And I Quote...

I think I have mentioned before my husband's state of delirium at night. He often stirs in bed until I settle down and fall sleep myself. Well, one night (mid-stir) he turned towards me with eyes closed and said very seriously...

"I love you, my wife. You can have all of my micro-machines. I have a lot of them."

Wow. Now that is love.

(Course he doesn't actually have any micro-machines... but it's the thought that counts, huh?)

Ants

We have been battling ants. The last battleground was the length of floor between our bedroom (where the desk sits) and the bathroom. I have filled countless holes with caulk, glue, ant powder, etc. And they persisted for a couple days, but it seems I won the fight on that front.

There are medium black ants that have pinchers that sting. There are small super fast ants that run in crazy patterns. There are small fire ants that has a long-lasting sting. There are teeny food-loving ants that would scale Mount Everest for one solitary crumb of anything.

They number as many stars in the sky and grains of sand in the desert. In fact I believe our house may be held up on nothing but their tiny (but oh-so-strong) backs.

They come out from the grout between the tiles. They come out from teeny holes in the wall no bigger than a pinpoint. They come out from under metal stripping. They come out from behind the washing machine. They come in from windows that don't seal. They come out of anywhere and everywhere. And today, they were coming out of my laptop. Many of them. In fact I am risking some painful stings at this very moment.

The desk is strewn with ant carcasses. I smash them with my finger when they unknowingly exit from the depths of the computer to the open expanse of the desktop where they have no defense.

Ooh... Maybe I am shrinking their colony with each key I press!!

D-I-E A-N-T-S

T-A-K-E T-H-A-T !!!!

(uh oh, that means that the inside of my computer will be strewn with ant carcasses?)

What's a girl to do?

Another Way You Can Tell It's Summer

The water of out of the 'cold' tap is not only not cold, but it is so HOT at certain times of day you could actually receive a second degree burn from it.

Baby H

Globalization

There are many ramifications of globalization in the world today. I see them everyday. Many of them are very serious and worth a lot of thought and consideration. But this post is not about those. It is about the fact that my neighbor parked his van in the road today and blared Celine Dion from the audio system. After Celine came a little Kenny G. And I'm not afraid to admit that I enjoyed both selections!

This is globalization baby!

he he

Birthday Celebration

They told us that we had to come out to the training center on the 29th. I mean, his birthday does only come once every 4 years. We figured they were planning for us to share lunch with them or something so we packed up the baby and drove the distance to meet with our co-workers. We arrived, and I wondered if my husband had misunderstood the phone call and we weren't really supposed to be out here. Or that instead of stressing out about being an hour late, we should have taken it easy and just been two hours late instead. The tables were empty and the students were still in class. We sat in the shade and occupied ourselves by trying to get our son to laugh. Soon after, the activity slowly started.

Five long plastic tables were placed end to end under the shade covering. One lady broke off a piece of the tree in the courtyard and stuck it in the center of the middle plastic table. (Instant centerpiece.) Two clean glasses were set by a shiny metal tray and wide knife. Gifts were placed by the tree branch. And a box from the bakery was placed on the table as well. We were invited to sit in these 'seats of honor.' Class let out and everyone came to greet us and pinch the baby's cheeks. Everyone was wishing M a "Happy New Year."

In typical African fashion... it wasn't just going to be a meal, but they had planned a full 'program' to commemorate the occasion. So, to start off, we all sang a few songs together. Then a prayer and a student shared a message from the Bible. Then the MC nodded at a young man who had prepared a 'special song.' He began singing and I slowly realized that the tune was Feliz Navidad. Our friends confirmed later that it was a Christmas song, but with a few words changed to fit the day. Nonetheless, I sang along in Spanish with a grin on my face that refused to go away. Then a few friends had gifts, and those were presented in a very formal fashion and a personal speech came along with each presentation. Everyone even insisted that M pose for a picture with the giver as the gift was passed from one set of hands to another. Others shared words of appreciation and love for M and for our family. They spoke from their hearts.

The bakery box was opened and a fancy cake was placed on the metal tray. We were instructed to cut it together using the wide knife and then feed each other a bite. Once again posing for the cameras! Uh, flashback to wedding day!! And then we each had to 'say a few words' to commemorate the day. M shared about his joy in celebrating this day with so many friends, and I too expressed thanks. We both used the sort of formal language that we have learned is appropriate in this situation.

Finally the cake was shared, the tops were popped off of the coke bottles and the meal was served. It was a fabulous time. It was so totally 'African' from beginning to end and such a wonderful celebration of their love and appreciation for my husband.

We are truly blessed and honored to be working here amongst these friends.

Over the Phone

Hearing my husband's voice over a phone line late at night takes me back...

...The phone would ring at 11pm. It was 9pm where he was, and 9pm is when free nights and weekends began. Yes, we planned our relationship around Verizon's calling plan. HA!

Virtually our entire pre-marriage relationship was long distance. Some might say this is foolish. "How did you know what it was gonna be like to see him every day?" Well, frankly I didn't... but it definately has worked out! I think it did, however, help us learn to talk A LOT. Even now, we share meaningless details about all sorts of things with each other. I think it all began when we talked about so many things over the phone in those days. All we had to share with each other were words.

I would lay in bed in my cozy apartment on the steep Cincinnati street a mile from campus with the lights from the road shining through the window. The hours would fly by. It's such a sweet season in any growing relationship when two people can talk for hours on end, about nothing and about everything. Laughing, contemplating, planning, and then quieting down to such gentle tones as the hours crept on and both became sleepy, yet not wanting to hang up and be separate from each other again. I would hear the softest "goodnight love"... and I'd hang up and snuggle down into the quilts. I'd drift off, finding true warmth from a heart full of peace and love and anticipation of the future with this man that had found his way into my life.

And I still have that feeling each night when I snuggle in next to him...