Grammer Anyone?

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

I thought this was interesting particularly because I do, on occasion make grammatical errors. Hmmmmm.

Baby Things

I'm sorry that it's been so long. We've been busy catching up and getting ready to go see our daughter. I've been in bed most of the day as my back is very painful today. My friend Amy should be back from the States soon. She has been there the past month after picking up the children they adopted from Ethiopia. Yes, that's right, I said children. 5 in all. They are all siblings and Amy and her husband wouldn't break them up. Isn't that wonderful? Anyway, I'm excited to see them. We pray for them often especially as she is a single parent for the time being. I got all of the clothes and things we have collected for Alaina and washed them in Dreft. lol anyone ever heard of celebrating the laundry? You should have seen the two of us, "Oh look. It's our first box of baby soap. Oh our first pack of diapers" Yes, I realize that the thrill of soap and diapers will likely not last, however we are enjoying what we can for now. Have a good weekend.

What Color Are You?

You Are a Red Crayon

Your world is colored with bright, vivid, wild colors. You have a deep, complex personality - and you are always expressing something about yourself. Bold and dominant, you are a natural leader. You have an energy that is intense... and sometimes overwhelming. Your reaction to everything tends to be strong. You are the master of love-hate relationships. Your color wheel opposite is green. Green people are way too mellow to understand what drives your energy.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Jeffs Found Guilty!

The Polygamist leader of the Fundamental Latter Day Saints is going to prison folks. IT'S ABOUT FREAKING TIME!!!! I have been disgusted for years by his assertion that polygamy is God's way and his terrorizing of little girls who are forced to marry old men. I pray the Lord reach out to those people deceived by this cult. I pray the Lord will put real Christians in their path. People with hearts like Jungle Mom and so many others who will love them and not judge, but bring the truth of the Word of God to them. I praise the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come that this antichrist has been taken out of the world and placed in prison where he belongs. I pray the truth of the Lord reach him there as well. He needs Jesus too. It's humbling, but beautiful to know that Jesus loves him too. Humbling because I am no better than Jeffs. Sure, I have not done what he has done but I too am a sinner, and humbling because if Jeffs were to come to Him, He would say to the Father, him too Father. I died for him too.

Meals And Deals

We go soon is all I can say. In the mean time we are getting ready. Apparently we'll get to have her for most of the time we'll be there, so we are excited about that. Other than that, I subbed again today. I praise the Lord for all these opportunities as it helps to be able to bring a little money in when so much is going out, besides, once the baby is here I don't plan to leave her in day care to work. Tonight I'm going to make penne pasta with a meat sauce and some garlic bread. I got some special gourmet spice and I'm going to add some and see how it turns out. We don't eat much pasta so we'll see how hubby likes it. I got the best deal at the commissary the other day. I noticed that Yogurt Burst Cheerios were on sale for $1.00/box. Now that is quite a sale! It's normally about $3.50/box. Plus, I had coupons for $1 off of 2 boxes. So I got 10 boxes of that cereal for 50 cents each! I know that's a lot of cereal but it will last and I like cereal. Woo Hoo!

Alaina Update

I've changed the title Adoption Update to Alaina Update. Since now we know who she is. Well, things are moving right along. We got the "go ahead" last night to go and visit her. So DH made airline arrangements and we will be going soon. They said I can take presents, but it wouldn't be a good idea to give much because I won't get it back when we pick her up. Apparently the foster mother will just keep the stuff and put it on other foster children. So, I'll just bring her a thing or 2. If it's her size she should at least get to wear it. lol You should have seen Alan dancing around the apartment last night. So excited! He is going to have a hard time leaving her there at the end of the visit. I don't know how I'm going to be. I wish I could just move down there for a while and then I could be her mom until we can officially take her away. Wouldn't that be nice? I don't know if I'll be OK with leaving her because I know I'll be back soon to get her or if I'll not be so OK with it. We'll just have to see. Anyway, our current prayer is to find favor with all the government officials so our paperwork will speed through as fast as possible. Oh Lord, please help us!

