Things I'm thankful for:

Today I'm thankful for quite a few very simple things.....

• The mosquito net that keeps the mosquitos from biting me while I'm defenseless and sleeping


• The rug because it allows all the sand to fall between the reeds and keeps it off my floor where I step and out of my bed. You can only sweep so many times a day. Now I need one for outside my front door to keep it from being tracked in.


• The hot water bottle that the director, Ros, gave me as a house warming gift cause it keeps me warm when I sleep at night


• The electric water boiler because my kitchen is shared by 9 people and i have to walk to it in the cold through the sand to get there...it's nice to just heat up water in my room for tea, coffee, or hot chocolate (or the water for my hot water bottle)...and it's tons faster than boiling the water (no running hot water in our kitchen).

• A washing machine...while very small and shared by 9 people, it would take me even longer to do all the mounds of laundry I accumulate by being with grubby handed babies all day if I had to wash by hand.


• Amazing sunsets I can watch from my bedroom window and from the baby house window when I'm in there making meds for the morning


• Hotwater showers in my very own room (when the gas isn't out as it is this wkend) cause it's too cold right now for cold ones and who wants to walk through the sand after you've gotten all clean?


• The internet so I can stay conncected with all of you


• Finding American drugs in the pharmacy/clinic on occasion....cause practically everything over here is European drugs and i have to look them up to figure out what it is and how to use it....plus i can read the label when it's in English which is oh so helpful when I'm in a hurry....especially since everyone that works in the clinic only speaks portuguese.


• The small fridge that Anna Lee thought to buy a few yrs ago for the baby house medical director so that when we have sick babies that have to bunk over night with us we can have all the supplies at hand in our room for them (meds, bottles, ect)....but when not in use doubles as my personal drink fridge since 9 people share 2 fridges in our small kitchen.


• My chair I bought on the beach, handmade by local Mozambicans for a mere $35 American dollars so I can sit and read or think or relax without having to deal with my mosquito net on my bed


• Jannie for taking my Tuesday am meds shift this wk just because she can....I hate mornings and 7:30 is coming really early for me...plus i'm on all this wkend at the baby house and it gets to be really long hrs


• That the babies go to sleep at 7pm everyday....which means that as much as I love them what's left of my evenings everyday are free cause they are asleep (all the other missionaries get to hang out or bring special treats, or watch movies with, ect because their dorms are older and have a much later bedtime)...unless there's one that's sick or an emergency.


• Celia for making me feel so welcome and inviting me over lots for really yummy meals, tea, conversations, and chocolate in the evenings


• All the tots in the babyhouse that think it's fun to take medicine which makes my job even easier cause this wkend (Fri-Sun) I will have given out over 150 meds with over half of which I had to cut, crush, mix, ect before administering. Everyone go out right now and hug a pharmacist (ok you can finish reading the blog first). We can't get peds meds here and nothing comes in oral forms so we get yucky tablets that we cut into the right dosage, crush, and mix with a little sugar water to make the medicine go down just like Mary Poppins....and it works. Sometimes when i call the child's name (cause i still haven't learned all 40 names) and then pray the kids not just wanting to take meds but actually is the right child...the kids all point to the right one, jump up and down, and chant the other kids name till they take the med....oh how easily they are amused. I have never seen so many kids liking to take disgusting tasting multivitamins....yuck!


• Portuguese lessons....for the very obvious reason!

I promise I'll take pictures soon....especially of all the cute little tots. I just never find a moment currently...but at least you have a few (of my room)! Praise God for getting to sleep in this morning, this coming Monday and on Tuesday. YES!!!