We're getting ready to go for a boat ride on the River with members of the church and kids from the orphanage. Should be a lot of fun. We've done this a few times over the past 12 years, usually with a team that is visiting us from the States. This time a team that was here a few weeks ago left money with our team to do something with the kids later.
I'd mentioned the boat trip several times over the past few months when our team was talking about things we could do as a team this summer. However, it seemed a bit weird to think of renting the boat, which holds up to 400 people crammed on both decks, for just our little group of 11 people (5 of which are kids and 1 an American not actually on our team, but a gal who joins us for worship and is involved in our lives in other ways here since we are the only Americans we know here). Whew. That was a long, involved explanation that probably doesn't need to be there at all!
I've been looking forward to this ever since it was decided that we'd do it.
Today, however, I'm kind of an emotional basketcase, teary and just hoping I can make it through the rest of the day without crying again.
Last night, while sitting in Jamie and Julia's big comfy house, I would break out in hot sweat every once in awhile and start dripping sweat off the end of my nose. I'm carrying a washcloth in my pocket all the time now so I can wipe sweat off my face. This is so frustrating!!! I don't think it's the heat. I think maybe I'm having hot flashes again. And hot flashes at temps in the 80's and above are absolutely no fun whatsoever. I'm also wondering if that's why I'm so emotional.
And if that is true - why? Why when the Dr. assured me that according to my bloodwork last time, I am fully in menopause? And why did I have such a sharp, horrible pain in my lower left side a few nights ago? A pain that woke me up and kept me up for well over an hour? A pain very similar to the pain I had at the beginning of my periods every once in awhile.
One time while Mel and I were traveling in the States, we stopped for the night in Ely, NV. We were getting ready to go out and have dinner after finding a room and putting our stuff in it for the night. Suddenly I was hit with such a pain in that lower side that I cried out. Ended up laying down on the bed, holding a 2-liter pop bottle full of hot water against my side to help ease the pain until I finally went to sleep for a few minutes. If I remember correctly, that was the first time it happened. After that it happened every once in awhile and always on that side.
Now I wonder - do I need to be concerned about this? Is there a possibility that I have a problem with an ovary? Do I need to be concerned about ovarian cancer? Or something else?
Or was it just gas the other night? (I don't think so.)
Later today I'll look it up on the internet. Later when I have more time. All I know was that earlier today I felt a twinge there again - and that's what reminded me of it all to start with.
That and the fact that I feel like I have PMS and am so close to tears. We won't say anything about the "fight" I had with one of my co-workers last night during our prayer time ... no, that has nothing to do with any of it. Right?
Maybe I'll write more later about this all. Hopefully later I'll have lots of photos from the boat trip. For now - I just want to go back to bed, cry awhile and go "home" - wherever home actually is anywmore. I can't seem to find my 'happy place'.
Poor Mel. He has to live with this. With me.
Sigh.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Monday, June 06, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Yesterday and Today - Life in our Flat
A lot of the people I know are sick right now. Mostly headcolds. Some have turned into sinus infections. Mel and I are just coming down with the colds again.
We were supposed to have guests for dinner tonight. I called Ira to let her know they could still come over, but be aware that we are not 100%. She said her husband was supposed to have called us and told us that they are not coming over because their little guy didn't sleep last night - due to a headcold. He called just as I was saying goodbye to her on my cell phone.
It's weird. I can't remember being sick once with a headcold while we were at home. I'm sure I must have had at least one, but I don't remember it. Here - I'm on my third one since we got back. Last time I ended up missing church and spent almost 2 days in bed, sleeping. I always know when sleep like that is truly needed - more than 6 hours in bed on a healthy night and I wake up with a backache. If I'm sick and spend 12 hours in bed, my back very seldom even gives me a twinge. It's like the back says, ok, you are miserable enough already - I'll give you a break this morning/afternoon. Such a nice thing to do - wish it would do it all the time!
I had a feeling I was getting sick again last night. I could not get warm. Granted, it was only 67 or 68 degrees in here, but if I'm healthy, that is a comfortable temperature for me. If I'm getting sick, then I can't get warm at all. Last night my hands and nose were icy. Mel asked me why I was so cold to the touch. What can I say? :-) "I think I'm getting sick - cold, but otherwise feel pretty good, just icy hands and nose. I'm not making a romantic statement!"
We've had cold weather, down into the teens every night for the past several days. But oh the days! Sunshine like I don't remember having before during the winter! Beautiful, wonderful, life renewing SUNSHINE! I love sunshine. I love it. Love it. Love! It!
Yesterday the landlord came over for the rent. Six months worth. How is everything going in the flat, he asked. Fine, we replied. Great, he said. (or words to that effect. The wonderful thing is, I understood almost every single word he said, except for when he was mumbling. He mumbles a lot. Even our translators have had a hard time understanding him. We don't use a translator now when they come over, unless they forewarn us that they are going to raise the rent or something. They do forewarn us - I think that's nice, actually. Well, actually, it's because they want us to have the money on hand and not have to come back into the city to pick up the extra later. But I choose to look on the brighter, nicer side. :-)
Well, Ivan was here (pronounce that Evonne - it is not Eye-vun - the I sounds like the long E and Evonne has become a very masculine name to me now, kind of like Denise, which is how you say Dennis, but I am going off on a bunny trail again). Well, Ivan was here and we said everything is going great and 3 hours later, the toilet broke. Not a simple break where Mel goes and replaces the plunger thingy in the water tank because it's carroded.
No, this time it's the whole plunger thing unit, not just the thing you pull up. The screw down at the bottom has turned into a tack and the whole unit wants to come out when you pull on the thing you pull up to flush the toilet. Yep - the water has disolved the metal screw into a metal tack. Sigh. (No wonder my formerly very nice teeth now have lots of fillings - our water does this kind of thing. It is also why none of the laundry white items are white any more - they are all a dull gray.)
The water wouldn't stop running out of the tank because we couldn't seal it with the plunger thing. I knew that if that happened for very long we would soon have "the keeper of the stairwell" at our door, asking why or telling us that the water was running in our flat somewhere and we needed to fix it. Tatiana is a very nice elderly woman, in her 80's, with bright red hair, few wrinkles and is as slim as can be. Her face is rather gaunt and she walks for miles - or she did two years ago. She's slowing down and needing a cane more now. But she talks and talks to me - in the stairwell, on the street, two blocks away when we meet out walking. I know a lot about her - why? because she speaks beautiful Russian and not this mix of Ukrainian and Russian that so many people here speak. Tatiana helps me realize that my lack of understanding is not all my fault - I understand, and can speak, a whole lot more Russian than I think. It's the Ukrainian/Russian surzhek that kills me. Sigh. But again, I digress.
Tatiana is the "keeper of the stairwell" and she makes sure the gas bills get paid so that all the flats in the stairwell have heat, and she makes sure the water pipes are replaced when they start leaking, whether in our flat or in the basement, or wherever. I like her. Have asked her to the women's Bible study - but she told me she knew Lydia and they had worked together a life time ago and they had their differences and she really didn't want to come to the Bible study. And I thought - is she going to use that as an excuse when she stands before God at the judgement seat? Will she say to Christ - I didn't like Lydia? Oh my!!! (I like Lydia, no, I love Lydia and I miss her a lot since she moved to St. Petersburg 3 or 4 years ago. I like Tatiana, too. So sad they don't like each other. But oh my, what a small world it is!!)
I keep forgetting to write about the toilet - my mind is wandering all over the place today. Sigh. Not a sad sigh, just a sigh of recognition.
Mel tried to turn off the water at the valve where it comes out of the water pipe, which is so convieniently located right there on the wall, but when he turned the little red valve thingy, it came apart in his hand, in two pieces. The water continues to run. Now, we could have turned off the water to the kitchen with no problem at all. There is a different valve for that. But this one, the main valve that must be turned off to turn off the toilet water AND the kitchen, it's handle is in Mel's hand. Right where it belongs, right? haha.
So, Mel calls Ivan and tells him that the toilet is broken and Ivan tells him he can't come back because he lives across the river in a village and basically he just got home and he'll come tomorrow, which is today.
Well, I'm worried about Tatiana, and 'Galena Downstairs' complaining and yelling at us because the water is running continually in her sewer pipe which runs right down the wall behind the toilet. So I said, isn't there someway we can put something heavy on that plunger/seal thing to hold it down so it will seal. And Mel said, no, there wasn't room. And I said, what about something like a kitchen tile or a rock, maybe we could find one outside somewhere when we go to the store in a couple minutes. And he said, no, it's too narrow of a space. So I went looking around the flat for something heavy that would work. (I'm very concerned about Galena yelling at me like she does to people walking down the street sometimes, you see.) And I found this stick that used to be part of a shoe holder but was so weak and flimsy that it fell to pieces. And I said, what about this stick? It fits between the tank wall and the plunger holder thing. Maybe if we put a pan of water on it? That would be plenty heavy! Tried the pan (without water, first) - didn't fit. I go searching around the flat for something heavy that won't fall and spill water all over or damage someone sitting on the toilet. :-) Mel watches me a minute and I think he decides he'd better do something before I build a Monument to Broken Toilets in the toilet room. He, smart man that he is, goes and gets his vicegrips.
Voila! It actually worked! He pushed the stick down as hard as he could, till water stopped flowing into the toilet bowl, and then tightened the vicegrips as tight as he could without cracking the tank and really causing a huge mess.
So, Ivan came this morning, checked the whole thing out and said he'd come back on Monday and fix it. I was hoping we'd get a new toilet...this one is a Soviet toilet, stained and chipped and all over kind of beat up and crappy looking :-) (pun intended) and I've written about it before. An Essay on one of the Essentials of Life, and The Changing of the Roll are two places I've written about it. And I just had to laugh to myself, inbetween sneezes and blowing my nose over and over again this morning. Today is Thursday. He'll come back and fix the toilet on MONDAY because he can't come between now and then. Hopefully, those vicegrips will continue to do the job.
I'm just glad we can still use it!
We were supposed to have guests for dinner tonight. I called Ira to let her know they could still come over, but be aware that we are not 100%. She said her husband was supposed to have called us and told us that they are not coming over because their little guy didn't sleep last night - due to a headcold. He called just as I was saying goodbye to her on my cell phone.
It's weird. I can't remember being sick once with a headcold while we were at home. I'm sure I must have had at least one, but I don't remember it. Here - I'm on my third one since we got back. Last time I ended up missing church and spent almost 2 days in bed, sleeping. I always know when sleep like that is truly needed - more than 6 hours in bed on a healthy night and I wake up with a backache. If I'm sick and spend 12 hours in bed, my back very seldom even gives me a twinge. It's like the back says, ok, you are miserable enough already - I'll give you a break this morning/afternoon. Such a nice thing to do - wish it would do it all the time!
I had a feeling I was getting sick again last night. I could not get warm. Granted, it was only 67 or 68 degrees in here, but if I'm healthy, that is a comfortable temperature for me. If I'm getting sick, then I can't get warm at all. Last night my hands and nose were icy. Mel asked me why I was so cold to the touch. What can I say? :-) "I think I'm getting sick - cold, but otherwise feel pretty good, just icy hands and nose. I'm not making a romantic statement!"
We've had cold weather, down into the teens every night for the past several days. But oh the days! Sunshine like I don't remember having before during the winter! Beautiful, wonderful, life renewing SUNSHINE! I love sunshine. I love it. Love it. Love! It!
