Joe's Journey Day 1

Joe called me last night around 10 o'clock. I was so glad to hear his voice.  He sounded good, but somewhat tired.  They are staying in a town called Otuzco, Peru.  When I asked him how the hotel was, he laughed and said, "Well, let's put it this way...if we drove up to this hotel, you wouldn't get out!"  He knows me pretty well, I think.  Anyway, he said that they left Otuzco yesterday morning around 7 am and drove on a small dirt road for about 3 hours to a town called Escuela.  He said it was mountainous and beautiful.  He saw 130 patients.  There were a lot of patients with arthritis.  He said they farm on the sides of mountains that we wouldn't even be able to walk up.  He said they are very hard workers.  One woman traveled 6 hours to see a doctor.  I believe this was the lady he said was having congestive heart failure secondary to aortic stenosis, that she didn't know she had.  One man had been hit in the head with a rock of some sort when he was younger and was now having headaches.  Joe said you could see an obvious skull fracture in the top of his head that apparently was never seen by a doctor.  

The team seems to be really doing well.  Joe said that they had beef steak, salad and potatoes yesterday for lunch.  The breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs and flat bread.  The first night they arrived the serving pastor's brother-in-law, a chef, prepared lamb and chicken and last night they had Chinese food.  

Today they were headed to a different town, but I'm not sure of the name yet.  Hopefully he will call again tonight and give me another update.

It is still SO hot here.  My Dad said that if we don't hit 100 degrees today that it will be the first day all month that we haven't had triple digit temperatures.   We have had practically no rain and everything is crispy, dry. A cool front is predicted to come through tonight and bring the temperatures down to the low 90 degree mark.  I, for one, can't wait.

Since Joe is gone, I've decided to let the kids pick what is on the menu each night!  Last night we had Hamburger Helper.....this is, hands-down, their favorite meal EVER!!  Tonight, homemade pizza is the star!  We bought the personal size pizza crust, so everyone can have their favorite toppings. It should be fun playing in the kitchen with them tonight!  I'll remember to take pictures.

Our county fair begins tomorrow night.  It is a BIG deal in town and the kids are really excited.  It is always a good time for us.  Jake signs up for football on Thursday.  Other than that, we should have a pretty quiet week.  Looking forward to seeing Joe on Saturday afternoon.

Bye for now...

Joe's Journey

Joe left yesterday morning on a trip that I'm sure will change him forever.  He is going on his first medical mission trip to Trujillo, Peru.  He is really excited, but over the last couple days before he left, I could sense a little hesitation about leaving.  I hope, for him, it is the best experience of his life and that he comes back a better person than either of us expected because of what I know God is capable of doing.  

This past week was an unusual one for Joe.  Normally he moans and groans about the kids and me being on facebook whenever he is at home.  He thinks its "crazy" for us to want to talk to people on the computer!  Let's just say, he's not that fond of computers, unless, of course, it is to find a new grill, a new gadget for a tractor, a place to go on vacation...well, you get the point.  Anyway, earlier last week, we reluctantly decided that the best way for us to stay in touch while he was in Peru, was probably to get him an account on facebook. (Phone calls are $4.49/minute) At first I thought I'd make up some random name so that no one could recognize him, except me and the kids, and no one would try to request him to be a friend....clean, easy, no problem....but when it came to choosing a name for him, I just couldn't put another name.....call me crazy, wouldn't be the first time, but I just didn't want to be chatting with him and his name be Johnny Johnson.......that would just be really weird, so I gave him his real name.  By the first day he had 7 friend requests and he just looked at me and shook his head!  We only accepted one, our pastor, and now Joe is on facebook.  

I just talked to him and they made it safely and were heading to their hotel for a little rest before they start their first day.  He said the weather is about 67 degrees and it feels wonderful compared to the triple digit temps we have had here for the last 3 or 4 weeks.  

Out with the old, in with the new!!  School has started back and I am determined to get more organized!!  So, out with the old!!

School has started and so far I think both kids are enjoying it.  

Anna is ready to be in highschool, but still has one more year in junior high.  A lot of her friends are moving up this year and she is sad about that.  She decided on the first day of school to stop playing in the band.  The practice times were conflicting with the practice times of cheerleading and it was going to be really time consuming for her...more than she wanted.  Jake likes each of his 3 teachers in 6th grade.  His homeroom teacher is Mrs. Vire.  Anna had her in 6th grade and really liked her.  He signs up for football on Thursday.

