Rolling With The Punches

Hey hi everyone, :-)

Hope you all are having a great summer. Things are going good here. I am in Kelowna. A lot has happened over the last five weeks. Haven't written as there has been SO much happening that writing hasn't really been on my mind. As I mentioned the summer assembly was excellent and then following that I house/dog sat for mom and dad as they went to Dawson Creek. Then Justin and Mel, Tyler and Janelle, and the rest of the family got together and stayed at mom and dad's house for a week. We all had SUCH a good time. Really really great to see everyone. I am still slowly but surely practicing my Spanish. Felt further inspired last night when I was talking to a sister at the beach. Her and her husband were asked by Bethel to move to Kelowna to help with the Spanish because of the work needing to be done here. She says it has really been excellent in response - so now I have to keep working at it. :-) I am going to stay in Kelowna longer than planned. When I first arrived it was just summer holiday, but about 10 days after arriving my teaching company in Korea started having financial problems and it has become quite unstable for work. I prayed about it, because basically Jehovah knows what I need...most importantly FOOD...and He came through. The college here advertised for a teacher so I called them and was hired. Teaching uni students and loving it. Seems like really nice staff who really care about their work and helping other people reach their other goals in life besides just work...mine being spiritual. So I am very thankful. And at this time it is only 4.5 days week and can be adjusted down when the time is right. I can't recommend enough praying to Jehovah about EVERYTHING going on in your life because when I person does, somehow things just work out better. :-) Harvey and Pearl are doing excellent. I was just commenting to mom and dad about Harvey's fur right now. He has struggled with terrible skin his whole life despite only eating the best food, but for whatever reason his fur is thick with good skin right now...so that has been an extra bonus to being here. My biggest challenge is getting to know everyone in the hall. I am glad I am supporting the Spanish because a small room of people is a lot easier. However, I have to say this congregation does have a tradition that is really nice for getting to know the brothers and sisters and bringing the congregation closer together - every Friday night they meet at the same beach with all their lawn chairs and bbqs and just hang out. They do it rain or shine. And I can personally say I know they do it in the not so good weather too because last night it was so windy and the waves were SO high it was like a "Jesus walking on the water" evening - waves were flinging the docks up, and the kids could practically surf the waves, but the barbecues and lawn chairs were still out. Really nice. Anyway, when life throws curve balls I have learned you can either break down and cry and lament about it, or put your chin to the wind and just make something just as good or better happen...and that is what I plan to do. :-)

Right now I am hosting two young Korean boys for a camp so today we are off to the Kettle Valley Railway for riding. Mom and Dad have been fabulous about taking them to see and do things too, so when they go home they should have so many good memories. Okay, everyone have a really great week...or month...depending how soon I write again. :-)

love to all,
d :-)

Well I Held My Breath And Jumped In

Hey hi everyone, :-)

Long time, no write. It has been a busy month. I got up here and then immediately went back down to the coast for the assembly. It was fannntassstic. I totally enjoyed the spin that was put on certain subjects - so same ideas of course, but just different way of presenting them. It really made me think about some things. One was supporting the Spanish Group while staying here in Kelowna. So I prepped my heart out and went to the meeting tonight - - and answered 3 times! I just thought if I think about how bad my Spanish is I would never get my hand up, so I dived in and had a great time. So now, next to Jehovah God, Google translator is my best friend. I also bought a package on the internet of online lessons called ROCKET SPANISH. It got the best reviews, so I thought I will be the ultimate guinea pig for them. And so far so good, people at the KH actually understood what I was saying. :-/ The other District Assembly thing that stands out in my mind was Ian Livingston's experience. He is an elder in Vancouver. He was saying that he has enrolled as a regular pioneer five times now, and will keep enrolling all the way to Armageddon if necessary. They were saying that too many people have the idea that if you had to go off the list once that it meant circumstances weren't right and wouldn't be again. But it doesn't have to be like that...keep enrolling and one day the circumstances just might be right and you can continue on. Anyways, it was very inspiring.

Staying at mom and dad's is absolutely fabulous. I have seen REALLY BIG deer walking through the back and Pearl and Harvey are loving it. Dad has the whole backyard fenced in with wire squares so they can walk out there safely. However, this week Pearl has taken up nesting upstairs in the house. Doesn't seem to care if I am up there or not. :-( When she hears something interesting she just runs out on the patio to check out the action below. I am glad that they are having such a good time. Harvey has found a fellow crazy dog in Otto. They are both happy to chase tennis balls around. Cheap and easy entertainment. :-)

Well, I am going to veg. Tired and meeting is in the morning. Everyone have a really great week.

