Bsara

We had a favorite lunch the other day. "Bsara" which is split peas that they cook into a thick paste/soup type dish. Its full of garlic and cumin and SO good. Pour a bit of fresh olive oil over it, dip your bread and away you go. We also got to have fresh fish. Another favorite. Benson likes to just start at the tail or the head and work his way down. Josiah is a bit more careful and at this point William isn't very interested at all. 

I'm so thankful for boys who love the food here!

Ruby Tuesday and Other Random Thoughts.

I love that song by the Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday. Actually, if I'm honest I really enjoy classic rock period. Oldies, slightly younger oldies and quality 80's & 90's hits. I can thank my Dad for my general love of music. He knows more about oldies than anyone I know and made sure his kids had a good general knowledge of the classics. Including random historical information like what was happening the first time he heard such and such a song and what songs were on the B side of the record. Important stuff.

Its raining. No power. A team of 9 volunteers here to help us out. Those three things put together make for an interesting morning. So far so good. We're just going about business as usual and hoping it clears up real soon.

My right ear is plugged and making funny bubbling sounds. Not entirely sure what that means, but its weird. Thankfully I can still hear and thankfully I've never lost my hearing. Seriously, what a blessing to be able to hear. Something I know I take forgranted daily.

This volunteer team brought us some new printer cartraiges. So we can start printing things again. My life is going to be so much easier! Except for today, cuz there is no power. But otherwise so much easier!

My Mother-in-law also sent some Jelly Bellies with this team. You know the full size costco Jelly Bellies?! Amazing. Nothing like them here. I am keeping them on top of my fridge, where they are hard to reach so that I can make them last. Its hard though, they are SO good.

My sleepy-heads just woke up to start their day which means I should stop with this random mumbling and get going. Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

A Fast Connection, And A Few Photos.

A few from the road a few days ago. I love the way the hills look as the sun is setting. These days the greens are mixing with the wild flowers to create one of the most beautiful views ever.

Joey reading with the "cheese" king. Pull out a camera or phone and he's posing immediately.

 A while back Joey saw a guy standing on the side of the road, nothing too unusual in these parts, what was unusual was his backpack, so Joey picked him up and sure enough he was a traveler from Italy. He came and stayed with us for a few days. His English was broken and his Arabic limited, but he was a hard worker and grateful guest. Gotta love the surprises that you find on the side of the road.

 Benson with his chocolate eye art. Yum, yum.

Josiah, such a cool dude.

Hope to post more photos and updates soon. Happy Weekend!

Yesterday

When I was a little girl I remember hearing a story from my mom about sewing through her thumb while using her sewing machine. I vaguely remember something about her calling my Dad to come help and he took a while not knowing what was going on, but finally got there and saved her from the dreaded machine. Honestly I don't know if the story was true, or just a scare tactic to keep us kids away from the amazing machine, either way every time I sew I think about that story and pay attention to where my fingers are at all times. Except yesterday...

Joey and I were talking while I mended a pair of pants for a friend. I looked over at Joey to comment on something he said and next thing I know my finger is shooting pain. Yep, you guessed it, I sewed through the tip of my finger. I still have this surreal image of my finger with the sewing needle poking through the middle of the fingernail. I tried to quickly pull my finger out, but it was stuck. I cried out for Joey to come and asked him to pull my finger off. He didn't want to, it was just too much to see his wife impaled on the end of a needle. Ok, his wife's finger. So he held my other hand while I closed my eyes and pulled my finger off of the needle. Ouch. I had thought the needle was just in a little bit, but Joey later told me he could see the needle sticking out of the bottom of my finger. Uh, Yuck. All is better now. All I am left with is a mark on the top of my fingernail, a sore finger tip and a good story to tell my children!