Shopping Outing

Hello,

I went shopping in a small town. We have been told the store there has everything. I can tell you that it certainly had a wide variety of items. I did buy a punch bowl ladle. My friend did not buy anything.

In the local diner at lunch we talked about how much we liked shopping and found out that neither of us are “real” shoppers, but now we have been to the place that is highly recommended. If asked we can honestly respond, “I’ve been there.”

It is a nice sunny almost warm day today. Leroy took the one functioning car to the car wash and it was closed so he came home, got out a bucket, and was able to get off the worst of the dirt or mud depending on your criteria. Any way this old car now looks better than it did.

I went to the chiropractor yesterday. I had been having quite a lot of pain in my neck. I think much pain was caused by stress, meaning I tighten my muscles pulling my neck out of line. I feel a little better now, but I still can feel those muscles gripping. I did yoga this morning, but I will ask Leroy to message my neck and shoulders.

I think I have been a little concerned about getting everything ready for this trip. But I did not admit that even to myself. After all I have traveled a bit and it should not bother me, right? Somehow I can conger up all sorts of possibilities. A great imagination is not always a soother. One of the older women in the congregation whose son takes the bus is worried about us getting on the bus. Once her son was to get on where we are and there were no seats for him. That would not be good, but the people who are taking us to the stop can take us to Des Moines. The bus pauses there for 20 minutes so we can no doubt get on there but I hope we do not have to do that.

I did get the paper stopped so one more thing to cross off my list. I suppose I should clean the house some, but I am not excited about doing that. I will wash clothes on Monday so most clothes will be clean. Monday I will give my neighbor the keys and show her where all of the plants are and the watering can so she can take care of my babies. All of my Christmas cactus will be blooming, as will two of the amaryllis. Here are some begonias that I have been keeping alive.

Paula

Cold

Hello,

I thought it was to be warmer today. It appeared that way when I saw that it was 20 degrees as I started my walk to the quilting group. “This wind is not good,” I thought as I headed north, “but surely it will be better when I get on a different street.”

Well nothing helped I was quite cold by the time I got to church. I had thrown away my favorite mittens because they now had a hole in the liners for both hands. I did not get out their very warm replacement because I surely did not need it today. To help my hands I put one hand in my pocket and the other was holding something so I just kept it out and then exchanged after a time. When I got to church my legs, hands and face were cold. It reminded me of some of the coldest days in Slovakia when the temperature did not seem that low, but the cold was just penetrating. Ten minutes can certainly be a long walk on such a day. It was a little better when I walked home, but not much as I had hoped.

I am so happy I found a scarf that goes nicely with one of my coats. It had been lost for a week. It was put on a hanger that is not its usual home and covered up by another scarf. Now who would have done such a thing? Being lost increased its value to me; while it was lost this scarf became my favorite.

Today I washed another scarf and my coat so I am ready for a trip to Minnesota. We will not take boots. That is a bit scary for me since my toes have been hurting a little (I think it is frostbite), but I do not want to deal with boots on the bus or the plane. Pray that all transportation works so I am not standing around in the cold. Yesterday and today I walked without boots. As long as I am moving, my toes feel fine so I think all of this should work. Surely in February the weather will be warm in Minnesota, but then perhaps not. I think the first year Leroy was in seminary we experienced 11days below zero in February. Global warming will help here.

Paula

Grumble! Grumble!

Hello,

I get email notice of the credit card bill. It just shows the total amount and not what all the credits were. I was rather amazed at the amount, as I had been expecting a much smaller bill.

When Leroy came home he said, “Let’s try again to get into that account so we can check on this.”

I can tell you that hackers we are not the world does not need to fear us. It kept telling me that the information that I had put in was incorrect. Leroy offered this opinion, “I think I got in there the last time when we were at Miriam’s and she helped me, but I did not write down any of the info.”

We finally had an on-line chat with a help person. I did get my ID for use and then she assigned a new password. But it still would not accept it because we are on a different computer and I had to put in the city where I was born, but it kept telling me that was not it. Finally I thought maybe I should put in Leroy’s city and that was correct. This account is in my name, we share it, but when it asked for the city I assumed that it would surely have on file my birth city. I suppose because Leroy was setting the online access up he put in his city! It also does not help that we have lived in many places and I have more than one email account. At least as the helpful person said, “it is to keep our account secure” and it is secure from us. J Financially secure, but frazzled.

Guess what! When we got into the account we saw that those were indeed bigger charges that I had forgotten about such as a gift to world hunger, and shots for Kenya.

That help lady did give me a number to call to tell the credit card people that we were going to Kenya. After sorting through a long menu I was able to relay the information to a live person. The same was true of the bank and our debit card.

Leroy and I are both emotionally tired. Besides I walked to a store this afternoon and found I did not have my wallet. I had to growl my way back home as that added slightly over a mile to my walk. Surely there are health benefits even during a grumpy walk, but I suspect it is greater if the spirit is calm.

