if it's my turn on any of the games. I can't start breakfast for another hour or more, and I'm trying to be quiet so I don't wake Ivan. So Pinterest and Words With Friends are my great time wasters. What are yours?

Our little medical marathon

2011-11-04T07:47:00.000-03:00

No, it wasn't me this time.
Ivan started feeling sick Monday morning and by the time we made it to Jonesville that evening, he wanted nothing more than to take a shower and go to bed.
We haven't been able to keep his fever down so he's been having chills, plus he aches all over and has had hypersensitivity to touch. He's not been able to eat much (a little boiled squash, some chicken broth) and has pretty much spent the week in bed.
Not fun.
Yesterday morning he was feeling worse so we ended up going to the ER. And that's when our little 8 hour medical marathon began.
The ER doc was puzzled by the odd set of symptoms. He ordered blood work and a CAT scan, bringing up the possibility of diverticulitis.
It's not.
Thankfully.
Whatever it is, it's viral and that means we just have to let it run it's course.
Not fun.
We went directly from the hospital to our family doctor to discuss some other findings on the CAT scan.
Looks like we'll be making good use of the extra couple weeks in the U.S.
Ivan's now scheduled for a few more tests.
I guess he didn't want me having all the fun :)

What I learned while flying

2011-11-02T10:52:00.000-03:00

Most airline magazines put me to sleep, but on this last Southwest flight I really enjoyed their October issue. The feature article was actually a collection of pieces about the art of storytelling and the varied ways we do it today. There was a lot more in the magazine than shows up on the website, and a texting version of Romeo and Juliet had me in stitches.

There was also a fascinating article about the future of book publishing by Stuart Wade. They're starting to enhance regular books with ancillary items, like additional essays, maps, illustrations, and even original source material via a QR code imprinted on the inside cover that can be scanned and accessed either over the internet or by e-mail.

And there were other interesting tidbits too.

Did you know it takes 1.8 cents to make a penny?
And 9.2 cents to make a nickel?
Why don't they find cheaper metals to make these coins? It doesn't make sense to spend more than the item is worth to produce it.

I had no idea October was breast cancer awareness month. Did you? And did you know that one in eight women will have invasive breast cancer at some point in her life? Rather disconcerting, isn't it? I did find it interesting that a new treatment -- practiced for some time in Europe -- has finally made its way to the U.S. Still only available in a handful of hospitals and treatment centers, intraprative radiation therapy (a.k.a. IORT Novac7) is a promising addition to treatment options.

It "allows patients to receive one dose of radiation during surgery, as opposed to multiple treatments over several weeks". It also has the advantage of "destroying microscopic tumor cells left behind by surgery before they have a chance to divide or migrate to other parts of the body". Plus, it is applied directly to affected tissue, helping to avoid exposing the healthy tissue. Sounds like a good plan to me!

I also learned that those who eat primarily plant-based foods have a "strikingly" lower rate of breast cancer. Not sure I could give up meat totally, but that little statistic did make me want to cut waaaaay back on it.

