amusements

,

laughing gas

,

I’m on my way to the dentist for the second time in two days.

It all started with my filling falling out yesterday. So I went by the dentist’s office in town to make an appointment. “We just had a cancellation; he can take you right now.” Eeek! I made a scared face and the internal dialogue war began.

What? Right away? Then I don’t have time to work myself up for it. But maybe it’s better this way. Then I don’t have days to freak out about it. Just go in and get it done. Although, I think I’d rather have days to prepare myself…

My opposing Jiminy Crickets were interrupted with, “Follow me…”

Oh dear.

It was a tense 20 minutes. Especially when Mr. Dentist decided to show me the huge, metal gun-like apparatus that he was going to use to inject me.

“Uhh… I really freak out with needles. Can’t you just give me laughing gas?”

“We don’t have that here… But don’t worry. This won’t hurt.”

“That’s what they always say!”

:: Commence uncontrollable laughter. ::

“I’m sorry. I’m laughing because I’m nervous.”

“See... you don't need laughing gas. You already have your own.” As he's saying that, he lifts the gun into position. That’s so not helping.

"Relax," he tells me. "You're so tense."

"Okay... just do it." I squeeze my eyes shut tightly and brace for impact.

If I’m honest, it wasn’t even all that bad. But I still hate it. Every. Single. Moment. Of. It.

And now I’m going back for a full cleaning since he didn’t have time to do it yesterday.

:: Start Lamaze-style breathing… NOW ::

,

what's on my mind

,

Niel left early this morning with our interns for their outreach trip to Botswana. He's flying home this weekend to be here when we have some guests from LifeChurch.tv with us. But in the meantime, I've got a few days to myself. After my friends left late this afternoon, I did basically nothing. And now my emails are up to 247. I plan on still getting some work done tonight, so hopefully it will be less rather than more by tomorrow.

If you haven't been coming back to read comments on my posts, you're missing out on some great conversations.

  • Bob responded to my rambling about cutting my hair by saying that confidence paired with innocence/vulnerability is the best thing a woman can wear. I asked him to expound. And I love his reply.
,

my dam day

,

Easter is synonymous with spring. But the new-life analogies are lost here in Africa since we're heading into autumn rather than spring. Actually, we're bypassing fall and heading straight into winter. We tend to go right from one extreme to the next, and most Africans don't know what you mean when you refer to any season beside winter or summer. Overnight, our 73-degree weather melted into the 40's, and it rained nonstop for 5 days straight. Wet and cold is a bad combination when you don't have indoor heating. Wednesday was supposed to be our dam day. (FYI: Since most bodies of water in South Africa are man-made, they're called dams rather than lakes.) Some of our interns wanted to be baptized, and we planned to make a day of it---staying to celebrate with a barbecue and some fun in the water with the wave runners. But with the nasty weather preceding it, Wednesday wasn't looking too hopeful.

I awoke that morning and peeked out the window---cloudy and dreary, but not raining. Hmph. I decided to do the "big shave" in the shower, just in case. (I hadn't shaved in a long time... it adds an extra layer of warmth... almost like wearing Under Armour leggings.) I hoped it was going to be worth the effort.

At 10:00, the clouds started clearing and we decided to give it a go. So glad we did...

It ended up being over 80 degrees! The sky was bright and clear, the water was warm, and we all had a really great time. It was a memorable day for the baptizees, that's for sure.

I love having a dam day every once in a while.

cherry on top

Quite a few people have been interested in why I moved my blog over to WordPress. There are several reasons, the biggest one being the more professional look their templates offer. I'd still like to have my own unique site someday, but in the meantime this is definitely a step-up from what it was. WordPress has a lot of great qualities that I love, and today I discovered the cherry that tops them all off. WordPress lets me see what people Googled that landed them on my site. The list of odd searches had me laughing.

  • styrofoam sheets
  • medicated grit
  • banana and ocd
  • children neck pillow
  • nicknames for cherish
  • yacht for god's glory
  • few things are worse than being in a hug
  • impeccable french accent
  • almabrilho mindie

I don't quite understand how these searches resulted in visits to my website, but hey, I'm not complaining. I'll take any and all traffic I can get, even the accidental kind. I do apologize to any disappointed Googlers out there. I hope you found something worth reading even if it had nothing to do with what you were looking for.

dilemma

I've been in the city all week, attending a training conference. Thankfully, Kelly came with me. I'm a bit leery of social situations where I am forced to mingle with strangers, so I'm certainly glad for the company. And, we've been laughing a lot, which always makes for good times.

