Paid In Full

Last month we were blessed to receive a large single gift from a supporter. Today we used that money to pay off the rest of Rachel's school loans. She had been making her own monthly payments, but we decided it would be good if we could do this for her. That will be one less monthly payment she needs to make as she finds ways to stretch her savings until she gets a full time job.


Yesterday we had a nice little rain, much needed, in the middle of Memorial Day. I couldn't resist going out to take a couple photos

In other news, I went to the dentist today and had a small cavity filled. Brave me, I didn't even use anesthetic. Lucky me, it was a small cavity and no nerves where hit while he was using the jackhammer, I mean drill, on me.

Puttering Around

No work today, so I continue to help Rachel get ready for "moving out." Today I made her a steering wheel cover for her car. The car came with a windshield cover, but it was too unwieldy for her to manage. So we thought this might be a good alternative. Now she will just have to remember to use it.

**Newsflash** I hadn't even gotten this post written when Rachel called from her babysitting job to tell me the steering wheel cover didn't help much. Oh well.

I also installed a few more towel racks, hung her teaching certificate and her diploma in identical frames in her office, and a few other things like that.

She did some work on a budget, and the only thing to say about that: this girl needs a real job!!

I got a couple nice emails from Andrew today too. He sounds happy and excited about his new job. They have rented a house which is being painted this weekend and they hope to move in tomorrow. He is diving back into his Spanish. He did say that security wise things were actually worse than they were in Ethiopia, so he asked for prayer for physical safety for himself and his staff.

Bob Vila Wannabe

I thought David was supposed to be learning to be a doctor, but looks like he's taken up home repair too. He sent this photo of a new programmable thermostat that he installed all by himself (When he was here last weekend I told him he could actually buy one and put it in himself--looks like he listened to me for once :-) He also installed a few new a/c vents and was in the process of putting up some vertical blinds.

Speaking of installing, Rachel has a bunch more stuff she wants installed within the next week before we close the door between our house and hers. Towel rack, spice rack, wax paper rack, etc. She is babysitting again today. She has been frequently watching a 2 year old who has a seizure disorder and has been instructed on how to administer Valium if necessary--Yikes! So far it hasn't been necessary. I know the parents are happy to have Rachel there for their special-needs child.

Andrew's last email was rushed--they decided to rent a different house, and they were off to Tegucigalpa (the capital) for the day.

Occupational Hazard

Today Rachel volunteered at childcare. There were no babies to take care of, so she moved up to the older kids. A couple 5 year old boys picked flowers and gave them to her. One of them said, "Miss Rachel, you are pretty. Will you marry me?"

She nearly said yes until the flowers he gave her made her start sneezing.

Speaking of Miss Rachel the teacher, today her official, multiyear Texas Standard teacher certificate Generalist EC-4 arrived (exp. 2011). Now if she just had a job to go with it, I'd be happy. :-/ (That's something you could continue praying about.)

New Cupboards

Grandma and grandpa are planning on heading for home tomorrow morning. But they put in another day of work today installing a cupboard and a medicine chest in Rachel's bathroom, giving her some nice new storage space.

They also treated us to Ton's for lunch, my favorite place to go out to eat.

Finished

Grandma applied sealer, then they painted the room with matching paint--thanks to the handy-dandy computer at the hardware store. How does it do that? The room looks great, even if it is just the lowly laundry room.

Desert Sun Pottery Blog

Grandma Judy has started a blog.

San Pedro Sula

Andrew and Laura have safely arrived at their new home in Honduras. They will live in the country's second largest city, San Pedro Sula, located in the north east corner of the country. They had a house, cell phone, and vehicle waiting for them so that was a blessing. Andrew called and we talked a while, but he realized that he didn't know how much a cell phone call the the USA costs, so we didn't talk too long.

They're heads must be spinning from so many changes in location over the last 10 days and they have lots to do to get settled in their new home and new jobs. They have to immediately start to apply for residency and that always means dealing with bureaucracy and trying to gather together the correct documents. We need to keep them in our prayers as they start a these new jobs and get settled.

One nice thing--they are now in the same time zone as us. And they have high speed internet in their office.

Today Was Grout Day

Now the grout is hardening. It looks good, doesn't it? They also put up an accordion door on the closet of the new guest room.

Tonight we ate dinner at the annual pool opening BBQ sponsored by the MKs who are trying to raise funds for their annual Labor Day trip to Sky Ranch. Our own kids are way past that stage now, but we still enjoy the BBQ and I still like to support the upcoming jr. and sr. high MKs who may be finding this their first extended time in the USA. I bought my pool pass, but as it was only 98 degrees today, it was way too cold to go swimming. (Well, we need at least a full week of those temperatures before it is warm enough for me to go in.)

Laundry Room Remodel Update

Grandpa is making lots of progress on the laundry room floor. We're also lining up other smaller projects for him--hanging a couple new cupboards and a closet door. We appreciate his and grandma's help.

Andrew called my new cell phone today! He had a 30 minute break from his meetings. We had a nice chat, but Andrew always has a chore or two for me to do--this time, organizing papers for his semiannual college loan repayment request to Harvard.

Repairing the "Linda" Quilt

 
Many years ago Grandma Judy gave us this quilt she made. She had several for us to choose from, but this one seemed like the best one for us since it is made up of L shapes. Some of the fabric has disintegrated over the years, so now she is repairing it. 