I have to say, I was very impressed by the Southwest magazine. Kudos to something worth reading while flying!

~~~~~~

P.S. Saw the surgeon Tuesday but the earliest they could do the biopsy is Friday. Since the results won't be back until Tuesday or Wednesday, and we'd planned on flying home Tuesday, we're delaying our departure to Argentina for a week or two. Keep praying!

Project 365, October Recap, Part 3

2011-10-29T23:23:00.000-03:00

Here we go with the final installment of Project 365 for this month. As I mentioned in the previous posts, we're in Colorado this week. WHERE WE HAD SNOW! Lots and lots of snow. IN OCTOBER. So silly to think we'd get through this furlough without any snow :)

We arrived in Denver Tuesday, where it was raining. But the rain soon changed to snow and by Wednesday morning when we looked out the window, we saw this:

Our nephew lives out in the country and snow-covered trees, fields and mountains filled the vista.

And it was still snowing! The forecast did not bode well for our plans to drive south to visit friends in Cañon City, but we decided to go for it anyway. Like the unofficial postal worker's creed: "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds", we didn't want to let a little -- well, a lot -- of snow prevent us from visiting good friends.

And we're so glad we went! It's always fun to connect with friends where you can just pick up where you left off, isn't it? Our friendship goes back to our homeschool days, when their son and our son were practically inseparable. We had a lot of fun catching up and hanging out.

Before it got too late, Ivan helped Larry harvest this mound of basil and chard. The smell was heavenly!

The next morning when the sun came over the mountain, the landscape just sparkled:

As we prepared to leave, we realized the front of the car had been plastered with a thick coat of snow and ice from the trip the day before:

Back in Denver, we headed to Ivan's brother's house where we've been relaxing and enjoying time with the extended family. Including the newest member, Jadin, shown here with proud parents John and Amanda.

Ivan and his brother went to an aviation museum this morning...

They had a good time, and so did those of us who stayed home and relaxed. It was good to kick back and just visit with Alice. We used to live in the same town, back when Ivan and I first got married, and she was one of my best friends. They moved out here in '84 while we headed to Florida (then Michigan, Uganda and now Argentina) and we've only been able to get together a few times in the intervening years. So we treasure these few and far between visits!

This coming week is going to be C-R-A-Z-Y and I don't anticipate much computer time as we countdown to D-day (departure day): November 8th. However, I will be back with news of the biopsy results. It's been such an encouragement to hear from those of you who are praying! Thanks so much. How wonderful to be part of such a wonderful community of prayer warriors!

Project 365, October Recap, Part 2

2011-10-28T16:18:00.000-03:00

The third week of October found us flying to Arizona for another missions conference. We flew out with friends who have a home not too far from the church, and we spent a few days hanging out with them before the conference started.

Here's the sight that greeted us at the airport...mountains in pretty much every direction we looked!

The first day we relaxed and took it easy. The club house overlooks the golf course so we enjoyed cold drinks while watching those braving the hot sun to knock tiny balls into small holes...

Then we headed up to Prescott and Sedona. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G scenery everywhere we looked! Just outside Prescott is Watson Lake, with some of the coolest rock formations:

Our friends gave us the Tilley hats which came in VERY handy in the hot Arizona sun.

We climbed over rocks and took dozens of photos. Ivan and Adrene were a bit more adventurous and went higher than I was comfortable with, but I still managed to take some decent photos.

That evening we ate dinner at The Grasshopper Grill in Cornville. Some of the BEST chicken tortilla soup I've ever had! And the barbequed ribs were absolutely delicious. I'd highly recommend this place if you're ever in the area. Had to have our photo taken in front of this sign -- now this is our kind of country club :)

The area around Sedona is spectacular! Impossible to pick just one photo from that day, so here are three:

See what I mean?!
Thoroughly enjoyed our little trip, as you can see...

We were too busy meeting people and sharing at the missions conference over the weekend to take photos. I managed to snap this one when the church wide picnic was over Sunday afternoon and most of the folks had already left.

It was SOOOOOO good to finally meet the folks at Desert Springs Community Church, who have faithfully supported and encouraged us for over three years.

Late Monday afternoon when rain threatened (an unusual occurrence from what we understand) the sky was this incredible mix of colors:

We actually did get a spattering of rain on the windshield of the car, but not enough to even clean the glass.

I'll be back this weekend with part 3, complete with photos from our time in Colorado.

Meanwhile, a prayer request...
We fly back to Michigan on Monday afternoon (October 31st) and I have an appointment Tuesday morning with the surgeon, who I'm praying will be able to get me right in for a biopsy (mammogram and ultrasound indicate there's a need for one). We're scheduled to fly back to Argentina on November 8th and I really, REALLY want to get the biopsy done here in the U.S. -- with enough time to get the results back. Appreciate your prayers!

Project 365, October Recap, Part 1

2011-10-28T13:28:00.000-03:00

Long time, no see!
We've been on the road since October 8th, with no internet at most of the places we've stayed. This week we're in Colorado with family --- and they have wifi!
So while I have a chance, let's get caught up on Project 365...

The first week of October found us (mostly) in Jonesville. Gorgeous weather, beautiful fall colors every where you looked...

Not that I saw much of it, since a good portion of my week was spent inside. Not only inside, but in the basement. Where there was much gnashing of teeth as I tried to pack.

Remember we're not only packing the things we'll be taking back with us, but also suitcases that will be brought by groups coming next year. And it was hard to get 50# worth into some of the smaller suitcases. Wanting to get the most out of each suitcase, I resorted to buying and using Space Bags. Has anyone ever used one and had it shrink flat and square like the commercials? Because mine always come out in very bizarre shapes.

Y'all might recall the cottage in Ludington; here's the lovely couple who shared it with us:

We met for breakfast one morning and spent a couple hours catching up and laughing. They are one of the funniest couples we know!

Ivan was able to connect with an old friend and spent a day hanging out with him.

They go way back...having gone through flight training together back in the early 90s, and then flying together every chance they got.

Saturday, October 8th we headed to Indiana. Met up with our son in South Bend and while I did some shopping, Ivan and Jon toured the Studebaker Museum and then went by Jon's office:

That night we used a groupon to the Carriage House Dining Room & Gardens, which is housed in an old church. Beautiful building and very good food made for a memorable date night.

We were in Indiana for a missions conference at Pleasant View Bible Church. What a treat! They started with a parade of flags, carried by the junior high kids, and then arranged around the platform:

That Tuesday we had "off" with no activities associated with the conference so our kids and their spouses all took the day off so we could hang out. What a precious time!

The second week of October is a sort of anniversary for us; we started dating on October 13th. Knowing it was supposed to rain and be really windy that day, we decided to "celebrate" a day early and recreated our first date -- a walk around Winona Lake, Indiana. Along the way we saw this adorable turquoise bike:

Out on the island is this house that looks like a castle:

It's where we had our second date, when we attended a Bible study there. Lots of memories!

Friday PVBC had scheduled a bonfire but just as they got the fires going, the rain started! Here are the last of the folks making a run for the barns:

I finally finished binding Kyle and Tina's double lap quilt that I'd promised them last year.

I gave it to them when we got together on Saturday evening and they posed for a photo.

The missions conference ended with an international banquet on Sunday the 15th. We sat with old friends from our college days. Here they are with two of their grandchildren:

It was really fun re-connecting with Gary and Patti. It was also really fun participating in the missions conference at PVBC and having the opportunity to get to know lots of different people in the church. Conferences are definitely the best for that!

Back soon with parts 2 and 3...

Another Interesting Concept for Small Spaces

2011-10-06T00:16:00.000-03:00

Apartment therapy is a fun site for both design and space saving tips. Today they had a post on multi-functional furniture from Italy. Very cool products! So I'm back to share this 6-1/2 minute video with you.

In other news, the packing continues. Along with a return trip to the dentist so he could finish the root canal. And a follow-up visit to the hospital for a secondary mammo and ultrasound. The traveling hasn't stopped either. Sunday we were in Addison and tonight we drove to Hickory Corners...via downtown Battle Creek because for some reason Mapquest thought that was a good idea. Seriously?! We're also taking advantage of as many hanging-with-our-buds opportunities as we can. Three of those lined up for tomorrow.

"I'm making a list and checking it twice." No, make that checking it repeatedly. I have multiple lists. There's the list for things to pack for Indiana. Another packing list for Arizona and Colorado. To say nothing of the ridiculously long packing-to-go-back-to-Argentina list. There's the list of things I need to sort through and find homes for...everything from a vase (remember that $6 Goodwill vase that I argued was a bargain at $1/per month enjoyment during our stay?) to books to clothes to...

You get the picture.

Ivan checked one thing off on the list today. He went to the DMV to find out what we should do about our Michigan driver's licenses, which are set to expire a few months before our next furlough. The last time we had them renewed (shortly after we arrived in Argentina), we were told we'd have to take the test next time around. But I guess we'll qualify for an extension and then renew them when we get back to the U.S. in May of 2013.

I like checking things off my list.

I just wish I'd quit adding things faster than I can check them off.

And I hope I'm not forgetting anything.

Or at least not anything really important.

One thing is for sure, if it's not on my list(s), it ain't gonna happen.

Interesting concept for small spaces

2011-10-02T15:22:00.000-03:00

CNN.com has a really interesting article about a teeny, tiny house in France; previously an old garage in the historic district of Bordeaux. The video is rather long (13-1/2 minutes), in French with English subtitles, but worthwhile for anyone fascinated by architecture and the creative use of space. The architect used a box in the process of thinking outside the box :) Watch the video and you'll see what I mean:

Project 365, September Edition, Part 2

2011-10-01T18:11:00.000-03:00

This past week we enjoyed a few days in Ludington. Dear friends who own a cottage on Lake Michigan have let us use it numerous times over the years. We didn't think we'd be able to go up this time but they offered it at the perfect time, and we were able to get away. Yay!

We'd already planned to spend Monday and Tuesday with friends from Charlotte, and they were able to join us at Epworth for those two days. It's always fun sharing a special place with special people :)

First up are photos of a few of the rooms. I can't possibly do the place justice with mere photos, but this is the best I can do.

The living room (windows look out to Lake Michigan):

Dining area (mural painted by a former Hillsdale College student, depicting Epworth Heights and the surrounding coastline):

Long galley style kitchen (take note of the wood inlay of the S.S. Badger):

One of the bedrooms (window overlooks Lake Michigan):

Upstairs bath:

It rained a good deal of the time, but we did manage a couple of walks around Epworth.

There are 105 stairs leading down to the beach from this end of Epworth.

(I think there's only about 20 steps leading down to the beach at the other end of Epworth, where our friends' cottage is located.)

Adrene has a thing for rocks, both collecting and climbing on them. Can you see the lighthouse out behind her?

Ivan and Richard were checking to see if there were any salmon heading up the river, but the water was too murky.

Can you tell what this is?

That's the footprint of a Sand Hill crane! Those birds have HUGE feet! You can't tell from the photo, but that's about 7-8" long.

Ivan used the auto-timer on the camera to take this shot of all four of us:

After the walk we enjoyed relaxing out on the deck:

From the kitchen you can see the swing.

That's one of my favorite spots to sit and read -- when the weather cooperates, that is.

Tuesday evening we went into town to see the S. S. Badger coming in. It's the ferry that travels between Ludington and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, which is straight across Lake Michigan.

It's a pretty big boat, as you can tell from this next shot showing the big rigs down below, parked so they're ready to drive off once they dock.

On Wednesday night Ivan took some stunning sunset photos. This one is my favorite:

We returned to Jonesville on Thursday, driving through lots of rain on the way. We're very grateful for the days in Ludington. Now you can understand why it's one of our favorite places!

Project 365, September Edition, Part 1

2011-10-01T12:50:00.003-03:00

Here we go again, desperately trying to catch up with Project 365. And once again I confess I have not been doing a good job taking the requisite photo-a-day which is the whole point of Project 365. But in the spirit of documenting our year in photos, I'm sharing what we do have, starting with this photo of my favorite store...

On my second trip to IKEA I picked up curtains and silicone pot holders. Definitely the best prices around, on those and plenty of other household items. Yay IKEA!

We stopped there on our way to Lapeer where we stayed with a couple who have a lovely home next to a pond. On their garage was a Monarch butterfly cocoon. It's like a tiny jewel box!

It's the first time we've ever been featured on a sign like this, so I had to snap a picture :)

On the way home we stopped here...

Recognize it? It's simply one of thousands -- all of them part of our beloved Rest Area system. I don't know if there's anything comparable anywhere else in the world. With ALL THE TRAVELING, we've stopped at a number of these :)

Ivan was playing around with GoogleEarth and found the house in Sta. Rosa. Fun to see the view from above:

I've been going through things we left behind when we moved, as well as things we've picked up this trip and chosen not to take with us, and decided to put a few things up for sale on eBay. This was one of them:

We like the retro, mid-century modern look and you know how I feel about anything aqua. Looks like someone else felt the same way, since it sold! I also sold a few old books; not many, but a few. Altogether I sold enough to pay for a new plastic cover for my computer.

We've been trying to have different friends over for a meal whenever we're "home" in Jonesville. Unfortunately that hasn't been often enough to get together with everyone we wanted to, but we have managed to connect with a few. Including my dear friend, Pam, her husband and half their kids.

On a walk around the neighborhood a couple weeks ago we saw the trees are beginning to change. I love this time of year!

Trying to enjoy autumn as much as possible because it will probably be our last in the U.S. In the future we'll be doing shorter furloughs (or "home ministries" as they're now called) over the summer months.

We hadn't been to Hillsdale College at all this year so decided to go grab a cup of coffee one afternoon in the new student center. One of the college newspapers was laying around and had an article about a student from Italy who makes and sells homemade bread on campus. Included in the article was his basic recipe which inspired Ivan to come home and try it.

Didn't he do a great job?! He's made several loaves since then and every one has been delicious!

Kyle had a men's retreat the last weekend of September so Tina came up and spent Saturday night with us. There was a new art exhibit at the college featuring business-related graphic designs, plus they were hosting a lecture by the design company CEO so we went to that, followed by a stop for coffee.

That morning I had finished the sewing project that I hinted at a while back. It was a quilt for friends who were expecting their first child. They had decided not to know the gender of the child ahead of time, so I chose fabrics I felt would work for a boy or a girl. I just loved the green/aqua/white combo in these fresh prints by Moda!

The polka dot border is from a sheet I found at a thrift store; I couldn't believe how perfectly it worked with the Moda fabrics! And I had another fabric with these adorable little elephants that I thought would work well as appliqués:

Dan and Jen had a little boy on September 18th so while Tina was here we went to visit and take the quilt. This little guy didn't want to open his eyes but we still enjoyed seeing his perfect little features...

...including the biggest feet I've ever seen on a newborn! He'll be a very tall guy if he grows into them :)

That last weekend of September also marked the start of our county fair, the "Most Popular Fair on Earth"! I prefer going that first Sunday, before they've started the rides (and the noise) so there aren't as many people, and it's easier to get around and see the exhibits. Plus, if you take your bulletin from church, you get in free that day!

The men's retreat ended that morning so Kyle was able to drive over and join us for the afternoon. We had a good time visiting the small animal barns...

...as well as the vegetable displays. Something new since the last time we went is the ginormous pumpkin carving. This guy was really into it...

...and before it was over he'd carved several large pumpkins like this:

Of course we also enjoyed typical fair food, including Fiske fries with plenty of vinegar, fresh lemonade, a funnel cake with chocolate milk, and a juicy sausage sandwich with homemade potato chips. Back in the day we would have each gotten our own, but these days we can't eat like we used to, so we shared. Even at that, we were so stuffed by the end!

Oh, and I wanted to share this screen shot I took today. One of my photos (from the iReport I mentioned in the last post) was picked up and used in this CNN special photo report. Woot!

So ends Part 1 of the September Edition of Project 365. I'll be back later in the day with Part 2 featuring the final week of the month, with lots and lots of photos from Epworth!

I'm a bonafide CNN iReporter

2011-09-24T09:34:00.000-03:00

Have you ever noticed some CNN stories on their website are by what they call iReporters? Yesterday morning I noticed CNN had posted a request for people to share their tips and photos for traveling in Argentina. You know I couldn't pass up that opportunity! So I decided to contribute a few of our photos and a short blurb, which you can see here. But I'm not sure for how long. I don't think those things stay up indefinitely -- which is why I'm mentioning it now. I'm pretty sure most of the photos you've already seen at one time or another; I just thought it was fun that they're appearing somewhere other than this blog :)

TGIF

2011-09-23T16:19:00.000-03:00

Usually weekends are really busy for us, work-wise, as we travel to different churches to share about the ministry in Argentina. So generally I'm gearing up for another trip on Fridays and I'm all about TGIM on Mondays.

But this weekend is different. While we're sharing in a church on Sunday evening, we'll be at our home church that morning and, best of all, our daughter is coming to spend the weekend with us!!! AND we have friends stopping by tonight as they travel from New York back to their home in Wisconsin. Plus (I know, can it get any better?! the answer is Yes!) our county fair starts on Sunday and I am so ready for my first elephant ear in four years!

We're also really, REALLY looking forward to a few days at one of our most favorite places on earth: Epworth Heights in Ludington! This is an unexpected but VERY welcome GIFT. We didn't really think we'd get away to Ludington on this furlough (our schedule is so packed) but our friends who own a cottage there offered it to us at the best possible time and we can actually go! I've mentioned this place before, but now I'll have some fresh photos to share next week :)

I won't bore you with all the details of our busy week. Instead I'll just give you a quick run-down of what's been going on:
~ Ivan caught the flu last weekend and was pretty miserable for a few days, running a fever and coughing like a long-term smoker.
~ As I shared yesterday, I had to visit the dentist this week for a broken tooth.
~ Also visited the optometrist in an effort to find contacts that would work mid-distance. Sadly that's not working so well. Boo hiss to growing older :(
~ Had friends over for dinner one night.
~ Packed ten suitcases.
~ Worked on a little sewing project.
~ Ate at least a dozen Honey Crisp apples.
~ Finally caught up on Words With Friends (hadn't played in about a week).
~ Cleaned off the desk and sorted papers...in preparation to actually doing something WITH all that paperwork.
~ Made bread.
~ Ate bread.
~ Made brownies.
~ Ate brownies.
So that's how I spent my week.
And now I'm looking forward to a fun weekend with friends, my daughter, and elephant ears.

So what are your weekend plans?

Which is more painful: facebook changes or root canals?

2011-09-21T20:38:00.000-03:00

Since I've experienced both today, I feel I can make an informed decision. The root canal wins, but only by a very slight margin.

Seriously, I am fed up with the constantly changing facebook. To the point that I opened a Google+ account this evening. The process of joining and "finding" friends helped keep my mind off the pain of the root canal. Sort of.

I had a big chunk of an eyetooth break off last week and at first it seemed like I'd be able to get by with waiting until we returned to Argentina (where dental work is much, MUCH cheaper) but, alas, today the pain hit, and it hit big time.

Although a big chunk broke off last week, little bits have continued falling out in the intervening days so I guess enough finally fell off and exposed the nerve. Ouch.

Thankfully the dentist I used to go to when we lived here was kind enough to get me in at the end of the day. He started the root canal and I'll go back October 4th so he can finish it. I'm going to wait until we get back to Argentina and have my dentist there do the necessary crown. Since we don't have dental insurance, I am more than happy to wait a couple months to do that. The cost of just the root canal is enough to make me say double ouch.

But back to facebook... I was late joining the facebook party because I didn't really need or want another thing to maintain. But in the end I did join, mainly because it was a way to keep up with (mostly younger) friends and family. Now, however, I'm about ready to quit. I don't appreciate facebook deciding what is or is not important to me in terms of news feed. I'm tired of constantly having to go in and manually change settings to maintain my privacy. I'm frustrated with an ever-changing way of "doing" facebook. It seems like we just get used to one change and they're rolling out another one. At this point I'm evaluating whether it's worth the hassle to stay with facebook at all.

So while the root canal was/is painful, the latest facebook upheaval runs a close second.

Sharing a link

2011-09-17T09:50:00.000-03:00

Not a lot of time to write today, but I wanted to share this link I saw on facebook: "The Kind of Man You Want" by Lori Frank. As another commenter said and I can heartily echo: "I wish someone had told me these things when I was young. Fortunately, God provided me with a wonderful husband, in spite of my early mistakes. :~)" A worthwhile post to pass on to the young women in our spheres of influence.

And now we're off on a short three day trip. Hasta luego!

Thankful Thursday

2011-09-15T08:41:00.000-03:00

Haven't been able to keep up with much of anything blog-related this summer, so I have no idea if the Thankful Thursday meme is still going on, but decided to do my own bit of giving thanks today. Because there is MUCH for which I'm thankful!

Up first, the many, MANY, MANY miles of travel safety. Not that I haven't mentioned ALL THE TRAVEL a time or two ;) But how great it has been to have the opportunity to see so many wonderful people!

And that brings us to the second thing: we wouldn't have been able to do all this traveling if it hadn't been for the generosity of our home church, that bought and insured a lovely little Saturn for us to use while in the U.S. Thank you to our "family" at Countryside Bible Church!

That same "family" has helped out in a myriad of ways during this furlough: friends from church are letting us use a house, others helped furnish it, we've received fresh vegetables from various gardens, a large quantity of beef from a family that raises their own cows... I could go on and on. It's such a blessing to be part of a loving, supportive church.

The blessings don't stop with our home church, though. We've been encouraged and cared for by many other churches as well. Everything from a gift toward my medical expenses (one church) to funds to buy a projector (another church) to an increase in support (yet another church). And that doesn't include the folks who have hosted us, fed us delicious meals, and taken time out from busy schedules to hang out with us.

I'm also really thankful for the wonderful men and women who work at the home office of Biblical Ministries Worldwide. What we love most about them is their servant hearts, an attitude that they will do whatever they can to help, in whatever way is needed. It's a privilege to work with such a great group of people!

And then there's family. Those who know us so well and love us anyway :) Son, Jon, our IT guru, has been a huge help as we've replaced computers and figured out what software we needed and how to use it. Kyle and Tina provided cell phones for us to use while in the U.S. Ivan's mom and siblings cheer us on, encourage us when we're down, love on us, and make us grateful to be part of the Hoyt clan. My sister is my #1 cheerleader. Extended family support and encourage.

Like I said before, I could go on and on.

But bottom line, all of these and MORE are gifts from God. All that we have comes from His hand. We've seen time and time again His care, in ways both big and small.

Let's talk about some of the "small" ones...

Next year we'll be building a not-so-big-house/garage on our lot in Carlos Paz (the square footage for our living space will be about 700 square feet). We need to do this as economically as possible and one of the ways we plan to keep costs down is by buying used-but-still-in-good-condition items whenever possible. We'd heard about, but had never been to, the Habitat for Humanity ReStores. That all changed this trip, as we've tried to visit as many as possible! So far: six stores in three states. Each one is different, because it depends on what's been donated, and from what we've been told, materials flow in and out quickly so it's a good idea to keep checking back if you're looking for something specific.

[NOTE: For those not familiar with ReStores, they're kind of like Goodwills but for construction materials. People who are renovating can donate the items they take out of their home, and then others can buy them very inexpensively, and the money is plowed back into the Habitat program.]

