The Happy/Sad Pictorial Journal

Sad: It has been a while since I have posted anything on this blog. And, worse, the silence was caused by an illness that lasted two months. (Yes, that is as fun as it sounds.)
Happy: Sweet children definitely brightened my world.

Happier: The good news is that my sickness isn't contagious and is ending now that I'm out of the first trimester of pregnancy. We are all growing very excited about meeting our baby later this year.

Much Too Happy: We were able to announce our pregnancy on Christmas Day!

Happy: Kind friends have been dutifully sharing name suggestions they come across. 

Very sad for those shopping in the name market: The suggestions have been disappointing, including the one found on a registration card.

"It can be boy or girl, Sara. Go for it!"

Cry giant alligator tears sort of sad:  Between the logistical and financial questions associated with world travel, as well as feeling like mud over that time, I missed out on a beautiful wedding -the wedding of my very own brother. Tears.

The good news for them: They were able to get happily married without me. 

The good news for me: Jesus sees and knows the pain of being far away from family and is preparing a place for us where we can one day be together forever. 

Super happy: When nearly everything in the line of food turns you off and creative cooking is nothing more than a dim and stomach-churning memory, being able to purchase a dollar's worth of cooked rice to feed our family is a huge blessing.
The sad part: Though it varies greatly, excessive pepper levels make adults feel a kin to fire-breathing dragons and turn brave children into water guzzlers. The hottest rice we've ever gotten even sent our rice-loving-dog racing to her water bowl mid-meal.

Rice with salad and spaghetti noodles
wrapped in plantain leaves.

Happy: Nothing like a good distraction when you feel ill.
The not-too-sad part for the guy who never liked these trees: Half of one of our trees was leaning significantly. John was concerned it could blow across our electric wires in a storm.

Happily: Oscar, the caretaker, agreed with John and brought tree trimmers to 'bob' the trees. I imagined twelve feet neatly whacked off the top. They imagined twelve feet left on the ground and used their cutlasses (machete-style knife) to fell everything higher than their ladder.

The good news for John: The trees got trimmed before the rain storm knocked them across the wires. He's so practical.
The sad news for me: I didn't get to watch them fall in a rainstorm like I hoped I could.
Beyond sad: Inexperienced tree trimmers dropped one directly across the wires we tried to protect, tearing the wires, and knocking us and our entire district out of lights, the district court included. If our neighbors' votes had anything to do with them, our polls would have taken a significant plummet that morning.
Beyond happy: The electric company came out immediately and corrected the problem instead of "punishing us" by waiting a week to look at them, something they did to our friends in a similar situation. Yay for Oscar's connections with The Big Guy at the electric company's office!

We are very grateful the tree missed a friend's van
that was parked in our drive.

Most Happily: I'm finally well enough to feel alive, bake a birthday cake with Sophia, and renew my interest in writing. I'm so glad you are visiting this little blog and I hope we meet here again soon.