Laundry Room Remodel

We're grateful for the work Gary's parents are doing on our house, especially fixing up the laundry room.

In other news, I had a nice chat with Andrew last night (on my new cell phone). He was in a hotel in NC after his meetings. They are due to leave for Honduras Saturday, but now they are working on a visa for Laura to go there. (Hmm, haven't I heard that story somewhere before??) He feels like they are being welcomed warmly into the work in Honduras, and is looking forward to getting settled there.

Please pray for my mom's cataract surgery tomorrow, that everything will go smoothly.

Unemployed

Sad to say, now Rachel does not have a job. She thought she did, and has been living her life the past 6 weeks with the idea that she would be teaching 2nd grade next fall at a nearby Christian school. Several things changed at the school, and I won't go into the details here, but now Rachel no longer has a job--through no fault of her own.

We are all sad and distressed about this turn of events, but we know God has some job for her somewhere. Please be in prayer for her as she starts the job hunting process all over again, unfortunately after the prime job hunting season for teachers is nearly over.

Landed

We got a call this morning from Andrew and Laura. They had safely landed in Charlotte and had had a night of sleep. Andrew recounted several stories of the difficulties of their travel including more serious problems with their travel documents, a flat tire on the airplane, one bag lost on the flight from Africa to Newark and another bag lost between Newark and Charlotte.

Then, to make matters worse, while I was sitting here talking with them on the phone, I spied an envelope under a pile of papers on my desk that held the two ATM cards that I was supposed to have mailed to them along with their plane, rail, and World Cup tickets last week! I couldn't believe I failed to do that! They need these cards in order to get cash now that they are back in the USA. We are hoping that their friends, Yvi and Scott, who are meeting them today at their hotel for lunch and shopping, will be able to give them some cash until I can get these cards express mailed to them next week.

I think the plan is for Laura to go to NYC for the week while Andrew is in meetings, and then next weekend they meet back in Charlotte before leaving for Honduras. I'm sorry we can't see them while they are in the US, but not this time. They make me tired just thinking about their lives.

Any of you who have prayed for them in their travels, I thank you.

Family Gathering

Grandma and grandpa arrived safely last night and tried out the new futon bed. Reports are that it slept pretty well. They brought their computer with them, so I spent some time updating it for them this afternoon. Lucky me, I had kept the list of things to do to fix up a computer from when a knowledgeable family friend fixed up one of our old machines months ago.

As far as we know Andrew and Laura left Ethiopia today and should land in Charolotte tomorrow afternoon. Your prayers for them are appreciated.

David decided to drive up from Houston so he could see G & G, so it will be nice having him around for a couple days. He reminded me Mother's Day is this weekend. He's hauling around a gigantic new camera--I'll have to take a picture of it.
He said he'd come to Dallas if we made him a good meal, so grilled burgers it was.

Day 6 of Repainting - Last Day!

It took the cat all of 15 minutes to find her new futon sofa bed. The room is more or less done. I'll ask grandpa to pick out some bifold doors for the closet and we'll see what it looks like with grandma's quilt for a bed spread.

Rachel subbed 5th grade today and has a babysitting job tonight. Continue to pray that her fall job will get sorted out satisfactorily.

Day 5 of Repainting

I did the touch ups, and then cleaned up the mess. Then spent time scraping specks off the floor and using scratch cover to, well, cover the scratches. Replaced the blinds after scrubbing them out on the deck, replaced the mirror, and forgot to count when I bought new outlet covers.

Next thing: get a bed for this room. At this point we're planning on a futon sofa from Sam's Club. I hope it is comfortable enough for our guests.

Rachel got some discouraging news today. She went to the school where she is to teach next year to pick up her check for subbing. While there the superintendent called her aside and told her that they really don't want a first year teacher in 1st grade. This was after last week telling her that the 2nd grade opening was no longer open. This was after her signing a contract. They did say they wanted her to come in to sub in 1st grade again while they observed her--under the microscope, yikes! This is all happening because the principal who hired her is leaving the school for another position. But one does wonder what the point of a contract is.... So pray for her.

Day 4 of Repainting

I didn't do much today, but I did do the baseboards and windowsill. Tomorrow I hope to touch up a few places that need it, then start to clean up the mess. Grandma and pa plan to arrive here by Wednesday, so I'm trying to finish before then.

Today all three of us worked in the nurseries at church today. Gary seems to be a favorite with the 1-2 year olds.

Pray for Andrew and Laura--they have a busy week ahead of them. Packing, selling stuff, getting visas, etc. Then flying. Then more flying.

Day 3 of Repainting

I talked Gary into helping me. He did the ceiling, and he ended up running to the store to buy another gallon of paint since I failed to read the instructions to see how much one gallon would cover.

We didn't start painting until our lunch visitors left. Today's guests were Indian, Korean, German, and American working in China, India, and Philippines.

After painting we drove to north of downtown to pick Rachel up from a babysitting job. She playled Candyland with the 5 year old while the 11 year old cooked dinner and listened to the local classical music station. Yeah, my kids were just like that, too.

Day 2 of Repainting

Rachel now realizes she must have put about 200 posters on those walls.

Guest Room Repaint

We've started repainting Rachel's old room, which is about to become the new official guest room. The last time we painted it, we went for girly pink, but I was so afraid of pink that it still looked white. I'm still deciding what color to make it, but at least we can get the prep work done. I'm not very brave with color--I'll probably go with white.