More from Addis Ababa

We got a second email from A. in Addis. They are moving so fast on things. They've already interviewed a woman to be the office manager for the Addis office. They've met with church leaders and found the big church there already has a number of development projects in place. It seems like SP will be the international partner to help them have international recognition and to get international funding. He says now they have to find an office or a house, and a truck or a Land Cruiser.

D. and a bunch of his friends went ice skating tonight at the Stars' Ice arena tonight.

Last night we had big rains, but since we are on a hill, no real problem for us. Not all folks were so lucky.

Email from Ethiopia

This afternoon we heard from Andrew who is staying in a hotel in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. They had internet! So he could contact us, that was nice. He said he saw a friend from Harvard on the flight, if you can imagine that. And then he had dinner with an old Taylor friend who has been a missionary there for a few years.

He said he had gotten two compliments on his sports coat--the one we got from the botique and it had no buttons on it so I had to get another one from the botique and steal its buttons.

Email from Kenya

We got email from Andrew this afternoon. He's doing good, but ALREADY leaving for Ethiopia tomorrow! We thought they'd keep him around for more orientation. His boss will stay with him for two weeks to help him get started. We are expecting not to hear much from him for a while since we've been warned how bad the communications systems are there.

Phone call from Kenya

The phone rang at about 2:30 this afternoon and it was Andrew. His plane had landed two hours previous and he was there safe and sound. No problems along the way with luggage or passport or anything. He was calling from a guesthouse on the SP property and had a roommate named Ben. He hadn't slept much on the plane, so he sounded tired, but he was off to bed. We're happy he is there safely. Kenya is 8 hours ahead of Dallas, FYI.

On his way

A. is on his way to his new life.

The morning wasn't too hectic with the last minute things. We got Janet to come over and take some photos of the whole family.



His name must be on somebody's watch-list because he was really searched. He had two check-in bags, one just books. The security man took out every single book that I had so carefully packed and flipped through it--ALL 42 of them!! His other bag was clothes, a few more books, and other stuff, and they were very thorough with that too. Good thing we weren't in a hurry. At one point the man said, "You read a lot, huh?"

We took a couple more photos while waiting in the second security line.

Then it was time to say goodbye. Hugs all around. Gary says, "Have a nice life." I start crying, and off he goes.

Rachel's new glasses

She got them a couple of weeks ago, but I've just now gotten a digital camera to use so I can now post photos of her with them.



Kinda of cute, huh?

A. getting ready

But not fast enough. He has so much to do! Tonight we made a mad dash to the store and he bought a digital camera, extra memory stick, small case, beard trimmer, white long-sleeved shirt.

He had a talk this afternoon with one of our colleagues who lived in Ethiopia for a length of time. He gave A. lots of advice, and poor A. came home from their chat absolutely overwhelmed and said, "What were they thinking?? I have no idea what I'm doing!"

He wants me to take tomorrow off work to help him. I would except I need to do a bunch of stuff to keep R. profitably occupied.

Old church friends

Yes, some of them are getting old.  But what I mean is friends from our old church--we got together with a bunch of Kimball folks at Golden Corral tonight.  Pete and Jan are home from Korea, so it was a chance to meet up with them.  It was fun seeing lots of old friends and getting caught up on their lives.
 
Gary got home from Michigan safely last night.  He had a good time there.  Found some grant money that could possibly pay for D to do some programming.
 
Andrew says he may have just today realized he is leaving on Saturday.  And he has a bunch of stuff to do before then.
 
D just came home from Organic Chemistry class.  Well, he didn't come straight home.  He came in and announced:  I've just been on a date.  But I didn't know it was a date until she gave me her phone number!  Oh, don't worry, mom.  She's my lab partner.  We've got good chemistry.

Take me out to the ball game

Gary's colleague sent me this photo by email this morning of him and Gary at the Tigers' game last night. Sounds like it was quite a game, Tigers beat the Yankees 9-0 in a one-hitter.

Friday night

Tonight we had our Bible study. The fourth out of the planned eight. Fifteen kids showed up and they weren't the same fifteen we've had other nights. At 9pm four more came for the game time. I had to lead tonight because Gary was out of town. It went OK, but he does a better job at that sort of thing than I do. I'm always amazed at how well the kids pay attention and how interested they seem to be in the study. The video fo the Gospel of John is really good, too.

Andrew went to a Rangers' game tonight as part of a bachelor's party for Mike N. The Rangers won. And Gary called me and said he had been at the Tigers' game in Detroit and they had just beat the Yankees.

Internet is down

Most of today our internet connection was not working. Just at 9:30 tonight it suddenly started working again. It is a reminder of how dependent we have become on it.

Rachel was sick with a migraine headache yesterday, but was ok today and went to work. She got quite a bit done. We swam at lunch time. The pool is starting to feel like bathwater, but it is better than walking in the heat.

Gary flew to Michigan early (really early) this morning. He phoned from his hotel and said he got there ok. We had a bad connection so we didn't talk for long. He will be working with the people from Linguist List.

And to the airport again tomorrow morning, but not so early, to pick Andrew up.

Gary won't be here for Bible study on Friday, so I'm trying to prepare the lesson.

