Rain

Where am I?

It has been raining here for days (I think four consecutive now) and I’m totally at a loss—I mean I haven’t seen this much rain, well, since I lived in another country.  And speaking of other countries, it’s crazy how many memories this present rain is bringing up for me, reminding me of all the places I’ve had a chance to visit or live.  Yesterday, I walked outside and the streets were wet and a light, chilly rain was falling, and more than that, you could smell it in the air, and all I could think of was Europe.  And I had to laugh because I remember complaining of how it always felt like the sky was eternally spitting on me when I lived in France, and now I laugh with sheer joy to feel such things.  And then I think of springtime in Georgia…and the daily afternoon rain shower in Florida and the wave of humidity that would bounce back up from the streets afterward.  I think of college days and rushing to class between deluges wearing my shiny red rain coat.  I remember holding my sleeping three year old, stuck to her rain poncho and me, under a tiny umbrella at Disney World.  I remember dates with Husband Dear and our wedding…it’s as if so much emotion is wrapped up and poured out through the sky and my heart.  How can I be anything but thankful for it all?

And this is what dedication looks like

For those of you OK with instant coffee, or who feel like the morning cup of coffee is kind of a take it or leave it proposition--this post is not for you.
But for those of you of who thank God every morning for that steaming cup of courage with which you begin your day; for those who believe and live on the principle that life is too short to drink bad coffee, well this post is for you.
Because you see, where there's a will there's a way, and we love and need good coffee THAT MUCH.
However, we quickly realized after moving here that we seem to live in the land of instant coffee.  Every single "coffee house" (and I use that term very, very loosely because we are NOT talking Starbucks or anything like that for sure) only serves Nescafe.  The aisles of the grocery stores are lined with it too; and then sometimes there are a few, real coffee selections, but very expensive and/or sketchy ones at that.
Enter, the internet, my trusty cast iron skillet, my love of beating the odds, and the local souk or market (which does sell unprocessed or green coffee beans--because maybe everybody else here roasts their own beans too?)  The ones who really enjoy coffee do--I've asked. =)
Step One:  Pour the green coffee beans into your hot skillet.

 

As you stir you'll see the color start to change from green, to yellow, to brown, to dark chocolate brown (my fave)   Getting there

 At last, can you see the smoke coming off of this?  You do need good ventilation to try this, or just really enjoy the lingering smell of roasting coffee.

And then you grind and brew and SMILE, because it is definitely worth it!

Goin' on a fossil hunt

Gonna catch a big one...
One of the advantages of living in our town is that we have direct access to some pretty cool fossils.  I kid you not, next to the desert and the mountains there is an area nicknamed "fossil valley" and it does not disappoint.  The area is completely open and you can take what you like, so we rambled around there a month or two ago and collected some small fossils to take home and wash.  Most of the fossils were types of shells (sometimes really big shells), although occasionally we found a little sea creature type of fossil or sometimes a snail and sometimes petrified wood--it was really cool,  and I think the kids were almost as excited as I was.  Nothing like some hands-on learning!

Eight is Great!

We have been caught in a whirlwind of activities, and just more life piled upon life, since my last post.  We’ve had school, travel, breaks, Easter and in the middle of it all this beautiful boy of ours turned eight.  We celebrated with cake and ice cream with a few friends here in our town.  Eldest son decided he wanted a panda cake, which I didn’t consider disturbing until all the plastic animals were lined up around it (waiting to eat it???).  Anyway, the cake was enjoyed by all =), but the real celebration was when we crossed the border to the country-with-the-cool-zoo-next-door.  We then spent the next several hours jogging after our eldest as he announced each and every animal, before he dashed away to see the next.  It was a day well spent. 

Thank you to Mimi again for the very cool animal print shirts!

Playing catch up

Life piled upon life—that’s what we’ve got around here.  This post brought to you courtesy of Imp who is home sick today.  

I walk around and look at this place and I am overwhelmed—prolific artwork and scraps of artwork taped to improbable places in the apartment, or better yet random balls of tape stuck to the floor, piles of dirty dishes waiting to be washed and piles of clean clothes waiting to be folded.   Our own room (which I have unaffectionately labeled the catch-all) is a mixture of dim light, odds and ends that have no other place to call home, piles of books and papers, and all the projects I try and fail to find bonus time in the day to finish.  Needless to say, I spend as little time as possible in our room—because it drives me bonkers.

I have learned so much about the impossibility of perfection and acceptance of limitations within me and around me.  Most importantly, life here is a constant education on letting go of my expectations and clinging only to God.  And as much as I’d love to have a place for everything, and everything in its place, life rolls on--and I can either struggle to keep it defined and neat, and be constantly frustrated; or I can accept with joy each day as it’s given to me, and accomplish those things that God has given me the grace to accomplish for that day. 

Today, I choose the latter. 

The Sweetest Things

 It had been over a year and a half since I'd enjoyed a Dr. Pepper (my favorite) when these two beauties showed up in our local supermarket.  And it was SOOOOOO good.










It had been one year since we had rain, but it is certainly rewarding to see what happens after it rained and this is the desert folks!

Amazingly, a Christmas tree also appeared in the desert. ;)












It had been six months since our last date, but our little town has a newly opened cinema we finally visited; and aside from one other couple the place was completely ours--crazy!

Time alone with my sweetie, is time well spent!

A year of sun, a day of rain

It rained the other day.  A true full day's rain--well a true full three hours of rain and it was BEAUTIFUL.  We even heard thunder in the distance, and there was enough rain to make puddles for our children to splash in and wade and giggle through.  They came in only after they were thoroughly wet and chilled (it would seem our blood has officially thinned--I'm cold when it's in the 60s).  Afterwards, we did the only thing appropriate, we took warm showers (except for Imp, who I think is crazy because she demands cold showers!) and then enjoyed mugs of hot chocolate.  After more than a year with no real rain, it was indeed a wonderful, refreshing break from the sunshine.