Yesterday the landlord came over for the rent. Six months worth. How is everything going in the flat, he asked. Fine, we replied. Great, he said. (or words to that effect. The wonderful thing is, I understood almost every single word he said, except for when he was mumbling. He mumbles a lot. Even our translators have had a hard time understanding him. We don't use a translator now when they come over, unless they forewarn us that they are going to raise the rent or something. They do forewarn us - I think that's nice, actually. Well, actually, it's because they want us to have the money on hand and not have to come back into the city to pick up the extra later. But I choose to look on the brighter, nicer side. :-)
Well, Ivan was here (pronounce that Evonne - it is not Eye-vun - the I sounds like the long E and Evonne has become a very masculine name to me now, kind of like Denise, which is how you say Dennis, but I am going off on a bunny trail again). Well, Ivan was here and we said everything is going great and 3 hours later, the toilet broke. Not a simple break where Mel goes and replaces the plunger thingy in the water tank because it's carroded.
No, this time it's the whole plunger thing unit, not just the thing you pull up. The screw down at the bottom has turned into a tack and the whole unit wants to come out when you pull on the thing you pull up to flush the toilet. Yep - the water has disolved the metal screw into a metal tack. Sigh. (No wonder my formerly very nice teeth now have lots of fillings - our water does this kind of thing. It is also why none of the laundry white items are white any more - they are all a dull gray.)
The water wouldn't stop running out of the tank because we couldn't seal it with the plunger thing. I knew that if that happened for very long we would soon have "the keeper of the stairwell" at our door, asking why or telling us that the water was running in our flat somewhere and we needed to fix it. Tatiana is a very nice elderly woman, in her 80's, with bright red hair, few wrinkles and is as slim as can be. Her face is rather gaunt and she walks for miles - or she did two years ago. She's slowing down and needing a cane more now. But she talks and talks to me - in the stairwell, on the street, two blocks away when we meet out walking. I know a lot about her - why? because she speaks beautiful Russian and not this mix of Ukrainian and Russian that so many people here speak. Tatiana helps me realize that my lack of understanding is not all my fault - I understand, and can speak, a whole lot more Russian than I think. It's the Ukrainian/Russian surzhek that kills me. Sigh. But again, I digress.
Tatiana is the "keeper of the stairwell" and she makes sure the gas bills get paid so that all the flats in the stairwell have heat, and she makes sure the water pipes are replaced when they start leaking, whether in our flat or in the basement, or wherever. I like her. Have asked her to the women's Bible study - but she told me she knew Lydia and they had worked together a life time ago and they had their differences and she really didn't want to come to the Bible study. And I thought - is she going to use that as an excuse when she stands before God at the judgement seat? Will she say to Christ - I didn't like Lydia? Oh my!!! (I like Lydia, no, I love Lydia and I miss her a lot since she moved to St. Petersburg 3 or 4 years ago. I like Tatiana, too. So sad they don't like each other. But oh my, what a small world it is!!)
I keep forgetting to write about the toilet - my mind is wandering all over the place today. Sigh. Not a sad sigh, just a sigh of recognition.
Mel tried to turn off the water at the valve where it comes out of the water pipe, which is so convieniently located right there on the wall, but when he turned the little red valve thingy, it came apart in his hand, in two pieces. The water continues to run. Now, we could have turned off the water to the kitchen with no problem at all. There is a different valve for that. But this one, the main valve that must be turned off to turn off the toilet water AND the kitchen, it's handle is in Mel's hand. Right where it belongs, right? haha.
So, Mel calls Ivan and tells him that the toilet is broken and Ivan tells him he can't come back because he lives across the river in a village and basically he just got home and he'll come tomorrow, which is today.
Well, I'm worried about Tatiana, and 'Galena Downstairs' complaining and yelling at us because the water is running continually in her sewer pipe which runs right down the wall behind the toilet. So I said, isn't there someway we can put something heavy on that plunger/seal thing to hold it down so it will seal. And Mel said, no, there wasn't room. And I said, what about something like a kitchen tile or a rock, maybe we could find one outside somewhere when we go to the store in a couple minutes. And he said, no, it's too narrow of a space. So I went looking around the flat for something heavy that would work. (I'm very concerned about Galena yelling at me like she does to people walking down the street sometimes, you see.) And I found this stick that used to be part of a shoe holder but was so weak and flimsy that it fell to pieces. And I said, what about this stick? It fits between the tank wall and the plunger holder thing. Maybe if we put a pan of water on it? That would be plenty heavy! Tried the pan (without water, first) - didn't fit. I go searching around the flat for something heavy that won't fall and spill water all over or damage someone sitting on the toilet. :-) Mel watches me a minute and I think he decides he'd better do something before I build a Monument to Broken Toilets in the toilet room. He, smart man that he is, goes and gets his vicegrips.
Voila! It actually worked! He pushed the stick down as hard as he could, till water stopped flowing into the toilet bowl, and then tightened the vicegrips as tight as he could without cracking the tank and really causing a huge mess.
So, Ivan came this morning, checked the whole thing out and said he'd come back on Monday and fix it. I was hoping we'd get a new toilet...this one is a Soviet toilet, stained and chipped and all over kind of beat up and crappy looking :-) (pun intended) and I've written about it before. An Essay on one of the Essentials of Life, and The Changing of the Roll are two places I've written about it. And I just had to laugh to myself, inbetween sneezes and blowing my nose over and over again this morning. Today is Thursday. He'll come back and fix the toilet on MONDAY because he can't come between now and then. Hopefully, those vicegrips will continue to do the job.
I'm just glad we can still use it!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Some Answers
Nice chat with the nurse this morning. My A1C was great - very good, even below the "good" level. No diabetes. Yea! My cholesterol levels were good - will find out the numbers later today. I'll pick up all the paperwork when I get my PPD checked (and I already know it's a negative just by looking at it. Experience from having them done so many times over the years!) And I already knew I was in menopause. My potassium levels are low, though and I need an Rx for that. I know that has happened to me in the past, too. I also remember now that the Rx before tore my stomach up something fierce, so our former doctor [moved away :( unfortunately - we loved him!] gave me a list of foods to include more often in my diet. I have a feeling that's what I'm going to have to do again instead. I need to have that rechecked before we return to Ukraine.
So, I'm feeling a bit better about all that now.
Having a cup of coffee also helps. Doesn't help my blood pressure, but it helps me feel more optimistic about everything. :-)
Now - on to the gall bladder and heart issues.
Is this what becoming a Seasoned Citizen is all about???
So, I'm feeling a bit better about all that now.
Having a cup of coffee also helps. Doesn't help my blood pressure, but it helps me feel more optimistic about everything. :-)
Now - on to the gall bladder and heart issues.
Is this what becoming a Seasoned Citizen is all about???
Waiting to Find Out
Mel and I had doctor appointments two days ago. I had the usual Well Woman exam. While the doctor was palpitating (actually, it felt like he was kneading bread dough) my stomach, he hit a spot and I about went through the ceiling. Just below and under the edge of my right rib cage.
"Aha!" he said, in surprise. And did it again more thoroughly. Yep, it hurt even worse. Gall bladder area, he told me. "I wasn't expecting that" he again said in surprise.
We talked about all sorts of things - why I'm so tired, why I've gained more weight, why the mosquito bite on my leg keeps weeping every so often even though I got bit about 5 years ago (I told him I thought maybe it had been a radioactive mosquito since we live down stream from Chernobyl - I'm not sure he was amused, actually), what those strange bumps on both my arms are and are they cancerous (no, just "Wisdom Barnacles" - what a nice name for strange bumps), and a whole lot of other stuff.
He ordered up a lot of blood work, gave me a pneumonia vaccine and later the nurse came in to give me the PPD shot (to check for TB since I live most of the time in Eastern Europe).
He also said I needed an EKG because my blood pressure was high. No - it was not high, it was sky high. It was going out of the roof high. It was higher than Kara's got just before they took Eithnee early because her blood pressure was so high. So, I had an EKG. And the doctor told me that it looked good except for one thing. He said not to worry about a heart attack, but that the space between some of the points was not what it should be and that I needed to see a cardiologist to make sure everything was ok. This could be something I was born with, or it could be something I've had for years, or it could be something that is new and needs to be monitored.
He was also concerned that I might have sleep apnea.
So, now I have appointments with a cardiologist in early May, for an ultrasound on my abdomen tomorrow and sometime I'm supposed to get some kind of an in-home sleep oxygen study done. Plus, yesterday we got a voice mail telling us that the blood work results are in (wow! that was fast!) and I'm supposed to call the nurse "at my convenience". Last time we had blood work done, he just sent all the results to us in a letter with a couple prescriptions. I get to call the nurse in about 20 minutes, so I should find out soon. I'm concerned about my A1C number (diabetes??) and my hormone levels (menopause). Who knows what else she'll tell me.
I'm waiting. I woke up about an hour early after a mostly sleepless night. And I'm waiting for at least some answers.
I'm so glad God is sovereign.
"Aha!" he said, in surprise. And did it again more thoroughly. Yep, it hurt even worse. Gall bladder area, he told me. "I wasn't expecting that" he again said in surprise.
We talked about all sorts of things - why I'm so tired, why I've gained more weight, why the mosquito bite on my leg keeps weeping every so often even though I got bit about 5 years ago (I told him I thought maybe it had been a radioactive mosquito since we live down stream from Chernobyl - I'm not sure he was amused, actually), what those strange bumps on both my arms are and are they cancerous (no, just "Wisdom Barnacles" - what a nice name for strange bumps), and a whole lot of other stuff.
He ordered up a lot of blood work, gave me a pneumonia vaccine and later the nurse came in to give me the PPD shot (to check for TB since I live most of the time in Eastern Europe).
He also said I needed an EKG because my blood pressure was high. No - it was not high, it was sky high. It was going out of the roof high. It was higher than Kara's got just before they took Eithnee early because her blood pressure was so high. So, I had an EKG. And the doctor told me that it looked good except for one thing. He said not to worry about a heart attack, but that the space between some of the points was not what it should be and that I needed to see a cardiologist to make sure everything was ok. This could be something I was born with, or it could be something I've had for years, or it could be something that is new and needs to be monitored.
He was also concerned that I might have sleep apnea.
So, now I have appointments with a cardiologist in early May, for an ultrasound on my abdomen tomorrow and sometime I'm supposed to get some kind of an in-home sleep oxygen study done. Plus, yesterday we got a voice mail telling us that the blood work results are in (wow! that was fast!) and I'm supposed to call the nurse "at my convenience". Last time we had blood work done, he just sent all the results to us in a letter with a couple prescriptions. I get to call the nurse in about 20 minutes, so I should find out soon. I'm concerned about my A1C number (diabetes??) and my hormone levels (menopause). Who knows what else she'll tell me.
I'm waiting. I woke up about an hour early after a mostly sleepless night. And I'm waiting for at least some answers.
I'm so glad God is sovereign.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Very Informative - But Who Can You Trust???
There is a very important bill being pushed through Congress by the Liberal Left. Socialized medicine. What better way to push it through than to create a "crisis"?
