Just Another Day

Friday... woohoo!! I love this day! It means that tomorrow I can do absolutely nothing and not feel guilty about it. But only if I can get all my work done today. Hopped out of bed at 6:00(ok, maybe rolled out, I don't usually have THAT much energy in the morning) and was certain at this early hour I could find some needed alone time with my Saviour and a hot cup of coffee. The idea of drinking a hot cup of coffee and having alone time to read and pray-uninterrupted-usually brings up memories of a time BEFORE little girls were a part of our life. But I thought today I was on top of it. Got my Bible, got the coffee going and was set... Just getting ready to go pour a cup and really settle in, when I hear little feet come pitter patting out to my seat on the chair. Wouldn't you know, my sweet little girl's eyes are wide and she's looking for Mama. 'Hungry, Mama," she says. Yep, those are usually the first words out of her mouth in the morning. You would think as urgent as she is to eat, that we send her to bed hungry. However, this is not the case; it's usually because she refused to eat very much for supper the night before!

I turn my attention to her while my eyes linger longingly on my unopened Bible. Just wait until naptime, then it'll be quiet for a little bit again. On to the pressing matters at hand, namely breakfast for Ava, and while I'm at it, for Clint too.  He is headed somewhere today, town I think, so I work on getting him and Ava satisfied and him out the door before starting my next mission of the day--laundry. Just to interrupt myself a little bit and explain.... Jo has a wringer washer and an automatic washer here at the house... to use either or both, I have to turn on the generator. The street current will not run them. So usually I try to hurry my laundry along so I can shut the generator off again, thus saving a few ounces of liquid gold. Keep this in mind.... I turn on the generator and head to the wringer washer. Knock, knock--I look up to see the fruit lady at my gate wanting to see if I'll purchase today. She comes irregularly with fruit for sale, usually juice fruit or bananas. Of course I want to buy some, I'll be right out! After the purchase is complete, I head back to the waiting laundry. Knock, knock--this time it's the young guy that sells fresh, yummy bread. And yes I wish to buy from him as well. Finish with him and back to the task at hand. Suddenly the generator sputters and dies. Out of gas, really?? Inside to get the keys and back out to fill it up--we're good to go again! But then, 'Mama, potty!!...' (we're in the middle of potty training so this classifies as an emergency) Oh run, honey, run!! But wait, it's too late.... sigh. Returning to laundry again and starting to make identifiable progress, now it's time to change the water in the washer. After the water finishes draining, I open the valve on the hose to fill it up again. Nothing happens. Shut the water off, and try again. Still nothing. You have got to be kidding!! The tank must be empty and now I need to pump water(which means I have to quit washing again). I can't believe it. I walk away and then decide to try once more. Praise the Lord, it was just a kink in the hose!  Filled up and good to go once more. Close to being finished and Mia decides she is tired and doesn't mind exercising her lungs to let me know it. She has to cry awhile until I get to her... My neighbor walks by and says.. 'You let your baby cry too much, don't let her cry so much!' Being tactful is not Haitians strong point. Thankfully I held my tongue and didn't say anything, because at this point, I was about to throw in the towel on doing laundry! Somehow the laundry got done, and by 11 am to boot. Yes, just another day....

Two of my favorite people!

Little Sweetie

We have settled into Darv and Jo's house here in Ti Goave and it feels quite nice. Nice to be located in the town we hope to stay in for a couple of years. It's a nice town, paved streets, nice market, decent street current, etc. Other great news.... we found a house to rent!! And signed a contract for one year! The idea of living in the same house for one year just knocks my socks off!! At least it would if I had any on. I cannot wait to unpack all my boxes and just be..... The search for housing was interesting and really fun. Contrary to what you would think, rent is expensive here. It seems that if you want a house with electric and water, there is nothing middle-of-the-road. You either live in a small, small shackish house or a nice big one. Being the rich Americans we are-we chose the later. So the house we intend to rent is currently lacking tile, paint and bathrooms. Hoping it can all be done before Darv's come home in August!

Several lunch guests--who brought lunch for themselves and us!

As for Ag news.... sad to say, the onions and potatoes that we had such high hopes for... let us down. The onions lacked nitrogen and shriveled up leaving nothing at all to harvest. The potatoes did better-we got a few gunny sackfuls. Clint says they had a blight. The nursery is a brighter, happier subject. Things are still happening there! Clint makes a trip out every other day or so to check with the boss and do various odd jobs. The only down thing is that he is having trouble finding seed. He wanted 100 pounds of seeds to plant and has only found 30 pounds to date. He thought he had it all lined up but his biggest lead fell through. Trying to trust God as this is His project with His timetable.

Our friend Massouck, just graduated from primary school with honors! We are so excited for him. He is a bright student and placed first in his class. He is currently spending a couple of weeks with us here in Ti Goave. I love the chance to have him around. He's been helping Clint a lot and me as well. He washes my dishes and loves to hold Mia--can't beat that!

Massouck and Mia

It's hard to believe Saturday marks one year since we moved back to Haiti! It has went so fast! Really missing family and friends... and ice cream! :) Happy 4th of July to everyone---celebrate freedom in Christ Jesus our Lord!