Through the Seasons

I’ve still got my blogging mojo.  I just haven’t had much time.  Every day we have our to do list; between that and our daily activities I don’t have a good block of uninterrupted time to focus on my blog.

But today is Saturday and although we don’t have anything on the list today I can’t stop.  I can’t relax.  I can’t get my mind to slow down.

What I’ve been doing lately though is pretty cool.  My research wheels have been spinning in the area of couponing and oh my word there’s a lot of information out there!  I think I’ve read plenty of 101 type articles, talked to friends, looked at what others in the blogworld are doing.  I can’t believe the savings some people get!  I don’t know if I can be *that* good but I’m willing to try!

On the packing news, we’re 99% packed up.  Next week’s activities will be focused on the house.  Everything that’s still out gets washed and packed up for the family who bought the things we’re leaving.  Then we pack our traveling bags Saturday morning and hit the road!

EEEEEE!

read comments (2)

We’ve come to the end of our first week of packing up here in preparation for our return to the States.  We have a “to do list” for each day between now and the day we leave.  So far, we are right on track.  It does make life quite a bit busier but not to the point of being overwhelmed or overworked.

So this week we began by organizing our stuff in one area while putting everything that another family (who is coming later this year) bought from us in a separate room.  Our guestroom is now our packing room.  The more we put into that room though the scarier it gets.  We hoped to have no excess baggage but I’m not sure we’ll make that happen.  It’ll be close.  If we have too much we’ll see what else we can let go of.

The playroom is now storage for our friends’ things.  Asher’s bedroom is now empty.  The kitchen has been reduced down to just what we use often.  (I have had to get things out of storage twice now – things I thought I didn’t use often but then realized I do, in fact, need them.)

We have also gone through our clothes and toiletries getting them down to just what we want to take back with us.  I have a feeling we’ll end up going through them again as we begin putting things in suitcases.

Next week we’ll go through the pantry, pack up things that are in outside storage (which isn’t much at all), take the pictures off the walls, and then begin the task of packing.  We want to begin early so we know if we need to buy a container or suitcase.  We also want to see how it will end up fitting.  Knowing this early, rather than later, will help us not get to the last days and have to scramble to make decisions of how to get everything we want home and what else to let go of to keep baggage down.

I have to say the less we have in each room the better I feel.  It feels…simple… clean… organized… manageable.  This has been a very freeing experience and I really hope to take the lessons I’ve learned and not accumulate things the way I’ve done in the past.

read comments (0)

Here are pictures (a lot of them) from our outing yesterday to Daraja la Mungu (God’s Bridge).

Looking out across the river at another bridge.

Young boy herding his cows across the bridge.

I just realized all my pictures actually of God’s Bridge are on Asher’s blog.  Check them out there:  www.mccalled.com/asher

read comments (0)

Yesterday I woke up with the idea that I wanted to get out of the house and go somewhere.  My idea was to drive just outside of town (as in a 20 minute drive) to go for a walk and, as I tell Asher when we go outside, we’d “see what we can see”.

Jonathan was still in bed although awake.  I went in and presented my idea.  As usual, he had to one-up me.  (I can’t say that I mind this!)  He got out his GPS, got onto google earth, and planned a trip for us to “Daraja la Mungu” (God’s bridge).  It is a natural bridge formed from lava rock.  The river under it was fast moving with a few waterfalls.  It was a wonderfully relaxing day.

We played by the water’s edge watching the swallows swooping by the water.  Jonathan skipped rocks while Asher just threw them in (and was very proud of himself).  We saw butterflies, bees, frogs, flowers, moss, trees.  It was a great time “away”.

And you’d think in such an out-of-way place we’d forget we were in Africa at all.  And we did have those moments here and there.  But for the most part we remained very aware of where we were.

As we were standing under the bridge basking in the cool dampness I looked up to see chickens on the hill above us.  I took a picture out at a man-made bridge over another part of the river and saw a young boy leading two cows across.  Right next to God’s bridge there were huts, clothes lying on the ground drying, kids playing, and people going about their daily work.  We were definitely still in Tanzania.

But the main way we knew where we were was because we drew stares.  As we drove out of town and down back roads, people stopped their work to watch us drive by.  Kids yelled and waved at us as we passed.  Adults stared.  While we were standing by the river a girl came down and sat right by us and just watched us.  From a few feet away mind you.  When we turned to leave she took Asher and carried him to the car for us.  We drove a little way and went to a different area to hike up a path.  A young man came and stood at our car as we were getting back in.  Jonathan had a conversation with him that was made up of mere chit-chat.