Love to all,
d :-)

The Assembly Starts Tomorrow

Hey hi everyone, :-)

Well I have made it to Abbotsford for the assembly. Can hardly wait. Haven't seen most people for five years and it feels like a long time. I think it took about 35 driving hours to get to Kelowna. It is absolutely gorgeous up there. I can see why many people have moved from the coast up there - good weather and pretty scenery. Harvey and Pearl are having a wonderful time running around mom and dad's back yard. Took Harve all of 2 minutes to figure out the doggy door following Otto around. Pearl as usual is taking a little longer. She actually got out a couple times but then couldn't figure out how to get back in. :-( Anyway, another couple days and I am sure she will master it. :-) Well, I am at the Ramada Inn Conference Center for tonight, and then with Holgates for the other couple nights. Leanne is here from London so it will be super sharing a room with her and catching up. :-) Dad and Mom volunteered to take care of the furbies - first time apart from me. :-/ so a little anxious...me, not them I am sure...but it will give me time to do some good visiting, so I am very thankful. Anyways, I will update everyone after the weekend. Hope you all are having great assemblies this weekend and this summer and fall too!

Love,
d :-)

ps. couldn't download pics off the cam so will have to wait to show you some really cute pics I took - especially the ones of Ethan and Anastasia graduating their kindergarten classes.

We Are On The Road

Hey hi everyone!

We are on the road. Left yesterday morning after work. I thought we did pretty good getting to the border by 12:30 and on our way within 1/2 an hour. I am getting more confident with hooking my unit up. Even though Fausto the park owner volunteered to help me, I asked him to not to so that I can learn how to make sure everything is done right myself. So he though he came out and watched me do things from a distance, he just stayed away until it was finished and then came and eyeballed that everything was in good shape. That really is a great park to stay at - good owners, very helpful. ....The border guards were wondering why I wrote in large letters on my back window "CAUTION, NOVICE RV DRIVER". I am not that bad anymore but I want a wide berth because I don't have a second set of eyes watching for things...so it is better than having written instead, "CHICKEN AT THE WHEEL"...and basically gives people the right to honk at me if I am scaring them - which one Mexican man did when we were going up a winding here. I can be a bit of a line hugger at times and I think I was probably too close to him. Anyways, got here safe. We stayed last night at the SHANGRILA RESORT in Yuma. Absolutely awesome. Harvey and Pearl are beaching their furry bodies on the RV right now as if they are at a club med. It has everything here including excellent TENGO internet, so I highly recommend it. Well, we are off driving the remaining 2 or 3 hours to Palm Springs, so everyone have a great day!

Love to all,
d :-)

"OH NO Teacher! You sucked a very delicious meal into your vacuum!"

This morning I realized how differently cultures see things. I was teaching a class of 9 year old boys this morning when suddenly one of those crazy large bugs starting coming through my window. I squealed and told the boys that we were going to have stop for a minute while I killed a HUGE ugly bug coming through my window. They were all very excited, and told me that after I did it I needed to show them a picture. No problem. :-/ So they listened to the me using the vacuum for a minute then I showed them a picture of it. They were saying, "Wow, teacher, that is the largest grasshopper we have EVER seen." Then it dawned on them where it was now, and were, "OH NO teacher! You sucked a very delicious meal into your vacuum! This is so sad! So big, it would be delicious. :-(" They were all lamenting over and over that there may be many of these inside my vacuum, and how I missed out on eating them. .....yyyyyyeeee..uuuuk Anyway, it gave the boys some insight too.

Love to everyone,
d :-)

The Surge Protector Worked!

Before coming down here I read endlessly on all the RV forums for advice. Something that was discussed indepth was the use of surge/brownout protectors because of the power fluctuations down here. I decided to take the advice of some long-term full-timers and buy a universal surge protector that would take care of the entire unit. Not just because I have lots of computer equipment in here but because I went over and over in my mind what may happen if I was out on a 105 degree day and the power surged. The cheaper units are good but if you are not around to reset them then the power stays off until you get back. I couldn't have that with Harve and Pearl in here - two little pieces of grissle they would be in no time flat in that heat. ANYWAY, today it paid off. The power surged, the entire trailer shutdown - AC unit, everything. Then I held my breath...would this thing actually reset the RV? It did! I was so happy. ....hosing down Harvey and Pearl today, hot hot hot.

love to everyone,
d :-)

Alcatraz Island

I was able to discover a really cool place last weekend - Kino Bay...so was back today with Harvey and Pearl for more beach walking. Across the bay is an island that I think is fascinating. It is one of the largest ecological preserves for birds. One day maybe I will get to kayak out to it. :-) Driving down to Kino is quite something though. First time last weekend it took me a bit to clue in as to what was going on. It is a nice highway, BUT people were driving on the paved shoulder. Couldn't figure out why until I saw that people were deliberating making another lane for passing. I hadn't seen this before because going down to San Carlos the highway is even wider and there is no need to do this...but I have to say I caught on quickly....basically, watch for someone to speed up behind you, then veer to the shoulder. With so many cars and trucks doing it I was thinking that from a bird's eye view it must look like a checkerboard of cars moving all over the place. :-/

The beach was just fabulous today. Stopped by to check out a RV resort again that I saw on the weekend that has mediterranean style cabanas for each RV - really nice setup. I have to say I do miss the amount of active recreation I had in my life before, and need to get back to it. When I was in Korea I was either out out walking or riding my bike, or walking the canal or the fortress wall. For some people keeping busy that way is not a big thing, but to me I really enjoy it. Doing stuff around the home is nice but I sure do like the outdoors too. Sometimes a person has to be away from something for a bit to know how much they like it. So I just have to get that going in Mexico and it will be perfect. :-)

Harvey and Pearl are doing great these days. It is a tad warm for them I guess which explains why they are both spread eagle on the bathroom floor at the moment trying to cool down. Come 7pm and we will hop outside for a sniff around the park. After running like crazy on the beach today though they won't need much walking.