So many thoughts about this, running through my mind. Prayers for safety for my elderly parents who HAVE had the regular flu shot but not the Swine Flu shot, my pregnant daughter who refuses the shot, my son-in-law who refuses the shot, my grandson who has not had the shot, my youngest son who cannot have the shot even if he wanted it because one affected him so badly, my oldest son whose flu shot status is currently unknown but I'd guess he would refuse it. The last I talked to my mother, the stuff isn't even available yet where they live and people area already coming down with Swine Flu. It may be a moot point after all.
We'll see what happens. Their lives are all in GOD's hands.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Flu Shots? No Thank You!
I have been reading headlines and articles about Swine Flu for several months - just like everyone else in the world. To be frank - something about it all has been ringing false to me. On facebook, several people have had the flu already and have reported just how crappy and awful it's been. At the same time, it just sounds like "the flu" to me.
People die every year from the flu. People die every year from a variety of illnesses. The number of people dying from swine flu is NOT higher than other years and other strains of flu, yet it seems that almost every day we hear about how one more person has died from it. What?? People die every day from all sorts of things - pneumonia, bronchitis, blood poisoning, and a whole plethora of other diseases. Why the continual reports on Swine Flu?
What is going on?
I have never been a conspiracy person. No, as a matter of fact, I've known one or two in my life time and they have always made me laugh. I KNOW who is in control of what is happening on this earth and that is God. God is in control and absolutely nothing happens that is not his will. We die how and when God says, not before and not from something else. And we ARE going to die (unless we are raptured first), nothing you do is going to keep that from happening.
And with that - God is totally sovereign over everything that happens - I add: I honestly believe we are living in the very last of the very last days here on earth and it is going to get BAD. Worse. The seals are slit, the bowls are being poured, the trumpets are being blown, the horses are appearing.
As Believers living during these times, we need to be very wise. We need to spend time in the Word of God, His Holy Bible. We need to spend time in prayer. We need to spend time in fellowship with other Believers. We need to look for and expect His coming at any moment.
What? How is any of that different from the way it has always been?
Ha! It's NOT!! It doesn't matter which time in history we happen to live, we need to be continually doing these things. It doesn't matter which time in history we happen to live, bad things are going to happen around us and directly to us as Believers. But our God has already won the battle! These are just the death throes of our defeated enemy.
I am reminded of what happens when you kill a snake. Cut off his head and the body writhes around, twisting and flipping and flopping wildly at times. Yet the head is gone, the fangs are missing. Our Enemy is defeated, but we live during his death throes. He, Satan, hates God and he hates us, God's chosen people.
So, read the following article with wisdom. Pick out the pearls of truth, try to separate them from the "conspiracy" stuff. I will not be getting a flu shot this year. I decided that several weeks ago. I've only ever had one in the past and I wish I hadn't had it. Our son, Andrew, had a bad reaction to a flu shot and now had a permanent 'lump' on the back of his neck - soft and not obvious, but it's there. It's just what is left from everything that happened when he had the shot. I just don't trust them any more. (So, if I am one of those who actually die from Swine Flu, please know that it was NOT the lack of a shot that caused my death, my time and means of death has always been held in my Father's hand!)
Eighteen Reasons Why You Should NOT Vaccinate Your Children Against The Flu This Season (here: article)
by Bill Sardi
This year it is more important that you protect your children and loved ones from the flu vaccines than influenza itself. Here are the reasons:
1. This flu is simply another flu. It is not unusually deadly. In fact, the H1N1 swine flu in circulation is less deadly than many other influenza outbreaks. The first 1000 confirmed swine flu cases in Japan and China produced zero deaths. The Centers for Disease Control alleges 36,000 Americans succumb to the flu each year, but so far, since March through August of 2009 (6 months), the swine flu has been attributed to ~500–600 deaths in the US. The swine flu of 2009 has already swept through the Southern Hemisphere’s flu season without alarm. Only exaggerated reports have been issued by the World Health Organization regarding hospitalizations required during the flu season in South American countries. Getting exposed to influenza and developing natural antibodies confers resistance for future flu outbreaks. Artificially boosting antibodies by exposure to flu viruses in vaccines is more problematic than natural exposure. Americans have been exposed to the H1N1 swine flu throughout the summer of 2009 with far fewer deaths and hospitalizations than commonly attributed to the seasonal flu.
2. Health authorities tacitly admit prior flu vaccination programs were of worthless value. This is the first time both season and pandemic flu vaccines will be administered. Both seasonal flu and swine flu vaccines will require two inoculations. This is because single inoculations have failed to produce sufficient antibodies. Very young children and older frail adults, the high-risk groups in the population, may not produce sufficient antibodies in response to the flu vaccine. This is an admission that prior flu vaccines were virtually useless. The same people who brought you the ineffective vaccines in past years are bringing you this year’s new vaccines. Can you trust them this time?
3. In addition to failure to produce sufficient antibodies, this swine flu vaccine is brought to you by the same people who haven’t been able to adequately produce a seasonal flu vaccine that matches the flu strain in circulation. In recent years flu vaccination has been totally worthless because the strains of the flu in circulation did not match the strain of the virus in the vaccines. Authorities claim the prevalent flu strain in circulation in mid-September ’09 is the H1N1 swine flu, which appears to be milder than past seasonal influenza in circulation. If this data is correct, why receive the season flu shot this year?
4. The vaccines will be produced by no less than four different manufacturers, possibly with different additives (called adjuvants) and manufacturing methods. The two flu inoculations may be derived from a multi-dose vial and in a crisis, and in short supply, it will be diluted to provide more doses and then adjuvants must be added to trigger a stronger immune response. Adjuvants are added to vaccines to boost production of antibodies but may trigger autoimmune reactions. Some adjuvants are mercury (thimerosal), aluminum and squalene. Would you permit your children to be injected with lead? Lead is very harmful to the brain. Then why would you sign a consent form for your kids to be injected with mercury, which is even more brain-toxic than lead? Injecting mercury may fry the brains of American kids.
5. This is the first year mock vaccines have been used to gain FDA approval. Mock vaccines are made to gain approval of the manufacturing method and then the prevalent virus strain in circulation is added just days before it is actually placed into use. Don’t subject your children to experimental vaccines. Yes, these vaccines have been tested on healthy kids and adults, but they are not the same vaccines your children will be given. Those children with asthma, allergies, type I diabetes, etc. are at greater risk for side effects. Children below the age of 2 years do not have a sufficient blood–brain barrier developed and are subject to chronic brain infections that emanate into symptoms that are called autism. Toddlers should not be subjected to injected viruses.
6. Over-vaccination is a common practice now in America. American children are subjected to 29 vaccines by the age of two. This means a little bit of disease is being injected into young children continually during their most formative years! Veterinarians have backed off of repeat vaccination in dogs because of observed side effects.
7. Health officials want to vaccinate women during pregnancy, subjecting the fetal brain to an intentional biological assault. A recent study showed exposure flu viruses among women during pregnancy provoke a similar gene expression pattern in the fetus as that seen in autistic children. This is a tacit admission that vaccines, which inject a little bit of influenza into humans, causes autism.
8. Modern medicine has no explanation for autism, despite its continued rise in prevalence. Yet autism is not reported among Amish children who go unvaccinated. Beware the falsehoods of modern medicine.
9. School kids are likely to receive nasally-administered vaccines (Flu-Mist) that require no needle injection. But this form of live vaccine produces viral shedding which will surely be transmitted to family members. What a way to start an epidemic!
10. This triple reassortment virus appears to be man made. The H1N1 swine flu virus of 2009 coincidentally appeared in Mexico on the same week that President Nicolas Sarkozy of France visited Mexican president Felipe Calderon, to announce that France intends to build a multi-million dollar vaccine plant in Mexico. An article written by Ron Maloney of the Seguin, Texas Gazette-Enterprise newspaper announces a "rehearsal for a pandemic disaster" scheduled for May 2, 2009. The article says: "Guadalupe County emergency management and their counterparts around the country are preparing for just such a scenario…" This means county health authorities across the U.S. had been preparing a rehearsal for mass vaccinations prior to the announced outbreak in Mexico. Virologists admit this part swine flu/part avian flu/part human flu virus must have taken time to develop. But it somehow wasn’t detected by hundreds of flu monitoring stations across the globe. On April 24, 2009 Dr. John Carlo, Dallas County Medical Director, alludes that the H1N1 strain of the Swine flu as possibly being engineered in a laboratory. He says: "This strain of swine influenza that’s been cultured in a laboratory is something that’s not been seen anywhere actually in the United States and the world, so this is actually a new strain of influenza that’s been identified." (Globe & Mail, Canada)
11. Recall the swine flu scare of 1976. In a politically charged atmosphere where Gerald Ford was seeking election to the Presidency, the swine flu suddenly appeared at a military base. Vaccine was produced and millions of Americans were vaccinated. But the vaccine was worse than the disease, causing hundreds of cases of Guillain Barre syndrome and a few deaths. In a replay of the past, the White House is directly involved in promoting the H1N1 2009 swine flu vaccine. The federal government will use federal funds to pay off schools to administer vaccines, promote vaccination via highway billboards and TV advertisements, and conduct military-style mass inoculations in such rapid fashion that if side effects occur, it will be too late. The masses will have been vaccinated already. Over $9 billion has been allotted by the federal government to develop and deliver an unproven and experimental flu vaccine. Don’t be a guinea pig for the government.
12. Researchers are warning that over-use of the flu vaccine and anti-flu drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza can apply genetic pressure on flu viruses and then they are more likely to mutate into a more deadly strain. US health authorities want 70% of the public to be vaccinated against the flu this ’09 season, which is more than double the vaccination percentage of any prior flu season. This would certainly apply greater genetic pressure for the flu to mutate into a more virulent strain.
13. Most seasonal influenza A (H1N1) virus strains tested from the United States and other countries are now resistant to Tamiflu (oseltamivir). Tamiflu has become a nearly worthless drug against seasonal flu. According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control, among 1148 seasonal flu samples tested, 1143 (99.6%) were resistant to Tamiflu!
14. As the flu season progresses the federal government may coerce or mandate Americans to undergo vaccination. France has already ordered enough vaccine to inoculate their entire population and has announced that vaccination will be mandatory. The US appears to be waiting to announce mandatory vaccination at a later date when it can scare the public into consenting to the vaccine. The federal government is reported to be hiring people to visit homes of unvaccinated children. This sounds like the Biblical account of Pharaoh attempting to eradicate all the young Israelite baby boys. Must we hide our babies now?
15. Public health authorities have cried wolf every flu season to get the public to line up for flu shots. Health authorities repeatedly publish the bogus 36,000 annual flu-related deaths figure to scare the public into getting flu shots. But that figure is based on the combined deaths from pneumonia in the elderly and the flu. Maybe just 5000–6000 or so flu-related deaths occur annually, mostly among individuals with compromised immune systems, the hospitalized, individuals with autoimmune disease or other health problems. As stated above, the swine flu in full force has only resulted in ~500–600 deaths in the first six months in circulation and it is far more dreaded by public health authorities than the seasonal flu. The Centers for Disease Control issues a purchase order for flu vaccines and then serves as the public relations agency to get the public to pay for the vaccines. Out of a population of 325 million Americans, only 100 million doses of flu vaccine have been administered each year and no epidemic has erupted among the unvaccinated.