At one point yesterday I told Jonathan, “Just think.  When we are in America no one will stare at us.  We’ll absolutely blend in.”  And that will feel amazing!  I can’t even imagine it.  Because, after all, we’re truly not that interesting to look at.

(Pictures of yesterday’s outing to come!)

read comments (0)

I just walked by our back door and saw all of Jonathan’s equipment sitting out on the sidewalk ready to be loaded in the car.  Today is Jonathan’s last official “office day” (time spent working in the office).  He is taking the equipment to the office (SIL purchased it for future use here) and will train people on the basics of how to use it.

I had this feeling the day of our yard sale too.  It’s a touch of the reality of the situation to see our belongings carried away and ownership of them assumed by others.  It’s a form of goodbye, not only to material possessions, but to a life here.  Our first assignment.  My child’s first real home.  A lot of memories were made here.  A lot of milestones were reached here.

It’s not like staying wouldn’t be a million times easier.  That thought hits me pretty often.  This is a huge transition for us.  But we trust God and move forward, grieving the losses of letting go, and continuing on to the next step, focusing on the only thing we can and that is today.  We know not what tomorrow will bring.  But we press on!

“for we walk by faith, not by sight.”  ~2 Corinthians 5:7

read comments (0)

Over the weekend, we met with our landlord.  I think he was a little bit nervous to hear from us.  Jonathan texted him to ask when a good time to get together to talk would be and he immediately called and said he’d be over later that morning.

The way we came into renting this house in the first place was by catching him here one day and asking him if he was renting it out.  He wasn’t but was willing to talk to us about it.  When we moved in, the house wasn’t yet completed.  So instead of paying rent we paid bit-by-bit for the finishing touches.  In essence then the landlord got out of having to deal with the workers, issues, and hassles while ending up with a completed house.  (And in return we got a house to live in as there were no others available at the time.)

When he came on Saturday we told him we were leaving and he thanked us for being such good renters.  He said that he’s heard from others that it’s a lot of work but that we’ve had no issues at all and have done amazing things with the place.  His comment was that instead of the house looking like it’s been lived in, it looks brand new.  (Thankfully Asher waited until after this meeting to take a black permanent marker to the floor and wall.  Really!)  He’s a happy landlord and we’re happy tenants!  His family may even move into the house once we leave now that it’s ready and livable.  We are so happy for them!

We also told him that Raleigh is a good guard dog and used to this house.  He said he’d like to keep him!  Hooray!  All dogs now have homes perfect for them.  We’re very happy about this.  We haven’t stressed about these decisions but have relied on God to work out the details and everything has just come together nicely.

So another couple things checked off the list.  We’re moving right along…

read comments (0)

Lately Asher has been wanting to go for walks.  I’ve had to change my purpose of the walk from a form of exercise to a venture in exploration.  Here are some pictures from this morning.

He wanted to walk with this girl but I finally convinced him to stop following her.

Here we are setting out.  Asher’s equipped with his bucket (an old peanut butter container) to collect things on the walk.

exploring, discovering, collecting

butterfly

sitting in a patch of beans and putting rocks into his bucket

bee

just a shot of the path we were walking

view of the mountains

wasp

checking out the tiny snails on the leaf

I planned to take a picture of everything he gathered when we got back but before we returned he emptied his bucket.  I guess he wanted to leave it all where it belongs.

read comments (2)

We took a little trip today to town to check our mail and as soon as we walked in the girl at the counter said, “Jonathan!  You have mail!”  My dad found some shows for us online and also recorded some auto races, filled up seven SD cards, and sent them all to us in a little book for Asher.  We were all excited to have some entertainment for our last weeks here and even enough for the flight(s) over as well.  So what did we get?

Seven different seasons of Survivor.  Yes I said seasons.

Nine auto races.  Nine!

I guess now we just have to hope our replacement MP3 player arrives before we leave since mine recently bit the dust.  Asher dropped it and that was the end of that.  It’s not really his fault though.  Who actually gives their MP3 player to a two-year old?  A woman who wants to exercise in peace, that’s who.  But if that doesn’t pan out we’ll use a laptop.