Paula

Dill Pickles

Hello,

Tatyana gives me things from time to time to “pay” for her tutoring sessions. The other day she gave me some dill pickles. These were the best dill pickles that I have ever had. She could not tell me the recipe for it but said, “Next summer you come and I show you.”

“Yes,” I replied as I thought, “I will probably not be here then.” But who knows since I did not think I would be here for a second Christmas.

I friend and I went for a walk today. It was quite nice to be out in the cool brisk air and have snow gently fall on us. We walked for a couple of miles with a stop at the library and the post office. I do like living in a place that I can easily reach some of the places that have services I need.

On my to do list I have stop mail, (check) and return library books, (check). I have yet to stop the paper, but that I will do over the phone or on-line. The last time I did it on-line the papers were by the house when we came home. I am not sure how that happened, but oh well.

I think my toes must have frost bite again. I have pain in my big toes. It helps when I keep them warm. The trouble is if they are too warm my third and fourth toes on my left foot tingle and burn. Life gets trickier as you acquire more ailments! Now that Leroy he is just a happy go lucky guy. He has been quite healthy recently and I have taken on the roll of the ailing, but some of my “diseases” are things that will stay with me, such as those tingling toes and osteoperosis. At least he gets colds/flu he recovers from and this year he has rarely had anything.

Paula

Plans Made

Hello,

First of all let me say that yes we have insurance and it will pay for most of this. I guess I just thought that might give you an idea of the damage. At bible study this morning Leroy got the names of reliable body shops in town. We find the suggestion of the deputy was low it is now over $4,000. Seems as if we should have a new car when we are done. This is expensive plastic!

This morning Leroy confessed, “I do not want to call the insurance company.”

“I’ll bet you do not want to admit to having an accident and ruining your great clean record.” I went on, “I’ll bet you would be ok if it were me. And you would even tell me that it does not matter.”

“That is right,” he said, “I expect more of myself.”

We went ahead and bought bus tickets to MN. We thought that might be a bit more reliable than our car. It is nice that we can take luggage on the bus and not yet be charged additionally for that. We will figure out how we will get from the bus station to Brian’s house. Then we have to make a trip to the airport the next day. Brian could just take lots of time off? Or we will try very hard to use public transportation. I know that we can at least get closer to their home with that. Then we have to make all of these connections when we return. Fun and challenging, right?

One of the guys at bible study volunteered to take Leroy and I to MN. Generous since this is a 5.5-hour trip with good weather! Instead we have asked him to take us the thirty minutes to meet the bus. He will be out of town when we come back so will make other plans for that.

I remembered to ask someone to water my plants and we will ask our neighbor to shovel our walks should it snow while we are gone. Considering how winters go we are counting on having some snow.

One of the women in church gave me a Traveler’s Journal that she found in a bookstore. I am pleased with that. I had been looking for something to keep notes in, but nothing seemed just right. I am feeling more and more ready for this trip.

Paula

Slippery Roads

Hello,

“Wow, it snowed last night,” Leroy said as he looked out the window, “I will try to shovel a little before we go to church so we do not drive over it.”

When I came out I commented, “This is more than an inch or two.” Leroy and I do not pay much attention to the weather forecasts so we are frequently surprised. Life is so exciting!
As is his habit, when Leroy came home from church he called, “Hello,” but then he added, “You had better come look at something.”

When he started back out the door I wondered, “Did you have an accident?”

“Yes,” he said, “on my way to the second church I hit a slippery patch, slid around and then hit a bridge abutment on the opposite side of the road. Lucky for me no one was coming.” The highway had not been plowed and this was at the bottom of a long hill followed by a curve. Leroy was going slowly enough that the airbags did not deploy and he was not even jarred so much.

As many of you may know the bumpers are mostly plastic so the Saturn does look quite broken up. Leroy was able to proceed because he was able to lift up and secure the bumper with a bungee cord in the emergency kit that I had once gotten for his Christmas gift. Almost as good as duck tape!

We are grateful that Leroy is fine and the car is not too badly damaged, but the sheriff’s deputy figured that it would probably cost about $2,500. Oh well such a small cost compared to loss of life or bodily injury.

Now we are trying to figure out how we will go to MN for our flight out of the country. We have three options if the car can not be repaired in time: we could take the bus if someone here would drive us the 30 minutes to the bus stop, we could drive the 1990 Toyota praying that it will be trouble free, or we could rent a car. With the Toyota it seems likely that it would be fine since it “runs good” as they say in the car ads, but would Brian and Jen want such an old dirty car sitting in their driveway for two weeks? We will see what happens. We are now glad that we still have two cars around since this does give us good local transportation.

Paula

Packing

Hello,

“After breakfast I am going to get out a suitcase and start to pack,” Leroy announced.

“I want to do that too,” I told him. I said this partly because I want some input. Even though I have not moved anything I have been thinking about what to put where.