When we arrived, we discovered our bedroom has a shower in it. Not a full bathroom, but a shower and a sink. While we have to use the toilet down the hall, at least we don't need to line up for a shower. Then we'd have to have one of those what-time-will-you-shower-
so-I-can-figure-out-what-time-I-will-shower conversations. And I really hate those.


So we started unpacking and getting settled into the room. As we moved around over by the beds, we realized this perk had a downside.


Do you see our dilemma? We can just picture ourselves filling out a comment card at the end of our stay.

Suggestions? Uhh... How 'bout a wall separating the glass-door shower from the rest of the room!?

So Kelly and I got creative. We pulled a MacGyver and made the shower safe for modest bathers using only a towel, a window curtain, and a towel rack.

Step One:
Step Two:

We applaud our own ingenuity and laugh each time one of us has to climb under that jimmyrigged monstrosity to take a shower.

I cringe just imagining how things would be if Kelly hadn't come with me. Having that conversation with a complete stranger is exactly why I hate things like this!

how to milk a moth

I wonder how many blog posts I can get out of the moth incident?

In the past few days I heard more details about the story that just make me shudder. Katie had the covers over her head, trying to avoid all manner of insect, when the demon moth flew into her ear. The ornery bug got under her sheet and blanket, and then flew straight into her ear. Blech.

Katie's recovered from the traumatic moth episode just fine. Her ear drops have eased the pain and stopped the crackling noises she was hearing. (Yep! You read that right.) She has since added a few components to her sleeping attire, though. She now goes to bed with earplugs and earmuffs!

yeast infections

I think "yeast infection" must be a broader term in South Africa than it is in America. It is a common diagnosis for both girls and guys. Yes. Guys. One specific friend of mine (a-hem) had a yeast infection for months... on his leg.

And just the other day our bug-in-the-ear intern found out she has one, too... in her ear. After Niel's amazing medical procedure (he could so play a doctor on Grey's Anatomy... my McNiely), we took her to the doctor to have her ear looked at. Yep. Yeast infection, caused by the demon moth.

I don't understand all this yeast business.

,

you gotta be kidding me

,

We were awakened at 1:00 this morning with the news that a bug had lodged itself in the ear of one of our interns. Niel set off to see if anything could be done short of taking her to the hospital. When he came home nearly an hour later, he recounted the story. The short version: He was finally able to extricate the bug with water, natural suction, and a bobby pin. And what he pulled out of her ear astounded him. It wasn't the small bug he imagined it to be. It was a huge moth!

Uhh... hello?! A moth? In her ear?

I had a difficult time falling back to sleep. My ears felt all too exposed to the horrible moths of the world. As if I needed another reason to hate them...

I think I need to invest in earplugs.

,

parenthetically speaking

,

Yesterday was beautiful; summer finally kicked in with 80-degree weather and gorgeous skies. (It's been cool and rainy a lot lately.) Niel and I packed a lunch and headed out on the quads to the backside of the mountain (first time I've done that since my adventures with Natalie). I kept picking up my legs as we rode through the tall grass (dangerous, I know). I'd like to blame it on the fear that there could be snakes in the grass (which is always a possibility), but really I just can't stand the feeling of the grass against my skin (Nature Woman I am not).

I also discovered once again that I really don't like riding on terrain that tilts the quad horizontally (does that make sense?). I'll take a vertical slope over a horizontal one any day (I'm a wuss).

We checked out the new road we're making (to help during fire season), got close to some wildebeest (no babies yet), past the spot where Natalie and I crushed some skulls (good times), and rode close to Victory Rock (sigh). We set out a blanket near where we want to build our house (aaah... someday) and we ate our sandwiches and fruit salad picnic-style (with much fly-swattage action).

We came home tanner (or maybe it's just redder) and grateful for togetherness.

Lesson learned today:  I only pretend to be brave.

(And I really need to invest in a sports bra.)

a hand to hold

I went to the doctor yesterday for a little check-up, which included some blood tests. Maybe you know this, maybe you don't, but I go into freak-out mode around needles. Well, specifically when they are aimed at me. Somehow, I can muster the inner strength and resolve to be there with and for a friend who needs one. But when it's for me? Whole different story. So as the doctor walks me over to the table, I warn him.

Me: "I really dislike needles."

Doctor: "Don't worry... Just this morning I had to give a 7-year old girl an injection, and she didn't even cry once."

Me: "I'm worse than a 7-year old girl!"