And who am I kidding anyway?  I doubt I’ll have as much time for entertainment on the flight as I imagine.  I’m all in theory mode right now.  I’ll have my fair share of experience soon enough…

read comments (2)

So maybe I should tell you what our overall to do list consists of to give you an idea of what our last days here will be comprised of…

Sell the car  (almost finalized I think)

Make reservations for our trip from here to Dar (we stop for a night halfway then will be in Dar 2 nights before flying out)

Work with our supervisor in the US to determine our financial support raising needs

Patch inside and outside paint on/in this house

Make a pediatrician appointment (check-up) for Asher in the States

Find a home for Raleigh (our dog)

Sell a few last personal items

Clean house thoroughly

Find tumbling and swimming classes for Asher in the States, if possible

Plan what food to pack for flight(s)

Pack

I guess that last one is the biggie and we won’t know what that will really look like until the time comes.  We have thought about packing some now but it still feels too early (although we leave Mbeya a month from today).

One thing we will end up doing is storing, in Asher’s playroom, all of the stuff that a family which is coming in January bought from us.  Although Jonathan is ready to do that now and eager as well, I really don’t want to lose that room of the house.  It is next to the living room and holds all of Asher’s toys.  Granted there aren’t *that* many toys left but I still don’t want them piled in a corner of the living room.  (Because honestly how long would they stay there?)  Also he enjoys playing in that room and I hate to condense his roaming space quite yet.  A month is still a long time. Jonathan’s work ends after next week and I guess then we’ll move things around.

For the flight home we got Asher a Spiderman backpack to hold his toys and snacks.  I also have a couple special toys that are for the flight itself.  I am hoping that these toys being new to him will keep him interested longer than the toys he’s used to.  We will also have his old favorites of course.  He has seen those toys though and knows they are for when we “fly in an airplane” and sometimes he’ll say “baby, fly, lion, monkey” (to indicate the “for flight only” toys).  Then to say he wants to take his Mickey Mouse and Giraffe (his two favorite toys right now) he’ll add “MickaMoush, Girash”.  I do have a couple surprise toys (one being a neck pillow that looks like a beaver) so maybe he’ll like those too.

I have no idea what it will be like having a 2 year old on an airplane for two different 8-10 hour flights (then one 2 hour flight).  They are all day flights.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad either.  We’ll be staying in London overnight though so hopefully we’ll all at least get one good night’s sleep in the middle of the trip.

I suspect this will be quite the learning experience for all of us.

read comments (3)

I have lost my blogging mojo.  Doh!  Where did it go?  I have mentioned before and I believe it’s true – it went over to Facebook and now everything I have to say (thanks to Twitter) is in 140 characters or less.

So I want to promise you I’ll get back to it.  But I hate making promises I can’t keep and although I’d like to keep that promise I’m not 100% sure I can.

But I will say this:  As we start to really pack up and leave Mbeya I will probably have more to say.  Right now when I think over my day to what was memorable it is always what Asher has said or done.  He is at such a cute age right now!!  I realize they call them terrible two’s but a friend of ours calls them the terrific two’s and I can see why!  That boy is CUTE!  And says the funniest things!  And does the craziest things!  I love that boy!

As for an update of what is going on right now…  Jonathan’s last day of work is a week from Friday.  A WEEK FROM FRIDAY!  We leave Mbeya a month from tomorrow.  A MONTH FROM TOMORROW!  (Okay I’ll stop repeating myself now.  I said I’ll stop repeating…never mind.)

He has a ton of work to finish and while it’s do-able it’s also tight.  Basically nothing can go wrong in a land where things go wrong more often than not.  So we’ll pray and watch and adapt when necessary.

A while back I made an overall to do list and broke it all down month-by-month.  Doing that has made it all kind of attainable instead of overwhelming.  We’re on track with that list as long as – well – as long as nothing goes wrong.  Are we setting ourselves up here or what!?

Oh but it will all work out and from the queen of stress (I’ll wait while you crown me……) I have to say I’m not stressed.  Not at all?  Nope.  Why not?

God is in control.  God is all-powerful.  God loves me.  God is good.  Those four truths together makes it impossible for me to get stressed out.  For now anyway.  Hopefully I never fall for the temptation to stop believing these facts to start thinking it is all up to us to make what needs to happen, happen.  Because we can’t.  And then I’ll be stressed.  And all that stress – well – it won’t help.

For a little side story (since this whole post is just totally random, stream-of-consciousness), a while back I was worried that Asher’s teeth weren’t coming in and wouldn’t come in.  I checked his gums often.  I told a friend of mine (a mother of two) that I was worried about this and of course she told me not to.  Finally they came in and I said, “See!  All that worrying did work!  What if I hadn’t worried?  They may have never come in!”  (I’d hate to think my worrying really didn’t accomplish anything.  Then I’d have to give it up.  Ha!)

So until next time (which I hope will be tomorrow but who knows!) rest in God’s providence. 

read comments (0)