Sarah and Stephen have asked us to bring a suitcase that they can fill for the home trip. We will then store the things at our house or mail them to someone else. I wanted to be sure that I could get all of my things in a carry on bag if they needed the entire large suitcase. Leroy and I both have managed to do that unless we think of more things to take, otherwise we are in good shape. Leroy is only taking one pair of shoes and one pair of sandals. I am taking two pair of sandals wearing a pair of tennis shoes and wondering if that is enough. We are planning on wearing winter clothes on the plane since we will need them before and after the trip. At least the bulky stuff will be on our bodies and we do not have to find room for them.

Now we are considering taking only one carry on bag and packing the other in the larger suitcase since we do not have so much stuff to put in the large case and I hate to have things flying around in there. We are taking a number of books for Sarah and that could damage them.

This morning Leroy remarked, “I think we should turn up the heat here so your amaryllis will bloom before we leave. That is an idea because we keep it fairly cool in the house.

We were pleased to find some insect repellent with very high percentage of DEET and in a small container. It is hard to find these out of season things in a small town, but it is done now.

Paula

eating in -- eating out

Hello,

We invited guests for lunch. I was busy making plans and working on some items when the phone rang. It was our guest telling us that they would not be able to come because of a sick mother who might need immediate care.

After visiting for a while, I asked, “How about if we come to your house and bring lunch?”

“Well, that might work,” she replied, “if you would like to go to all that bother.”

“No bother,” I said, “well maybe a little, but we can do it.”

So that is what we did. I prepared lunch, packed it, and drove to their house for a delightful afternoon. Now I will have to clean the downstairs sink later. I had planned on doing that just before they came to our house.

The temperature is dropping and the wind is rising. We know that one warm day, yesterday, does not mean spring is just around the corner. Leroy even wore his facemask when he walked to church today.

A book is due at the library tomorrow so I must get there somehow, I will walk, surely I will. It is only about a mile one way and I can warm up when I am there. I washed all my wool socks today and they will be dry. I never put them in the dryer, but just hang them in the basement so it takes a while. I am grateful to sheep for all of the warmth that I get from their shared coats.

Paula

New "old" Software

Hello,

Yeah! We now have word processing back on the computer. I am happy. No need to figure out publisher. Since this is a newer copy than what I had been using I might have to learn a few things, but I think the learning curve will be within my skill level.

The cut on my finger is healing nicely, but it looks worse because Leroy helped me cut off the skin that was not attached to anything else. It is now starting to scab over.

I am so pleased with the begonia cuttings that I took in the fall. Because of Christmas decorations in the living room I brought them up here where they can soak up the sun in the south window. They look great with pink and red blossoms. The coleus share the window and they are doing well too, but getting a little leggy.

The second amaryllis is hiding a bud, down and almost out of sight. I am happy to see such progress, but I am concerned that they will bloom while I am gone. I need to find someone to come in and water all my plants at least once but I would prefer twice since I think we will be gone almost three weeks and I water at least twice in that amount of time.

It was so warm here that Leroy and I walked over to the track. We put in a half-mile before we walked home again bringing the total walk to 1.5 miles. We have both walked to church: me to quilt and Leroy to work. We will walk over again tonight for bible study. Two church walks add up to three miles so I think we are doing ok today. I did not do yoga or weights, but it was so nice out that I wanted to be outside instead.

Tomorrow it will again be cold and then I can do my yoga or weights. I got some new pants to take to Kenya and I dare not gain an ounce of weight or I cannot wear them. That is unusual for me to buy anything that fits me so closely. My habit is to get things big because I do not like tight clothing. I ordered this so could not try them on ahead of time. Sometimes I have problems because my things are so large that they just float around me and that is not so good. My dad also did not like tight clothes so I must have inherited something.

Paula

Internet smoking fast

Hello,
Now things do seem to be fixed with the computer. Internet is smoking and I have not had a program freeze yet. I did complain to Miriam that I could not get into my Yahoo messenger, but then about an hour later I realized that I had changed the password and the old one was probably still in there. Sure enough that meant I could get in with the proper password.

I am typing in Microsoft Publisher. It is unfamiliar to me. For instance when I got to the end of the page yesterday the text moved up and it kept going. Later I came back to it and could not get the end of the text. Where did it go? I am not sure, but I was able to retrieve it when I selected all, and proceeded to paste it to the email letter. Miraculously it was all there. It said that I could click on something at the bottom of the page and writing would flow to the next frame, but that did not happen for me. Oh well, Leroy tells me there is a copy of older word processing at church that is not being used and he can bring it home for us. Why our copy does not work we can not figure out. At least with mechanical stuff errors can be seen and attended to in a timely fashion. Are children growing new brains to deal more easily with all of this?
Well I just figured out how to connect frames, but it is in the wrong place in the text. More learning needs to happen.