HE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS!

Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul, and all that is within me bless His Holy Name! Pam is going to be ok! I just saw her blog and the biopsy results are NEGATIVE! WHOO HOOO!

A Biblical Home

Does anyone know what happened to Elizabeth's blog at A Biblical Home? Click on the link on my blog to see what I mean.

Saturday In The Park

Do you guys remember that song? I'm dating myself here but I think it's from the '70's, When I opened my blog today I thought, "What to write about? Oh hey it's Saturday" and then started singing the song. Saturday in the park, I think it was the fourth of July....If I knew how to put any music on my blog I would. Perhaps I'll run over to Carrie J's blog and see how she does it. Anyway, today I enjoy Saturday for all the reasons I used to enjoy it. It's a bright sunny day outside! I worked all week and this is the first day I'm not expected to be somewhere, I don't have to deal with a bunch of kids that don't want to be in school, etc. DH worked all night so He'll be sleeping most of the day. I plan to do some shopping at the PX. I don't go to the PX often, I just wait until I have nearly run out of things and then I go. If I didn't have so many things to get I'd walk. This is one of those days where you're just excited to be alive! Enjoy your weekend everybody!

Thank God It's Friday

I haven't have a true TGIF in a long long time. Today how ever I am truly thankful that today is Friday. Yes Pam, this week has been tiring. These kids haven't been as bad as some I've had. Only had to send one kid to the principles' office so far. Today right after school is out we have to get the last of our paperwork notarized and sent off. Then it's only a matter of waiting. We've already been in contact with our attorney in Guatemala. I imagine within the next few weeks we'll be going to meet her for the very first time. I dream about her at night now. I just can't wait for her to get here. lol and I think I'm tired now! Oh my. You ladies who have been there will be in for a lot of good chuckles I'm sure as the "Rebecca takes on motherhood" chapters come out. I haven't even made any goofs yet and I'm already laughing at myself. It's so annoying. These adoption people keep asking questions on the forms like how we are going to parent the child and how we are going to discipline the child etc. We can only answer what we think are good ideas right now. I have lots of ideas about parenting, but I'm smart enough to know that they may go right out the window once we actually get the baby! Not every child is the same and not every discipline idea is going to work for every child. She is only an infant and we don't know her yet. We have no idea what will work for her. Oh well. At least they can't hold us to our pre-parent ideas. lol It'll be a roller coaster. I hope you'll hang on for the ride with me.

Work Day/Wash Day

So, all this week I'm subbing for the Chemistry/Physics teacher. Don't worry. This is actually a subject I know something about. Yesterday went fine. Today I sent two students to the principle. One of them wasn't even my student. He just kept coming into the class and disturbing the students. What is up with these kids! Anyway, now I'm home and I have 4 loads of laundry in the wash, I need to put fresh linen on the bed since I was too tired to do it yesterday and I have to find something to fix for supper. I don't know how women who work full time and are married/have families do it. I mean it's not so hard for one week, but to continue with that week after week coming home from work and then starting the day's chores? Toooooo much. Not for me. I'd turn into Mrs. Cranky Face. My hat however is off to those of you who do and especially to those who do because they have no choice.

We're Back!

We just got back from a wonderful weekend spent in Kaiserslautern. As it turned out, Ramstein AFB had their annual bazaar this weekend. Two airplane hangers and a HUGE tent that housed vendors from all over Europe trying to sell us their wares. I did get several birthday and Christmas presents from them and our boy Smokey got a new playhouse. We looked at the exchange furniture store for baby furniture. It all has to be white, so that cut down the selection quite a bit. I did find one white chest of drawers that I could buy a changer top for and use as a chest and a changing table. It's just the right height (I'm quite tall) and changing tables that were not built for short people are hard to come by. We didn't buy it yet. I'm going to check out another thing or two first and then we'll get it next time we go. Nothing much going on here right now. Smokey was glad to see us though he did have fun at our friend's house. And Pam, to answer your comment I've got all kinds of crazy thoughts running through my head right now. All the things we need for the baby and then questions about things I've never really thought about before like can you mix fluoridated water with baby formula? (my sister says you can) At what age do you stop burping the baby? (as a nurse you'd think I'd know however, I don't) Can you use the car seats that double as carriers for more than the first few months? When do you start oral hygiene? And more along those lines. I am researching those questions and more. Mainly they are just things I've never really had to think about before.