Obviously we can't fit a lot into our suitcases, but have been able to find some smaller items that we can take back. Like faucets. People, do you realize how expensive new faucets are these days?! And they cost even more in Argentina, where everything is imported. So we were THRILLED to be able to find both bathroom and kitchen faucets for $8 to $10/each. Also towel bars. One of the ReStores had brand new ones for $8/each! I've also been collecting small, round, white ceramic knobs to use on cabinets. And we scored brand new cabinet door hinges. A very good thing since Ivan will have to build all our cabinets.

Small things, but we're saving a huge chunk of change.

Then there's the whole how-many-suitcases-will-we-need dilemma. We've been collecting items we want to take back -- everything from melamine dishes to faucets and towel bars to fabric -- and it's definitely going to require more than the two-bag-per-person the airlines allow. This was a two-part dilemma: (1) acquiring the additional suitcases needed, and (2) actually transporting the suitcases.

Part #1 is coming along nicely. I've been able to pick up a few suitcases at Goodwill and other thrift stores. At church last Sunday they announced we needed suitcases and we've gotten one through that already. Then yesterday I hit the mother lode! A group of women hold a large rummage sale every year to benefit a nearby college. A friend called me at 9:30 yesterday morning to let me know they had a ton of suitcases at the sale. I rushed right over and scored seven for $14! Woot! I'll be packing suitcases over the next week or two and think that what we now have will be sufficient. And if it's not, I'm trusting God will provide what's lacking.

Part #2 is also coming along nicely. I believe we'll have two groups coming to visit next year, and between the two, looks like they can bring all the suitcases. DOUBLE WOOT!

You can't see me but I'm doing the happy dance :)

So, yes, I have a lot to be thankful for, but most of all I'm thankful for a God who cares about the small stuff. You see it in Scripture and you see it in our lives. Can I get an Amen?!

What are you thankful for today? Anything in particular?

Project 365, End of Summer Edition, Part 2

2011-09-10T13:07:00.000-03:00

This Project 365 post is longer than usual because it encompasses our trip down south and a bit beyond. I still missed a lot of photo opportunities but to make up for it, I'm sharing multiple pics from some days. Mainly because I am having a bad case of DMD (decision-making disorder).

A lot of you have already seen an almost duplicate of the following photo since Robin and I had the server take photos with both our cameras.

It was so fun to finally meet a blog (and fellow Project 365) friend! We got together for dinner while Ivan and I were at the mission headquarters outside Atlanta. I'm just sorry I missed Skoots, who was out of town -- but we're already making plans to get together when we're back on our next home ministry assignment!

Also while in the Atlanta area I met another quilt ~~fanatic~~ enthusiast who showed me some of her recent projects, including this gorgeous Christmas quilt:

I was so inspired by her studio too. We took photos of her set-up in hopes we can duplicate some of her smart, space-saving ideas. And bless her heart, she gave me some fabric! This was the third gift of fabric I received in August, which brings me so much joy :) All three benefactors are quilters who share my passion for fabric and wanted to help as I gather supplies and materials so I can teach quilting when we return to Argentina.

[And last night another friend said she was going to give me a cutting mat/ruler/rotary cutter combo that she no longer uses! I'll add those to the ones I've been picking up with my 40% and 50% off coupons at Joann's. My goal is to have enough for a class of 4-6, with some sharing as needed.]

Anyway, back to Project 365...

We left Atlanta and headed to South Carolina to visit family, taking the route that went through Savannah, a city I've always wanted to visit. We parked at the south end of Forsyth Park and started walking up Bull Street. Talk about hot and humid! Within a block my bangs were matted to my forehead and I was ~~sweating like a pig~~ "glowing" as they say in the south.

But I did love our short time touring a bit of the city! The gnarly trees are so picturesque and I am determined to make a quilt based on this photo.

I had no idea that Paula Deen's restaurant, Lady & Sons, was right smack downtown, and better yet, we were able to have lunch there! I'd heard how hard it was to get in, but we're guessing it was a slow day because of (1) the HEAT, and (2) the hurricane. During our very short wait I was fascinated by these doors between the restaurant and her store. Those are frying pans, people!

I was enthralled by this "secret garden" spied through some of the ornate ironwork that's so common in Savannah. Can you imagine having this private space in your back yard?!

We have a thing for architectural art, and by that I mean art with buildings or bridges or something of an architectural nature. And because prints are flat and lightweight, we've determined to try and collect those from our travels. Of course there are many art galleries and studios in Savannah and it wasn't hard at all to find LOTS of gorgeous prints but we ended up settling on a small, inexpensive but lovely watercolor of this home, which we hunted down to photograph so we could keep it with the print:

We picked up another print while in Charleston, South Carolina, visiting family. It will be fun to frame and hang those back home, remembering this particular trip and the fun experiences. While we didn't choose a print by this artist, he was the only one who was working on-site at the City Market in downtown Charleston, and he didn't mind when I asked if I could take his picture.

Our nephew, Philip, took us on a tour of the city as well as a trip out to Fort Moultry (which is on the mainland across from Fort Sumter).

We had so much fun hanging out with Philip, Roz, their daughter Rachel, and Ivan's brother Lynn. It was a relaxing weekend that culminated in a special tri-fold communion with their church. Our background is Grace Brethren which practices tri-fold communion (including foot washing), but we've been members of a Bible church for many years now and it had been probably close to 25 years since we'd participated in a tri-fold communion. I am sad to say I took very few photos of the weekend (except at Fort Moultry).

Monday, August 29th, we headed to North Carolina, stopping briefly at Columbia International University where we picked up some information on their post graduate distance programs and drove around campus (too hot to get out and walk!).

That night we enjoyed catching up with dear friends, Jim and Gina.

I could use a week at their house on the mountain...so beautiful and peaceful there!

Here's a kitschy photo we took at the first rest area in Tennessee. Gotta love a place that provides rocking chairs and a view of the mountains!

Yes, that's Ivan in the rocker :)

Okay, here's a teaser photo...

Guess what I'm working on?!

And finally, here's one of very few photos we took this past weekend while Ivan's youngest brother and his wife were with us.

All our photos were of plants we took on a walk by Lake Bawbeese :/ Not a single photo of them or them and us... Oh, and by the way, that plant is jewelweed and you might want to take note of what it looks like, because it helps prevent and/or heal poison ivy and other rashes!

And that finally brings us to the end of the End of Summer Edition!

Project 365, End of Summer Edition, Part 1

2011-09-10T10:46:00.000-03:00

This posting once-a-month has become a habit I'm hoping to break soon. I don't want to sound like a broken record but my excuse continues to be ALL THE TRAVELING, often without internet. And even when we do have internet, I'd rather be spending that time with the friends we're visiting!

What I discovered when I finally sat down this morning and started sorting through photos was that I have too many to share in one post. So let's begin with Part 1...

Back in July we realized we needed to start carving out some time with our kids. Between our busy weekend schedule and their busy weekday schedule, it's not easy finding a time when we can all get together. But by planning ahead we were able to get together on August 13th at our son's house in Elkhart. Jon has become quite the smoking guru and after working with a smaller store-bought model for a year or two, he and Ivan built a monster smoker this summer:

We thoroughly enjoyed the meal, but ever more the time with Jon and Natalie...

as well as our nephew, Stephan, and his wife Karen...

and I'm sure you recognize Kyle and Tina in the background.

On August 17th we visited an older friend, Don, who is 90 and still going strong. He has a unique ministry -- he bakes bread to give away! And we're not talking about a loaf here and a loaf there. This man is SERIOUS about making bread! He has picked up industrial size equipment, like this ginormous stand mixer:

He mixes 15 cups of bread flour with 11 cups of cracked wheat (which he gets directly from the farmer and then cleans, toasts and cracks) which makes a whopping big chunk of dough!

Don also has a machine that kneads the dough and shapes it into loaves ready to pop into the pans. Unfortunately I failed to take a photo of that process because we were having too much fun :) Don made a delicious lunch of grilled cheese (using homemade bread of course) and tomato soup, and then gave us a couple loaves to take home. He makes bread twice a week and gives it all away -- that's 26 loaves per week!

While in Jackson one day we decided to grab a bite at a little Mexican restaurant that makes their own tortillas and the MOST AMAZING carnitas ever. Be still my heart! Marinated in a secret blend of herbs and spices and then slow cooked until the meat is falling-apart-tender, these tacos are sooooo delicious.

They generously sprinkle freshly chopped cilantro on top, which makes it even better!

Ivan met an old friend for lunch one day. We go back over 30 years with John. He and his wife were instrumental in our choice to homeschool and we have stayed in touch although we haven't been able to get together very often.

So that takes us through about ten days, wherein I missed many other photo opportunities with friends because I was too busy talking and visiting to remember to take pictures... even though I make sure to carry the camera every where we go, with good intentions to document everything with a photo.

Not sure I'll improve, but one can make goals and hope...

Project 365, The Catch-Up Edition

2011-08-11T22:28:00.002-03:00

Taking a month off blogging, and especially Project 365, was not part of the plan. But life happens.

We'd heard the stories from other missionaries, about how much traveling is involved during home ministries. But until we began to experience it we didn’t really grasp HOW MUCH TRAVELING IS INVOLVED.

Last night we pulled into the driveway about 10:30 p.m. The house was stuffy from being closed up for six days but we opened all the windows and the cool night air freshened it right up. We're SOOO thankful for cooler weather!

And for the many miles of safe travel. We've clocked close to 8,000 miles so far and we're only half-way through our six months. [And that doesn't include the trip I took with my sister, to visit family in Kentucky and Tennessee.]

Most of the time we've stayed in places without internet access so just keeping up with e-mails has been a challenge. Last week I'd planned to get a post up while we were home but OUR internet went down for a whole day. So much for that idea...

Even though it's been over a month, I do not have an over abundance of photos to share. I totally dropped the ball with Project 365, sometimes going days without taking a single photo :( But here's what I do have...

In the process of clearing out my MIL's house I came across a couple of old quilts and brought them home to wash. Sadly I was not able to get the stains out. I thought I could create Christmas stockings from the unstained portions, for each of the kids and grandkids, but someone else (who shall remain nameless **cough* *the hubs* *cough** cough**) feels that things should remain in their original condition. So they went back to languish and take up shelf space in my MIL's closet. Here's the one that had simply been tied off rather than quilted:

Ivan thought it funny that the blocks have the swastika but these actually go counter-clockwise. Plus, I found this explanation online: Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures...to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck. Even in the early twentieth century, the swastika was still a symbol with positive connotations. In ancient times, the direction of the swastika was interchangeable as can be seen on an ancient Chinese silk drawing.

On July 13th we helped out with the summer reading program at our local library, as they're focusing on stories from around the world. It was actually a two-fer since Ivan dressed up in his gaucho outfit and read an Argentine folk story...

...and I dressed up in my African gomez and showed the kids some of our Ugandan keepsakes; then they watched a video of the book, Beatrice's Goat. Lovely story and at the end of the video the author introduced the now grown-up Beatrice.

The library is one of my favorite places and I go about every other day that we're home :) Isn't this sculpture just adorable? It sits out in front:

Mom's apartment has turned out so well! Here's a shot of the "living room" (which is part of, and open to, the dining area and kitchen):

The blue curtain panels are linen and were only $10 per panel at Tuesday Morning. Mom already had the lace panels. It's a perfect combination that allows light in but provides a measure of privacy. The painting above the couch is an original oil done by a dear family friend from Argentina who has since passed away. There's another painting by the same artist on the wall next to the window. The loveseat was a gift from good friends and it fits the space so well, and the colors are picked up in other pieces (blue, cream and tan from the paintings and pink from the piano bench).

At the end of July Mom celebrated her 90th birthday with a small celebration that included friends and family. Here she is with two of her friends:

The woman on the far right was also a missionary in Argentina so they have been friends for many, many years. Now she and mom live just down the hall from each other.

Several Sundays ago we were at Clear Lake Bible Church in Fremont, Indiana. We've never seen so many stained glass windows! Here are the ones at the front of the church:

But there were also a number on the sides and back, and even in other parts of the church.

Last week I was THRILLED when the FedEx truck pulled into the driveway! I knew it meant my KITCHENAID had arrived!!! After days of DMD (decision-making disorder) I finally ordered the Artisan in the color Ice. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Last Friday we met up with friends in Shipshewana for the day. Ivan and Richard are pretending to be part of the sculpture:

Another odd scene at the Enchanted Gardens; this spaceship/alien vignette:

We also enjoyed checking out the antique booths that were being set up in Shipshewana for a big show over the weekend.

The next day we were off to meet up with another couple at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo. We'd been to the Zoo back in the early 90s but they've added a lot of new exhibits since then. It was especially fun for Ivan to go through with David, a friend who knows a lot about aviation. Sandy and I kept running on ahead and then looking around for the guys. They were always lagging way behind, often talking to one of the museum docents who knew lots of fun "inside" stuff. I was fascinated by these wooden propellers:

Can you imagine how much work went into creating such a beautiful and functional piece?!

It's interesting to see how churches have been designed/decorated. This past Sunday we were at Green Lake Calvary in Caledonia. This enormous painting is above the main doors leading into the sanctuary:

That afternoon we headed farther north, past Muskegon. In the evening service Ivan shared an object lesson using an hornero nest that his dad brought to the states probably 40 years ago. After an old fashioned ice cream sundae social we went home with a good friend and supporter. Joyce hosted us on our first visit to New Era Bible and has since provided a "home away from home" whenever we're in the area. She's another avid quilter so we had to play Show-'N-Tell :) This is a quilt she made with blocks that someone gave her -- they'd been rescued from being thrown away!

I hate to think how many UFOs (unfinished objects) have been thrown away by family or friends who have no idea the time and money that goes into creating quilt blocks and tops.

Joyce has a long-arm quilter and kindly showed me how to use it. We worked on a baby quilt and a double lap quilt, so now all that's left to do is the binding.

It took two days to finish them because we kept stopping to have fun :) Joyce gets together every Monday with a group of friends for lunch, and then they play Dominoes. She may look like a kindly grandmother, but she's a cut-throat Dominoes player! She and her friends also taught us a new game that uses three decks of cards.

Once we had the quilts done, Ivan took apart the frame so he could trace the individual parts -- and yes, he put it back together after :)

He bought me a quilt frame some years ago (which we've never had room to set up) and he thinks he can modify it to be able to use with a long-arm machine.

Joyce lives just a couple miles from Lake Michigan so one day we went to a park that overlooks the lake. I used the timer to take this shot of the three of us:

Every morning we'd get up and walk a mile with Joyce before breakfast. When we started yesterday, the clouds looked rather menacing over the family farm:

But by the time we got back to the house, the clouds were all gone. [Note: this photo is completely untouched; I was surprised at the intensity of the colors when I downloaded photos to the computer.]

I've learned my lesson: No more promises to do better in the future. If at all possible, I'll post more often but we still have a LOT of traveling ahead and no guarantees of internet access.

Project 365, Weeks 26, 27 & 28

2011-07-09T17:01:00.000-03:00

It's wonderful to be home again! In the past three weeks I traveled through four states -- and didn't have internet at any of the places we stayed. Had to look for free wifi or find a relative with internet. As you might imagine, I'm still catching up on e-mails. Not being able to check in on facebook or read blogs means I feel totally out of the loop -- what's happening with everyone?! It's amazing how much we've come to depend on this little thing called the world wide web!

You don't even want to know how many photos I have to share for Project 365. Let's just say it would be a good idea to go ahead, right now, and get a tall glass of lemonade or iced tea, maybe a cookie (or three) and settle back...

Every time we went to Indiana in June we helped move more of mom's things over to her apartment at the retirement home. Which continued when we went down on June 21st but I have no photos of that. Instead I have multiple photos from that weekend when Kyle and Tina held their reception. They were willing to wait until this summer so they could have it outside, and it was a smashing success! Kyle, Tina and his parents spent months planning and preparing for the big event. We helped a whole crew of family and friends with set-up on Friday.

Although it rained every day the week before, Saturday dawned bright and beautiful...a perfect day for an outdoor party with a camp theme! Here we are with the happy couple:

In case somebody needed directions:

I don't have an exact number but there were well over 200 who enjoyed the festivities. Dinner included pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, baked beans, chips, a variety of beverages and (of course) lots and lots of homemade cookies. YUM!

There were games and crafts and an animal show put on by a fellow who takes his "pets" to camps, schools, and private events. The kids loved being able to hold and/or pet the animals:

Some of the kids made a beeline for their parents, though, when he brought out the tarantula :) But a lot of them were much braver and willing to hold the snakes.

I like this shot of Rita with grandson, Zion, during the show:

Later there was a talent show which was fun. Ivan and an old friend did a skit they'd done years ago at family camp. Hilarious!

Sunday afternoon, once clean-up was complete, those brave enough (I was not one of them) rode the zip line. Here's Ivan getting ready to take off:

My sister and her girls had flown in from California to spend some time with us and my 10-year-old niece declared the zip line "awesome!"

Monday the 27th, while Ivan stayed in Indiana to help his mom finish moving into her apartment, I headed south with my sister and her daughters. First we visited Aunt Jane in Tennessee. It was the first time I'd been back since our dad died in 2000. One of our cousins is living beside Jane now, so we got to see her too, as well as her granddaughter who was visiting. The girls had fun playing outside together:

Before we left on Wednesday we took lots of photos, including this one with Aunt Jane:

Next we headed to Kentucky to visit mom's side of the family. While there we took flowers to mom's grave (we had also taken flowers to dad's grave while in Tennessee):

During a cook-out at my cousin's house, my older niece decided his boat would be a good place to take the group photo. We weren't the most cooperative crowd, since we couldn't stop being silly long enough to properly pose:

Before we left my cousin Ruth's house on Friday I took a group shot on her front porch. They were much more docile :)

Please be praying for Ruth, who is struggling with cancer. Surgery and other treatment had to be postponed because of an infection.

I was very impressed with the new park in my hometown of Hyden:

If memory serves me, that was just a dumpy field with lots of litter when I was a kid. Looks much better now!

We spent Friday night with my Uncle Martin, one of only two surviving uncles on my mom's side. He's not in the best health, but he still enjoys working in his yard which is beautiful.

I love this shot of my beautiful sister:

We had such a wonderful week!

Our final day together was spent at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. Everything is so well done, from the videos, displays and exhibits, special lectures... We were impressed! Although there's SO much to see and do, you're really pushing it to try and do it all in one day.

Isn't this quilt amazing? I failed to write down the name of the maker, but it is truly stunning (and huge)!

It was a really, REALLY hot day but we braved the heat to visit the petting zoo and view the gardens. The girls enjoyed their camel ride too:

All too soon our time together was up :( We saw them off at the Louisville airport last Sunday, but not before a few more photo ops with the girls:

Monday we enjoyed a delicious asado at Ivan's brother's house. Oh my goodness! So much wonderful food, and it was fun meeting their friends too:

Later that evening we drove up to Syracuse, Indiana, for their fireworks display (since we'd missed the one in Winona Lake the night before). Ivan figured out how to set our camera to take better pictures and here are two of my favorites:

Good friends came down to visit and we showed them around Winona Lake. Adrene liked this life-sized figure outside one store:

If you're ever in the area, Winona Lake is a fun little town full of quaint stores and restaurants right on the lake. They also have an amazing music program there called Masterworks with concerts several evenings a week, plus a variety of special events, throughout the summer.

This past week was spent clearing and cleaning mom's house, getting it ready to rent. Of course it looked worse before it looked better!

Thankfully by the time we left Friday evening, most of the STUFF was cleared out and we'd scrubbed the kitchen and baths. It's not totally done, but we made a good dent in the project. Some other missionaries in our church are on furlough and needed a few pieces of furniture which we happened to have left over that mom can't use, so we loaded it up and brought it to Michigan last night. Shades of the Beverly Hillbillies :)

Seriously, can you believe how many photos you just looked at? I'm impressed if you made it ALL the way through this post in one sitting! :) Hopefully from now on I'll be able to keep up on a weekly basis.

Project 365, Week 25

2011-06-19T15:15:00.000-03:00

I'm missing a chunk of this week but still managed to have six photos to share for Project 365 :)

Last Sunday we spoke at New Fellowship Baptist in Grand Rapids, a church plant currently sharing a building with several other congregations, including one hispanic group. (The different groups stagger their meetings throughout the week.) Good friends of ours were called there after "retiring" two years ago. We always have such a wonderful time with Brother Starlon and Sister Diane! After the afternoon meeting they took us out to eat and we talked. And talked and talked...

We so appreciate their years of experience and sound counsel.

Monday we headed to Indiana. We stopped and saw what remains of Mike and Rita's house...

...which isn't much! Ivan and I were amazed that they were able to salvage anything, but Rita is thankful that many of those irreplaceable items, like photos and letters, were saved! I'm sure she will have much to share when her life settles down a little and she is able to get back to blogging.

We spent the night with their oldest son and his wife AND enjoyed one of the famous Monday night meals. YUM! Cuisine from North Carolina was featured and we chowed down on Hoppin' John, spoon bread, salad (with fresh greens from their garden) and Blondies for dessert. A wonderful "last supper" before my surgery the next day :)

Okay, maybe everyone knows about these but they were totally new to me...the hospital has special gowns now with a place to plug into a wall unit with a hose that supplies warm (or cold) air as needed. You know I had to try it out, and had way too much fun with the device which inflates the gown in the process...

...it reminded me of Grosse Point Blank when the secretary described attending her 10 year reunion and how everyone had "swelled". Remember that scene?

Okay, no photos for the next three days. Sorry but I'm sure you understand :)

Actually surgery went well (except for the excessive amount of anesthesia which made me sicker than a dog) and the neurostimulator is doing it's job. I'm still trying to find the optimum setting, however, as some toe-twitching continues. Which Ivan thinks is hilarious. I also picked up a cold at the hospital and am honestly suffering more from congestion and a persistent cough than I am pain from surgery. Go figure :(

Saturday morning a group of friends got together at the church to bake cookies for Kyle and Tina's upcoming reception. We blasted through I don't know how many dozens of cookies and had a great time in the process. I took a photo at the beginning...

...but more ladies came later and I never managed another big group shot. But I did get one of the "young'ns", girls who were in youth group together a few short years ago and who are now such lovely young women (the two on the left are both expecting their first babies in early October):

Today we were in our home church where Ivan and Tito shared about the ministry in Argentina, and Ivan preached from Psalms 67. I think it was good for the people to hear about what God is doing overseas, before a number of them headed out for a week-long mission trip right here in the U.S., in inner-city Chicago. Here are the guys loading the trailer with materials, food stuffs, sleeping bags and all manner of items needed for the group of around 50:

Our church is a little different in that mission trips are planned so that whole families can go if they want. This trip there's a mix of families and parts of families, as well as individuals, who are going.