I am sorry that I did not see the inauguration yesterday. My only excuse is that I was so hung up and engrossed in the computer that I forgot about the time. Now I am sad that I missed it. I did see some of it on the Internet, but not all. I have also read some about it in the paper so I am not totally out of the picture. I realized this morning that it has been eight years since we have been in the country for a presidental inaugration.

A young man just came to the door with a free chance for me to sign up for a drawing for $1000 worth of gas.

"What is the catch?" I wanted to know, 'Will they bug me all the time?"

"No certainly not," he assured me, "No catch. Just fill in your name, address, and phone number."

He visited a bit before he started talking about Kirby Vacuum Cleaners. That was apparently his real reason for being here.

"No you can not clean my house," I said firmly. "I already have a Kirby and do not want to upgrade."

He tried a bit more and then left.

Paula

Computers and their Users

Hello,

Just in case Leroy and I think we know what we are doing with the computer something comes along to keep us humble. The computer kept getting errors or a program would freeze meaning that I had to lose some things or even shut down. Yesterday day when talking to Sarah and Stephen on the webcam the messenger we were using said that the server was having trouble. Checking with Miriam we learned that she could get in that means no server troubles especially since we could access other internet sites. Leroy decided to go ahead and reload windows. A step we had talked about doing in the past, but did not want to take the time to do it. Leroy backed up everything to the external harddrive and proceeded to spend hours, a good mood, and sharp words with me before things are almost back to normal. Saving to this external HD was not as seamless as it first appeared to be. We can not get back the wordprocessing program even though the database and spreadsheet, that we hardly ever use, loaded without a hitch. Grumble, Grumble!

"I could not find the pictures or your writings that we had saved on the computer," Leroy confided shortly after getting into this process.

Through several hours I could hear heavy breathing in the room along with sighs and moans. It seems expedient for me to allow much space to be around Leroy at these times.

Then again in a little while I asked, "Did you find the pictures?"

"Yes, I found the pictures and your letters," he replied.

However later when I looked on the computer I could not find either one. Then leroy and I proceeded to have a bit of a spat over semantics and what we meant. All of this included a certain amount of blaming the other, voiced and unvoiced with appropriate eye rolling.

We think that this program saved all of the programs but not the files. But I think that I did save them somewhere on this machine, I just cannot find them.

Then to top it all off there was no easy crossword puzzle in the paper. Such a hard day. Today I realized that they have ceased to publish the one that we did each day. Now if we want to do a crossword we will have to tax our brains before bed. Can we do that?

Paula

Lock-in over

Hello,

Well I survived the lock-in and even enjoyed parts of it. Sleeping on the floor is not on the enjoyed list. The kids were really a great group. They laughed and participated with enthusiasm. There were four girls and eleven boys, three more than Leroy had anticipated, but that was not a problem. I suppose I could even be persuaded to participate again.

I suffered the only casualty. Leroy had the lone tube of toothpaste for us. When I reached into his toiletries bag to retrieve it I did not realize that his razor was lurking in the deep dark bottom, consequently I sliced up a good bit of skin on the top of my finger. It is not deep, but it bled enough to make it a seriously satisfying sympathy solicitor. Helping increase the impression of notable wound is the fact that there were no small Band-Aids at the church so I have on a large bandage that covers half my finger.

I did not get much sleep last night because we did not attempt to go to sleep until a bit after 2:00. An earlier sleep time had been scheduled, but the chosen movie was longer than anticipated. I was quite impressed with my alertness at midnight. We were playing an engrossing game so I had no idea it was that late.

I hope to be able to take a nap this afternoon, but I will not get fussed if it does not happen. Leroy is good at daytime sleeping, but I seem not to have mastered the art.

Tonight we have another more social occasion at church. I will bring a salad for that. Leroy will have to cut most of the veggies because of my wound.

Paula

More Wildlife

Hello,

As we were in Des Moines driving across one of the rivers Leroy said, "Oh wow a bald eagle."

I glanced, but did not see it since I was driving. "Oh I do not think I should try too hard to see it," I moaned, "There is too much traffic."

"You would have had a hard time seeing it because it was in the air almost above the car," Leroy then informed me.

On the way home I looked out and saw a flock of wild turkeys feeding in a field. Just in the same field, but a little to the side was a herd of deer. Before we got home I saw two more deer herds. Because Leroy was now driving he missed some, but not all of these animals.

Leroy’s scab has fallen off his hand. That was just a couple days ago. I had wanted to pick at it since it looked so dry, but Leroy was very protective of it. Now it almost looks normal. He got the lab report back and it was not cancerous. No idea what it was, but since it was benign we do not concern ourselves about it.

I have gained weight. One of the cold days I was going to wear some wool pants to a concert in town. However, after I sat down in them I realized that I did not want to sit for long. Luckily I sat before I left home. I put on some other pants that I have always thought were very big and they did not seen so big. The concert was enjoyable and preformed by the wind ensemble from Central College.

