update on the leak

earlier this week this was the scene in the kitchen...


















you can see a line on the wall showing where the wallpaper was affected by the constant dripping.

a day later it looked like this...

The source of the leak is dscovered and the problem diagnosed!


now it looks like this!

The wall had to be opened up to gain access to the leak. The red wire is leading the drips directly into a bucket on the floor.


Hopefully, by Saturday all the repairs will be complete. This event has really taxed my Russian vocabulary. I should have paid more attention during those lessons about repair and tool names. But I honestly never expected to say the words spackle or chisel in a conversation!

Please pray that all goes smoothly from here on out!!

Thought for Today

We are a family of readers... Earlier this week I was reading a book of lists called Lists to Live By and came across this list that truly spoke to my heart!

17 Ways to Encourage Reading
1. visit the library
2. watch movies of classics
3. create a reading nook
4. listen to books on tape
5. act out stories together
6. be a reading role model
7. get your child a journal to record his/ her
thoughts and read them again later
8. read classic books aloud
9. subscribe to children's magazines
10. help your child write and illustrate his own book
11. tolerate comic books
12. keep reading time quiet
13. pursue special interests through books
14. attend a book signing
15. break long books into manageable chunks
16. visit bookstores
17. introduce series books

Some of my favorite memories as a family come from pursuing our common interest in books... you can ask Spencer about getting lost in Beverly Hills looking for the LA Book Festival. Or ask Nathan about being in line at midnight to get the latest Harry Potter book! We love books, yes we do!




PS. the leak in the kitchen: two plumbers came out yesterday and after looking at the leak left to go get their boss... we have not seen them since. We have a call in to find out if they are coming back today. The saga continues!

water leakage again!

Each year that we have lived here there has been a leak in a pipe somewhere in our apartment... this year is no exception.

Tom just turned off the water to all the pipes and we are waiting for a plumber to get here. Oh, the joys of being the owners and not renting!

Spinach Pasta

I shop at Tabris for most of our groceries... it is a European style market and carries items from various countries around the world. I like shopping there because I get a discount on everything that I purchase.

With Spencer and Nathan both gone Tom and I are trying new things that we know that guys would not like but think we might enjoy. So with that in mind I purchased the spinach pasta.

All of the instructions were written in German...I did figure out that it needed to cook for only 4-6 minutes though.

And as for taste... it was great!!

I did it!!!

Finally!!! It has taken me a year and 10 months to reach my goal weight... what a long road this has been. Now the hard part begins...maintaining!!

This week in pictures...

Tom bought these Italian Roses for me!

He moved one of the chairs out of the living room into our bedroom to create a new napping spot!



Views from our bedroom window...

There is construction going on outside of our living room window... at night the crane is lit up!!

Thought for Today

I have a book called Women of Prayer. It is an anthology of everyday prayers from women around the world. It was complied by Dorothy Stewart. As I was reading this week I came across one that I wanted to share with you all today:



Loving like a mother, trusting like a child

Mother me, my Father
That I may step unbowed
From safe with your haven
To face a hostile crowd.

Mother me, my Father,
And help ease the pain
Of taunts and tears and teasing
And make me love again.

Mother me, my Father,
With hands so deeply scarred,
That I may touch some other
Whose suffering is hard.

Mother me, my Father,
That all my life be styled
On loving like a mother
And trusting like a child.

Helena McKinnon



Each day as I seek to deepen relationships with the young women around me I find myself between these two positions: I want to love them as a mother loves her children constantly seeking God to meet their needs in a healthy way and I have to trust in the strength of God as a nursing child trusts in their mother to provide the nourishment I need for my daily tasks and my own spiritual growth!

Major quake in Kyrgyzstan claims 72

Late last night we heard news of this tragedy:
"At least 72 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a devastating earthquake in Kyrgyzstan, which also destroyed 120 houses. Emergency services are now working at the site. Seismologists say there could still be aftershocks or even another quake."

You can go here for the rest of the story http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/31410

This country is part of the former Soviet Union and is south of Russia between Kazakstan and Uzbekistan. This news caught our attention because one of Spencer's roommates in Ukraine is from there. We have not yet heard if anyone in his family was affected by the quake.

