Day 4 & 5...

Nothing too eventful...been doing the usual work, work, work.

Being in confinement (not "solitary confinement" just yet - soon it will be though, when our visitors leave. Sigh!) has its pros and cons. - At least I'm getting lots of work done. (And for those of you who might think otherwise or want to argue that you're still waiting to hear from me, or whatever, I dare you try to fill my shoes for one day and do my jobs. - We'll see who has the last laugh then. Heh!) - Seriously though, it's been okay, routine, but okay!

Got to hang out last night till late (yes, that's why I didn't bother to blog - I was chilling) with a super cool chick. ;) My blog looks real bland without pics, so here's an ancient pic of her and I right before the New Year's party two years ago (wow - time flies).

Oh, and we then got a super cool skype call from Sam asking us to pray for some witchcraft rally they were going to crash and have a Holy Ghost sample at. I'm still waiting to hear how it went, but it sounded sooooo cool. - Sam rocks!

Yeah, yeah, I'm in the mood to post pics. - So what? ;)

Blondies ;)

This is "extra" - I forgot to include it in the post from yesterday!

You know the kid I got to eat his chicken? Well, he has a little sister (he has two actually), who is a real blonde - and I mean a REAL blonde. She says she loves pink so much that if you were to open her brain (her words, mind you) they would be pink. :D

We were having a conversation of how old the kids thought I was, and how old I thought they were (even though I knew. - Snicker), and the 6 year old boy said he was 10 (yeah right) so I told him if he was 10, then I was 4. He didn't believe me, but his little 4 year old sister (the blondie) was so excited. - She blurts out, "Hey, cool, that means that me, you, and Jasmine are all 4!"

Where would we be without blondes?

Day 3 - Quarantine from the Quarantine

Either I'm getting used to it, or today was a bit more eventful - they got me to drive someone to the airport (yes, I'm telling you, I could be a shuttle service for the times I go to that airport) so I spent 4 hours in a vehicle with an awesome man that is a store-house of stories (he is 95 after all). - But yes, that killed time. ;)

I think the highlight was playing with a kid's psycology - and winning! (Oh yes, I love competitive sports. Ha!) He didn't want to eat his chicken, he insisted he wasn't going to, we tried cutting deals with him of how many he'd eat, he was insistent he wouldn't eat any...sigh! I finally asked him to show me how big his mouth was - he opened it wide and I asked him how many pieces of chicken he thought he could fit in there at one point (seeing as he is sure he has a HUUUUGE mouth).

He ate his whole plate (with about 15 pieces - cube-size) of chicken in 2 bites. - Oh yeah!

I'm not sure his mom knew whether she should thank me for helping her get her son to eat his chicken, or cry at the fact that I was teaching him such bad manners (you should have seen those cheeks).

Again though, victory is sweeeeet! :P

Day 2 - Quarantine from the Quarantine

Aha - you probably didn't think I'd follow through. Right? :D

Honestly, I didn't expect to either. Heh! It's just that I've been working way too long, I waded through over 100 messages today (all built up from just ONE day of WnR) so I didn't want to keep working. I'll probably either snuggle up with one of the new Heaven's Library books or I don't know, pray someone comes and hangs out in my room.

Oh, yes, we got some visitors...some folks are here for a few days, but in quarantine from the Home too, so if they stick around till like Saturday evening/Sunday morning, then that'll mean that I can hug them. Yeigh! :) For now at least I get to eat with them, and not feel so "alone" out back here.

I don't have much else to say...sorry! :(

Day 1 - Quarantine from the Quarantine

Well, here I am, sitting in "Stable #5" (not literally a stable, it's just what it USED to be - it's now a two-story room of sorts w/ a bathroom, etc.) - and I'm in quarantine from our quarantined Home. I tried this, that, and the other in order to not end up quarantined with mumps along with our Home (it would take month for us to get out if we got it - yikes!) - and it turns out I'll stay here after all but stay seperate, which makes it easier - so yeigh, I'm happy, and relieved. I'm off for my visa trip on the 16th, so it seems it's working out. Whew!

I thought it might be interesting to see how well I do at updating everyone with how I do each day (how crazy I go, etc.) so here goes...don't hold your breath though, I doubt I'll do too well. Oh well! (Give me an "E" for effort at least. K?)