The Lock-in at church does not start until 8:00 so I will be up later than my usual bedtime. I think I will come home in the morning to take a shower so my hair will be more presentable, although I could still wash it in the sink at church. I have until 7:30 tonight to make up my mind about that.

Paula

Staying up late

Hello,

Just as we finished supper Leroy said, "I hate to ask you this, but would you be a chaperone for the overnight at church this Saturday? I need another female."

Somehow this thought had come to me in the afternoon that I would go, so without asking further questions I said, "Yes."

Now I have questions, What do I need to bring? What do I wear to sleep in? Is there any sleeping at these events? These are 8th graders, what will I say to them? Can I come home and shower in the morning? If not my hair will look terrible.

I will be making pizza dough because Leroy asked for that a number of days ago. Now I wonder how much whole wheat flour can I put in that and it will still be acceptable to the normal person? I remember that when my kids were at home I could put quite a lot of whole wheat in the dough and their friends would still eat it.

Leroy and I are going to Des Moines this afternoon. I looked out and it is now snowing. There are supposed to be only flurries and hope that is accurate.

Tomorrow is a workday at church and at the parsonage. So I must be up and active for that. All work is to be done inside but it is to get warmer outside too.

I must organize my things for this shopping trip, because there are some things that I want to buy for our Kenya trip. We still have two weeks before that but we do not often go to Des Moines so I must be prepared now.

Paula

Good Old Car

Hello,

Our 1990 Toyota started right up when Leroy turned the key this morning to drive to church. It is –10 in the carport. We think that is quite good. This car has worked very well since we have replaced the alternator. Now we talk a lot about not needing two cars, but we do not know what our next situation will bring so we "hang on" to both of them. We find that we also like the heater better in this car than in the newer one. We consider the Saturn our "out of town car", but Leroy does drive the Toyota 20 miles to the out of town church and has had no trouble with it. We have been lucky lately because no more plastic parts have broken on it. We think it could run a long time yet.

It is quite cold here, but sunny so that makes me feel like it is a good day.

Because church meetings were cancelled Leroy watched the third Star Wars video last night. Brian now has the DVD’s and he asked Leroy if he wanted the videos. Leroy was quite hesitant, but I think it was a proper move to take them since he has watched all three and will probably watch them again someday. I am not sure why, but I have a hard time hanging in there with these films. Sometimes I think I should watch them just so I know what people are referring to when they are mentioned in conversation. For now though I am culturally illiterate and I do not mind that. We can not know it all anyway.

The poor amaryllis that I bought is now turning its leaves green. I am happy for it. I just hope I can keep it alive and it will bloom next year. How many plants can I move? I always get so attached to the plants and moving is hard on them. This house has been good because there are so many windows and so much light. It is good for me too.

Paula

Strong Wind

January 13, 2009

Hello,

As with much of the Midwest we experienced a strong wind and dropping temperatures last night. I am so grateful for a warm place to be and Leroy to snuggle with in bed. Leroy is so great that he almost always goes to bed first and warms it for me.

January 14, 2009

I am disgusted. Yesterday when we had lunch I just left the computer on when I had written my letter, but not posted it. Later I came back and found the computer turned off. After turning it back on I could not find my letter.

Leroy explained, "I thought the computer was off and I pushed the button turning it off believing that I was turning it on."

"I am sure I saved my letter," I grumbled, "but I can’t find it."

Serious searching allowed me to find it but only what you see above. The rest of the brilliant piece is gone. Surely, it was brilliant. Guess I did not save as often as I thought I had. I just saved again now, how is that for learning a little bit from experience.

In spite of the cold weather, Leroy did walk to church this morning and I went out and walked this afternoon. As long as I did not go north I felt good, but eventually I had to turn and go north so I zigzagged a bit to break it up.

I balanced the checkbook and I am happy to report that the mistake that was made was accomplished by Leroy. Usually I am the culprit. Glad to have someone else share some of the glory.

Leroy and I made spaghetti tonight and added bean sprouts to the mix. We believe it was quite good and innovative. No same old same old here. Now I will not comment on the pumpkin soup that we made up with not so much success, but we are eating it anyway because a little salt helps.

Paula

Snowing

Hello,

The forecast said some snow and strong wind. Leroy kept checking the weather because he planned to go to Des Moines this afternoon. He was meeting someone and also has a parishioner in the hospital. About 8:00 it started to snow heavily. As soon as he could he contacted the person in Des Moines and cancelled. I am both glad because I do not have to worry about him and disappointed because there was something that I wanted in a store. Oh well there are always more opportunities.

Now the snow is not so heavy and maybe even stopping. Perhaps we will only get the 1-2 inches that was predicted.

Leroy has pulled out a lot of his stamp albums and is doing mysterious work in them, mysterious because I know nothing about it. He has even found some stamp duplicates that he is going to try to sell. That will be nice, as it will surely lighten our load when we move. Stamps are weighty.

