january 24

outside my window...sunshine then grey clouds followed by piddly hard bits of snow-like rock things pelting a face like nobody's business. No snow on the ground. Not a flake. Even though in my lesson plans, the ones carefully penned over three months ago, tomorrow is "Snowman Day" complete with a snowman building competition. So much for being prepared ahead of time. Perhaps I will just have them draw a snowman and we can pretend. Hey, I am envisioning large swathes of white butcher paper and fullsize snowman drawings. Rebekah heard my plight from the other room and offered a brilliant idea: marshmallow and toothpick snowman creations. Brilliant! Now where to find marshmallows at the eleventh hour? Sigh...

I am listening to...Rebekah being bored...Roxie offering ideas of what she can do...these ideas summarily dismissed...


I am wearing...workout clothes, as I was at home sick today.


I am grateful for...my co-workers, Eleanor, Lyuba, Natasha and our head teacher, John, who all pitched in and helped so I could stay home today and rest. It didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped (see below:One of my favourite things), but it was still good.



I am pondering...

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." 

St Francis of Assisi

I am reading just finished...11.22.63 by Stephen King. An incredible book and a great way to spend a weekend home sick. Two days of constant reading and the book was deep, the characters colourful and believable and enough recent history with a touch of science fiction to keep this under-the-weather girl happy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11/22/63

I am thinking...about our Compassion International child we sponsor. Sofia lives in Mexico and has a beautiful smile. She is someone for whom we pray every day. See more in tomorrow's post.

I am creating?...I am looking at this prompt and am stumped. I haven't been creative lately. Just working and then, this week, being sick. But it has got me thinking that we are made in the image of God, the Creator. We are naturally creative and something fundamental is missing if we are not creating. It could manifest itself in so many ways, and I am really contemplating where and how and with what I need to create.

I am learning...Hebrew and French on livemocha. Free language learning programs and access to help from native speakers (a must for me with Hebrew)

http://www.livemocha.com/

From the neighbour's kitchen...blood sausage. 



We were given some blood sausage, homemade by a friend of ours. I think she almost gave it to us as a joke...she seemed to be laughing as she said that it was made specifically with Dan in mind. Ugh...I don't think I could ever eat it. Danny bit a small piece off the edge to be polite, but I thought he was gonna hurl. I had to put baking soda in our fridge to absorb the smell. 




One of my favourite things...an ultrasound that shows everything is normal. Rebekah has been battling with her stomach for over a year now and we haven't had good luck finding her help. Today we had no choice but to take her out of school, scrape me off the bed (at home from work, remember?) and march her to the doctor and beg and plead for help. The doctor was very kind and made some calls and got her an emergency ultrasound. We went and had it done and that bit looks OK...next up, blood tests and a gastroenterolog exam.