Happenings

Marge is doing alright. The doctor doesn't know why she was having problems but it seems to have stopped. She is going to be on bed rest the rest of this week and then we'll see how it goes.

If all goes well for us, we will be getting our baby in December or January. DH and I are going shopping for baby furniture this weekend. We have been looking at all that is available and now we are prepared to buy. I am planning to do her room in Hello Kitty. I just love frilly things, and of course pink is my favorite color. There is a sale at the PX on some basic baby things, so I'm going to get some. It's just onesies and sleepers but it's a good price and something we no doubt will use. I'll just get them in 6-9 month size. They may be too big at first but she'll grow into them.

I just heard on the news that Vladimir Putin has dissolved the government in Russia. Hmmmmm.

Babies and Computers

So, yesterday we got pictures of a little girl who was just born in Guatemala. We also got a picture of her birth mother. Both of them are just beautiful. I'm not willing to look at them much as I'm not prepared to give my heart away to her just yet. I'm the kind of person that once I've given my heart away, I can't get it back. So, I guess I'm protecting my heart until I know that we are going to get her. It's kind of weird because I can feel myself holding back. We spoke briefly to our case worker and she believes that if nothing out of our control goes wrong, we should be able to get her in 3-4 months. DH is very stressed right now. We aren't going to post pictures of her until we bring her home, for safety reasons.

On another note, my sister has called and my nephew is taking his wife to the hospital. She is 24 weeks pregnant and is having problems so please pray for her. They have already lost one baby.

Other than that, we got a new computer last week and DH put it all together and we installed all the software yesterday. It's really fast and has a TON of memory so we're excited about that.

Friday

It's nearly midnight and my cat is standing by the door meowing. He wants to go outside. The problem with cats is that you cannot explain to them WHY they can't go out when they want to. You see we live in an apartment building so I go out with him. (one never knows what someone else might do to my precious boy) Anyway, a cloudy day here. It sounds like we are close to identifying a baby. I'll let you all know when we do. Have a good weekend.

Autumn Is Here!

Autumn has really come here in Germany. The leaves are falling from the trees and we are lucky to even see 70 degrees Fahrenheit in a day. This morning was the Fall kick-off for PWOC. They had a bridal theme - we are the bride of Christ, and it was decorated as if for a wedding complete with a real wedding cake! It was so pretty! They are offering some good Bible studies this semester and I'm trying to decide. I had in mind to do one of them for some time, but now and for the last week or so I've really been feeling pulled another direction. One of the studies is about the effectiveness of a praying wife. I really feel pulled toward that one. I want to be a praying wife. Oh I pray for my husband, but I feel it could be so much more than it is!

In other news, we are looking at 6-7 months to get our daughter. I pray for her daily that the Lord would watch over her and protect her and her family. She hasn't even been born yet. I've never seen her face and yet I love her so much already! I can't wait to fix up the nursery and get everything ready!

So enjoy the rest of summer you folks back in the States!