I think I am losing brainpower. I found the insurance cards that go in the car in the box where it belongs until it is the right time to put them in, but I could not find the paper work that tells us to come in and pay the bill. One thing nice about the computer age I believe they could have found this paper work in their file and reprinted it. I could not imagine what I had done with it. Leroy did find it in the proper file for after we had paid the bill but I am concerned that I am not doing the right things. Is this the beginning of Alzheimer’s? We’ll hope not.

I think Leroy has gone out to shovel snow and I want to go help him. I rather like shoveling if the snow is not too deep and heavy.

Paula

Playing Games

Hello,

There was a burning of the greens at the smaller church today so I went along. The festivities included a potluck lunch and games. I took a fruit salad. It is so interesting what people bring to these potlucks. Often there are so many meat dishes and almost no vegetables. Today there was not a single meat dish. One dip had some meat in it, but I suspect it would not count in many people’s minds as a meat dish.

We took along the game Outburst. We had not played that in so long that we had to look at the directions. It was fun. I will have to find someone to play that with again. It, as many games, is best with more than a group of two.

The moon was so beautiful last night. I hope you had the chance to see it. I could see shadows of the trees on the snow.

I was sure that I wanted to have loose tea again because I have a tea ball. When we finally found some in a can I bought it even though was quite expensive by my standards, maybe $17 for the container. Unfortunately we do not like it. We think it has almost no taste. I have added other tea bags to the pot when I make it and that helps. It says on the can that it is "often imitated, but never duplicated". Seems to me to be a pipe dream. Just why anyone would want to duplicate it, I am not sure.

Leroy commented that he could still see the red mark on my arm left by the tetanus shot, but I can move my arm without pain or discomfort. I am so pleased about that. The absence of pain is a real deal that we often do not know about until it leaves. Then we can be thankful for our well being.

We have been in this place a long time. Marketers are finding us. We now have 25 return address labels. Time to move on. Some of the women here were complaining because they get so many of those labels. I said, "Why don’t you give some of your extras to me since I do not have some and I would like some."

"Why would you want that," they wondered, "since it is not your name and address."

"But just think," I responded, "then no one could ever find us."

Paula

Poor Amaryllis

Hello,

Yesterday I bought a clearance amaryllis. I carefully chose one that did not have a visible bud stem. I did not pry the box open so I missed the stem that had despairingly fallen to the bottom of the box. I followed the directions for planting this bulb. Directions said to wet the soil disk, break it apart and put 1/3 in the bottom of the pot. It took more finger work than I thought it would, but I finally got the thing apart. It really seemed more like sawdust than soil, but what do I know about such things. I have planted the bulb and placed it on the dining room table where it should get enough light to drive away anemia. I think that if it can not bloom this year I will have it ready for next year.

Leroy read the directions for the malaria pills. It said we were to keep them in the dark, oops, I left them on the table in the sun and in room temperature of 72 degrees. Well that warm is not going to happen here. I hope they survive as a viable medicine. We do not have to take them until we are ready to go to an infected area. That means not until after we get to Kenya. Hopefully they will not make us sick. My body is in training to withstand anything.

I am now boiling up the last pumpkin that we have. Because he did a better job, Leroy is roasting the seeds. I think we will have some more pumpkin soup. That will about finish our summer produce. We ate the last, picked by Paula, apple last week. We felt as if we should have had a little ceremony for it. We still have a few frozen apples and a few frozen mulberries. Then there is one small frozen jar of cider and much applesauce as well as some pickles. We are rich indeed!

Yesterday on the ride home from Des Moines I saw a flock of about 20 wild turkeys. Then later there was an equally large herd of deer off in the field.

Paula

Tired

Hello,

I am tired, but I will write anyway. Yesterday there was quilting at church so I left before 8:00 am. I rode with him so my hair would not get so messed up under a stocking cap that I would need if walking. Some people were already there so I go right to work. Then at about 10:30 I went upstairs and helped set up tables, chairs, and got out silverware. Next it was on to making sandwiches. After that I helped serve, wash dishes, vacuum the floor, and put things away. The only time I sat down was a short minutes before people came in to eat and while I ate my small meal. I got home around 2:00. I walked home then since I figured that my hair did not matter.

I am not used to being on my feet so much. Guess I don’t do real work around here.

Today Leroy asked, "When are you going to take the Christmas tree down?"

Strange that he should ask that because just last night I became tired of it and I wanted to put the furniture back in its former spot. So most of the morning I tried to put things away so they could travel to a new house and not get broken. For some reason I had a bit of trouble getting the same amount of stuff into the boxes.

This afternoon I went to Des Moines with Leroy. He was going to visit someone in the hospital and I wanted to shop a little. I was pleased to get some things on the Christmas clearance aisles.

Tonight we moved the furniture back so the living room resembles its former self. I still need to dust and put back the things that usually reside there. Tomorrow will be time enough for that.

My tetanus shot arm feels almost normal. If you were to tap me on that arm I could tolerate it quite well.