16. The news media is irresponsible in stirring up unfounded fear over this coming flu season. Just exactly how ethical is it for newspapers to publish reports that a person has died of the swine flu when supposedly thousands die of the flu annually? In the past the news media hasn’t chosen to publicize each and every flu-related death, but this time it has chosen to frighten the public. Why? Examine the chart below. The chart shows that the late flu season of 2009 peaked in week 23 (early June) and has dissipated considerably.
While every childhood flu-related death should be considered tragic, and the number of flu-related pediatric deaths in 2009 is greater than prior flu seasons as a percentage, in real numbers it is not a significant increase. See chart below:
According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control, for week 34 ending August 29, 2009, there were 236 hospitalizations and 37 deaths related to the flu. That would represent just 5 hospitalizations and less than one death per State, which is "below the epidemic threshold."
17. Public health officials are irresponsible in their omission of any ways to strengthen immunity against the flu. No options outside of problematic vaccines and anti-flu drugs are offered, despite the fact there is strong evidence that vitamins C and D activate the immune system and the trace mineral selenium prevents the worst form of the disease where the lungs fill up with fluid and literally drown a flu-infected person. The only plausible explanation as to why the flu season typically peaks in winter months is a deficiency of sunlight-produced vitamin D. Protect your family. Arm your immune system with vitamins and trace minerals.
18. Will we ever learn if the flu vaccine this year is deadly in itself? In 1993 the federal government hid a deadly flu vaccine that killed thousands of nursing home patients. It was the first year that flu shots were paid for by Medicare. The vaccine-related mortality was so large that this set back the life expectancy of Americans for the first time since the 1918 Spanish flu! Mortality reports take a year or two to tabulate and the federal government may choose not to reveal the true mortality rate and whether it was related to the flu or the vaccines. You say this couldn’t happen? It did in 1993!
September 16, 2009
Bill Sardi [send him mail] is a frequent writer on health and political topics. His health writings can be found at www.naturalhealthlibrarian.com. He is the author of You Don’t Have To Be Afraid Of Cancer Anymore.
Copyright © 2009 Bill Sardi Word of Knowledge Agency, San Dimas, California. This article has been written exclusively for www.LewRockwell.com and other parties who wish to refer to it should link rather than post at other URLs.
The Best of Bill Sardi
Back to LewRockwell.com Home Page
People die every year from the flu. People die every year from a variety of illnesses. The number of people dying from swine flu is NOT higher than other years and other strains of flu, yet it seems that almost every day we hear about how one more person has died from it. What?? People die every day from all sorts of things - pneumonia, bronchitis, blood poisoning, and a whole plethora of other diseases. Why the continual reports on Swine Flu?
What is going on?
I have never been a conspiracy person. No, as a matter of fact, I've known one or two in my life time and they have always made me laugh. I KNOW who is in control of what is happening on this earth and that is God. God is in control and absolutely nothing happens that is not his will. We die how and when God says, not before and not from something else. And we ARE going to die (unless we are raptured first), nothing you do is going to keep that from happening.
And with that - God is totally sovereign over everything that happens - I add: I honestly believe we are living in the very last of the very last days here on earth and it is going to get BAD. Worse. The seals are slit, the bowls are being poured, the trumpets are being blown, the horses are appearing.
As Believers living during these times, we need to be very wise. We need to spend time in the Word of God, His Holy Bible. We need to spend time in prayer. We need to spend time in fellowship with other Believers. We need to look for and expect His coming at any moment.
What? How is any of that different from the way it has always been?
Ha! It's NOT!! It doesn't matter which time in history we happen to live, we need to be continually doing these things. It doesn't matter which time in history we happen to live, bad things are going to happen around us and directly to us as Believers. But our God has already won the battle! These are just the death throes of our defeated enemy.
I am reminded of what happens when you kill a snake. Cut off his head and the body writhes around, twisting and flipping and flopping wildly at times. Yet the head is gone, the fangs are missing. Our Enemy is defeated, but we live during his death throes. He, Satan, hates God and he hates us, God's chosen people.
So, read the following article with wisdom. Pick out the pearls of truth, try to separate them from the "conspiracy" stuff. I will not be getting a flu shot this year. I decided that several weeks ago. I've only ever had one in the past and I wish I hadn't had it. Our son, Andrew, had a bad reaction to a flu shot and now had a permanent 'lump' on the back of his neck - soft and not obvious, but it's there. It's just what is left from everything that happened when he had the shot. I just don't trust them any more. (So, if I am one of those who actually die from Swine Flu, please know that it was NOT the lack of a shot that caused my death, my time and means of death has always been held in my Father's hand!)
by Bill Sardi
This year it is more important that you protect your children and loved ones from the flu vaccines than influenza itself. Here are the reasons:
1. This flu is simply another flu. It is not unusually deadly. In fact, the H1N1 swine flu in circulation is less deadly than many other influenza outbreaks. The first 1000 confirmed swine flu cases in Japan and China produced zero deaths. The Centers for Disease Control alleges 36,000 Americans succumb to the flu each year, but so far, since March through August of 2009 (6 months), the swine flu has been attributed to ~500–600 deaths in the US. The swine flu of 2009 has already swept through the Southern Hemisphere’s flu season without alarm. Only exaggerated reports have been issued by the World Health Organization regarding hospitalizations required during the flu season in South American countries. Getting exposed to influenza and developing natural antibodies confers resistance for future flu outbreaks. Artificially boosting antibodies by exposure to flu viruses in vaccines is more problematic than natural exposure. Americans have been exposed to the H1N1 swine flu throughout the summer of 2009 with far fewer deaths and hospitalizations than commonly attributed to the seasonal flu.
2. Health authorities tacitly admit prior flu vaccination programs were of worthless value. This is the first time both season and pandemic flu vaccines will be administered. Both seasonal flu and swine flu vaccines will require two inoculations. This is because single inoculations have failed to produce sufficient antibodies. Very young children and older frail adults, the high-risk groups in the population, may not produce sufficient antibodies in response to the flu vaccine. This is an admission that prior flu vaccines were virtually useless. The same people who brought you the ineffective vaccines in past years are bringing you this year’s new vaccines. Can you trust them this time?
3. In addition to failure to produce sufficient antibodies, this swine flu vaccine is brought to you by the same people who haven’t been able to adequately produce a seasonal flu vaccine that matches the flu strain in circulation. In recent years flu vaccination has been totally worthless because the strains of the flu in circulation did not match the strain of the virus in the vaccines. Authorities claim the prevalent flu strain in circulation in mid-September ’09 is the H1N1 swine flu, which appears to be milder than past seasonal influenza in circulation. If this data is correct, why receive the season flu shot this year?
4. The vaccines will be produced by no less than four different manufacturers, possibly with different additives (called adjuvants) and manufacturing methods. The two flu inoculations may be derived from a multi-dose vial and in a crisis, and in short supply, it will be diluted to provide more doses and then adjuvants must be added to trigger a stronger immune response. Adjuvants are added to vaccines to boost production of antibodies but may trigger autoimmune reactions. Some adjuvants are mercury (thimerosal), aluminum and squalene. Would you permit your children to be injected with lead? Lead is very harmful to the brain. Then why would you sign a consent form for your kids to be injected with mercury, which is even more brain-toxic than lead? Injecting mercury may fry the brains of American kids.
5. This is the first year mock vaccines have been used to gain FDA approval. Mock vaccines are made to gain approval of the manufacturing method and then the prevalent virus strain in circulation is added just days before it is actually placed into use. Don’t subject your children to experimental vaccines. Yes, these vaccines have been tested on healthy kids and adults, but they are not the same vaccines your children will be given. Those children with asthma, allergies, type I diabetes, etc. are at greater risk for side effects. Children below the age of 2 years do not have a sufficient blood–brain barrier developed and are subject to chronic brain infections that emanate into symptoms that are called autism. Toddlers should not be subjected to injected viruses.
6. Over-vaccination is a common practice now in America. American children are subjected to 29 vaccines by the age of two. This means a little bit of disease is being injected into young children continually during their most formative years! Veterinarians have backed off of repeat vaccination in dogs because of observed side effects.
7. Health officials want to vaccinate women during pregnancy, subjecting the fetal brain to an intentional biological assault. A recent study showed exposure flu viruses among women during pregnancy provoke a similar gene expression pattern in the fetus as that seen in autistic children. This is a tacit admission that vaccines, which inject a little bit of influenza into humans, causes autism.
8. Modern medicine has no explanation for autism, despite its continued rise in prevalence. Yet autism is not reported among Amish children who go unvaccinated. Beware the falsehoods of modern medicine.
9. School kids are likely to receive nasally-administered vaccines (Flu-Mist) that require no needle injection. But this form of live vaccine produces viral shedding which will surely be transmitted to family members. What a way to start an epidemic!
10. This triple reassortment virus appears to be man made. The H1N1 swine flu virus of 2009 coincidentally appeared in Mexico on the same week that President Nicolas Sarkozy of France visited Mexican president Felipe Calderon, to announce that France intends to build a multi-million dollar vaccine plant in Mexico. An article written by Ron Maloney of the Seguin, Texas Gazette-Enterprise newspaper announces a "rehearsal for a pandemic disaster" scheduled for May 2, 2009. The article says: "Guadalupe County emergency management and their counterparts around the country are preparing for just such a scenario…" This means county health authorities across the U.S. had been preparing a rehearsal for mass vaccinations prior to the announced outbreak in Mexico. Virologists admit this part swine flu/part avian flu/part human flu virus must have taken time to develop. But it somehow wasn’t detected by hundreds of flu monitoring stations across the globe. On April 24, 2009 Dr. John Carlo, Dallas County Medical Director, alludes that the H1N1 strain of the Swine flu as possibly being engineered in a laboratory. He says: "This strain of swine influenza that’s been cultured in a laboratory is something that’s not been seen anywhere actually in the United States and the world, so this is actually a new strain of influenza that’s been identified." (Globe & Mail, Canada)
11. Recall the swine flu scare of 1976. In a politically charged atmosphere where Gerald Ford was seeking election to the Presidency, the swine flu suddenly appeared at a military base. Vaccine was produced and millions of Americans were vaccinated. But the vaccine was worse than the disease, causing hundreds of cases of Guillain Barre syndrome and a few deaths. In a replay of the past, the White House is directly involved in promoting the H1N1 2009 swine flu vaccine. The federal government will use federal funds to pay off schools to administer vaccines, promote vaccination via highway billboards and TV advertisements, and conduct military-style mass inoculations in such rapid fashion that if side effects occur, it will be too late. The masses will have been vaccinated already. Over $9 billion has been allotted by the federal government to develop and deliver an unproven and experimental flu vaccine. Don’t be a guinea pig for the government.
12. Researchers are warning that over-use of the flu vaccine and anti-flu drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza can apply genetic pressure on flu viruses and then they are more likely to mutate into a more deadly strain. US health authorities want 70% of the public to be vaccinated against the flu this ’09 season, which is more than double the vaccination percentage of any prior flu season. This would certainly apply greater genetic pressure for the flu to mutate into a more virulent strain.
13. Most seasonal influenza A (H1N1) virus strains tested from the United States and other countries are now resistant to Tamiflu (oseltamivir). Tamiflu has become a nearly worthless drug against seasonal flu. According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control, among 1148 seasonal flu samples tested, 1143 (99.6%) were resistant to Tamiflu!