Well, I found another monster bug in my bathroom this week, and I tell you honestly it was before the meeting on Sunday, and if I hadn't promised to pick my Bible studies up for the meeting I would have just locked the door and waited for it to starve to death...and stayed home. HOWEVER, after 10 minutes of extreme crying outside the door (my normal reaction to finding bugs that look like they live on the dark side of the moon) I prayed to Jehovah and asked him to help me handle the matter so I could get to the meeting....or at the very least grant me composure so that when I saw it again I wouldn't faint. :-/ I opened the door slowly and beat at it with the broom making it fly somewhere that I couldn't see. Now time was running out to get ready for the meeting...so time for another prayer...AND I actually got into the shower and showered knowing there was a bug hiding somewhere in the room. For some people I know this is not a big thing...for me it is MONUMENTAL...with the emphasis on mental. Anyways, maybe it crawled down the toilet or drain but I haven't seen it since...even though I do a complete scan of the bathroom each time I enter it. :-/

Well, time to wash the dishes, so everyone have a wonderful week.

Love to all,
d :-)

A Good Reminder

Hey hi everyone, :-)

It is pretty hot here right now - 105 degrees for a few days. I have been monitoring it and we are about 5 degrees hotter than Palm Springs it seems everyday, with about 9% humidity. I don't usually have to watch Harvey and Pearl that close when we are outside right now because instead of running around the park I find them under the trailer keeping their paws off the hot rocks. But yesterday I got outside with a hose and bucket and washed the entire trailer to spiff it up. In a month we will be on the road so I don't want to look dusty going down the road.

Well, reading the news this morning was a good reminder about why I don't want to fly much now. For you non-pet flying families it is not a big thing, but reading about that lost dog was heartbreaking:
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/05/11/wdiv.delta.loses.dog.WDIV

With all my best efforts I even came close with Harvey that time in LAX. You may recall me writing about it. I wouldn't get on the plane until they showed me they had found his carrier and had the cargo manager personally call to say they had put him on. They had found him in the wrong cargo section of LAX. (Always ask for VISUAL confirmation from the cargo manager before getting on the plane, despite the effort it takes to wait to be the last person on). The good part was, when they asked me what they were searching for, I told them to look for a dog kennel decorated like HANSEL AND GRETELS house in the fairytale. They phoned back quickly to say they had found it. Gaudy as it was to look at, it stood out like a sore thumb. Anyway, hope all turns out well for that couple searching for their little guy.

Well, we have the CO visit this week. I am really looking forward to it. Tonight we have the service meeting and special talk and then Thursday the bookstudy and special talk. Usually our meetings are on Friday nights and this is wonderful for me because by the end of the week I don't have to get up so early in the mornings and I can just sleep to catch up. This afternoon I thought I would lay down for a few minutes between studies so I would have extra energy for tonight but I fell into a 1.5 hour coma! When I woke up I realized I was 45 minutes late for a study, but he was still waiting so that is the great part - thank goodness for patient Bible students! :-)

Okay, have a wonderful day.

Love to everyone, d :-)

Harvey the Toy Piglet

Harvey makes me laugh. He hoards all his toys onto his pillow. And if he sees Pearl and me looking at him and he doesn't have his leash on he will munge them all into his mouth and start running around the park so we can't touch them, and he wants us to chase him...and just for fun we often do. :-) Additionally, he has become quite the park guard dog. Anytime anyone drives into the park, whether they are an RV, or the park owner, Harvey jumps up to huff and puff at them.

If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

Hey hi everyone,

As my title says today, part of the reason I tell all of you all the good things that happen...AND all the bad things is because for any of you that are contemplating living abroad, and wondering if you can do it, after reading my episodes and seeing me face them with all my faults and frailties...surely you will know that you can live anywhere you want to too. :-) ...so today I had a redo of one of my worst fears...the return of KUJO bug. Susan Ellis wrote me and said that she too saw a bug that looked like a cross between a grasshopper, scorpion, and spider, when she was living in Mexico, and that pretty much summed him up. There was lots of screaming, especially when it jumped and I couldn't see it and realized that it was probably on me somewhere so I started ripping my clothes off...the good part was that I had already closed all the blinds for the evening. And then I found him on my pile of clothes so grabbed my handy dandy sandals and squished him flat. During all this Harvey and Pearl were in run and hide mode, but after full of kisses to help me get over the panic part. I am pretty sure he came in the hole for the cable connector so tomrrow I will plug that with goo. When I lived in Korea there were not many bugs at all - probably because of the cold cold winters. Here is another story. The high point is, I think it is harmless...physically...mentally I am momentarily traumatized. However, tomorrow life will be back to normal, work will be good, service will be great, and I will be glad to be here.

Love to everyone,
d :-)