He didn't believe me.

I turned to Niel and asked him to come with me to hold my hand. "I can't," he said. "I'll pass out." Apparently, he's worse than a 7-year old girl, too.

The doctor had me lay back; he pulled up my shirt sleeve, and started swabbing. That's when my typical-freak-out-response hysteria set in. I started to laugh uncontrollably as my eyes let loose a stream of saline. I looked away and said, in Afrikaans, "Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

"I haven't stuck you yet," replied the now-believing doctor.

I continued to "ouch", laugh, and cry as he stuck me, took the blood, and removed the needle. As he taped on the cotton ball, I finally stopped hyperventilating.

The best part? When I ripped off the cotton ball hours later, adhered with amazingly strong medical tape, it hurt far worse than the needle did! Oh well...

,

where i've been...no, really

,

Amazingly enough, I spent the past week on an exotic island. A friend treated us to an incredible vacation in Madagascar. We stayed at a fantastic resort on the beautiful island of Sainte-Marie. The water was (seemingly) 19 shades of blue; it was absolutely gorgeous. I read 4 books, and even polished one off (start to finish) in a day -- I can't remember the last time I had the chance to do that! I swam in a wonderfully warm pool, got a few shades tanner, and ate a croissant every morning.

I also got to use my French. Not swear words, silly... the language. French is what they speak in Madagascar. You didn't know I was fluent? You should hear me say "seven," "deviation," and "croissant" with my impeccable French accent.

I do wish I'd watched this before I'd gone... You know, to brush up on my vocabulary.

I'm off again for another week. This time for safari -- in search of lion, leopard, and elephant. (You should hear me say "elephant" with my pseudo-French...)

Au revoir!

where i've been

"Why haven't you been blogging?" you wonder. Well, for starters, thanks for asking. For enders, here's a list of possible reasons, excuses, and justifications for my prolonged blogging absence. Take your pick and cast your vote in the comments. A - I've been knee-deep in decorating my house for Christmas. Snowmen galore are everywhere.

B - I was sunbathing on an exotic island. Just picture palm trees and cold frothy beverages...

C - Niel and I hiked to the top of Mount Everest (the one on our property, not the one in Nepal), which of course necessitated that we spend several days recovering.

D - I spent the week on my couch, engaging in a movie marathon. 7 days, 19 films.

E - Remember when the roof blew off our house? Niel and I spent the week reading "Thatching for Dummies" and then repaired it ourselves.

F - Publisher's Clearinghouse called; we won a million dollars and immediately left for a shopping spree around the world.

G - I kept a close eye on my parrot, Starbucks, keenly observing his fecal matter since he's had the runs for weeks. (I'm happy to report, he's on the mend.)

H - None of the above. Insert your own reason here: _____________

,

my thanksgiving poem

,

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving
And the power went out
We thought it'd be short-lived
But then we started to doubt

The pumpkin pie in the oven
Was nowhere near ready
But the rain kept on pouring
Hard, heavy, and steady

The thunder clapped loudly
The lightning flashed bright
And we knew we were in
For a very long night

Normally I'd worry
My to-do list was shot
I still needed to do
A whole heck of a lot

But we sat on the couch
And watched the lightning have fun
I decided not to stress
About what didn't get done

We eventually gave up
And headed to bed
The storm raged all night
And the power stayed dead

I was awake off and on
Almost the whole night through
The rain was so loud
And the thunder was too

Around five in the morning
I said a quick prayer
We needed power to cook
And I knew God would care

When I woke up at seven
I smiled indeed
The electricity was working
The day could proceed

The power stayed on
While we cooked the birds
I kept sending up "thank you"s
I had no other words

We had twenty-four adults
Round the table, squeezed tight
Again the power went out
So we ate by candlelight

But it didn't last long
And then it came back for good
We had a wonderful day
Like a true family should

I collapsed into bed
Later that night
I was full and content
As I turned off the light

As I put my head on my pillow
I had but one thing to say
I gave thanks for electricity
And how God saved the day

words to live by

I've never gotten a speeding ticket in my life. And it's not because I'm a perfect, law-abiding, speed-limit-driving citizen. I speed. I've just never been ticketed for it.

Until now.

In South Africa, cameras along the highways take grainy black-and-white photos of lead-footed drivers. I had four pictures taken, all on one day. And subsequently mailed to me with a request for payment.

It's just like a visit to Sears Portrait Studio.

From zero to four tickets overnight. "Go big or go home" is my new motto.