14. As the flu season progresses the federal government may coerce or mandate Americans to undergo vaccination. France has already ordered enough vaccine to inoculate their entire population and has announced that vaccination will be mandatory. The US appears to be waiting to announce mandatory vaccination at a later date when it can scare the public into consenting to the vaccine. The federal government is reported to be hiring people to visit homes of unvaccinated children. This sounds like the Biblical account of Pharaoh attempting to eradicate all the young Israelite baby boys. Must we hide our babies now?
15. Public health authorities have cried wolf every flu season to get the public to line up for flu shots. Health authorities repeatedly publish the bogus 36,000 annual flu-related deaths figure to scare the public into getting flu shots. But that figure is based on the combined deaths from pneumonia in the elderly and the flu. Maybe just 5000–6000 or so flu-related deaths occur annually, mostly among individuals with compromised immune systems, the hospitalized, individuals with autoimmune disease or other health problems. As stated above, the swine flu in full force has only resulted in ~500–600 deaths in the first six months in circulation and it is far more dreaded by public health authorities than the seasonal flu. The Centers for Disease Control issues a purchase order for flu vaccines and then serves as the public relations agency to get the public to pay for the vaccines. Out of a population of 325 million Americans, only 100 million doses of flu vaccine have been administered each year and no epidemic has erupted among the unvaccinated.
16. The news media is irresponsible in stirring up unfounded fear over this coming flu season. Just exactly how ethical is it for newspapers to publish reports that a person has died of the swine flu when supposedly thousands die of the flu annually? In the past the news media hasn’t chosen to publicize each and every flu-related death, but this time it has chosen to frighten the public. Why? Examine the chart below. The chart shows that the late flu season of 2009 peaked in week 23 (early June) and has dissipated considerably.
While every childhood flu-related death should be considered tragic, and the number of flu-related pediatric deaths in 2009 is greater than prior flu seasons as a percentage, in real numbers it is not a significant increase. See chart below:
According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control, for week 34 ending August 29, 2009, there were 236 hospitalizations and 37 deaths related to the flu. That would represent just 5 hospitalizations and less than one death per State, which is "below the epidemic threshold."
17. Public health officials are irresponsible in their omission of any ways to strengthen immunity against the flu. No options outside of problematic vaccines and anti-flu drugs are offered, despite the fact there is strong evidence that vitamins C and D activate the immune system and the trace mineral selenium prevents the worst form of the disease where the lungs fill up with fluid and literally drown a flu-infected person. The only plausible explanation as to why the flu season typically peaks in winter months is a deficiency of sunlight-produced vitamin D. Protect your family. Arm your immune system with vitamins and trace minerals.
18. Will we ever learn if the flu vaccine this year is deadly in itself? In 1993 the federal government hid a deadly flu vaccine that killed thousands of nursing home patients. It was the first year that flu shots were paid for by Medicare. The vaccine-related mortality was so large that this set back the life expectancy of Americans for the first time since the 1918 Spanish flu! Mortality reports take a year or two to tabulate and the federal government may choose not to reveal the true mortality rate and whether it was related to the flu or the vaccines. You say this couldn’t happen? It did in 1993!
September 16, 2009
Bill Sardi [send him mail] is a frequent writer on health and political topics. His health writings can be found at www.naturalhealthlibrarian.com. He is the author of You Don’t Have To Be Afraid Of Cancer Anymore.
Copyright © 2009 Bill Sardi Word of Knowledge Agency, San Dimas, California. This article has been written exclusively for www.LewRockwell.com and other parties who wish to refer to it should link rather than post at other URLs.
The Best of Bill Sardi
Back to LewRockwell.com Home Page
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Where Did That Freight Train Come From?
Ohhhh - I feel like I got hit by a freight train. Just a few minutes after closing off the other post yesterday, wham! I've been in bed or in 'the little room' ever since. Not sure if it's just a bug or food poisoning. The only thing I've been able to keep down was 3 bits of what Mel made for supper (eating a couple hours after he did) and 2 glasses of Sprite. Oh and a glass of Gatorade. That Gatorade actually tasted really good last night before we went to bed for the night.
We're supposed to have people over for dinner tonight, but Mel is going to call and post-pone. I am heading back to bed for a few minutes. The problem with being in bed so long is that my back starts to really hurt. I have to get up, and sit up, and walk around a bit now and again. That tells me that I'm getting over it. When I am in the middle of being really sick, my back doesn't hurt when I'm in bed for long periods of time (at least not to date - that could change, of course).
It's hot and muggy today, already at 9:00 AM. Supposed to rain later today. Which reminds me - here is a really great satelite view of Europe: Sat24.com. I especially like looking at it in the evenings and mornings - you can watch the darkness come and leave from Europe, as well as check out our weather. :)
We're supposed to have people over for dinner tonight, but Mel is going to call and post-pone. I am heading back to bed for a few minutes. The problem with being in bed so long is that my back starts to really hurt. I have to get up, and sit up, and walk around a bit now and again. That tells me that I'm getting over it. When I am in the middle of being really sick, my back doesn't hurt when I'm in bed for long periods of time (at least not to date - that could change, of course).
It's hot and muggy today, already at 9:00 AM. Supposed to rain later today. Which reminds me - here is a really great satelite view of Europe: Sat24.com. I especially like looking at it in the evenings and mornings - you can watch the darkness come and leave from Europe, as well as check out our weather. :)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Bits n Pieces
I called my dad on Father's Day to wish him a happy day. Was very good to hear his voice and talk with him. I also talked with my mother. Actually, I talked with her a lot longer than I talked to my dad. :)
While we were talking I mentioned that both my sister, Heidie, and my sister-in-law,Renee, who both live in Fairbanks, told me in recent instant messaging conversations that they had been woken up not long ago by a sharp earthquake jolt. They've also felt a few smaller tremblors, nothing major.
I told my mother that I expected soon they would have a good sized quake up there, or maybe in California. Who knows? I was looking at the earthquake page on the internet while we were talking and I told her that both Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands area and Alaska were having a bunch of small earthquakes - and so was California.
Imagine my smile the next morning when I'm reading the news and I see a headline that the "urban areas" of Alaska had been shaken by a quake. I looked it up. Oh - that wasn't all that big - just a 5.3. I've been in quakes bigger than that in Alaska.
Heidie didn't feel it. I don't know if Renee did. Of course, they live a long way from the epicenter, even if the news did report that it was felt even north of Fairbanks.
~*~*~*~*~
I've been working on my rabbit surrounded by flowers and bugs needlepoint again. Maybe I'll have a finished object to show before too long. I've only been working on this one about 3 years, maybe 4. I'm getting it done a lot faster than I did my Arctic Wildlife cross stitch.
As soon as it's finished, I really need to think about finishing some of the other two dozen or so projects of various kinds I have started. But first things first. I'm in the mood for needlepoint right now. Strike while the iron is hot!
Which reminds me, I need to iron a couple of Mel's shirts....
~*~*~*~*~
Mel put the air conditioner in the window Monday. Oh sweet coolness! It's not working 100%, but seems to be working better than it did last year.
Today is a lot drier, not so much humidity, so the over 90 degree F temp is a bit easier to handle while outside. Still too hot for me, but much, much better than when the humidity is up.
~*~*~*~*~
We have a sad situation going on here with one of the pastors in another city leaving the ministry. He has, from what we understand from what he's written, renounced his faith in God.
This makes my heart weep.
I am reminded once again of Christ's words: "...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8b
And:
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:9-14 (emphasis mine)
Yes, Jesus said that many will turn away from the faith. A young man we thought was standing firm, has turned away. And it breaks our hearts.
The love of many will grow cold - what a horrible thought.
Oh, how those words terrify me! My plea is always, 'Father, do not let me turn away from you! Help me to love you more and more!'
I believe in eternal security, once saved always saved, but I am also very aware of something else Jesus said: ""Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Matthew 7:21-23
And Paul's words: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:12,13
I am so thankful for that last part of what Paul wrote - it is GOD who works in us to will and to act according to HIS good purpose.
I need to remember that.
If you pray, please pray for this young man and his family. We do not work directly with him and I do not have the freedom to give his name. God knows who you are praying for.
~*~*~*~*~
I did not sleep well last night and have had a sick stomach all day today. I feel 'droopy'. Is one of the Seven Dwarfs named Droopy? or was it Sleepy? I don't remember. I don't feel like a dwarf in a fairy tale, I just feel yucky. :)
~*~*~*~*~
We went shopping at the 'big Oskar' today. It's always nice to go there and push the cart around, even if the cart does want to go in every direction imaginable except straight ahead. I like the big city Safeway, Albertsons, King Soopers, or Piggly Wiggly feel of that particular Oskar.
However - still no almonds anywhere, or leeks, or avocados, or celery, or pine nuts, or peanut butter. But they did have two or three kinds of lettuce! I didn't buy any because I really don't care for it any more, really truly, but I did take note that it was there. As was fresh ginger. And the very last bag of hazelnuts I've seen anywhere. (I bought the last bag of cashews at one Oskar and the last bag of hazelnuts at another Oskar - maybe I should go to one of the two other Oskars in town and see if they have the last bag of almonds or pine nuts....) I keep thinking of things I didn't see. I hope they get leeks in again, and maybe celery, too. That would be nice. Maybe they are available at the outdoor market - but I really, really, really do not like shopping there in crowds of pushing and shoving people, and stinky fish and flies, and when it rains - puddles of water everywhere. The dogs and cats roaming all over don't bother me. The birds that live in and fly around in two of the Oskars don't bother me either - it's kind of nice to see them and hear them chirping - little European sparrows - so long as they don't sit above me. :) :)
~*~*~*~*~
After coming home from Oskar, we splurged and Mel went out into the hot again, over to a little produkti that is now nearby, and bought us some Poltava ice cream bars. Very similar to the Eskimo bars we bought as kids. My first ice cream of the summer. My lunch today. :)
~*~*~*~*~
Ok, all for now. I need to go lie down again.
While we were talking I mentioned that both my sister, Heidie, and my sister-in-law,Renee, who both live in Fairbanks, told me in recent instant messaging conversations that they had been woken up not long ago by a sharp earthquake jolt. They've also felt a few smaller tremblors, nothing major.
I told my mother that I expected soon they would have a good sized quake up there, or maybe in California. Who knows? I was looking at the earthquake page on the internet while we were talking and I told her that both Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands area and Alaska were having a bunch of small earthquakes - and so was California.
Imagine my smile the next morning when I'm reading the news and I see a headline that the "urban areas" of Alaska had been shaken by a quake. I looked it up. Oh - that wasn't all that big - just a 5.3. I've been in quakes bigger than that in Alaska.
Heidie didn't feel it. I don't know if Renee did. Of course, they live a long way from the epicenter, even if the news did report that it was felt even north of Fairbanks.
I've been working on my rabbit surrounded by flowers and bugs needlepoint again. Maybe I'll have a finished object to show before too long. I've only been working on this one about 3 years, maybe 4. I'm getting it done a lot faster than I did my Arctic Wildlife cross stitch.
As soon as it's finished, I really need to think about finishing some of the other two dozen or so projects of various kinds I have started. But first things first. I'm in the mood for needlepoint right now. Strike while the iron is hot!
Which reminds me, I need to iron a couple of Mel's shirts....
Mel put the air conditioner in the window Monday. Oh sweet coolness! It's not working 100%, but seems to be working better than it did last year.