~~~~~~~

Well, we're gearing up for lots of traveling in the next few weeks so I won't be back until July 9 with the next P365 post, although there might be the sporadic midweek, meandering post :)

I'd forgotten the holiday hype

2011-06-17T09:19:00.000-03:00

I don't think it's a case of early Alzheimer's, but merely that I've been focused on other things for the past three years...whatever the reason, I'd completely forgotten the hype in the U.S. for every.single.solitary.holiday.

Take Father's Day. Don't take me wrong, I LIKE this holiday. I think dads deserve a day to be honored and pampered. But you'd think it ranked right up there with Christmas or Valentine's Day with the flood of television, print and internet ads we're bombarded with on a ~~daily~~ ~~hourly~~ pretty much constant basis.

I hope Ivan won't be too disappointed with his reality version of Father's Day. In the morning he'll be preaching and sharing at our home church along with our co-worker (who is also in the U.S. on home ministry). I'll make a nice lunch and then I hope he has some time to rest in the afternoon. He's been pulling double duty around here this week while I heal from surgery, doing both the cooking and cleaning.

Then again, I'm pretty sure Ivan hasn't given a whole lot of thought to Father's Day, because he realizes on a daily basis how much our kids love and honor him. While a day dedicated to fathers is nice, how much better to have children who honor their earthly AND heavenly father when they obey the command in Ephesians 6:2-3.

I'm Wired

2011-06-15T18:09:00.001-03:00

That phrase evokes different responses in people.

(A) Some might think it refers to how God made us... "I'm just wired that way."

(B) For the younger generation, they probably assume it has something to do with technology.

(C) And if you're accident prone, maybe the first image in your head is someone with their jaws wired shut.

(D) For me it's none of the above. It just means surgery went well, the device (i.e., wire and battery) implanted and functioning.

I am pretty ouchy still and likely to be so for a few days. It makes sitting or laying down a little challenging.

The worst part was no doubt the anesthesia, of which there was waaaaay too much. I warned them. I truly did. But they always think they know so much more than us non-medical peons. Of course it doesn't affect them, so what do they care? It took a sweet forever to come out of it and I was sicker than a dog for hours, unable to even keep water down. Not fun.

The original prescription for pain meds did not sit well with me either, even though I only took half of one with breakfast before we headed back to Michigan. Not being a fan of the nausea and vomiting I asked the doctor's office to call in a different prescription, one I have used in the past with decidedly fewer ill effects.

Thanks for praying and please continue to pray as the incisions heal and I figure out the proper adjustment for the device. The original setting caused the toes on my right foot to twitch every time it activated (on 20 seconds, off 8 seconds) which I don't think is a desired outcome. Made for an interesting drug-induced, nausea-filled, toe-twitching night though. I'm surprised I didn't have any weird dreams but that's probably because I really didn't sleep very much. But that's about to change. I am preparing to get comfortable with an assortment of pillows all around me and catch up on some of that lost sleep.

Hasta manaña...

Project 365, Weeks 23 & 24

2011-06-11T11:51:00.001-03:00

Many are already aware that Mike and Rita's house burned yesterday; Rita shares their story on her blog today. Please continue to pray for them.

As has been the case too often of late, I am again posting two-weeks-in-one for Project 365. And with all the weekend traveling we'll be doing in the coming months, this is likely to continue happening unless I get on the ball and start posting on Fridays.

Memorial Day found us at one of our favorite places: Wally and Katie's front porch.

We enjoyed a fabulous brunch and went back later in the day for barbecue. Despite not having power for about 24 hours, they were welcoming and gracious as always.

Ivan's mom really enjoys playing "Words With Friends" on her iPad. She always has a number games ongoing with various children and grandchildren. While we were there a few days, she and Ivan played a few rounds. Ivan totally creamed her in one game, by scoring words like this one:

The very next round he scored a word worth over 60 points. But mom doesn't get too discouraged and just challenges him to another game!

Near my BIL's shop there's a car wash with this interesting side business:

Ever seen anything like this before? Cracked me up the first time I saw it :)

We stayed with Mike and Rita the night before I went in for the trial treatment. I don't know what was making Ivan laugh so hard, but it might have been one of his puns (he loves 'em!).

In looking at this photo I see things that have value; some monetary but even more that have sentimental value. I'm praying they are able to salvage the things most precious to them.

After going to the doctor's office, I had to go over to St. Vincent's for my pre-op interview. In the lobby were these gorgeous art quilts hanging above the information desk.

The trial treatment consisted of temporary wires being inserted into my back that touched the nerve which communicates between my brain and my bladder.

The wires you see were connected to an external battery pack that clipped to my waistband. My surgery this coming Tuesday will involve the permanent implantation of wires and a small battery into my back. I'll have a remote device to control the battery. Isn't it amazing what they can do these days?! Although Interstim was designed primarily for those suffering from overactive bladder, it has also proven effective to treat those with my condition: painful bladder syndrome.

On a walk we passed this sign. Can you spot the mistakes?

We're guessing that English is not their first language.

Last Sunday we presented our ministry at a supporting church in Charlotte, Michigan, but we spent the whole weekend with dear friends there. Saturday they took us over to Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful day!

He's one of the associate pastors at the church, but we've known them since he pastored the very first church we went to when we started deputation...waaaaay back in 2004.