We have had 2 birthdays since I last posted...man I didn't realize it had been so long...first it was Anna's day on August 1.....

This is Joe's cake..his birthday is August 12.  Jake and I decided to do a fun cake for him.  His Kubota tractor, John Deere lawn mower and Honda fourwheeler stole the show on his cake.  

A few more pictures....

last night just before sunset

I think she likes the corn I have been throwing out for her..

Our latest landscaping project..it was a Mother's Day present for ME!!  I know it probably doesn't look like much, but believe me....it is a BIG improvement!

Dixie is ready for fall.....it is too darn hot!!

 By for now....

To plan or not to plan?

Sunday was Anna's 14th Birthday.  I was so happy to hear her say that she didn't want to have a party.  She just wanted family, her "boyfriend" and hamburgers!  Yes!!!  Music to my ears!!  THIS I could go for!!  After church, she and Tanner went to the waterfall to meet some other kids to swim and I got busy on her cake.  It wasn't professionally baked, but she seemed happy with it.  They got back around 5, I ran out the door for a building committee meeting at church, back by 7 and we had some pretty good hamburgers just in time for Shark Week on Discovery Channel.  Jake, Joe and Anna LOVE Shark Week. Me? Not so much.  I suffered through the majority of it, but was glad when bedtime came around!!

Things are starting to pick up around here in anticipation of the beginning of school.  Anna has been getting to the field at 7:30 two mornings a week for cheerleading and this week, she has band from 9 am to 3 pm every day.  They are marching outside (in 100-107 degree temperature)....I know several schools around have cancelled football practice due to the heat.  It is UN bearable!! I don't know that I remember it ever being this hot for this long.  

Jake found out who will be his teachers for the year.  He has Mrs. Vire, Mrs. Snow, and Ms. Golden.  He really wanted different teachers, but I think he will do fine regardless.  Anna will get her schedule tomorrow.  

I, personally, love the start of school!!  I miss the kids being here during the day, but I like having a schedule and some sort of organization.  It really isn't THAT organized when I think about it; we have something after school practically every day, either tumbling, football practice, ballgames, etc.   This year Anna will go to all the ballgames.  She cheers for Jr. High football on Thursday nights and then on Friday nights she plays with the band at the highschool ballgames.  She will go to ALL of the away games.  Then, somewhere in all the chaos, Jake will have ballgames also.  It seems so overwhelming sometimes, but it always works out.

I was on facebook this morning and saw a post that peaked my curiosity.  It was a post by Becky Higgins that asked if we plan out our meals during the week, month, etc.  I was IMMEDIATELY interested and have been reading the comments all day long!  I have always thought that would be a great idea, but not sure how to go about it.  I couldn't believe all the ways that people plan for meals!!  There were some that didn't plan at all, some that planned one week at a time, some that planned one month at a time, some that planned 3 months at a time, and even some that planned for the entire season (spring, summer, winter, and fall)!  How organized are they??  Several made all of their food on Sunday, froze them, and served them during the week.  One girl commented..."We are suppose to plan?"  Haha!!  That was CLASSIC!!  I felt a scary sisterhood with this clueless woman!  My mom and I seem to work well together on the "planning".  Actually, I just try to buy a few different types of meat and pray I will have something to go with it during the week.  Mama usually cooks a couple of times a week and I cook a couple times, so it ultimately works out, except for the days that neither of us feels like cooking...then we eat out!  Anyway, back to this meal planning thing...I had talked to a friend last Sunday at lunch (out) and she was saying that her husband heard someone talking about a website that would plan your meals for the week and even create a grocery list for what you needed for those meals.  I'm thinking all of this was God's way of telling me..."Get organized." Anyway, I found that website in one of Becky's comments and looked at how it works.  Long story short....it allows you to pick the store you frequent more often and plans your meals for the week according to what is on sale that week at your particular store.  The website is e-mealz.  I'm going to give it a try...I'll let you know how things go.  I have already received the menu for the week and I saw a couple of things that I would NOT be able to feed my kids (Cheesy Tuna Cakes), but I figure that will probably be switched to a night we have a ballgame and will substitute a hotdog/hamburger and nachos.  Do you plan?

Better get moving. Got to pick Anna up at band, then the kids are going to Alma Waterpark with the church for the night.  Think the hubby and I will eat out!

Bye for now...