Bits and Bobs

• We are full blown back into the swing of things now. I'm enjoying the routine again, and knowing that we are back to working towards learning this language so that we can move on!!!!!
• I really dont want to have anymore holidays for awhile. I just forget too many words. Before the holidays, I completed Book 1 at our school. Now, I am into the review and then my evaluation. My teachers wanted my evaluation this week, but I put them off to next week. I feel so unprepared! To make things more complicated, our co-workers (the only ones on-site) are making a trip here this weekend. We have a lot to do, and I am sure that my teachers will want my evaluation to be on Monday!!!!
• Noah is back at school too. He is enjoying it, but boy did he have lots of Math homework tonight!!! He is having some stomach issues so please pray for him.
• Speaking of stomach issues.....we are just a few days out from our 6 month mark. We decided to do our worm treatments every 6 months (maybe that is too much information...but it is life)!  We all did great, and havent really seen any changes (Noah's issues are not related to this). 
• The American Pediatrician that lives in town is now gone home on furlough for the next year. We are without a doctor!!! Bring on the nurses!!!!! 
• Maggie got hurt today. She was fine....the only issue was that she ran crying to me and wasnt speaking English. She was telling me she was hurt in the local lingo!
• Dave...Dave...Dave....I sense that his social needs are not being met. I have felt this way for awhile now. He is such a people person, even more so than Noah. He is simply not old enough for the international school. Next year, we might could push him into Kindergarten, but I just dont think he is ready academically to handle it. I dont think it would be good to change things up either 4 months out from our big move (the school year here starts in August....we move in late December). My solution? There is a little friend of Dave's-they are the same age. His mom is homeschooling his 3 older brother and sisters. So I've asked her if Ethan can come over to our house to play 1 day a week. I will pick him up and take him home. She is delighted! I know I know....another child, but it really would be good for Dave and Ethan is a really good kid. We also go to a playgroup here on Fridays. So that means that at least 2 days a week, he is getting good social interaction. It is not a school setting, but I'm working with what we have!
• Speaking of food.....after living here for awhile and getting over the initial stomach bugs (the ones where you lose weight quite quickly and you spend lots of time on the toilet), there comes another issue. Fiber. Where on earth is the fiber in a diet of rice? Rice and chicken...Chicken and rice...and rice...and more rice. It is a struggle. We have fruit and vegetables...and we do eat those, but it just isnt working the way it would at home. Sorry-Too Much Info!! Welcome to my life!
• Shane and I have been eating really healthy lately. I am exercising a lot as well. It is so good for my mental health. I have started noticing that my clothes are getting big. I am so happy...except that I need these clothes to last for the next few years!
• I am in need of a conversation partner. Not just someone that will help me practice my speaking, but someone who can educate me on the religion here. I have much to learn and feel an urgent need to learn it. I was starting to make friends in the Kompun (the poor neighborhood near our house), but I just cant go there because I have Dave and it stresses him out big time! So, I need someone who will come to the house and talk with me. Trick is-most people want to learn English. You must pray with me that I will find someone who is NOT a believer and who wants to come hang out with me and 2 kids at least a couple of mornings a week.
• Tomorrow, a friend is coming to teach me (Dave and Maggie too) how to make soto ayam (chicken soup...with rice...lime...bean sprouts). It is our family favorite at the moment. Everyone cleans their plate! I'm so excited-I cant wait!

Well...I've vented enough tonight. I'm off to bed for some reading. Night Night.