So yes, Day #1: Today was my WnR - I slept in, and all that good stuff. - And I'm freezing. The temperature has dropped incredibly, and this room is super-duper cold. Sniff... I've got a soar throat (had one for a few days), a strange type of cold and cough, and this temperature is not working, so I stole a heater and I hope it doesn't blow our fuses. My fingers are still freezing though, so I don't know how working will go these days...boo-hoo, I miss my cozy room. :(

I need to go find some food...cold weather makes you hungry. (Wish me luck!)

Ciao - catch you tomorrow!

Home Reviews and Mumps!

Yeah, those two definitely shouldn't go together...but alas they do.

We just finished our Home Reviews...record timing of 5 meetings covering 6 criteria - how awesome is that. :D We're celebrating tonight, it's going to be a tradition that we celebrate after each Home Review (after all, trying to get 2/3rds of our voting members together is an awesome feat). - I'll let you know how it goes.

The mumps part is that some of our Home members were exposed to mumps, which means our Home is currently in quarantine. We'll be out by the 10th of November if no one comes down with it. PLEASE pray we don't! There are so many things that would get messed up if our Home got it...not to mention there are so many kids, and adults, so it would be a rather long and drawn out process. Please claim the keys for us! Thanks!

Reminds me of when my bro got it in Romania years ago. I don't think I'm a good sister...ahem! First I was teasing him that it might move down to the testicle area, poor guy was freaked (and thankfully it didn't), but being the skinny squirt that he is he then lost tons more weight, and I felt so bad for him. Sniff... I ended up trying to make up for it by complimenting his natural 8 pack. (That's called finding a Rom.8:28 in anything. Thank you!) I've never had mumps though so I'm not going to rest assured until I know we're cleared, though there's a chance I might dodge it...oh yes, pray that works out too please. - And I'll keep you all posted.

Ciao for now! - Remember, keep us in your prayers. ;)

Been away, but I'm back now!

I love spur of the moment decisions. - I should do those more often. :)

I ended up tagging along with Amber last Sunday when she headed back to her Home in Cuernavaca. - And spent a couple days at the SSU for some rest, relaxation, and fun! Yeigh! (And thanks again to the SSU folks for letting me stay - such a fun bunch.)

I got to enjoy more of Amber's entertaining outbursts of fun (you should see her stroll through our CTC yard with a pitcher on her head singing "I must go and fetch some water..." - heh), Steve's shameless flirting, and everyone's super cool company in general. Also spent a couple days with Niki, which was like, yeah, it had been such a loooong time. - We pulled out some pics (no, we didn't have them, Steve & Amber did), and almost died...obviously we survived, but I think if Niki and I weren't guests in the house of other people, we would have joined forces to find a way to kidnap those pics. Scary!

I think some of the funnest moments though were sitting around in the kitchen or living room discussing Sims' butt-tickler (a.k.a. goatee - no, I don't think he's that kinky) while Simone was writhing in disgust (covering her eyes, though still wanting to feel it - ha!). - Funny how you can take something as innocent as a goatee and have so many laughs from it.

I'm Home now though - after a (thankfully) not too eventful bus/metro/bus ride Home. (Yes, I took two buses.) I was alone and a bit worried as I always seem to attract some sort of strangeness, but at least I made it safely and soundly. TTL! The highlight was the tall/dark/handsome/yummy Israeli guy who came to help me get away from some weirdo who was trying to ask me where I was from while he tried to kiss me on the mouth. - Don't ask me how that goes together. Anyways - a surfer, studying bio-chemistry...needless to say he was scrumptious. Sigh!

I love it when knights in shining armor are handsome...that was always my biggest trial about fairy-tales, knowing that knights were short and stubby. (Hence the reason I didn't care to hope for one to sweep me off my feet - he'd probably end up having to use a stool, or two, to stand on to even just kiss me, let alone sweep me off my feet. - So yes, that's just wrong.) I'm serious, you should see some of those castles they have in countries like Belgium and Germany - those armors are inzy. HA! :)

But yes, having a hot guy come in and call me "honey" while he asks me the time and how much longer it'll take before "we" get to the airport, while he pretends like he's ready to clobber the weirdo made me feel all....special. ;)

Makes me think I should make these sort of trips more often.

P.S. Niki left back to Japan today. Miss you girl! (So glad I got to at least say bye before driving out.)