Please keep this in your prayers!

what's new at the market!

Finding this pablano pepper at the supermarket was a rare treat!! I roasted it and then added it to the beef flautas I made for our weekly Mexican food night!!

weighing in!

No change for me this week... I feel frustrated and relieved about that. Relieved that I didn't gain but frustrated to be so close to my goal and unable to get there!!






We were able to speak with Spencer last night!! He does not have internet access. He is rooming with 6 other young men. Three are from Ukraine, one from Russia, one from Turjikistan and the other from Kurgistan. They all speak Russian so that is the language Spencer is having to communicate in with all of his roommates... lucky for him he speaks very well!

He says that there are 20 students all together, and including him there are only 4 Americans! He is going to school from 9am-4 or 5 pm daily and says that he is learning a lot!!!

They put him and his roommates to work right away there... they were told they would get a discount on the rent if they wallpapered the rooms themselves, so the guys worked together and got it done!

running errands...

Tom and I spent this afternoon getting his passport translated into Russian. This was a requirement to opening a bank account here in Krasnodar. The translation took about 40 minutes...however that combined with the translation office closing for their daily break meant that we had two hours to kill before his passport would be available.



We walked over to Krasnaya, the main street here that everyone likes to stroll down. And on the way there we found this cute little café. I had a Russian pancake filled with feta cheese and tomatoes and Tom had spaghetti with bacon.















We discovered that Teacher's Day was being celebrated at the Concert Hall. It was fun to see the teachers lined up to have their photos taken!


















It is traditional here to leave flowers on monuments...














There was a wonderful exhibit of artwork by students from various schools!















This piece was done by a 12 year old!

After picking up Tom's documents we went to have them notarized and then off to the bank to open the account. It was definitely a full day!

Thought for Today

Last week I rejected this comment to my safe sex post because of the link this person posted along with their comment. After thinking about it I have deleted the link and will post the comment for all to see:


"That's great for people who are married. But for the millions of people who are not yet married I would recommend the following link:
(deleted)
Seriously, to suggest that marriage is the solution for unsafe sex is not only naive but irresponsible. Note that even fundamentalists like Sarah Palin's daughter are having sex BEFORE marriage. Your blog post is cute but inappropriate." written by anonymous



My post was cute, possibly thought provoking, but hardly inappropriate.

There are other considerations that need to be made before having sex that are not related to a communicable disease or an unwanted pregnancy.

Condoms are not a magic cure all.

Condoms are not capable of protecting the heart or the spirit.

Confining sex to marriage is not solely related to keeping yourself free of disease… but also to protecting emotions, guarding your heart, and honoring your spiritual self.

The admonition to guard one's heart is hardly naive... but (sadly) rarely considered by today's media in reference to this topic. In my humble opinion, advocating self care in all of it's forms is now and will always be highly appropriate.

Have you ever

walked around a corner and thought you saw someone standing there??

Well, thanks to the newfound hobby of my incredibly talented husband I get to feel this sensation several times a day!






Tom is using old window frames
as frames for his pastels!

updates

Spencer made it to Kiev!! He said that everything went well on the train. We have spoken to him briefly, he is still carrying his Russian cell phone so we can call him or send him text messages.

He is planning to buy a Ukrainian SIM card for his cell phone but he has been so busy working on his new apartment that he has not had much free time! There is an apartment for the female students and an apartment for the male students. He told us that the male's apartment is not ready yet and he had been helping to hang wallpaper... Tom assured him that this was a great skill to have for real life!

Tom has been cleaning out Spencer's old room. Tom's new hobby is working with pastels so he is preparing an art room to work in. I am grateful for this because right now his little "studio" is on my side of the bed...I hate stepping in pastel dust in the morning!!

Nathan is enjoying his first year at college. He was able to test out of the first year English classes so he jumped into a Creative Writing class right away... we were able to read one of his assignments and can already see him growing as a writer!

As for me, I started singing with the worship team at our church. My first rehearsal was the night Spencer left. My first time singing up front was yesterday. It feels good to sing again. I have some music terms to learn in Russian... which will be fun since I love new words! I am singing harmony which is new for me. I am finding joy in using the skills I learned at UC Irvine many years ago. Everyone on the team knows solfege and they don't use music notes just chords!

