Bits 'n Pieces

I was making myself some lunch a little bit ago. A nice, hot cup of what we'd call in the States Raman Noodle Soup. I added enough water to let the noodles rehydrate, then cut up about an ounce of cheese, added it and the seasoning packet to the noodles, and stirred. Makes a nice change from a cheese sandwich. I don't care for the balik (ham) or hard sausage open face sandwiches that Mel makes for himself and usually just have cheese ones, with a tomato slice or pickle. Sometimes we can find 'lunch meat' but it is very expensive and not good for you anyway. Like hard sausage, ham and cheese are! haha. I'll go get a little orange after a bit and have that, too. Which reminds me, Mel bought some peanuts for me the other day. I need to roast them and make some peanut butter again. Later. Not right now.

I still haven't decided what pattern to use next on the loom. Alys said she'd sell me 4 skeins of white acrylic her mother sent her instead of the 4 skeins of white wool she'd asked for. So, I think I'll do a red and white scarf again, or maybe add a third color and make it another plaid. Hmmm - looking at this yarn - should I add purple (red, white and purple) or a bit of yellow (red, white and yellow) or a bit of pink (red, white and pink)? Well, it is Valentine's Day - maybe I'll go after the red, white and pink. Of course, I could change my mind on that one whenever I actually start to warp the loom! hehe That's one of the advantages of being a high P on the Meyer's-Brigg Temperment scale. I do like variety and I don't like a lot of rules and regulations. Maybe I should look at that red, white and purple after all.....

Meanwhile, I'll work on my embroidery project for at least another day and let the loom rest.

I've also got a project going on the computer. I need to put together a whole bunch of pictures for the Sunday School. I love doing this, which is good, since what they decided to do while I was gone has absolutely NO pictures, word games, coloring pages, etc. at all. I am very much a visual learner, then a hands on learner - so for me, the more pictures and things to do with my hands, the better. I've found it to be true with most kids, too. Therefore - part of what I'll be teaching during the little seminar I hope to have in a few weeks for teachers or want-to-be teachers is a review of different learning styles and how to use a bit of each while you teach. Hmmm - I have quite a bit of stuff to get ready and here I am, writing on my blog. But it's my lunch time - and I don't kick into high gear for getting things done until sometime around 3pm anyway. So!

The washer is emptying the wash water. That means, hopefully, that I won't have to go bump the dial again for this load. One of these days I'm going to have to buy a new washer. And we need a new fridge. And we need a new vacuum. Seems to me that appliances wear out here a whole lot faster than they do in the States. Maybe due to all of the power fluctuations? Our poor fridge is on it's last 'legs' - every time it shuts off, the whole thing bounces around and makes a really loud noise. Now picture what that must sound like for our neighbor lady below us and beside us, on the other side of the wall from the fridge. Makes me want to laugh right out loud. Bet they wonder what the heck we do up/over here that causes that horrible noise several times a day and through the night. At least the fridge doesn't fall over, and so far it hasn't moved out of it's assigned spot. Can't you see it? Oh dear - my imagination is going wild. I need to tell Stirling a story about our fridge. I can just 'see' it in my mind - I get up to go to the little room in the middle of the night - and there is The Fridge, standing between me and the little room, light shining out from the partially opened door. Kind of like a horror movie - Night of the Walking Fridge.

I actually did make Sergei laugh a couple weeks ago. We were at lunch at Pan Pizza after church and Melinda was talking about how she and Valentina had cleaned our flat just before we got back to Ukraine, and how useless our vacuum is. I reminded her of the very first vacuum our Team had - an old Soviet one. When cleaning the 'office flat', I had to sweep the rug first and then hold the tube next to the pile of dirt and sweep it into the tube - there was hardly any suction at all. I made the appropriate hand motions as I talked. Sergei actually laughed out loud. Made my day. (By the way, Mel unplugged the big plug of hair, cat hair, dust and dirt that was in the crook of the tube where it meets the floor head and it does work better now than when Melinda tried to use it. We still need a new vacuum, but at least it's actually picking up the little stuff now out of the carpet.)

Oh dear - there goes the washer spinning out. Sounds like it's going to join the fridge and it will be "Night of the Walking Large Appliances".

Ok, back again. Washer is now filling for the next to final rinse. I do NOT like these front load washers. So sorry the US and AlGore insist that they must be used there now, too - these silly 'water saver' things. I add more water to my washer everytime I use it. I've got a hose with a funnel that I just hold under the faucet and let the water run until it's at least 1/3 full of water. I've written before how I cannot figure out how slightly wet clothes flopping around in a machine could actually get clean (they don't - they come out smelling like they went in - sweaty and used, with the added perfume of the detergent). And then there are the 3 or 4 rinse cycles. A little bit of water each time. Ridiculous. Give me a tub full of water!!! Anyway, rant over. It was just a little rant.

Mel just called and his objective was successful with just a one-time visit to the bank. The rent can now be paid. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 visits to the bank. I'm glad that's almost over for him (he isn't home yet).

So, this is not at all what I thought I'd write about when I sat down here to eat my lunch and take a break from all of those dirty dishes from last night. Since it's almost 2pm and the water will go off in just a few minutes, the rest of the dirty dishes (the pots and pans and now the lunch dishes, too) will just have to wait till this evening when the water comes back on. I'll hang up the clean clothes in the bedroom, put away the dry ones from the last load of laundry, and then - then - I'll get busy on some pictures for Sunday School.