Tis the season to be jolly! :)

I know, I know, it's not Christmas, but it's Libra season (as I call it) and seeing as I have so many relatives (and friends) that are Libras it's a "happy" season.

Today is my oldest nephew's B-day - he's 8. Happy Birthday Brian!

This is a bit of an old pic, but I can't find anything recent. (Niel & Esther - pics please?!)

And yes, I have to kick myself in the pants for forgetting my sister-in-law's B-day. - It was on the 23rd of September. Yikes! Well, I didn't forget to wish it to her, but I didn't make it public to the world, so LHM, man...

And here is a pic (yet again somewhat outdated) of Esther:

Love you guys and miss you! xxx

Memories!

I got an e-mail today from a good friend (I love you Wake! - Snort!) that brought back major memories. No, they weren't the emotional teary-eyed type (yeah right!), the e-mail had some scrumptious pics (and in somewhat comical poses) of guys. Yum!

For those who know me you can confirm that, yes, I appreciate the male body, and find it incredibly entertaining to be passionate about letting it be known that I just LOVE 'em. - Hey, it gets me tons of pics that I enjoy, and I even have a special screen-saver that was made just for me by dear Samson! - Showing what? Well, men, of course! :D

The thing is, I think I've been going through a dry spell! I mean, yes, I get them once in a while, but after receiving that e-mail today from that friend, I realized how long it had been since I got some yumminess like that. Oh my goodness! I think I know what D.L. Moody felt (I think it was him) when he panicked that he was not in the Lord's service because he hadn't received persecution for a few days. - I mean, I traced back the last e-mail w/ yumminess and it seems I haven't received any since July! NOOOO! - That's soooo bad! (HELP!)

So yes, I'm going to go on a heart-searching mission to find out why this dry spell. If anyone has any thoughts or input, or wee-words-of-wisdom (or attempts at 'em) please let me know, I'm almost desperate.

Just kidding...but yeah, I love men, so if you have any of those yummy pics (even funny - just not disgusting), don't forget about me. - I need to get back into the ballgame. ;)

No - I didn't forget my big brother's B-day!

He's 29!!!
Oh my goodness!
And here I thought we'd never get to 20! - Jesus was meant to come back when I was 15. Heh!
All the better for us, we got to experience sooooo much more.

Love you Niel!
Happy 29th, and know I'm praying for you!

I'm back!

Yes, Cervantino came and went, and I'm now back Home. :)

A rather interesting occasion, I must say. - Tons of activity, major "Holy Ghost" power, and it was awesome to see so many people turned on and witnessing up a storm. Hundreds of souls were saved and though I can't say I contributed too much (will explain) it was actually very inspiring.

We didn't leave on the 7th after all due to part of the team not getting back from B.L.A.S.T. till close to 7:00 pm. It was pouring rain, traffic was nasty (Friday night, Mexico City - YUCK!), so we opted to stay at the CTC for the night and leave early the next morning, instead of getting there at 2 or 3 in the morning. I ended up waking up at 5:00 the next morning and we were off by 6:20 (yes, getting everyone and their belongings in the van can be a long process).

I was dead tired by the time we got there (seeing as I drove - oh, and yes, the guys in the van behind me called me a "Speed Demon" - HA!), tried to nap but it didn't really work out, and when we took off for lunch, due to the fact that there were way too many people to eat in one shift, our shift (yes, the 2nd shift) ate at 4:00pm. For those who know me, you also know that's NOT good for me, so yes, I got a nasty headache and ended up looking/acting like a real zombie the rest of the evening. - Hence the previous comment of "I can't say I contributed much".

It was awesome though, I'm not complaining and I'm not regretting having gone. Yes, I had withdrawls due to no laptop, but people seemed to help me with that just fine in that they still asked me plenty of work related questions (sigh...), no rest for the wicked there. I got to put faces to names I knew, and get to meet lots of our Mexican Family. I was even told I'm not as tall as people thought/remembered me to be. (Thanks Luchi and Niki!) So yes, it was an experience to remember, one that I will never forget, and to all those who probably thought I was a solemn person, well, it's a miracle I didn't pass out (which is what usually happens when I skip meals like that). - Now that would have been something to blog about.

I did win a few souls, had some good indepth personal witnessing conversations (even got an e-mail from one of the guys I witnessed to - super cool) and all in all, it was fun.