Paula

Hurting Arm

Hello,

My arm hurts just on the spot where I got the tetanus shot. It is quite a red bump too. It is the arm that I like to sleep on so I figured out a place that I could lay on it and make it numb. I slept quite well. Today, however, it hurts to raise my arm. I am trying to be disciplined enough to raise my arm since I believe that it will help to dissipate the medicine. I can not tell if it is working or not.

On the health front I am remembered to soak my foot three nights in a row. I think I have removed the callus, but not far enough to get rid of the corn. I will soak some more. Then I have been putting on vinegar, not on bread, but a Band-Aid instead. It also seems to be helping.

Last night I did enjoy the Christmas tree lights. I even got out a set of goofy glasses that cause light to make a prism. It was beautiful.

We have choir practice so I will not be home most of tonight. I walked to church with Leroy this afternoon. It was cold, but I will walk again tonight so that I get in at least three miles of exercise. I do like to have a destination so that I can warm up and feel much more comfortable.

My Ukrainian neighbor is making some jackets for three bridesmaid dresses. I think she is doing this without a pattern. I can not imagine doing such a thing. It would be hopeless for me to attempt such. Her husband told me that his mother, back in the old country, used a sewing machine that was powered by turning something by hand. I am happy to be able to mend with my 37 year-old electric machine.

Paula

Christmas Tree

Hello,

The Christmas tree is still standing in the living room. After notes from my sisters (blood and otherwise), I am leaving the tree up a little longer. After all it has not been there for a month and I do enjoy the lights at night. Tonight Leroy has meetings so I might put on some music, turn on the tree lights, turn out the room lights, lie on the floor and just soak it up.

I walked to the Dr. to get my tetanus shot this morning. It was cold so I walked the famous Leroy Bradway pace. As I approached the building I realized that I had somehow switched the times in my mind and I was there early for an appointment that was at ten to nine. My appointment was really at 9:10. I decided to walk some more and enjoyed the time out in the invigorating air.

Leroy came home for lunch, pounded up the stairs laughing and said, "I am losing my mind. I was almost home when I realized that I drove the car this morning."

When he left to go back to work I laughed and reminded him, "Remember you have to rescue the car."

It seems to me the very funny part about it is that Leroy probably never even saw the car as he walked right past it on his way home. Maybe both Leroy and I are over the hill. Does that mean that life will have more laughter and joy because we can not remember the bad things?

To ward off the bites of Kenya mosquitoes Leroy and I have looked rather unsuccessfully for some new bug spray. The only type we found is in a big aerosol can. We do not really want to take that on the plane so we might just use a bottle that is in our possession. It is from 2004.

I also have a 1997 aerosol can of bug spray that is a "souvenir" that our German exchange student left in the house. We did not know what this stuff was. One of Miriam’s friends, who had taken German, read the label pronouncing it hair spray. So one day before church, just as she was ready to go out the door, Miriam proceeded to lavishly spray her hair. Then it was too late to rectify the situation so people must have thought that she was expecting a big bug attack.

I know I should get rid of that can and not move it around, but I can still laugh when I see it. So, I figure it is worth the trouble.

Paula

No New Job

Hello,

Yesterday Leroy got a call from another church telling him that they were not going to hire him. I felt sad because I knew that he was more interested in going there. Leroy, however, seemed to take it with good grace. He then told me this morning, "I did not sleep well and I think it is because I feel bad about that job."

Seems there are always feelings to work through or sort out. I still do not understand why so many lives seem to go in such a straight line, at least from my perspective, and we just bounce all over the place. After all I truly want to start trusting in job security again. But God says, "Trust me. Why is that so hard for you?"

We will take down our Christmas decorations soon since tomorrow is Epiphany. I will even miss that tree when it is no longer in the living room. Amazing what you can get used to and accept as a friend. I will pack the Christmas things as if we expect to move before next Christmas. Is that a step or rather a leap of faith?

Leroy and I are eating the gingerbread and enjoying it with plain lowfat yogurt and homemade sugar-free applesauce. Life can not get any healthier and tastier.

We are trying to think of something fun to do today, Leroy’s day off. So far we are not getting there. I am ready for more snow so we can cross country ski or borrow some snowshoes and go out on the trail with those. It is too cold now to ride the bike so we will try to walk some. After all we have to return library books.

Paula

Dinner is done

Hello,

As the arrival time approached I asked, "What do we do with all of this food if they do not come? Do you think they will come?"

"I have been wondering the same thing," Leroy said and at that moment we heard the doorbell chime.

Four of the seven kids came. They were younger and smaller than I expected. One boy was in high school and he looked to be in grade school. Not started to grow to adulthood yet. I had seen two of the younger kids when I subbed last year.

These kids were polite and mostly entertained themselves. They did not however, even taste the ravioli, ate just a little of the broccoli, and took quite a bit of the chicken dish, but ate little of it. They did seem to like the home made bread. They did not try the apple bread. After they all served themselves the gingerbread I realized they might have thought it was chocolate since Leroy had carried it in without explanation. Upon questioning I found that to be the case. Some declined to eat it and some of them tasted it, but did not seem too excited about it. No one except me took any of the applesauce to put with it. They all wanted tea to drink at the end of the meal so I guess I would say that was the most successful part.