Monday I decided to make granola. I had too much fun going to the local health food store and getting a variety of grains to use (in Argentina I can only find oatmeal) BUT I learned the hard way that some things are best NOT added to the mixture...

...like wheat berries. Those puppies are so hard you could break a tooth on them!

I'm missing a couple days when I had a migraine and didn't do anything beyond what was necessary.

Thursday we were able to connect with old friends from our homeschooling days. Erv and Sally are also missionaries now, serving in Guatemala so it was a HUGE treat to find out they were in town.

We had a blast...in fact, we talked until about 3:30 a.m.! If you know me, you know I like to talk, and so does Sally :) It wasn't only catching up on each other's lives, but also sharing about our ministries... it's hard to explain but there's just a special connection with other missionaries -- we understand what they're going through and vice-versa. They head back to Guatemala on Tuesday and who knows if we'll manage to be back in Hillsdale County at the same time in the future? We're just thankful we were able to get together this time!

I promised photos of the house we're staying in. Once again, I just have to say how GRATEFUL we are that God provided so abundantly through His people! Mike and Jami worked long and hard to get the house ready for us, and folks from church stepped up to help with furniture, appliances, etc. We did nothing except unpack our suitcases.

Anyway, here's a picture of the living room taken by the front door (the sofa folds out into a queen-size bed when we have guests):

Right by the front door I've placed this lovely aqua vase I found at Goodwill for $6. It stands about 16" high and I snitched some straw thingies that Tina left in her old apartment to put in it.

And from the other corner of the living room, you can see right into the kitchen:

You saw the dining part of the kitchen in the photo with Erv and Sally, but here's a close-up of the kitchen work area:

The house has three bedrooms. The first has a twin bed and will be great when we have just one person visiting:

The middle room is serving as a study right now (and a catch-all for things we'll be taking back to Argentina):

It's hard to tell by the picture, but our room has luscious chocolate brown walls and shimmery gold curtains that look lovely with the bedding:

(Ignore the messy side tables.)
And we've heard the bathroom transformation is quite amazing. I'm hoping Jami will show me the "before" pictures sometime, but here's the lovely after:

So there you have it, a tour of our home-until-November. And may I just say, one of the best things about it? IT HAS CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING!!! This is the first time since 1997 that we've had a.c. and I am REVELING in it :)

Pray for Mike and Rita

2011-06-10T12:36:00.002-03:00

This has gone out on facebook but I'm pretty sure there are those who know Rita from Project 365 but aren't necessarily friends on facebook...

We don't know the particulars or the extent of the damage, but Mike and Rita's house burned overnight. I'll post updates as we hear more. But we wanted to ask our P365 and other blog friends to be lifting them up in prayer, for God's grace and comfort and provision.

Edited to add:

Noon update from facebook: Details are in...they lost 1/3 to 1/2 of the house...Mike is in the ER with some burns and major smoke inhalation, and will keep him overnight. The fire started with the pottery kiln somehow.

Edited to add:

4 p.m. update via phone call: The doctor insisted on Mike staying overnight because smoke inhalation can be tricky and flare up while you're sleeping. There are burns on his hands and his face looks like he has a bad sunburn. Some hair was singed and his eyebrows are "mostly intact".
Lots of people have called or facebooked to see what they can do to help. Once they know the extent of the damage and what needs to be done, those who offered to help will be contacted.
Meanwhile continue to keep Mike and Rita in your prayers!

Monday Meanderings

2011-06-06T16:33:00.000-03:00

We didn't get home until about 9 pm last night and I was just too tired to get a Project 365 post up... decided it could wait and I'll just do two weeks of photos next Saturday.

I think all the traveling has caught up with us. We've been back and forth between Michigan and Indiana constantly for the past month. We thought we'd have to return to Indy tomorrow to have them remove the trial doo-hickey (that is totally a technical term) but the lady from Medtronics was able to walk Ivan through how to do it via a phone call. So now I think we may stay put in Michigan this week. It would be nice to have time to get caught up on paperwork before the crazy begins all over again next week.

And I wouldn't mind a few siestas either :)

We are thoroughly enjoying the lovely, DRY weather. I think rain is in the forecast for later in the week, but meanwhile we revel in the sunshine. I noticed yesterday the 'miniature' lilacs we planted at the parsonage are in bloom (they always bloom later than the others) and I received permission from the current occupant to pick some to enjoy. They have the most heavenly, intense scent -- much stronger than the other lilac bushes -- and they have really pale lavender (almost-but-not-quite white) flowers.

Ivan got in some strenuous physical activity this morning and early afternoon, helping a friend chop and load wood. I'm pretty sure he lost a few pounds in sweat :) My most strenuous activity was trying to find my way around the local Walmart and I'm sure I walked an extra ~~mile or two~~ ~~several hundred yards~~ few feet, back-tracking because the store is laid out so differently than the Walmart back in Cordoba. Sure would be nice to have a Meijers closer than Jackson; I like their variety and quality of produce a lot more. Pero es lo que hay.

The trial period showed I respond well to the treatment so I'm scheduled for surgery next Tuesday, June 14th. Really excited about that!

I'm in the living room and can smell the lilacs in the other room. Mmmmmmm

A brief stop at a Goodwill the other day netted me three bright orange Tupperware canisters I can use now AND take back to Argentina for the house in Sta. Rosa.

(flickr photo by Jeni)

I like the retro look and appreciate the pop of color they lend to a room, to say nothing of the great $5 price tag for all three.

At another Goodwill (in a different town) I found an incomplete set of melamine dishes in a very retro avocado green (although the plates have a white daisy pattern on the green background). Not the prettiest, but very serviceable and they'll be great for the casita. I know I have mentioned how ceramic tile is DEATH to anything glass, even Corelle ware.

One of the things I'd like to do this week is watch "The King's Speech". I've heard so many good comments, making it the one movie I know I want to see. Any other recommendations? Remember that we've seen very few in the past three years (the only two I can think of are "Julie and Julia" and "UP").

I'm really, REALLY, REALLY enjoying the public library :) I've read a few mysteries and have started a Maeve Binchey novel as well as Beth Moore's "So Long Insecurity" and a book that caught my eye because of the title: "Menopause Reset!" What are you reading this summer?

This post has meandered all over the place and I could keep going, but will stop and either (a) bake cookies, (b) start sorting receipts for the ministry expense report or (c) take a siesta. Which do you think I'll end up doing? :)

Project 365, Week 22

2011-05-28T22:35:00.000-03:00

After being gone all week, we arrived home last night just in time to unload the car and head off to an engagement party -- where I failed to take even a single photo :/

I did take photos of other things this week though, so here's the weekly round-up for Project 365:

We had a few projects in Indiana this week, and the first one was shooting the video for our presentation. Kyle and Tina did a FABULOUS job with that! Here they're setting up...

Kyle played a talk show host who interviewed us :) We have a little tweaking to do when we go back next week but mostly it's done. A shout out to Kyle and Tina for all their work!!!

I loved this sign outside a coffee shop in Winona Lake...

Made me want to start talking like I wasn't a white suburban housewife :)

Winona Lake is home of the MasterWorks Festival (which you should really check out if you're anywhere near there, because the concerts are FREE people, FREE!) and in front of Rodeheaver Auditorium are some interesting sculptures cut from old tree stumps, like this one...

It stands about 7 to 8 foot tall with the base, so I guess it was more than just a "stump".

Thursday was our 32nd anniversary! Ivan surprised me with a day/night out in the South Bend area. It was a fun, relaxing time and I enjoyed a little window shopping along the way. I so adore those gorgeous aqua patterned pillows...

...wouldn't they be great for the house in Sta. Rosa!!! Actually I've seen TONS of household items in various shades of the lovely aqua but I fear my suitcases cannot contain all I desire. *sigh*

But my stomach can (and did) contain all the deliciousness we encountered this week. Like this Reuben sandwich we had for lunch on Friday when Jon and Nat took us to McCarthy's...

Ivan ordered this and I ordered a vegetarian sandwich and we went halvsies with them so we both got to try two things. We pretty much always do that when we eat out. Anyone else do that? And I must tell you about our dinner on Thursday! Based on the rave reviews by all our kids, we ate at Corndance in Mishawaka. YUM! Ivan ordered the bison meatloaf stuffed with spinach and fontinella cheese served with a grilled caesar salad and I chose the roasted pear and ricotta cheese stuffed ravioli and nut cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, topped with fresh pears and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Seriously some of the best ravioli I've ever had!

We got to spend some time with our son and his wife on Friday since Jon was setting up his dad's computer (thanks again Jon!) and I took the opportunity to snap some photos of our "granddogs" :)

Aren't they cute?! It cracks me up that Leo is so much bigger than Bailey but they are SUCH good buddies! Watching them play and horse around cracks us up.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, Jon received a call from one of my half brothers who didn't know we were stateside. How was the timing on that call?! We didn't grow up together (same dad, different moms) but Allen's been so good about staying in touch over the years. It turned out he was in Michigan visiting some of the other family so it worked out great for us to meet up for breakfast this morning in a nearby town before he headed back to Missouri.

He brought along some old family photos and we spent time looking at those while he explained who everyone was (I've never met any of my dad's extended family). He's had a very rough time physically over the past few years with both heart and lung issues and I'd appreciate your prayers for him.

Speaking of prayers, this coming week we'll be heading back to Indiana as I return to the specialist I saw right after we arrived in the U.S. I'm pretty excited about trying a new treatment and would also appreciate your prayers as I go through a five day trial period, starting Thursday.

Project 365, Week 21

2011-05-22T16:00:00.000-03:00

I was a total SLACKER this week when it came to taking photos for Project 365. We were busy settling into our cute house AND getting ready to start visiting our supporting churches, plus it rained just about ALL WEEK LONG so we didn't get out and do a lot of stuff.

I know... excuses, excuses. I promise to try and do better this coming week!

One of the things I'll do is take photos of our home-for-the-next-six-months. You would not believe what a great church we have! Good friends are letting us use a house they own, and other people in our church loaned everything from a fridge and a bed to a stove and dishware. We arrived last Saturday night and moved right in! And so many have asked what else we need, so an iron and ironing board and then a desk appeared...plus another chair for the living room.

We are sooooooo blessed!

It's been fun to jump back into "family life" at church too, and we're so grateful for these opportunities to catch up with dear friends!

Made some new friends, too, when Rita and Mike came up Thursday and good friends of theirs from the OM days joined us. Lots of story swapping, laughter, and fun. I love meeting other missionaries!!! Dennis and Donna have a heart for the Dalits, a people group in India who are considered so unworthy they're not even part of the caste system. Now that, my friend, is LOW!

But alas, I failed to take even a single photo that day :(

It wasn't until Saturday dawned clear and bright that I even thought to get the camera out of its case. Our town is having it's annual Riverfest celebration so we walked down to check things out. On the way we passed a house with this cool stairs-to-nowhere...only it isn't really to nowhere, because back in the horse and buggy days a carriage could pull right up next to this and the ladies could daintily step out and down the stairs, while the horse could be tethered to the nifty little post.

Modern-day carriages were the stars of Riverfest though...

We had a lot of fun checking out the car show!

My favorite was this absolutely stunning turquoise 1954 Chevy. *SWOON*

And the super nice owner invited me to get in and have my picture taken! Can you see me in there? No, okay, here's a close-up:

Could my grin get any bigger? :) It was so fun.

We also saw a ton of people we hadn't seen in years...people we'd worked with, or known through various activities. It IS a small town after all!

Project 365, What week is this?

2011-05-19T19:36:00.000-03:00

Seriously, I had to go look up to find what weeks I'm covering with this post. It's been a crazy few weeks! I had hoped to get this up last Saturday (and even had the photos picked out) but we were constantly on the go, and never near wifi. This week we've been settling into our lovely house in Jonesville, Michigan, and yesterday the nice people from Comcast came and turned the switch so NOW WE HAVE INTERNET!

Woot!

I briefly considered waiting until this coming weekend but decided doing three weeks worth of pictures might send some folks into a boredom induced coma. So -- before I proceed with ALL THE STUFF that's been happening -- I'm catching up with P365. Hopefully you'll enjoy this excessively random selection of photos :)

At the end we were scrambling for photos we knew we'd need for our video presentation, making mad dashes around town to snap "just a few more". Thought I'd share a few of those. You may think gas is expensive here, but look at what we pay:

That's PER LITER and even when translated from pesos to dollars, it's still way more than we're paying in the U.S.

I'm not sure I've ever shared a photo of a verdulería (vegetable store) before:

We left Argentina on Tuesday, May 3rd, flying over the Andes to our first layover in Santiago, Chile. Ivan went a little crazy taking photos out the window. Our seats were right over a wing, but that didn't stop him from getting some pretty cool shots:

Our son picked us up in Chicago and took us back to his house in Indiana where our car was waiting for us. Our home church, Countryside Bible, provided a lovely little Saturn for us to use! And our daughter and son-in-law went to Michigan the weekend before and brought it back to Jon's. So we transferred luggage and drove on down to Tina and Kyle's. She was pretty excited about watching the baby birds hatch in the nest right outside her craft room window:

In the months since we were here for the wedding, Tina's department moved to a new building on campus. Here she is at her new desk in her new office:

On Mother's Day the Indiana branches of the family came together to celebrate with my MIL. I snapped this photo of mom with the three siblings. Some of you may recognize my SIL, Rita.

Later that day we went to our consuegros to enjoy another meal prepared by the "younguns". Jon smoked a chicken as well as some pork while Kyle made yummy homemade baked beans and this delicious salad...

...and Tina made delectable bacon chocolate chip cookies.

Our daughter's office is right across the street from the headquarters of the mission that my in-laws were with and they have this lovely, peaceful outdoor space...

