Laugh

yeast infections

I think "yeast infection" must be a broader term in South Africa than it is in America. It is a common diagnosis for both girls and guys. Yes. Guys. One specific friend of mine (a-hem) had a yeast infection for months... on his leg.

And just the other day our bug-in-the-ear intern found out she has one, too... in her ear. After Niel's amazing medical procedure (he could so play a doctor on Grey's Anatomy... my McNiely), we took her to the doctor to have her ear looked at. Yep. Yeast infection, caused by the demon moth.

I don't understand all this yeast business.

flotsam and jetsam

It's Sunday morning. 11:11 AM.

  • Our new interns joined us for their very first Thrive staff meeting. We rolled out our ministry-wide mile marker goals: three things we'll be working together to accomplish by the end of the year. If our goals were easy to achieve, we wouldn't need God or each other. Good thing we set goals that are enormously challenging then...
  • I taught my first Missions class of the new year. When one of the interns asked me to repeat something so she could be sure she wrote it down correctly, my heart about skipped a beat.
  • Some friends came to visit, and I took a day off to spend time with them. It was a wonderful treat.
  • Niel and I drove to the nearest city, Pietermaritzburg, to watch a movie yesterday. "The Bucket List" had me in tears.
  • I emailed all our staff and interns this picture with the note: Please see the attached memo regarding a new policy we are implementing, effective immediately. Only a few staff members even answered--and not a single intern. I think they've all misplaced their sense of humor.

  • This is the most amazing thing I've seen in a long while.
  • February started. I'm still struggling to wrap my mind around that simple fact.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Highlights from your week?

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you gotta be kidding me

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We were awakened at 1:00 this morning with the news that a bug had lodged itself in the ear of one of our interns. Niel set off to see if anything could be done short of taking her to the hospital. When he came home nearly an hour later, he recounted the story. The short version: He was finally able to extricate the bug with water, natural suction, and a bobby pin. And what he pulled out of her ear astounded him. It wasn't the small bug he imagined it to be. It was a huge moth!

Uhh... hello?! A moth? In her ear?

I had a difficult time falling back to sleep. My ears felt all too exposed to the horrible moths of the world. As if I needed another reason to hate them...

I think I need to invest in earplugs.

flotsam and jetsam

  • A friend I've known for 12 years, but have only talked to on the phone a handful of times, called me. It was so great to catch up with Shineanea. (Sorry, friend, I had to get that in there!)
  • I ate breakfast burritos... one of the small joys of my life. Mmmm...
  • We've received some great feedback about the new ministry site and it's been so fun to see people interacting through comments on the field blog. Yay!
  • Some missionaries in another part of SA spent the weekend with us. It was wonderful to hear about the work they are doing, and I do believe I've made a new friend!
  • A friend got me hooked on email Scrabble (I didn't even know there was such a thing!), and now I've got two games going simultaneously. Lemme know if you want to play! (Don't worry--I suck!)
  • I got to talk to my friend Kitty -- twice! And she got me to smile the biggest I think I ever have!
  • Niel and I went rally-driving through the mud on our base. Fun times!
  • I was asked to be a guest blogger on another website! How cool is that?!

And that's a wrap!

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parenthetically speaking

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Yesterday was beautiful; summer finally kicked in with 80-degree weather and gorgeous skies. (It's been cool and rainy a lot lately.) Niel and I packed a lunch and headed out on the quads to the backside of the mountain (first time I've done that since my adventures with Natalie). I kept picking up my legs as we rode through the tall grass (dangerous, I know). I'd like to blame it on the fear that there could be snakes in the grass (which is always a possibility), but really I just can't stand the feeling of the grass against my skin (Nature Woman I am not).

I also discovered once again that I really don't like riding on terrain that tilts the quad horizontally (does that make sense?). I'll take a vertical slope over a horizontal one any day (I'm a wuss).

We checked out the new road we're making (to help during fire season), got close to some wildebeest (no babies yet), past the spot where Natalie and I crushed some skulls (good times), and rode close to Victory Rock (sigh). We set out a blanket near where we want to build our house (aaah... someday) and we ate our sandwiches and fruit salad picnic-style (with much fly-swattage action).

We came home tanner (or maybe it's just redder) and grateful for togetherness.

Lesson learned today:  I only pretend to be brave.

(And I really need to invest in a sports bra.)