I was long awake last night trying to think of other things that I could have served with more success. Spaghetti seemed as if it would have been foolproof, but then I remembered that my dad did not eat anything with tomatoes in it so I finally went back to my statement that they would not die of hunger.

We did have a very nice visit with the parents. They were quite disappointed to learn that we would someday be moving from Chariton. We discussed many similar experiences about moving to a new country. They had to live a little more scary existence finding their way than we did. After one of their comments they all laughed when I said, "Tak dobry" (So, good in Slovak). The Ukrainian language shares some words with Slovak.

I will not have to cook now for at least three days. Good thing Leroy never complains about leftovers.

Paula

Company tonight

Hello,

Leroy invited the Ukrainian pastor and his family to supper tonight. Now we hope they understood which Saturday Leroy was talking about. Leroy lost their phone number so he can not call them back. He knows they have five children, but we have no idea if all of the children are coming or not.

I mostly did nothing stressful this morning. Leroy has been home to help this afternoon. He made sure the kitchen floor was clean, put leaves in the table, moved a Christmas cactus out of danger, set the table, and made a run back to the store to get some juice and more milk. While he was doing all of that I boiled ravioli and put it in the crock pot, made a dutch apple bread, made ginger bread, and made regular table bread with not as much whole wheat flour as I usually use. Now we think that there is not enough ravioli so I will also make a chicken rice pepper dish. In addition there will be broccoli, salad, and fruit to go with the sweets for desert. Do you think it will be enough?

"What if no one comes?" I wanted to know.

"We will just have to call around and see if someone else can come and help us eat some of this food." Leroy said.

Maybe I am enjoying this. Maybe I should have people over more often. It does not seem so bad. One of the problems is that I do not have bottled water or soda in the house and I get the impression that most people do. I also do not cook with as much sweets so I feel like I do not measure up to other people’s standards. I guess I should just not think about it because most people just want to be included and thought of. After all, one meal not to their liking will not hurt them. Tomorrow they can eat at home the way they like.

Paula

Banana Bargain

Hello,

What a bargain! Bananas were $1 per bag. There were two full carts of banana bags; somehow they were over stocked. I found 18 good looking bananas in my bag. Leroy and I can just eat a banana whenever we feel like it.

My arm is no longer sore from getting a flu shot as well as polio vaccine booster. Now I will get my tetanus shot on Tuesday so I suppose I will be sore again. It is somewhat ironic that all of these shots are things that I really need for this country too. We have ordered the malaria pills, but they have not come yet. I am taking the typhoid, but it is four doses taken two days apart. This morning I took an osteoporosis pill. I feel that I have gone from no meds to a full load. How old am I?

This year we have only two calendars to hang on the wall. We have one in the kitchen and one by the computer. That is really plenty since I did not often look at the others. But I do remember that in Slovakia I would almost always give extra calendars to the students. If my current calendar had great pictures of cats or dogs students would start asking me if they could have the calendar in November or December. What a great way to recycle.

The Christmas cactus that I had repotted this fall is now generating buds. I am excited. I thought it was going to be a year missed. Also one amaryllis is starting to send up a bud stalk. One of the others is putting up some leaves and the third is just sitting there.

Leroy is excited because one of the college students came over and talked to him about having a special service on Palm Sunday. Leroy is not used to someone initiating something like that and a younger person besides.

Paula

Happy New Year

Hello,

Leroy and I are spending a quiet day after a quiet night, although for reasons I do not understand both of us were awake at 3:00 am.

It is hard to tell it is a holiday. I washed clothes because Leroy was out of underwear. Then I realized I needed to vacuum the flies downstairs so I did the whole level. I got out the sewing machine and created a sweater bag in which I hope it will work to wash sweaters. After that we ate lunch of leftover, but quite delicious soup. We played Boggle and I beat Leroy five out of six games. I volunteered to play Trivial Pursuit because he will win that, but he declined. Leroy had finished a book so we walked to the library to return it and walked around the square on the way home. Then I struggled with writing a Christmas letter to send through the mail. "It is the worst letter I have ever written," I told Leroy as I asked him to proofread it.

The one way that we can tell it is a holiday is because Leroy is home all day. Also most stores downtown are closed, but I noticed that a tavern was open.

We are still struggling with whether to get the yellow fever shots or not. Stephen’s parents had taken it almost ten years ago so it is still ok. Sarah says, "Why don’t you forget it. I have never heard of anyone getting yellow fever in Kenya." We looked today and the altitude of the safari camp is below the recommended altitude and mosquitoes are talked about on their website. We will have to decide this week because it is best to have the shot at least three weeks ahead of travel since it might make us sick.

Paula