...as well as an amazing mural painted by one of their missionaries to France. The mural goes all the way around the lobby and I couldn't resist sharing the entire thing, even though it takes four photos to do it :)

The artist/missionary (sorry, I can't remember her name) spent months working on this project. Didn't she do a fabulous job?!

Wednesday, May 11th we headed down to Rita's for the night. Mike was teaching a pottery class at the Red Barn she's mentioned on her blog so we went over to see the studio. VERY impressive! And you know I absolutely luuuuuurved the wall color :)

Then they took us to Ivanhoe's for dinner. The cowabunga burger isn't on the menu but Rita, having written an article about the restaurant a few years ago, knew about it and suggested we get one. GINORMOUS! That's Ivan's large man hand next to it to give you some idea of it's size. Cut in half, it was still the biggest burger I've ever had!

If you live in the Indianapolis area and have never been to Ivanhoe's, you really should go! They have a gazillion different sundaes and shakes too, but we had their infamous strawberry shortcake for dessert -- with both whipped topping AND ice cream. YUM!

Last Saturday, before we headed to Michigan, we went to visit dad and had someone take this photo of us with him and mom. Dad was quite cheerful and alert this particular day and we cherish those times!

We drove straight to a friend's house in order to celebrate; our friend recently finished seminary, graduating magna cum laude! He's done most of the work long distance and didn't attend the graduation (it was several states away) but his wife and kids got him the regalia anyway. Way to go Jim!

Whew! So glad to be caught up at last!

I have lots more to write about, but that will have to wait. I'm just SOOOOOOOOOOO happy to have internet again. *insert sigh of extreme contentment*

I'm baaaaack!

2011-05-10T13:39:00.000-03:00

After being without a computer for a whole week (gulp!) I am sooooooo happy to be the proud owner of a new (well, refurbished) Macbook Air!!!

Isn't my baby cute?!

Since my mother-in-law doesn't have internet at her house, we're seeking free wifi hotspots this week. And hoping we can get internet at the house in Michigan.

Which is where we're heading this weekend!

I'm also soooooooo excited to be able to plug back into our home church for a few months!!!

I sort of feel like Dorothy at the end of The Wizard of Oz..."there's no place like home, there's no place like home". Only in reference to our home church, not our "home".

Because "home" is now Argentina, of course :)

And while we're very happy to be here, and get to see friends and family, we DO miss "home" and our friends there. Too bad we can't instantly transport back and forth.

Anyhoo...
Just wanted to let folks know we arrived safely and we're staying busy...

...and have already started working on the list of foods we can't get back home.
Like breakfast sausage.
And Dr. Pepper.
Which isn't technically a food, but is something we can't get in Argentina.

I'll be back this weekend with updates for Project 365.

Or maybe before, with thoughts on the differences we've noticed in our short time back in the U.S.
Like how spacious public restroom stalls are, and so nicely stocked with toilet paper.
Or the sheer variety of...well, just about everything in the stores.
And how quickly you can get in and out of business or government offices.
Some definite and noticeable differences!
More later, mis amigos.

Project 365, Week 18

2011-04-30T16:36:00.000-03:00

This has been a super busy week and I haven't done a very good job taking photos. In fact, if it weren't for Ivan snapping a few, we'd have very slim pickings! He took four of the five I'm sharing this week...

Last Saturday Marce and Caro came over. Caro finished the fabric bag she'd started a few weeks ago and I also showed her how to make banana bread -- something she grew fond of while in the U.S. as an exchange student. In this photo we're looking at the books I've accumulated to help me teach English. Marce's not only my Spanish teacher, but she also teaches English in several area high schools.

I told Marce I'm pretty sure I'll need an intensive refresher course in Spanish when we get back in November!

Ivan went to the lot to mow one last time and took this photo looking down our street. This is at the top of the street, and our lot is at the very bottom next to the river, three blocks down. This photo gives you an idea of the view we have of the mountains.

While he was out there he killed this...

SOOOO glad I wasn't with him!!! I do NOT like snakes!

I started working on a script for the video we'll be putting together to share in churches, and we spent a little time the other day running around trying to take photos we need. Time is running out and we still have so much to do, so we went despite the storm clouds overhead. Made this shot rather dramatic, wouldn't you say?

And finally, here's my latest creative endeavor, using paper instead of cloth for a change:

This was before I put the banner together, attaching the flags to ribbon for easy hanging. I both sewed AND glued them on! This is for our co-workers' son and his fiancé who are getting married just before we get back in November. We'd planned on being here for the wedding but after we'd bought our [non-refundable] tickets, we found out they'd had to move the wedding up because the place they're getting married didn't have any other Saturdays available. Since we can't be here, I still wanted to contribute something to the festivities and I'd had so much fun helping Tina make one for her wedding, I thought it would be a nice project for this young couple too.

Looks like we're selling our computers and not sure if we'll be delivering them Sunday or Monday. Plus, we still have quite a lot to do before our plane takes off Tuesday afternoon. If I manage to do more than check my e-mail periodically, I'll be surprised!

Next week I'll be posting P365 from the U.S.! YIKES!

And now, back to work...

A Royally Good Time

2011-04-30T01:21:00.000-03:00

I hadn't planned on getting up early to watch THE wedding. But since my poor husband spent an uncomfortable night with tummy issues, we were both up well before the event started and decided to go ahead and tune in.

I may be one of the few women my age who did NOT watch the marriage of Charles and Diana so I really can't compare the two, but I enjoyed this stately occasion with all its pomp and pageantry.

It was also fun to do a little research on the royal family while watching the festivities, learning more than I ever knew (or needed to know) about the parties involved. Like the fact that the Queen's mum didn't like Philip at first and initially referred to him as "The Hun" because of his German connections. Reminds me of my mom's endearing nickname for a boyfriend back in the day: The Grinning Idiot.

Plenty of grinning going on today -- I particularly liked Catherine's as Wills wrestled the ring on her finger.

I can just imagine her thinking, "Gotcha!"

And to think, it only took her seven years! No longer can we call her "Waity Katey"

Oh, and that reminds me... why is she called Kate with a "K" when her proper name begins with a "C"? Shouldn't it be Cate?

Anyhoo...
I was not all that impressed by the dress. Call me a philistine, but it just seemed a little blah after all the build up. Classic but excessively understated, but I just figured it fit Kate-with-a-K's simple, relaxed style. Then I saw this photo:

Much more impressive when you can see the level of detail, especially around the bottom of the skirt and train.

The entire affair was reminiscent of something out of a musical or movie, replete with hundreds of thousands of extras.

In order to ensure front row "seats" some folks camped out...

I can't imagine anything I'd be willing to camp out for, since my idea of roughing it is a hotel without a pool, but I am clearly in the minority... I personally think the view through the TV screen (in my case, it was actually a computer screen) was as good, if not better, than those who lined the streets.

But then again, there's something to be said for being able to say, "I was there!"

I'd especially like to say "I was there!" for this amazing cake :)

With me, it always comes back to the food.

The One Week Countdown Is ON!

2011-04-26T10:10:00.000-03:00

Whew! We've worked really hard and much of the packing and organizing is done. I think (I hope) that by the end of today we'll be done with all we can do except the last minute stuff.

Leaving us lots of time to spend with people.

I cleaned out Ivan's closet yesterday, finding a pair of my Reboks in the process. Not sure why or how they ended up in his closet, but I was happy to find them since the pair I've been using started falling apart some time ago -- the inside fabric has come mostly unglued and every time I put them on the fabric rolls up in a ball and is most uncomfortable. So finding this other pair with the interior intact is a blessing.

I also packed one more box of kitchen things yesterday, finding a mound of ant gunk in the process. Yuck! It was a corner cupboard (hate those!), all dark and hard to get into so it's rarely used, making it the perfect "playground" for the carpenter ants. When we build our house, there will be NO CORNER CUPBOARDS!

Ivan ran around in the morning -- while things were open -- and got about half the paperwork stuff done. Then he spent over an hour on the phone getting more things handled.

Today he'll spend most of the morning doing just one thing: the paperwork to sell our car. Not the actual sales paperwork, just the preparatory paperwork. For whatever reason, every time a car changes hands the government requires an extensive inspection to verify it is indeed the vehicle in question, matching all the appropriate numbers. We thought it was a simple matter of going to the office, paying a small fee, and having it done.

That IS an option... IF you want to get up at 2 or 3 a.m. and go get in line! People literally start getting in line by 1 or 2 a.m. because only the first 20 people get served.

Yes, you read that right, only the first 20 people in line get served.

Because what they REALLY want you to do is pay more than twice the amount to have someone come to your home and do it on site.

But before that can happen you have to:
1) go to the office and get a form and sign up for the on-site inspection
2) go to the police station for another form
3) take both forms to the bank and pay for them
4) take the one form back to the police station

Then we wait for the on-site inspector who will bring yet another form which we'll fill out and pay an additional amount directly to him.

Basically what has happened is that they've created another industry that (1) allows the office designed for this purpose to do minimal work, and (2) provides an income for the poorly paid police during their off-duty hours.

[Or at least I'm assuming it's their off-duty hours.]

You're paying for convenience.
Sort of.
It's not really convenient to spend a morning in various lines filling out forms and making payments.
But it is the lesser of two evils because who in their right mind wants to get up at o'dark in the morning to get in line?!?!

All this so we can legally sell our car to our co-workers.

You're probably wondering why we're even selling our car.
After all, we're only going on furlough for six months.

Long story made short:
When we bought the car we failed to note it has NO POWER STEERING.
I have trouble parallel parking with an automatic transmission and power steering.
I've already got one strike against me with the stick shift.
Throw in NO POWER STEERING and I am extremely limited on where I can go by myself.
I'd say 85% (or more) of our town has only parallel parking.
I can go to the grocery store with its normal parking lot.
And not many other places.
Or I find myself driving around and around (and around and around), looking for a spot on a corner I can just pull into.

So we decided back then, when we realized our mistake, that we'd keep it for this term on the field, then sell it and get something with power steering after furlough.

I have to say, I will miss our little Fiat Uno. It has been a good car, taken us many places in (relative) comfort, with few mechanical issues. So I'm kinda hoping we can find a newer Fiat Uno with power steering when we get back. We'll have to go up about a decade in that model to get it, which might put it out of our price range. In which case I'll be happy with any cute little car with power steering.

Finding a cute little turquoise car with power steering would be icing on the cake.

Oh, and have I mentioned? WE LEAVE IN EXACTLY ONE WEEK!!!

Project 365, Week 17

2011-04-25T08:57:00.000-03:00

Only a day late with Project 365, instead of a whole week this time :)

A week ago Sunday we took a bunch of photos in an attempt to find one we could use on our prayer cards (which should have been ordered weeks earlier but then I'm behind on just about everything these days). Anyway, this was the best of the lot and although the light is uneven, the man who's designing our prayer card said he could work with it.

These open tour buses take the tourists around our fair city and we often see them on the costanera during our walks. Gotta love the big smiley face on the front!

On our way to visit a friend who lives off the beaten path we passed this place...

Reminded me of the forts we used to build with chairs and blankets when we were kids :) Not sure if there's a more stable structure underneath or if it's just a frame with these large pieces of fabric to keep the wind out. Makes me wonder if it's still standing after several days of high winds over the weekend.

The friend we went to visit gave us some walnuts collected from his trees and that evening Ivan hulled them.

I've already used almost all of them as I made three batches of brownies for various activities this past week. As Emeril would say, these walnuts really helped "Kick it up a notch!" Best brownies EVA.

We pass this house almost every time we take a walk, and this week I decided to take a photo for our scrapbook with construction ideas.

I like both the inset bars on the windows and the cement "frames" around the windows -- I think it makes for a much cleaner look than some of the other designs we've seen. What do you think?

There's a sign artist in Cordoba who sells at a street fair every weekend, as well as the big artisan's fair (the one with almost 800 vendors). Ivan snapped this photo of one of his larger pieces. Such detail!

A friend of ours started a men's meeting when he moved to a new town several years ago and out of that has grown a church! He and his wife and two families spent several days in Sta. Rosa over the long weekend and on Friday he baptized the two men and their wives. We drove out to join them for the day. What a blessing!

After the baptism at noon we enjoyed a wonderful meal together. One of the men prepared "pollo al disco" which is basically a chicken stew prepared in a large pan over an open fire; the pan is actually a plow disk with sides! (I came across this great post with an explanation of the dish and the recipe if you're interested.)

While we were at the river I noticed this tree with thorns protruding from its trunk. Ivan said it's a black acacia.

It reminded me of the crown of thorns, so appropriate for the day and event. With baptism, we identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. What a great prelude to Easter Sunday when we celebrate the hope, the glory and the life to come!

Project 365, Weeks 15 & 16

2011-04-16T17:31:00.000-03:00

Once again playing catch-up. Lots of photos from the past two weeks to share!

Two weeks ago we headed to Sta. Rosa on Monday. That night missionary friends arrived from Buenos Aires, delivering a suitcase another friend had brought from the U.S. in March. One of the items was a Shutterfly book our daughter put together (wedding pictures!). Which I've enjoyed showing to everyone I know -- from my hairdresser, to co-workers, to the people who own and manage our favorite tea store in Belgrano (they said hi, Wally and Katie!). And now I'll share the front cover and a few pages with you :)

Of course I have some outdoor photos from the country to show you. Can't go to Sta. Rosa and not take plenty of those! It's kind of hard to tell, but there's a bird sitting on the rock by the river. It's yellow belly and brown "coat" blend in so well with the river rocks and water.

The neighbor's horses were taking a nap. I think, anyway. One was resting his head on the other -- until I started snapping pictures.