Today is a lot drier, not so much humidity, so the over 90 degree F temp is a bit easier to handle while outside. Still too hot for me, but much, much better than when the humidity is up.
We have a sad situation going on here with one of the pastors in another city leaving the ministry. He has, from what we understand from what he's written, renounced his faith in God.
This makes my heart weep.
I am reminded once again of Christ's words: "...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8b
And:
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:9-14 (emphasis mine)
Yes, Jesus said that many will turn away from the faith. A young man we thought was standing firm, has turned away. And it breaks our hearts.
The love of many will grow cold - what a horrible thought.
Oh, how those words terrify me! My plea is always, 'Father, do not let me turn away from you! Help me to love you more and more!'
I believe in eternal security, once saved always saved, but I am also very aware of something else Jesus said: ""Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Matthew 7:21-23
And Paul's words: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:12,13
I am so thankful for that last part of what Paul wrote - it is GOD who works in us to will and to act according to HIS good purpose.
I need to remember that.
If you pray, please pray for this young man and his family. We do not work directly with him and I do not have the freedom to give his name. God knows who you are praying for.
I did not sleep well last night and have had a sick stomach all day today. I feel 'droopy'. Is one of the Seven Dwarfs named Droopy? or was it Sleepy? I don't remember. I don't feel like a dwarf in a fairy tale, I just feel yucky. :)
We went shopping at the 'big Oskar' today. It's always nice to go there and push the cart around, even if the cart does want to go in every direction imaginable except straight ahead. I like the big city Safeway, Albertsons, King Soopers, or Piggly Wiggly feel of that particular Oskar.
However - still no almonds anywhere, or leeks, or avocados, or celery, or pine nuts, or peanut butter. But they did have two or three kinds of lettuce! I didn't buy any because I really don't care for it any more, really truly, but I did take note that it was there. As was fresh ginger. And the very last bag of hazelnuts I've seen anywhere. (I bought the last bag of cashews at one Oskar and the last bag of hazelnuts at another Oskar - maybe I should go to one of the two other Oskars in town and see if they have the last bag of almonds or pine nuts....) I keep thinking of things I didn't see. I hope they get leeks in again, and maybe celery, too. That would be nice. Maybe they are available at the outdoor market - but I really, really, really do not like shopping there in crowds of pushing and shoving people, and stinky fish and flies, and when it rains - puddles of water everywhere. The dogs and cats roaming all over don't bother me. The birds that live in and fly around in two of the Oskars don't bother me either - it's kind of nice to see them and hear them chirping - little European sparrows - so long as they don't sit above me. :) :)
After coming home from Oskar, we splurged and Mel went out into the hot again, over to a little produkti that is now nearby, and bought us some Poltava ice cream bars. Very similar to the Eskimo bars we bought as kids. My first ice cream of the summer. My lunch today. :)
Ok, all for now. I need to go lie down again.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Bits n Pieces
Woke up at 5:30 again this morning but at least this time I was in bed for a full 7 hours and only up once in the night. I was shocked to find out that Mel had a sugar low in the night and was up, eating some carbs and checking his blood sugar levels a few times. I never heard a sound. I told him that if it happens again - wake me up!! I wonder how long it's going to take before I'm over this jet lag? Soon, I hope!!
*~*~*~*~*
The modem for my internet is still not working, so I'm using Mel's again. Mel will take the computer, modem, CD needed to download the program and everything down to peoplenet tomorrow and see if we can get it straightened out. Very frustrating. We have a lot more time bought on my account than on his, and when his time is out the renewal cost for a month is a lot more expensive. I have to learn to be conservative with my internet time! I want to download three or four more programs that I lost when the old laptop died, but that will have to wait for now.
*~*~*~*~*
I've been trying to go back through my email account and check out several articles that came in while we were in Colorado. I was never able to read them, or in many cases never even opened the email they came in.
Yesterday on the news Mel saw that there had been 5 tornadoes in the Denver area. Today in my Earth Observatory newsletter there is a link to a satellite view of the storm, here: Tornadoes in Northeastern Colorado. At the bottom of the article are several links in the references. I clicked on Doesken, N.J., Pielke, Sr., R.A., Bliss, O.A.P. (2003, January). Climate of Colorado. Colorado Climate Center. Colorado State University. Accessed June 8, 2009. It is an interesting read, if you are interested in the climate of Colorado. :) I am. Go figure. I didn't learn anything particularly new, although I think the information would surprise a lot of people who have preconceived ideas about Colorado. No, that's not quite true - I did learn something new that was mentioned in both the EO article and the second one - Colorado has more hail than any other state. I knew we had a lot of hail, but didn't know that fact.
I know part of the reason I am the way I am is because I was raised in a state that has a great deal of variety. Variety in terrain, variety in weather, variety from hour to hour. Always changing, never quite the same from one hour to the next, one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next.
I like variety.
I would be really bored if I lived in Phoenix. heh heh heh
*~*~*~*~*
Mel and I went shopping this morning and I bought some basic groceries. There is a pork loin roast in the crock-pot now, stuffed with slivered garlic. It smells really good. I didn't check - will have to see if there is any rice left. If not, then we'll have a pasta salad with it tonight.
*~*~*~*~*
I am really low on potassium or something because I've been having really bad leg cramps. About an hour ago I got one of the dreaded belly muscle cramps. It's been a long time since I had one of those. Fortunately Mel was still here. He got me the pickle juice and I drank about half a cup. Then I drank about half a liter of water. I'm not sure what pickle juice does, but it works for me (and for my family). Usually the cramp goes away within seconds after drinking it. Maybe it's the shock of all that vinegar and salt when it hits the stomach? :) :) Whatever, the pickle juice is not as acidic here as it is in the States and it takes a bit longer to work, but eventually it does. Mel bought pickles for me yesterday "just in case". I'm so glad he did!
*~*~*~*~*
I'm looking around the flat to see what needs to be done in case we have to leave the beginning of September. We've lived for over 10 years with the knowledge that at any time Ukraine may decide we need to go. Or that there might be a disaster of some kind that would mean we need to leave in a hurry. I've become quite comfortable in this flat, small as it is, but I need to remember that we are not here permanently. No one on our team is, no matter which city we are in, no matter if we happen to own our flat/house or simply rent. We are foreigners and strangers in the land - a very Biblical way to live, actually. But still not always comfortable. It does give a different perspective on 'stuff', however. We accumulate so much 'stuff' and we have our favorite possessions. They become much less important, though, in the light of eternity - or even in the light of 'how much can we carry in two suitcases?' :) :) :)
Some of our team think that nothing is going to happen. Some of our team are already experiencing changes and may have to move from their city. All of our team are praying and waiting to see what God is doing. It's a very secure way to live - resting in the knowledge that God is in control of all of this. I'll write about it more, though, not because I'm scared or upset or insecure, but because it's part of life and what we deal with. Ignoring it, or making too light of it is foolish, as is making too much of it or dwelling on it. As is so often in life - balance is needed. And simply being prepared for whatever.
*~*~*~*~*
All for now. I'm tired and am going to go. My eye gets tired and starts to water when I'm on the computer too much or read too much (ei yi yi!!!!) so I'm going to have to learn to vary my day more. A little bit of this, a little bit of that - until they eye is totally healed.
I hope and pray that next time we go home there will be NO MORE surgeries of any kind!!
The modem for my internet is still not working, so I'm using Mel's again. Mel will take the computer, modem, CD needed to download the program and everything down to peoplenet tomorrow and see if we can get it straightened out. Very frustrating. We have a lot more time bought on my account than on his, and when his time is out the renewal cost for a month is a lot more expensive. I have to learn to be conservative with my internet time! I want to download three or four more programs that I lost when the old laptop died, but that will have to wait for now.
I've been trying to go back through my email account and check out several articles that came in while we were in Colorado. I was never able to read them, or in many cases never even opened the email they came in.
Yesterday on the news Mel saw that there had been 5 tornadoes in the Denver area. Today in my Earth Observatory newsletter there is a link to a satellite view of the storm, here: Tornadoes in Northeastern Colorado. At the bottom of the article are several links in the references. I clicked on Doesken, N.J., Pielke, Sr., R.A., Bliss, O.A.P. (2003, January). Climate of Colorado. Colorado Climate Center. Colorado State University. Accessed June 8, 2009. It is an interesting read, if you are interested in the climate of Colorado. :) I am. Go figure. I didn't learn anything particularly new, although I think the information would surprise a lot of people who have preconceived ideas about Colorado. No, that's not quite true - I did learn something new that was mentioned in both the EO article and the second one - Colorado has more hail than any other state. I knew we had a lot of hail, but didn't know that fact.
I know part of the reason I am the way I am is because I was raised in a state that has a great deal of variety. Variety in terrain, variety in weather, variety from hour to hour. Always changing, never quite the same from one hour to the next, one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next.
I like variety.
I would be really bored if I lived in Phoenix. heh heh heh
Mel and I went shopping this morning and I bought some basic groceries. There is a pork loin roast in the crock-pot now, stuffed with slivered garlic. It smells really good. I didn't check - will have to see if there is any rice left. If not, then we'll have a pasta salad with it tonight.
I am really low on potassium or something because I've been having really bad leg cramps. About an hour ago I got one of the dreaded belly muscle cramps. It's been a long time since I had one of those. Fortunately Mel was still here. He got me the pickle juice and I drank about half a cup. Then I drank about half a liter of water. I'm not sure what pickle juice does, but it works for me (and for my family). Usually the cramp goes away within seconds after drinking it. Maybe it's the shock of all that vinegar and salt when it hits the stomach? :) :) Whatever, the pickle juice is not as acidic here as it is in the States and it takes a bit longer to work, but eventually it does. Mel bought pickles for me yesterday "just in case". I'm so glad he did!
I'm looking around the flat to see what needs to be done in case we have to leave the beginning of September. We've lived for over 10 years with the knowledge that at any time Ukraine may decide we need to go. Or that there might be a disaster of some kind that would mean we need to leave in a hurry. I've become quite comfortable in this flat, small as it is, but I need to remember that we are not here permanently. No one on our team is, no matter which city we are in, no matter if we happen to own our flat/house or simply rent. We are foreigners and strangers in the land - a very Biblical way to live, actually. But still not always comfortable. It does give a different perspective on 'stuff', however. We accumulate so much 'stuff' and we have our favorite possessions. They become much less important, though, in the light of eternity - or even in the light of 'how much can we carry in two suitcases?' :) :) :)
Some of our team think that nothing is going to happen. Some of our team are already experiencing changes and may have to move from their city. All of our team are praying and waiting to see what God is doing. It's a very secure way to live - resting in the knowledge that God is in control of all of this. I'll write about it more, though, not because I'm scared or upset or insecure, but because it's part of life and what we deal with. Ignoring it, or making too light of it is foolish, as is making too much of it or dwelling on it. As is so often in life - balance is needed. And simply being prepared for whatever.
All for now. I'm tired and am going to go. My eye gets tired and starts to water when I'm on the computer too much or read too much (ei yi yi!!!!) so I'm going to have to learn to vary my day more. A little bit of this, a little bit of that - until they eye is totally healed.