And yes, life goes on. I'm back, I've downloaded the e-mails that were awaiting my return, and I even got a full day of work in.

Last night was the best though, Amber and I crashed Chili's for dinner - to celebrate (although belatedly) her 30th B-day (twoot-tweeoo). We ate so much (it was good) we could have rolled Home instead of driving. - I just love partying with good friends.

And I guess any further tales will come with any future blogs. CIAO!

I'm off!!!

Oh yeigh! We're heading out to Cervantino - a first for me, so I'll have to tell you how it goes when I get back.

Get this though, I won't be bringing my laptop so I will be offline for about 3 days. HELP! (Yes, please pray for me - mainly against withdrawls - it's been 8 years since I've gone somewhere without a laptop.) I also get to drive our 15 seater van there and back so...well...let's pray I have the strength too and don't get too many creaky muscles from the long drive and sitting on my ass for such long stretches. - I might sit at a desk all day but I still run around and do tons of errands to keep myself from getting a numb ass.

It should be a blast though, in fact, I'm sure it will be; lots of souls saved, personal witnessing, Holy Ghost samples, skits, etc. - Yeigh! :)

I'll let you know! Ciao all!

Tales to tell

WnRs are thuper cool! – Especially when you wait sooooo long for one and are D.E.D. by the time it comes around. – It makes them so special, warm, and snug.

We finally had ours Wednesday, and opted to go to a little house that was rented for some meetings. It’s in the middle of nowhere (literally – the way they told us we’d find it was “it’s the first house you actually see”), no internet (aha – oh yeah), but if you think going to “Boon-docks-ville” means no troubles you should think again.

There were four of us girls (as I said, I’ve been in the business of protecting our ladies – ahem), and I think we ended up with every possible thing happen to us. I’ll explain:

First, well, we barely make it to the supermarket to grab some last minute snacks and stuffs. We’re heading to the flat when in our path are two cars side-by-side (a combi minivan and a taxi), they’re not tuning into us, but my co-pilot was rather worried that they were trying to stop us (to then do who knows what to us). I squeezed our van through the path that was still open, and when they whistled to probably mention that “hey, we’ll get out of the way, just wait” our co-pilot thought they were trying to get us to stop so asked me to please, lock the doors, and ensure I didn’t stop. HA! So sweet! Of course, we are on a road, so cars do have to share that road with you, so when the taxi started “following” us, it was a desperate prayer situation too. :)

I’m not making fun of her, by the way, we had some good laughs (especially when the taxi veered off to another road) but yes, explaining about this dear co-pilot will explain part of the fun of our WnR adventures.

Next event was getting to the house, and setting up for a movie. There were two of us in each room (each room had a double-bed) and I got the co-pilot. Yup – I got all the fun! First we’re watching a movie and a mouse ekes across the outside window pane and she thinks its inside. – In fact, she’s sure it is! We ignore it, and her worries, and sure enough, it was outside.

We then go to the room and are getting ready for bed when Kashasa laughs and the “co-pilot” jumps and panics thinking it was a man. (Snicker – sorry Kashasa, you’re gonna have to femalize your laugh.)

I then notice a “scary moth” sitting on the wall, and figured it would probably be another source of worry and concern, so I grab it and take it to the other girls’ room. Snicker! I released it in their room and had a good laugh watching Kashasa jump around with a flip-flop trying to kill it. (I felt wicked. Gna-ha!) Of course, the “co-pilot” (names are withheld in order to protect the innocent) heard the racket and came running in to find out what was happening….also worried. – Oh dear. I guess I didn’t succeed.

The night wasn’t too eventful other than the “co-pilot” getting up a LOT to go to the bathroom (and waking me up each time – sigh) but what was eventful was the next day. We first ran out of gas, so myself and the “co-pilot” head off to the little store (the next hut in the middle of nowhere) and ask in our broken Spanish for help getting a new gas bottle. They say they’re sending Polo (the caretaker), but he doesn’t come, so Danini (who was actually rather anxious and excitedly looking forward to introducing herself as “Marco” and asking if they were relatives, or if he wanted to play the “Marco….Polo” game with her) and Kashasa, end up taking a second trip about an hour later and come back with the gas bottle. Oh yeigh! The store peoples installed it and then it took three of us girls to get the gas heater lit. MAN!!!! (That wind!)