We were there to get things ready for a young couple who will use the back bedroom suite for the next six months. Money saved from not paying rent can go to buy materials to build a small house on a lot purchased shortly before they were married. They work with a drug and alcohol rehabilitation ministry nearby and can eat their meals there but needed a place to sleep, and just get away.

While Ivan worked on installing a secondary door between the 2nd and back bedrooms (to provide more privacy, like at hotels with connecting rooms -- either or both sides can lock their doors) I painted the frame around a storage area above the tub in the main bathroom. So here are the results of our labors...

Installing this door was a challenge because the door frame is wonky, measuring 71 cm across at the top, 70.3 cm in the middle and 70.6 at the bottom. In the end he had to remove the middle hinge to make it work right.

Creating a secure storage area was important because the storeroom where we keep all our personal ~~junk~~ ~~stuff~~ household items is part of the back bedroom suite. Adding lockable doors to the space above the tub allowed us to safely stash a few basic items (towels, bedding for one bed, pillows). [Everything else we brought back to Carlos Paz to store in the garage.] The bath is just too small to get a photo of the whole storage space above the tub, but here's a partial shot:

As you can see, the space slopes with the roof line, which meant he had to make odd-shaped doors. It's so nice being married to such a handy guy!

Toward the end of the week we visited Aldo and Mirta in Rio Tercero. Mirta is a dear friend of Rita's -- I could be wrong, but I do believe they've been friends since grade school! And Mirta has saved Rita's letters over the years, carefully keeping them in a binder which we will hand deliver in a few weeks; they should be invaluable as Rita works on writing a family history.

On the drive over we passed a church in Santa Isabel that Ivan remembers his family helping to build, so we stopped to take a photo:

[The building isn't wonky, just my photography skills.]

Upon our return to Carlos Paz last Sunday we were greeted by this glorious display of roses at the front of the house...

I love that roses bloom here for 8-9 months out of the year!

I took an early morning walk one day and came across this new construction. Looks like a small condo development is going up.

We went to Cordoba twice this week. Our co-workers own a foreign built vehicle that's almost impossible to get parts for, but they found a place in Cordoba that rebuilds old parts so we took them in. This gorgeous turquoise jeep was parked nearby:

Yes, my passion for all things aqua or turquoise continues unabated.

Later on we had dinner with friends. Most of the family had gathered to celebrate Valentina's first birthday -- she looks a little sleepy in this photo taken near the end of the evening but cousin Juan looks ready to party through the night -- hope he let his parents get some sleep :)

And we returned to Cordoba on Friday for the big artisan fair. Around 750 vendors from all over South America set up for this 10-day show. I am particularly fond of things made from wood, like this lovely pie server. Isn't the wood grain lovely?!

And Mari, this photo is for you -- the gloves you won on my giveaway last year were made by this woman! I found her at the fair again and Ivan took her photo.

So ends another looooong Project 365 post.

Can't promise things will improve any time soon. We leave for furlough in just over two weeks, and we have SOOOOOO many things to get done before then. Ivan is trying to get tramites (paperwork stuff) handled... appreciate your prayers about that. The two items we really need are still in limbo -- and not for lack of our trying! If they don't get done before we leave, I'm not sure how it will affect some of the legalities of living here.

And our co-workers are moving into our house while we're gone so I have to pack everything in the closets and dressers, plus a lot of personal decorative stuff because they'll be using the space differently than we do.

So you can see why I won't be around much in the next few weeks :)

The Power of Words

2011-04-13T07:28:00.004-03:00

Edited to add: I didn't discover until we got home late tonight that the video was being cut off and the missing bit is the most important part of the sign at the end. To make it work I ended up re-doing the whole blog design :) But now you should be able to see the video in its entirety.

Project 365, Week 14 (and some from weeks 12 & 13 too)

2011-04-03T00:35:00.000-03:00

Yes, I am going to attempt catching up with Project 365. Because of the hearing loss/vertigo issue I haven't been out and about much until this past week (except to the doctors), plus it's really hard to snap many photos when your primary position is prone :) However, I do have an abundance of photos this week so let's not waste any more time...

I mentioned in a previous post that the surveyor had finally gotten around to doing our lot. Three of the corners were not really where we expected them to be, but this one was right on the money...

...in the front corner against the neighbor's fence.

Before the first trip into Cordoba for a series of hearing tests I packed a lunch...and then left it sitting in the kitchen :( So we stopped at this little Greek style restaurant that had an appetizer plate for two, with hummus, stuffed grape leaves, tabouli and falafel. YUM!

We went for a walk one day while the vertigo was still a serious problem so there were frequent stops to sit down. At one stop we saw group of swans hanging out:

On the next trip into Cordoba for more tests we parked near this very cool oldie but goodie:

Isn't it just the cutest car?!

Last Saturday I painted the front side of these cupboard doors (they'll fit an odd storage space over a bathtub):

Monday I caved to the crave and made No Bakes:

FINALLY finished the baby quilt (that I started in January) on Tuesday. I didn't have enough of any one fabric to do the binding so used bits and pieces of several to continue the primary color theme:

Wednesday we delivered the quilt to a happy mama and little Juan Ignacio:

Lorena decorated the nursery in bright primary colors so the quilt works perfectly :)

This photo is mostly for my daughter. Tina, see in the very middle of the picture -- it says "Sushi Point"! It's a new place that just opened this year.

Even though the lake is rather stinky this week (smells like dead fish), it hasn't stopped people from enjoying it:

One of the ways a business will advertise here is to hire these cyclists with billboards. One of them also has a speaker system and broadcasts (loudly!) an accompanying audio advertisement.

They just bike around town all day, every day, spreading the word for whatever company has hired them.

Today I knocked my big white ceramic bowl off the table while sweeping :(

I've had that bowl for at least 15 years, maybe closer to 20. It was a Christmas gift and I've always really liked it. It was ginormous and perfect for salads when we had a crowd. The rest of the time I used it as a fruit bowl on the counter. Oh, and at the same time I also took out the butter dish with a new stick of butter that was sitting next to the bowl. *sigh*

This morning Ivan finally found a telephone pole (he's been looking for weeks) that he could use as the corner post for our fence. He had to get that put in a.s.a.p. because we're having someone with a back hoe come in and level out that back area which is EXTREMELY uneven right now. There's a mound of dirt/debris right next to a very low area. Ivan knew it would be much, much easier to put that post in NOW rather than having to dig through several feet of dirt/debris after the fact.

He painted (all that he thought would be buried) with asphalt paint to keep it from rotting.

I know, my life is so exciting...cupboard doors, fence posts, broken bowls...

What IS exciting is that we will be going on furlough IN EXACTLY ONE MONTH! We still have SO much to do before then. It's going to be a crazy busy month!

I'm hoping to meet some of my bloggy friends during the time we'll be in the states. Some of you live in far away places that we won't be going to, but hopefully I can connect with those in Georgia (our mission headquarters is in Lawrenceville), Indiana and Michigan. Oh, and we'll be making a trip to Arizona too.

Monday Meanderings

2011-03-28T09:26:00.000-03:00

I love lists. I make them all the time and get a thrill out of checking things off, one by one -- it just gives me a huge sense of accomplishment when I see lots of little checks. I also like to use lists when it's necessary to sum up a lot of information in a brief document. Or when things are so random that a list is the only thing that makes sense. The latter is why we're going with a list format today.

~ We haven't needed to use the fans for about a week now. It's getting downright COLD at night! This cooler weather comes about a month earlier than normal. I don't mind it because days are still nice and warm, and I personally sleep better when it's cool at night and I can snuggle up under the blankets.

~ We also had a rainier than normal summer which was great for vegetation and the lake -- which is the highest we've seen it since we moved here 2-1/2 years ago.

~ The lake isn't the only thing that's the highest we've seen since moving here: Grocery prices have pretty much doubled across the board. Except for meat which has more than doubled. Needless to say, we've cut waaaaaaay back on meat consumption.

~ Another thing I've cut way back on recently is picture taking. An inadvertent result of the vertigo. Just a little hard to take photos when you spend the bulk of your time laying down. BUT...

~ I've had very little vertigo the last few days AND I've been able to hear a bit -- not much but a little -- in my right ear the last couple days so we're seeing improvement all around. Hallelujah! So I'm purposing to get back to snapping lots of photos and picking back up with P365 this week.

~ Yesterday we met a young man who's studying aeronautical engineering. He's from Salta but his family is Anglo/Argentino so he's bilingual like Ivan. His great-grandfather came to Argentina as a missionary with the Anglican church, his grandfather became a Bishop here, and his parents were also missionaries with the church (although now they're with Compassion International). He grew up speaking English in the home and Spanish everywhere else, much like Ivan did, and he's completely fluent in both languages. In the course of our initial conversation, we discovered he has an aunt and uncle working in Uganda. Not only that, but they're living in the same town where we lived during the year we spent there! [cue song "It's a small world after all"] You'd have to know how small that place is, really no more than a cluster of houses and businesses by the side of the road, to appreciate the connection. His uncle is the administrator at the hospital just 4 km from Kasana Children's Center in Kiwoko. How cool is that?!

~ The experience Ivan gained while serving as construction manager at Kasana will be invaluable as we build here. The block construction and heavy use of cement is very similar in both countries. And quite different from the dry construction method Ivan employed when building houses in the U.S.

~ Thinking about building makes me think about the architect who happens to be the brother of a friend who just had a baby...the one I'm making a quilt for; the quilt that STILL ISN'T FINISHED. For the last few days I've been quilting like mad, but still have a couple hours of quilting left, plus the binding. I'm hoping to have it finished by the time we go back into Cordoba to pick up my test results, so we can stop and drop it off then.

~ In the process of quilting this one I've discovered a tool I ABSOLUTELY ADORE. I've had it in my "tool box" of quilting items for several years, but hadn't ever tried it out. My bad! This is the best thing since sliced bread! I use a leather thimble on my right middle finger to push the needle through the fabric, and in the past I've always used the middle finger on my left hand as a bit of a guide to make sure the needle was going all the way through the three layers. But it meant my poor finger felt like a pin cushion with all the poking it would get. The UnderThimble changed all that and now my finger is poke-free :)

And that is all for this fine, sunny Monday morning...

¡SIX WEEKS!

2011-03-23T18:41:00.000-03:00

Exactly six weeks from today we'll be in the U.S.!!!

Excuse me while I hyperventilate.
Just ~~a tad~~ ~~a little~~ HUGELY freaking out over all that we have to do between now and then!
Not being "fully operational" doesn't help :(

Today I finished the last of the tests that the ENT specialist ordered. Thankfully the machine that had been broken was fixed and all proceeded according to plan. The first test involved being hooked up to electrodes (both ears and forehead) while a set of earphones fed noise into one ear at a time. Not awful, but not pleasant either since the noise sounded like a jack hammer and IT WAS VERY LOUD. Giving me a headache for what appears to be the rest of the day.

The second test was worse though, since they induced vertigo (as if I wasn't having enough of it). Did you know you could induce vertigo? I had no idea. Warm air directly into the ear will do it every time.

Now we wait for at least a week for the results, after which I guess we go back to the ENT specialist.

I've heard from a number of people who have experienced vertigo (for a variety of reasons) but it's always been a temporary condition, lasting anywhere from a few days to several weeks. It's nice to know it's probably temporary although I am well into week #3 and ready for the "this too shall pass" part. Especially after this weekend when I had vertigo constantly from Friday night through Sunday. Saturday was the worst with it being severe a good portion of the day, complete with nausea and vomiting. I was pretty much reduced to a blubbering cry-baby by afternoon.

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what brings an episode on, so it's impossible to avoid and/or prevent them. Just learning to deal with them as they come, praying for healing and endurance in the meanwhile.

Monday and Tuesday afternoon during siesta, we used the time to go out to the lot and start clearing along the back fence line. It's been a dumping spot for everything from broken cement to actual garbage. Ivan worked like a trooper and cleared a swath through the brush and chunks of cement and tile while I putzed around filling a small garbage bag or two, then sat in the shade for half an hour before getting up to fill another bag. He's my very own Energizer bunny while I'm more like the... hmmmm, can't actually think of anything this lazy.

Yesterday he dug all around some tree roots because a silly elm tree happens to be right smack dab in the spot where we need to place a corner post of the fence. Tomorrow he'll go back out with a heavy chain and the chain saw and try to cut/pull it out of there.

We're finding that installing a fence is neither simple nor easy when your property undulates like ours, and since we'll be doing all the work ourselves it might take the entire six weeks we have left! Especially since we can only work on it in bits here and there, as we do have other responsibilities.

Poco a poco.
The story of my life.

The Sound of ... Not Much

2011-03-17T19:18:00.000-03:00

Did you know that when you can only hear through one ear, it's REALLY difficult to figure out where sounds are coming from? Ivan called the other morning while out running errands and it took me forever to figure out where the phone was, because there was no sense of direction from what I could hear. Weird!

Arrived at my appointment today to find out the clinic could not do two of the tests because they don't have the equipment. In fact there's only one place in a city of a million and a half that does have it, and that's the clinic that told us their machine was broken when we called the other day. None of the other places we contacted bothered to mention they could only do part of the tests.

Anyway...they did what they could at the clinic we went to today -- which amounted to me listening to various sounds through several different sets of earphones -- which only confirmed that yes, indeed, I do have a hearing loss problem in one ear.

I do, however, now have an appointment at the place with the broken machine in hopes that it will be fixed by next Tuesday.

Welcome to socialized medicine.
Carlos Paz has a population of around 80,000.
Cordoba, the provincial capital, has a million and a half.
Can you imagine Kalamazoo not having this equipment at all?
Or Philadelphia only having one machine in the entire city?
That's what you have to look forward to folks.