I hope and pray that next time we go home there will be NO MORE surgeries of any kind!!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A Mostly Lost Day
Yesterday morning started out bad a full 8 hours before. We went to bed and I could not get to sleep. Toss and turn, toss and turn - trying not to wake Mel up. At 2:00 a.m. I got up and checked the clock in the living room, went back to bed and told myself that if I was still awake a few minutes later I'd get up and play games on the computer for awhile in hopes that it would put me to sleep (reading has never even made me sleepy, much less put me to sleep). Apparently telling myself that worked because I finally went to sleep.
Only to wake up 4 hours later with a raging migraine. I took some ibuprofen and went back to 'sleep' - or what I call sleep when my head hurts like that. It's more like being in a twilight land. Sometimes I'm aware of what is going on around me, other times I totally block it out. I was aware when Mel got up. At 9 I finally stumbled out of bed, practically in tears, and went to sit on a chair in the living room, holding my head in my hands, eyes closed. Mel massaged my back, neck and head for a few minutes, I took more ibuprofen and went back to bed. By 10:30 I was back in the land of the living, the pain mostly subdued and the world simply gray all around me instead of colored by strange halos surrounding anything that produced or reflected light.
What set it off? Too much chocolate the night before (but oh, it was good!) topped off by a glass of wine a couple or 3 hours before bed. That on top of fighting a headache most of Sunday afternoon. Allergies due to all the burning happening outside and inside of the city and the normal spring pollens, molds and so forth bursting into the atmosphere. I love spring - but spring doesn't always love me. All of this mixed together and I lose a day.
It is so frustrating. I had a lot planned yesterday, but God thought otherwise.
Alys came over to use our computer in the afternoon. The mother board on hers died and it's in the repair shop to see what they can do with it. Ukrainians are very good at fixing computers that Americans tell you to just throw away because it isn't worth the expense or time to fix. The laptop Mel uses is 8 years old and has been to the repair shop 3 or 4 times here. Some of it's idiosyncrasies now drive him nuts, but it still works. A visiting American told Alys to just get a new computer, we told her to try a Ukrainian repair shop. I hope it works for her like it has for us and for Melinda! So, Alys was here for a few hours yesterday afternoon.
Then Lyudmilla came for my Russian lesson. I almost canceled it, but knowing that usually by late afternoon I'm feeling better, I decided not to. We had a nice lesson for about an hour and then - bam. That was it. Not a full migraine again, but what I call a 'silent migraine', where suddenly things start looking gray again and I don't want to open my eyes. We ended the lesson earlier than usual. She could tell, she said, just by looking at me that I wasn't feeling well again.
Dinner, some time listening to a couple sermons via computer while playing a game or just sitting with my eyes closed, and then time for sleep.
Yes, a mostly lost day.
I'm just so glad I'm feeling better today! I woke up this morning and immediately knew "I feel GOOD this morning! Thank you, Father in Heaven!"
Only to wake up 4 hours later with a raging migraine. I took some ibuprofen and went back to 'sleep' - or what I call sleep when my head hurts like that. It's more like being in a twilight land. Sometimes I'm aware of what is going on around me, other times I totally block it out. I was aware when Mel got up. At 9 I finally stumbled out of bed, practically in tears, and went to sit on a chair in the living room, holding my head in my hands, eyes closed. Mel massaged my back, neck and head for a few minutes, I took more ibuprofen and went back to bed. By 10:30 I was back in the land of the living, the pain mostly subdued and the world simply gray all around me instead of colored by strange halos surrounding anything that produced or reflected light.
What set it off? Too much chocolate the night before (but oh, it was good!) topped off by a glass of wine a couple or 3 hours before bed. That on top of fighting a headache most of Sunday afternoon. Allergies due to all the burning happening outside and inside of the city and the normal spring pollens, molds and so forth bursting into the atmosphere. I love spring - but spring doesn't always love me. All of this mixed together and I lose a day.
It is so frustrating. I had a lot planned yesterday, but God thought otherwise.
Alys came over to use our computer in the afternoon. The mother board on hers died and it's in the repair shop to see what they can do with it. Ukrainians are very good at fixing computers that Americans tell you to just throw away because it isn't worth the expense or time to fix. The laptop Mel uses is 8 years old and has been to the repair shop 3 or 4 times here. Some of it's idiosyncrasies now drive him nuts, but it still works. A visiting American told Alys to just get a new computer, we told her to try a Ukrainian repair shop. I hope it works for her like it has for us and for Melinda! So, Alys was here for a few hours yesterday afternoon.
Then Lyudmilla came for my Russian lesson. I almost canceled it, but knowing that usually by late afternoon I'm feeling better, I decided not to. We had a nice lesson for about an hour and then - bam. That was it. Not a full migraine again, but what I call a 'silent migraine', where suddenly things start looking gray again and I don't want to open my eyes. We ended the lesson earlier than usual. She could tell, she said, just by looking at me that I wasn't feeling well again.
Dinner, some time listening to a couple sermons via computer while playing a game or just sitting with my eyes closed, and then time for sleep.
Yes, a mostly lost day.
I'm just so glad I'm feeling better today! I woke up this morning and immediately knew "I feel GOOD this morning! Thank you, Father in Heaven!"
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Bits n Pieces
We actually had snow yesterday. Big fluffy white flakes fell from the sky. It was wonderful to see them. They didn't stick around anywhere, but they did fall. And then it rained again.
There are a few little flakes falling again today, but the sun is almost shining through the clouds.
Very unusual winter.
~*~*~*~*~
Tuesday I had a headache all day. Woke up very early due to the pain and took a couple ibuprofen. Got up at my regular time, which is quite late for most people but I stay up quite late for most people. The headache was still there. Coffee didn't help. I putzed around for most of the morning, trying to 'live through it' until it was gone. Finally, around 2 I called my tutor and canceled my Russian class. Mel went to his session meeting and I went to bed.
I set the computer up near the bed and listened to a couple sermons by a couple different preachers. I didn't want to waste the whole day with nothing accomplished - ha ha. The first one I was not impressed with - kind of a whiny voice and poorish delivery. The second man I found out about during an internet search on Reformed positions on Last Days. He's a pastor in Pennsylvania with a Reformed Presbyterian Church of some kind (don't remember the exact name of the denomination). I've listened to several of his sermons over the past month and really like him.
Unfortunately, I fell asleep during his sermon on Psalm 104. ha ha ha ha I've never done that before. Fallen asleep during a sermon. Well, not since I was quite small anyway! I need to relisten to it because what I did hear was very good. I'm an 'old earth' person and he is 'new earth' from what I heard, but that's ok with me. I won't argue with him. I don't want to argue with anyone about it. :) :) My head is still 'tender'.
It's been quite awhile since I've had a headache like that. They really wipe me out.
The really, really bad thing about it?
It was sunny the whole day.
Beautiful, wonderful sunshine and blue sky.
I was sick and in bed.
Bummer.
I missed most of it. :(
~*~*~*~*~
Mel and I went down to a local coffee shop yesterday and had coffee and croissants filled with melted chocolate. More specifically - he had coffee and I had cocoa. Both the drinks and the food were really good.
I'm so glad we have a place like this here now. No smoking. Soft music. Small. Comfortable. Welcoming. Good food (ok, not 'good for you' food, but tasty!). Good coffee and cocoa.
We had a purpose for going. I needed to talk. I needed to talk to someone who would listen to me and not judge me, not be intimidated by me, not brush me off. I need to be able to talk to someone like this because I think so much about various things. I am well aware that when thinking by myself I can miss out on variables that need to be added, or taken away, to/from the process or the thought line gets skewed and the end conclusion is way off base. Or not. I need to be able to bounce the ideas and thoughts off someone who will listen in love and not fear or judgement but is willing to engage in dialog for the sake of thinking, processing, possibly coming to a conclusion.
Mel does that for me.
I'm so glad.
I need him. He's very smart.
:) :) :)
After talking for about 2 hours or more, I felt like a burden had been lifted off my mind and shoulders.
I love that man so much.
~*~*~*~*~
We finally found a way to watch American television shows. Jamie sent us a website address and last night I downloaded the pilot for "House." We've never seen House, so I hope it's good. It took almost 3 hours to download it.
I worked on getting the Sunday School craft ready for the kids while it downloaded. Mel watched a snooker championship in Wales via EuroSport. He had the sound turned off for most of it (it's all in Russian and although we understand a lot of what the guy says, he sounds like he gargles with rocks every morning and smokes 4 packs a day).
Tonight, after our dinner guests leave, we will watch either another episode of 'Bones' or this pilot of 'House'. I ordered the second season of Bones from amazon.com. It's good, but not as good as the first season. Way too much sexual stuff. Sigh.
Wow - we've made it into the modern world!
~*~*~*~*~
The crisis here in Ukraine continues. We got a call yesterday warning us that the power company was turning the electricity off at the water company because the water company has not paid their electric bill in who knows how long. So - store up a bunch of water!
Rumors. They abound every where right now.
We still have water, but we have a bunch of water stored. 3 six liter bottles, the teapot, the coffee pot (after the morning coffee is gone, of course!) and another tea kettle are all full. The 50 liter barrel of water, plus 2 or 3 six liter bottles of water for using to flush the toilet - all are full. The fish tanks are - well, I need to add water again, will do that when I finish this post!
So far, we still have our normal water. But! Who knows? It may be just a rumor, or it may be a threat that was designed to get one government agency to pay their bill to another government agency. Or - the water may go off. Only time will tell.
Rumors. They are every where.
The exchange rate is still fluctuating all over the place. Officially it is still 7.7 at the national bank, according to the little ticker at the bottom of the news broadcast. In reality, it goes from 8 to 9, back and forth. Some are forecasting that it will go up to around 15 this year.
Not good for Ukraine, great for we who use dollars. However, as the exchange rate goes up, prices are also going up. The exchange rate yesterday afternoon was 1$ = 8.5 grivnya.
~*~*~*~*~
All for now. There is actual sun shining through the window and I want to go stand in it awhile!!
There are a few little flakes falling again today, but the sun is almost shining through the clouds.
Very unusual winter.
Tuesday I had a headache all day. Woke up very early due to the pain and took a couple ibuprofen. Got up at my regular time, which is quite late for most people but I stay up quite late for most people. The headache was still there. Coffee didn't help. I putzed around for most of the morning, trying to 'live through it' until it was gone. Finally, around 2 I called my tutor and canceled my Russian class. Mel went to his session meeting and I went to bed.
I set the computer up near the bed and listened to a couple sermons by a couple different preachers. I didn't want to waste the whole day with nothing accomplished - ha ha. The first one I was not impressed with - kind of a whiny voice and poorish delivery. The second man I found out about during an internet search on Reformed positions on Last Days. He's a pastor in Pennsylvania with a Reformed Presbyterian Church of some kind (don't remember the exact name of the denomination). I've listened to several of his sermons over the past month and really like him.
Unfortunately, I fell asleep during his sermon on Psalm 104. ha ha ha ha I've never done that before. Fallen asleep during a sermon. Well, not since I was quite small anyway! I need to relisten to it because what I did hear was very good. I'm an 'old earth' person and he is 'new earth' from what I heard, but that's ok with me. I won't argue with him. I don't want to argue with anyone about it. :) :) My head is still 'tender'.
It's been quite awhile since I've had a headache like that. They really wipe me out.
The really, really bad thing about it?
It was sunny the whole day.
Beautiful, wonderful sunshine and blue sky.
I was sick and in bed.
Bummer.