I took off for a nap (yes, too much stress for a WnR) and wake up to the noise of the people from the shop again…this time we had ran out of water! All we were missing was running out of electricity. :(

All is well that ends well though and after laughing at how an adventures WnR beats a lazy one the other girls (co-pilot included) spent the rest of the day primping and doing all those girly things while I had Word time and soaked in a half-full tub (there wasn’t enough hot water to fill it – sniff).

Our last adventure was the door though – it took all four of us…and a fork – to close it! Man!!! We felt like “Survival Sam” after roughing it so much. HA! No, seriously, it was a WnR to remember and I think we even took a picture of me trying to light the gas heater. – Such an event.

A common occurrence

I was chatting with a dear friend last night when we got into the subject of all we go through in life; what seems to be the good times, the bad times, and the really bad times. Big topic, I know, and I'm not going to get into splitting hairs about it. - I'm really not one to care for those online debates about love and all that sort of "deep" stuff (give me action, not just words).

At any rate, we got into discussing how it seems the pattern of life is that right when you think you’ve “seen and experienced them all” when it comes to trials, problems, heartaches, etc. and start telling yourself “okay, now it’s ending and I can take a breather”, along comes another whammy and you see that, well, that you’re in for yet another ride.

I know we’ve all had our downs, I have yet to meet someone that is all peaches and cream when it comes to what they’ve been through in life. But I’ve noticed that we always pull through things if we remain positive, regardless of how hard they are. - And we can overcome. – Which, I guess, means we are then ready to take on a new set of “battles”.

To explain, the past 7 weeks have been a whole new set of battles for me, but guess what? They’re over now - I can actually say that, and…well, I’m honestly looking ahead just ready and knowing that, yes, the next ones will come. The interesting thing is I look back and can’t think of any other way those things could have unfolded.

I don’t regret the road I took! I don’t relish the trials, definitely not, but I know that going through those battles was the only road available. I think that’s the best part of going through things like that, and that’s knowing that regardless of how low you got, you were where you were meant to be, passing through what you were meant to pass through – and you gave it your best shot.

I have no witty remark to say (the thought of a “toast” came to mind, but I couldn’t think of one – alas), I can’t say I feel “accomplished”, but I do have that peace in my heart that I did what I could and took the road offered me.

To all of you out there going through it, you’re in my prayers. We’re only getting better because of it! (Note the “BECAUSE” – not “INSTEAD” – some things we just have to go THROUGH.)

I don’t think it’ll ever stop!

I was encouraged by dearest Miss B to post my curly thoughts, but I must honestly say that thoughts are few these days. I think it’s more an automatic reaction that takes place when your brain power is dead and you can’t think due to brain deadness – so you just “do”!

A major “race” has been won, we pulled a 7 week stunt, and yesterday (2nd) was the end of one and the beginning of another. HELP! I’ve done 2 airport trips the last 2 days (I think it can start being my “home away from home” almost, for the amount of time I’m there), both found me getting Home rather late, and to top it off our teens and young people (well, most of them) took off for BLAST yesterday morning, so as I was saying, we end one stunt and run right into another one.

The house is rather quiet though (I’d say “SOOOOO”, but we still have all our kids, so yeah…they make sure we know they’re there!) and yes, our skeleton team is literally wearing itself out. Yikes! Our men are few (I keep telling our dear ladies, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you!”), and I think a zombie is what you could resemble me to. I’ve refused to put any makeup on today (for those who know me you know why, for those who don't, I always make sure to put on a little, to ensure I don’t let how tired I am show), I’m wearing comfy baggy clothes, and I’m trying to deep clean my room. It looks like Hurricane Katrina and Rita hit! – At least I’m a survivor. :)

We have a challenging week ahead, but I don’t know how much of it I’ll get to share with you. I do hope to disappear for a WnR though before taking off for Cervantino. – The coolest personal witnessing venture of the year. I’ll keep you posted on how that works, but if you don’t hear from me it’s probably because I either:

1. Fell asleep at the computer seeing as my adrenaline rush is gone.


2. Managed to disappear for my WnR – in other words, don’t try to call me. ;)


3. Or am just trying to wrap up work and pack in prep for 3 days of adventure, soul-winning, and fun.

Either way, I’m sure I’ll be back sometime soon with more tales to tell, but for now this will have to do.