Okay, stepping off my soapbox.

While we were in downtown Cordoba we swung by a used furniture store just to see what new stock they had. You may remember we bought some used dining room chairs last year that are sort of mid-century modern. Well today we found a table base with the same leg style at a very decent price. But being miserly with our money we walked away. I think we might check back next week when we go for my next appointment and if it's still there, we'll see... We're sorta torn because on the one hand, we've been looking for months and months and this is the first time we've found one with the same style legs... but on the other hand we are leaving for furlough in just over six weeks, and have a TON of stuff to do in the meantime so if we do buy it there's no way we could do anything beyond store the base until we get back.

Speaking of things we have to do in the meantime... the surveyor finally made it out to the lot! So now we know exactly where the property lines are and Ivan's ready to order fence materials. He's not sure which type poles to use, so is asking different contractor friends what their thoughts are on the subject. We're going to go basic and cheap at this point because (1) we have almost no time, and (2) even less money :) But we do want to make it good and sturdy. We will place posts every 5 meters and since the next door neighbor already installed fence on that side, it means we need 17 posts total (including the ones that will form the gate in front). Regardless of whether we choose telephone poles cut-to-length or pre-formed cement posts, we'll be using 1.5 meter chain link topped by three strands of barbed wire between the poles.

Exciting stuff!

Or not.
Depending on how you feel about fencing.
I personally am very fond of it and believe that "Good fences make good neighbors."

We will be meeting with our architect next Thursday or Friday. Before then I need to sort through my many scribblings and floor plans and figure out just what we need to show him so he has an understanding of what we want, without being overwhelmed by too much information. Which I am fully capable of providing :) Too much information, I mean. Brevity is not my strong suit.

Obviously.

Hopefully I'll be hearing better by then because I don't want to miss any part of that conversation!

Right now my ear is pretty plugged and I just hear a whistling/windy sound through it, but this morning when I first got up and went into the kitchen I realized I could hear the wall clock ticking louder than in previous days. I covered my good ear and was thrilled to hear a bit through the plugged ear! Not much, but a little. So maybe the anti-inflammatory medicine is working! My ear also hurt a bit this morning; again, not much, but a little. Before this I've had no pain at all (just vertigo and nausea), so I'm thinking that as it becomes unplugged I'll experience some discomfort.

Never thought I'd say this about pain, but "Bring it on!"
I'm ready to be over this.

Must share link

2011-03-15T19:26:00.000-03:00

While catching up on some blog reading, I came across Dorcas Smucker's latest newspaper column and knew I HAD TO SHARE IT!!! Called "Fighting to revive a marriage and exterminate the ants", you'll be entertained and encouraged.

If you're not familiar with Dorcas, you should really check out her blog, Life in the Shoe. She's a pastor's wife, mom, columnist and author who has a wonderful sense of humor and a heart for God. She's also very generous; last year she gifted some of her books to various women, including my MIL.

Go on, go read her blog. You'll be blessed.

"You should have your head examined"

2011-03-15T06:52:00.002-03:00

We've all heard this "hyperbolic and usually jocular expression of disagreement" cliché at some time or another. But this time I heard it from a real live doctor who wasn't joking.

I woke up the last morning of conference unable to hear out of my right ear. Weird, right? That feeling you get when you've gone swimming, only I hadn't. Gone swimming, I mean. There was a lovely pool at the place where we had conference but I'm not a big water person. I bought a new swimsuit before we moved to Argentina in 2008 and it still has the price tags on it.

But back to the story... I just figured the problem would dissipate as the day wore on but it didn't. And by the time we made it home 17-1/2 hours after leaving Piriapolis, I was not only tired, I was also suffering symptoms of vertigo. Not fun!

So the next morning (Sunday) we went to the equivalent of Urgent Care, where the doctor couldn't find anything visibly wrong with my ear, but he did, however, give me a shot of antihistamine which took me from plain old dizzy to dizzy, loopy and nauseated. REALLY not fun! And he suggested we see a specialist.

Easier said than done. Monday and Tuesday were national holidays and all the doctors (except in Urgent Care) took the time off. Then we had company (our area director and his wife) from Wednesday through Friday with lots going on... the men taking a survey trip to the northern part of the province, followed by a trip to Sta. Rosa.

So no specialist last week.

Initially we didn't think that was a bad thing because I was starting to improve. The hearing loss was still an issue but the vertigo was mild or non-existent most of the time. But Wednesday evening the vertigo hit again with a vengeance. *sigh* Ivan called and set up an appointment with the specialist for this week and the next few days the vertigo came and went, never too bad until Sunday when the vertigo with nausea kicked in just as I was finishing my Project 365 post. Sunday was not a good day.

I saw the ENT specialist yesterday evening. She followed the same procedure as Mr. Urgent Care Doctor and said I needed to have my head examined, since the problem is obviously inner ear and not visible with the only little scope she had on hand. Even though Carlos Paz is the equivalent to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in terms of size, it is not big enough by Argentine standards to have the facility and equipment to handle any kind of testing like I need to have done.

So first thing this morning we'll be setting up an appointment in Cordoba. Thankfully we're just over half an hour away so it's not a big deal. Hoping to get in today, maybe this evening.

[Edited to add: The clinic that the specialist recommended said their machine is broken, and even if it was fixed it would be late next week before they could get me in. The hospital we tried said we had to come in personally to set up an appointment, they don't do them over the phone. Another clinic has an opening on Thursday morning. The next place hung up on Ivan (this after he got a busy signal the first ten times he tried to call; maybe the lady was having fun hanging up on everyone who immediately tried calling back?). Yet another clinic said they could schedule me in on the 28th. Guess we're going with the appointment on Thursday!]

I've done a little internet research to see what kind of problem it might be. I emphasize "little" because I don't want to freak myself out with some weird diagnosis when it's likely something simple like fluid build-up or skin growing over the opening. I was surprised to learn that it's not uncommon to wake up and suddenly be unable to hear out of one ear. Who knew?!

The experience has given us a preview of what it will probably be like in another 20 years when we're old and can't hear well any more. Poor Ivan has heard, "What? I can't hear you!" a gazillion times in the past 10 days. LOL He's had some mild hearing loss over the last few years and I've teased him about it. But the sweet man is not doing the same to me. He's been very patient and just raised his voice so I can hear.

The upside is that with the diminishment of sound, I was actually able to sleep during siesta yesterday! Usually the noises all around keep me from really being able to rest. Makes me wonder if I shouldn't invest in some ear plugs once I have my hearing back. Hmmmmm.

Anyone ever had this happen to them before? I'd love to hear what your experience was like.

Project 365, Weeks 10 & 11

2011-03-13T12:26:00.002-03:00

Once again catching up with two weeks worth of Project 365. Had so many photos I really wanted to share that I decided to mix it up with a few collages...

Monday, February 28, found us on our way to Uruguay for the annual missionary conference. Each year all those working with Biblical Ministries Worldwide in Argentina and Uruguay get together for five days of teaching and fellowship. It's a highlight of the year! On the way we drove through extensive wetland areas that stretch between Rosario and the border between the two countries. We saw a number of small "house" boats like this one...

...and were surprised by the cows grazing in the water -- literally. I didn't manage to get a very good photo (we were driving pretty fast to keep up with traffic on the two-lane road) and none of the ones I took showed that some cows were in water up to their bellies...

We broke the long trip into two days, finally arriving just in time for lunch on Tuesday. Near the border we met up with co-workers from Buenos Aires and rode the rest of the way with them. We'll use any excuse to hang out with our friends :)

This glorious flowering tree is a palo borracho:

It was right outside the building where we held our sessions. We really enjoyed the teaching by Dr. Jack Klem but I couldn't get a decent shot of him -- my camera doesn't take great indoor pictures, plus I was at the back of the room so the camera kept focusing on the backs of heads of those in front of me. *sigh* Not the best viewpoint.

But we had a great view from the deck outside the dining hall!

You can see the town of Piriapolis as well as the Atlantic Ocean from here.

The ladies tea on Wednesday, March 2nd, was lots of fun but my camera quit working right before! :( But not before I had taken a photo of the pretty table:

Thankfully Ivan was able to fix the camera after doing a little internet research. Whew!

On Thursday we caught a ride down to the beach and enjoyed a little walk around Piriapolis. Our only free time was mid afternoon during siesta which meant the majority of places were closed, but we did snag a yummy ice cream at an open heladería. It was the best chocolate I've had in a long time! I don't care for most ice cream here because it's excessively sweet (in my opinion). Anyhoo, here's a collage:

clockwise from top left: walkway along the beach, buildings climb the hillside, looks like a slide but it's really a stairwell on the side of this house, an older mansion turned into art museum

Most of the missionaries on the field here are older, which means most of the MKs (missionary kids) are older. But we're now enjoying some younger ones with the arrival of a family with three wee ones -- who received lots and lots of attention :)

We're pretty excited that two more families with little ones will be arriving in the next year or so!

We encountered one of those cultural differences on the way home Saturday; in Rosario all traffic was routed off the highway and around on a detour to the next exit because some group was protesting something and created this barricade:

This is a pretty common technique used by protest groups. It never fails to amaze me, though, that they're allowed to disrupt traffic on a public highway like this. I remember one highway in Cordoba was blocked for MONTHS in 2009/2010!

I only have a few photos from this past week...

But they're good ones... like the steak and salad Ivan enjoyed Thursday when our area director and his wife took us out to dinner.

Doesn't that look yummy?! We both think this was the best restaurant meal we've had in Argentina! I enjoyed an amazing chicken dish with a cream sauce that included mushrooms and slivers of ham with a side of waffle fries. I'm salivating just thinking about it! We'd gone out to Sta. Rosa and this meal was enjoyed at a place called La Rueda in Villa General Belgrano.

Friday we walked down to the river where the men, who had spent a hot afternoon mowing the lawn, enjoyed cooling down in the water.

The water was too cold for the ladies to do more than dip our feet in, but we relaxed in lawn chairs and watched the activity taking place... a family washing their car, the men enjoying the jacuzzi-like effect of the small waterfall, and the egrets catching fish...

Yesterday we woke up to much cooler temperatures -- looks like autumn is arriving early! It was cool enough last night that I wore my warmer pjs. This morning I checked weather.com and it was only 51 degrees at 9:30 AM! This is a full month sooner than we typically get this kind of weather. And the 10-day forecast indicates it will continue along this line for the foreseeable future. We should enjoy lovely temps in the low 70s each day, but it will drop into the high 40s/low 50s at night. So while y'all are rejoicing in the signs of Spring, we are heralding the advent of autumn.

Project 365, Week 9

2011-02-27T07:58:00.002-03:00

We had to go to Sta. Rosa to take care of some business early in the week. It was a quick trip there and back, going Monday evening and leaving Wednesday morning. I'd promised my son we'd get photos of the sign going into town and thought you might like to see it too.

Our friends had told us the grapes were ready to start harvesting. Yes, yes they are!

It wasn't until Thursday I was able to get photos and video uploaded to show the flash flood we had Tuesday while we were out there. The arroyo is dry 99% of the year, but we happened to be there during the 1% it wasn't. Here's the video I shared:

We both came home with mild cold symptoms but Ivan's has grown into a full-blown head cold. That didn't stop him from going to the lot on Friday with Charlie and another guy to weed whack, mow and tame the jungle that was there.

Didn't they do a great job?! We have to find out from the municipality when we can burn the piles of brush. Oh, and notice they finished paving the other side of the street :)

They've also got the curb and gutters in on both sides of the new costanera along the Rio San Antonio:

Progress abounds! Unfortunately the surveyor stood us up once again (I think that's the fourth time) so we're still waiting to determine the exact boundaries before we can install perimeter fencing.

While Ivan was working over there, I was busy at home with the huge bag of grapes we brought back with us. I made two batches of jelly, one using a package of Sure-Jell I'd brought from the U.S. and the other using the recipe given by several older women here who don't use any pectin at all but simply cook the juice and sugar down until it starts to thicken (which takes a sweet FOREVER, by the way). I didn't bring canning jars with me, thinking I could buy them here. WRONG. So I've been saving jars (from olives, pickles, jam...) and used wax to seal the jelly in -- hope that it works! I'd never made grape jelly before and wasn't sure what to expect. It seems to me that the flavor of the no-pectin jelly is extremely intense, almost medicinal, while the Sure-Jell batch seems rather wimpy compared to it. I think I need to try again, aiming for a middle ground.

(no pectin jelly on the left, Sure-Jell on the right)

But that will have to wait since we're heading for Uruguay and our annual missionary conference! NOT looking forward to the travel part (15 or more hour trip) but I am excited about seeing the other missionaries... and singing in ENGLISH! I'll know all the words! WOOT!

So this weekend has been a busy one preparing for the trip, getting the annual report finished, rounding up all the stuff we need to take, packing...
But I did want to share something else that happened that is WAY cool! Two years ago we had our conference nearby in Bialet Masset and when I was admiring a plant, one of the staff offered me a cutting. And this week it finally BLOOMED!!!

Here's a close-up:

I have no idea what kind of plant or flower this is. Any ideas? [Edited to add: Ivan just reminded me that SIL Sharon had already told me this was a type of carrion plant. I'd just forgotten :)]

That's all for this week. I doubt I'll be able to post next week since we'll be traveling back from conference, so I'll meet you back here in two weeks for the next installment of Project 365!

What happens when an orangutan meets a hound dog?

2011-02-25T14:30:00.000-03:00

My son-in-law linked this on facebook, and it's too adorable not to share! It's a short, 4 minute video that will leave you smiling big time :)