No news

Nothing special going on here today. A. called from Kansas City and said he was having so much fun seeing his old dorm buddies. He goes to St. Louis tomorrow and home Thursday.

Today is my mom's 70th birthday. I just tried to phone her, but she wasn't home. She must be out partying.

R. worked today. She still hasn't actually gotten any $ yet, but hopefully soon.

My neighbor brought over some home-grown tomatoes this afternoon--yummy.

Saturday

Since we started this college-age Bible study on Friday nights, my Saturdays have been slow and laid back. Now the routine is to work feverishly on Fridays to finish the laundry, get the bathrooms cleaned, vacuum the whole house, go to the store for food, and make sure we are ready for everyone to come.

Last night was the third meeting of the Bible study. The numbers of kids were down--two regulars were at funeral, two others were helping at church VBS, and a couple others just didn't come. Gary did a good job teaching again, and I'm amazed how these kids really do seem very interested and they listen carefully and ask good questions. Next week will be different because Gary will be out of town and I will have to be in charge.

Andrew left early this morning for Kansas City--7pm flight which meant I had to get up at 5am. I let Gary sleep in, then when I got home I went back to bed and he got up in time to get Rachel off for her last time at VBS. She has been helping in the nursery every evening this week, and today they are having some kind of closing program from noon-2pm.

David's biology class at Mountain View is over, but he still has a few more days of semester one Organic Chemistry in Mesquite to go. However, semester two of Organic Chemistry at North Lake has already begun. It is a night class, 5-10pm four nights a week. He has had to drive to three different community college campuses to get these classes. One day last week he left the lights on and ran the battery down so campus security had to give him a jump. That is the second time this summer that he has done that.

Gary flies to Michigan this week--Wenesday-Sunday. Andrew returns on Thursday. Yesterday I took a family to the airport and will pick them up tomorrow. Good thing I know my way to the airport, huh?

The family I took to the airport flew to Minnesota for a funeral. Sad story there--23 year old Jon was electrocuted when the small sail boat he was sailing hit high-voltage power lines. Jon lived a few days after the accident, but died from infection after both legs were amputated. Jon's family are Wycliffe members who worked in Indonesia and currently live in our neighborhood. Jon hadn't lived here in Dallas for some time, but lots of the MKs knew him. Life can be short. We are praying for the family, especially Jon's younger brother who witnessed the accident.

Hidden visitors

This morning Gary was about to leave for the office (I was already there) when he heard little voices. He followed the sound and found Michael and Ebenezeer hiding in the back of David's room, which is the new store room, with two cans of Dr. Pepper. One was open and spilling all over Andrew stuff that he hasn't yet finished packing away. Needless to say, Gary was not happy. And by the time he scolded them and cleaned up the mess, he was late for his meeting. I guess we need to try a little harder at keeping the back door locked, huh?

Rachel was sick today so she didn't go to work. I'm training a second person to do scanning, so I kept him busy today instead of Rachel.

David starts his second semester of Organic Chemistry tomorrow. It will be a night class in Irving. This will be the third different Dallas Community College campus that he is using this summer. It will be 5 hours per day (5-10pm) for 4 days a week. Because of the odd schedule for the first semester class, he will start second semester before 1st semester is even finished.

Andrew is at the dentist at the moment--we'll see how he does. He thinks he may have several cavities. Better to get them fixed now than wait until he gets to Ethiopia.

Rachel took Chimbai to VBS at our church last night and then worked in the nursery. If she feels well enough she will return with him tonight.

4th of July

Our town celebrated on the 3rd, and we didn't really notice until late last night the boom-boom of distant fireworks woke D. up from his nap and he asked if we were being bombed. Today there was a lot of patriotism during the song time at church, but not a patriotic sermon.

This afternoon we are having friends from our old Bible study over for hamburgers. D. and A. made coleslaw as a collaborative effort--it is scary to see them both in the kitchen with knives! I made potato salad earlier, and hopefully all the friends will be bringing the rest of the food. Some of us will go swimming first.

R. went to Olive Garden with the singles class from church, so she won't be very hungry for burgers. D. attended the Baptist church again today and sat with Florence--that probably made Florence happy.

Yesterday G. did major tree trimming in both front and back yards, and now has ache muscles. At least he didn't have to mow this weekend because A. did it on Friday.

I was very happy with the way the college age Bible study went on Friday evening. It was our second meeting. 14 were there again, and 3 more came at 9pm for the fun time afterwards.

D. applied to medical school yesterday. He finished the process by borrowing my credit card to pay for the application--almost $400! It is a joint application for all schools and will be followed up by shorter applications to specific schools. He is looking at Ph.D./M.D. programs, and not all medical schools have them.

Conversations

Heard around our house today:

Setting--D. walking repeatedly back and forth from one end of the house to the other carrying a floppy disk.
Me: What are you doing?
D: File transfers.

Setting--I'm giving the last stir to the the stir-fry for dinner.
Me: D., put the rice in a bowl.
D.: I can't. I'm applying to medical school.

Setting--A. getting his Harvard transcript in the mail.
A.: Look missa! I'm a straight up B+ student. Yes!

Setting--Cleaning up the kitchen at 7pm, listening to my new "stereo" system (speakers from my computer strung into the living room)
R. Mom, turn your music down. I can't sleep!