Felix

My request today is that you pray for those in Central America. Specifically Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. Hurricane Felix is a category 5 storm heading that way. These are third world countries that don't have the kind of resources or structure that we in the USA have and look what happened here. (Katrina and Rita) I realize that my heart is especially touched by this as our daughter Alaina is down there. Please pray for her and for her family. We already love her so much.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation - Part 5

So Saturday was our first full day in New York. We stayed at the Pan American Hotel in Queens. It's not as glitzy as the web site makes it look. We rented a car and drove around some sight seeing. We went and looked at Fort Hamilton which is right under the Verrazano Narrows bridge in Brooklyn. That post is just about as small as ours. lol It's nice to know we're not the only ones. Other than that we just relaxed. We did, however, eat at the Georgia Peach Diner. It's one of our favorites and we really miss the New York Metro diners. Sunday we went to Praise Assembly of God in Garfield, NJ. Praise is the church I attended my last 2 years or so while I was out there in nursing school. John and Becky Czubkowski (the pastor and his wife) just took me in as one of their own. I was invited to Thanksgiving and Christmas etc. just like one of the family. I must also mention my good friend Tammy (the children's and youth pastor) who is truly a kindred soul. If you are looking for a good church where the Word of God is spoken fearlessly and people are real, look here. It was so good to see everyone again. So, after church we went to lunch with Tammy and some new friends at a diner in Saddle Brook, and then we went down to Bloomfield and went to an early supper with my friend Crystal. After that we went back to New York and spent some time with Alan's family. Monday, Alan did some laundry at a nearby Laundromat and we spent some time just relaxing. Tuesday we went to a Mets game and they won!! Wednesday afternoon we had our last hurrah at a NYC diner and then went to the airport to come back to Germany. So, we had a good time all in all and I sure do miss America. Still though, it's always good to come back to your own place.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation - Part 4

So, on Monday, we flew to Las Vegas, NV. I had never been further west than Altus, OK before so, this is all new to me. Las Vegas was hot but not as bad as Missouri was due to the lack of humidity. We stayed at the Golden Nugget Hotel. It's amazing the cost of a good meal there. DH got a prime rib dinner for $6.95. That's and 8 oz. prime rib steak, baked potato and veggie. And it was a good steak too. Shrimp cocktail for 99 cents! Amazing. Needless to say we ate well. The hotel has the coolest swimming pool. It's a large pool and in the middle is a shark tank. So we went swimming with the sharks! The largest was maybe my size so it wasn't like swimming with Jaws or anything, but still pretty cool. There was also a water slide that went through the middle of the shark tank (water slide was clear but fully enclosed of course). Alan went on that one. I didn't. We also went to a show titled, "Defending the Cave Man". Basically a one man act but more like a stand up comedy show. This guy humorously points out the differences between men and women's thought processes and promotes monogamous marriage in sin city. Amazing! It was a very good show we laughed so hard! Other activities included walking all around down town and seeing the sights. We spent one day (we were only there 3 days) at the pool and one day on a bus trip to Hoover Dam. Now that is an interesting tour. Since we went over to the Arizona side I can now put Arizona on the list of states I have been to. Ha! When we left on Friday morning to fly to New York, we had a 3 hour delay because the battery on the plane wasn't working right and they had to fly a new one in from Los Angeles. Thank God they found it before we got in the air! Anyway, when we got to our connecting flight in Detroit, they told us they were holding the plane for us (about a half mile away). So, Alan starts running with our carry on and I go as fast as I can. Thank God for moving sidewalks. When we get there it turned out that the plane had already left and they had given our seats to someone else. We had to go all the way back and they would get us on another flight. So back we went (it turns out they had a tram to ride. Would have been nice to know that earlier). We had first class tickets and the guy would only put one of us in first class. He said there was nothing else he could do. Very rude. I asked the very nice lady next to him if we could both be in first class since we had paid for the tickets and voile! it was no problem. That nice lady stayed 2 or 3 minutes after she was supposed to leave (above the protesting of John the rude guy with half of his shirt untucked) to help us. The seats weren't together but the guy next to me was willing to switch with Alan. And so we had a wonderful flight in to NY arriving there past midnight. We headed to the plane in Vegas that morning at 0800. Part 5 tomorrow.

Missing Blog

Elizabeth from A Biblical Home has disappeared. Apparently now you have to be invited to read her blog. I have been a regular reader for months so this is very disappointing to me. If anyone out there knows Elizabeth or is in email contact with her can you email and see if she will allow me to continue reading her blog? She had such a good blog too.