I missed most of it. :(
Mel and I went down to a local coffee shop yesterday and had coffee and croissants filled with melted chocolate. More specifically - he had coffee and I had cocoa. Both the drinks and the food were really good.
I'm so glad we have a place like this here now. No smoking. Soft music. Small. Comfortable. Welcoming. Good food (ok, not 'good for you' food, but tasty!). Good coffee and cocoa.
We had a purpose for going. I needed to talk. I needed to talk to someone who would listen to me and not judge me, not be intimidated by me, not brush me off. I need to be able to talk to someone like this because I think so much about various things. I am well aware that when thinking by myself I can miss out on variables that need to be added, or taken away, to/from the process or the thought line gets skewed and the end conclusion is way off base. Or not. I need to be able to bounce the ideas and thoughts off someone who will listen in love and not fear or judgement but is willing to engage in dialog for the sake of thinking, processing, possibly coming to a conclusion.
Mel does that for me.
I'm so glad.
I need him. He's very smart.
:) :) :)
After talking for about 2 hours or more, I felt like a burden had been lifted off my mind and shoulders.
I love that man so much.
We finally found a way to watch American television shows. Jamie sent us a website address and last night I downloaded the pilot for "House." We've never seen House, so I hope it's good. It took almost 3 hours to download it.
I worked on getting the Sunday School craft ready for the kids while it downloaded. Mel watched a snooker championship in Wales via EuroSport. He had the sound turned off for most of it (it's all in Russian and although we understand a lot of what the guy says, he sounds like he gargles with rocks every morning and smokes 4 packs a day).
Tonight, after our dinner guests leave, we will watch either another episode of 'Bones' or this pilot of 'House'. I ordered the second season of Bones from amazon.com. It's good, but not as good as the first season. Way too much sexual stuff. Sigh.
Wow - we've made it into the modern world!
The crisis here in Ukraine continues. We got a call yesterday warning us that the power company was turning the electricity off at the water company because the water company has not paid their electric bill in who knows how long. So - store up a bunch of water!
Rumors. They abound every where right now.
We still have water, but we have a bunch of water stored. 3 six liter bottles, the teapot, the coffee pot (after the morning coffee is gone, of course!) and another tea kettle are all full. The 50 liter barrel of water, plus 2 or 3 six liter bottles of water for using to flush the toilet - all are full. The fish tanks are - well, I need to add water again, will do that when I finish this post!
So far, we still have our normal water. But! Who knows? It may be just a rumor, or it may be a threat that was designed to get one government agency to pay their bill to another government agency. Or - the water may go off. Only time will tell.
Rumors. They are every where.
The exchange rate is still fluctuating all over the place. Officially it is still 7.7 at the national bank, according to the little ticker at the bottom of the news broadcast. In reality, it goes from 8 to 9, back and forth. Some are forecasting that it will go up to around 15 this year.
Not good for Ukraine, great for we who use dollars. However, as the exchange rate goes up, prices are also going up. The exchange rate yesterday afternoon was 1$ = 8.5 grivnya.
All for now. There is actual sun shining through the window and I want to go stand in it awhile!!
Friday, October 13, 2006
Friday
A lot of things have been happening here, but most I am not free to write about. My heart is still heavy, but in all honesty, with the happenings of the past few days I actually feel like a mountain has been lifted from my shoulders. I am reminded again that God is sovereign and He is holy. He will not tolerate sin in His people, in the ones He has chosen. Therefore, sooner or later, all will be made known by His light shining into dark places and revealing all.
Fall is here. All of the leaves on the trees outside the office window are still green and lush looking. Yet, the ground is covered in dead leaves. I think most of them have fallen from the tall poplar trees which never seem to turn yellow, just become bare-branched over a period of time in the fall. The kashtan trees (horse chestnut) have beautiful leaves right now – green centers surrounded by a thin line of gold and then edges in a beautiful rich burnt sienna. Every other tree is still green. I read somewhere that a poet once wrote about the soft colors of autumn in Europe and how beautiful they are as opposed to the brilliant colors of autumn in North America. Confession time: I much prefer fall to look like fall, not a slow dying time. I love a grand finale to the year! Bright yellow aspens, deep red and orange scrub oak, paler yellow willows and scarlet maples. I miss fall colors.
The air is crisp and cool now and I love it! I was sick earlier this week with a nasty cold virus that has been going around. I could sing bass really well but could barely squeak out normal words. Two days ago I took the trash out to the dumpsters (yes – plural! We still have two!) and met my neighbor, Nina, on the stairs. When I said hello, she heard my recovering voice and proceeded to chew me out royally for going outside without a hat and heavy coat. It was almost 70 degrees at that point and I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved denim shirt. I laughed and said, “No! If I put on a coat and then walk to the Post Office, I’ll get all wet (sweaty) and then I will get cold.” She was not convinced. I have to admit, at that point I was not in any mood for a babushka to tell me to put on more clothes or a heavy coat. This is my kind of weather now – cool, crisp, clean air. I thrive in these temperatures, ranging from 30’s to high 50’s. To put on a coat now … aaarrgh! I’m finally comfortable and not dying of the heat!!! Puleese – do NOT tell me to put on a coat and hat! I can’t even wear a hat during the winter, unless it’s well below zero. As I have been told – I’m a natural hot head. {smile}
A few weeks ago we had a cool rainy day and I was reminded once again that I am in Ukraine. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s the smell. When we first came to Ukraine to live here, we spent two months in Odessa, and that is where I first smelled it. Mel and I walked all over the city. It was November and already cold with some snow, but mostly light rain or mist. There is a certain lack of sunshine all day, every day, due to thick white-pale gray clouds. The air is humid, but cold – not something I was used to having grown up in Colorado, or from living in Alaska and Colorado as an adult. The smell of humidity, moldering leaves and diesel exhaust – Ukraine has a specific smell, unique in my experience to this country. Smelling it again a few weeks ago after the hot, hot summer, I realized that I actually like that smell. My nose tells me (sniff, sniff), “Hey! You are really back in Ukraine! Not some other city in the States or Western Europe. This is the smell of Ukraine!!” I smelled it again while bringing clothes in off the line on the balcony the other night. Ah – the smell of Ukraine. I don’t think it would do too well bottled up and sold in the store as an air freshener…but for every day life here outside, it’s not too bad (as long as the diesel and other pollution isn’t overwhelming).
There are two other smells that I love more. The smell of the air at 11,000 feet on the side of a mountain in the summer. Cold, crisp, clean, refreshing, full of pine and spruce scent, warm grasses and hot decomposing granite. Ahhhhh – just thinking about it makes me want to sit on a sheltered boulder and soak in some very intense sunlight. The other is the smell of rain on hot prairie sand and grass. There is no smell like it in the world. Ahhhhh – just thinking of that makes me want to search the skies for thunderheads, lightening flashes and hail. It also reminds me of my childhood and spending time on my grandparents ranch during the summers. Warm fuzzy feelings. Hear a happy sigh.
So, my day has been an interesting day, spent talking with a dear brother and my husband. The evening will end spent talking with my dear “Ukrainian daughter,” sharing a meal, maybe a movie, and spending some time praying together before she leaves. Hard things are happening to us and to the church, but all in all this has been a good day. A day filled with pain, fellowship, hope in our Lord and Savior, and the knowledge that nothing is too hard for Him. He gives us the seasons, fall follows summer and soon winter will arrive. He has promised us this. The sun shines on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. God will preserve His own.
Fall is here. All of the leaves on the trees outside the office window are still green and lush looking. Yet, the ground is covered in dead leaves. I think most of them have fallen from the tall poplar trees which never seem to turn yellow, just become bare-branched over a period of time in the fall. The kashtan trees (horse chestnut) have beautiful leaves right now – green centers surrounded by a thin line of gold and then edges in a beautiful rich burnt sienna. Every other tree is still green. I read somewhere that a poet once wrote about the soft colors of autumn in Europe and how beautiful they are as opposed to the brilliant colors of autumn in North America. Confession time: I much prefer fall to look like fall, not a slow dying time. I love a grand finale to the year! Bright yellow aspens, deep red and orange scrub oak, paler yellow willows and scarlet maples. I miss fall colors.The air is crisp and cool now and I love it! I was sick earlier this week with a nasty cold virus that has been going around. I could sing bass really well but could barely squeak out normal words. Two days ago I took the trash out to the dumpsters (yes – plural! We still have two!) and met my neighbor, Nina, on the stairs. When I said hello, she heard my recovering voice and proceeded to chew me out royally for going outside without a hat and heavy coat. It was almost 70 degrees at that point and I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved denim shirt. I laughed and said, “No! If I put on a coat and then walk to the Post Office, I’ll get all wet (sweaty) and then I will get cold.” She was not convinced. I have to admit, at that point I was not in any mood for a babushka to tell me to put on more clothes or a heavy coat. This is my kind of weather now – cool, crisp, clean air. I thrive in these temperatures, ranging from 30’s to high 50’s. To put on a coat now … aaarrgh! I’m finally comfortable and not dying of the heat!!! Puleese – do NOT tell me to put on a coat and hat! I can’t even wear a hat during the winter, unless it’s well below zero. As I have been told – I’m a natural hot head. {smile}
A few weeks ago we had a cool rainy day and I was reminded once again that I am in Ukraine. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s the smell. When we first came to Ukraine to live here, we spent two months in Odessa, and that is where I first smelled it. Mel and I walked all over the city. It was November and already cold with some snow, but mostly light rain or mist. There is a certain lack of sunshine all day, every day, due to thick white-pale gray clouds. The air is humid, but cold – not something I was used to having grown up in Colorado, or from living in Alaska and Colorado as an adult. The smell of humidity, moldering leaves and diesel exhaust – Ukraine has a specific smell, unique in my experience to this country. Smelling it again a few weeks ago after the hot, hot summer, I realized that I actually like that smell. My nose tells me (sniff, sniff), “Hey! You are really back in Ukraine! Not some other city in the States or Western Europe. This is the smell of Ukraine!!” I smelled it again while bringing clothes in off the line on the balcony the other night. Ah – the smell of Ukraine. I don’t think it would do too well bottled up and sold in the store as an air freshener…but for every day life here outside, it’s not too bad (as long as the diesel and other pollution isn’t overwhelming).
There are two other smells that I love more. The smell of the air at 11,000 feet on the side of a mountain in the summer. Cold, crisp, clean, refreshing, full of pine and spruce scent, warm grasses and hot decomposing granite. Ahhhhh – just thinking about it makes me want to sit on a sheltered boulder and soak in some very intense sunlight. The other is the smell of rain on hot prairie sand and grass. There is no smell like it in the world. Ahhhhh – just thinking of that makes me want to search the skies for thunderheads, lightening flashes and hail. It also reminds me of my childhood and spending time on my grandparents ranch during the summers. Warm fuzzy feelings. Hear a happy sigh.
So, my day has been an interesting day, spent talking with a dear brother and my husband. The evening will end spent talking with my dear “Ukrainian daughter,” sharing a meal, maybe a movie, and spending some time praying together before she leaves. Hard things are happening to us and to the church, but all in all this has been a good day. A day filled with pain, fellowship, hope in our Lord and Savior, and the knowledge that nothing is too hard for Him. He gives us the seasons, fall follows summer and soon winter will arrive. He has promised us this. The sun shines on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. God will preserve His own.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)