We had Vasa, Aloana and their kids over for dinner after church on Sunday. They lived with us for almost a month when she was pregnant with their youngest and he is now two! They just returned from 4 years serving as missionaries in Daghestan. They planted a church, he discipled and trained men there and was able to install a pastor to take over for him when they left. Hearing their stories was amazing. They lived under constant stress there and in fear for their lives because of the radical behaviour of the dominant religion there.

I think that is all of our news so far... if not then I will have something to talk about tomorrow!

weighing in!

I am finally back on the right track... I am down two pounds this week!

I did a better job not succombing to the temptations of potato chips and chocolate this week. But I HAD TO eat some of Stephanie's homemade cinnamon rolls... I know Tom will read this question my use of the phrase "had to" but I am gonna stick to it. If you tasted one of Stephanie's cinnamon rolls you would know that they are one of those "had to eat" things!

I did get the courage up to join in over here:




it is not too late to join in the fun!!


For those of you wondering where Spencer is right now... we believe that he got across the border safely! We will know for sure once he gets on Facebook or he buys a Ukrainian SIM card!

Spencer is on his way...

to Kiev!

We put him on the train today... with the help of several very loving friends. Thanks to Brennen for driving us there, Vlad, Joy, Hannah, TJ, Lena, and Lena P for being there with us to say goodbye to Spencer.

It was hard to say goodbye but it was good to know that he is starting a new chapter in his life. We are grateful to God for allowing us to be the parents of two incredible sons!

I, as a mom felt like today was bitter-sweet. I know he is going on to the great things that God has planned for him. But the era of our little nuclear family being together under one roof has ended.

Thanks again for all of the prayers on his behalf. He should arrive in Kiev at 3:15 tomorrow!

Thought for Today

...what to wear when planning to have safe sex

There was an old lady

who sat on the bus, carrying a bucket, a four foot tall mirror (the kind that goes at the back of a dresser), and her purse. Inside the purse was a potato chip bag. Inside the potato chip bag was her coin purse. Inside her coin purse was her bus pass! Yep, true story… just ask Tom. He told me all about her when he got home. I suppose she kept her coin purse in the potato chip bag so noone would steal it!

weighing in!

I am up a pound.

I didn't want to post that... I wanted to say that nothing changed.


But that wouldn't be true. And Tom keeps reminding me that the "truth is always your friend".

We had several meals out this week due to meetings with EastWest and I was not very good at keeping portion sizes under control or getting out to walk.

So there you have it. I was going to join this group today but I need to get motivated to sign up!




The other reason I am most likely overeating is that Spencer is leaving next week for Kiev, Ukraine. He leaves Russia on the 25th and arrives in Ukraine the following day. I was doing fine until we purchased the tickets... and now that I know my family will be spread out over three different countries I am feeling rattled. With Nathan in the US, Spencer in Ukraine and us here in Russia... I just wonder what the holidays will be like for us this year.

Please pray for me as I adjust to an empty nest!! Tom on the other hand is thrilled that we finally have time alone!!

Prayer request

We just recieved an email from our dear friends Lily and Ruslan. Lily had an operation about two years ago to remove a one pound tumor from the area around her thyroid. As this tumor grew it wrapped around her vocal chords and created a great deal of pressure on her heart. In the process of removing the tumor; her vocal chords and nerves were damaged, two years later it is still difficult for her to breathe and speak.

Lily needs another operation so that the damage can be repaired, however, there is no guarantee that she will be able to speak above a whisper in the future.

In October Lily and Ruslan will be traveling to Moscow, Russia from their current home in the country of Uzbekistan to have her second operation. Please pray for them as they travel, the success of the surgery and for their two small children who will be staying with grandparents in Uzbekistan.

Thought for Today

“Although parents have a God-given responsibility for bringing up their children, parents cannot bear the total responsibility for how each child turns out. Rather our goal as parents is to help our children become mature, because our children must ultimately decide for themselves the direction they will take in life.
Jean Fleming, from her book A Mother’s Heart

I read these words for the first time back in 1988. Nathan was 1 year old. As a young mom it was a comfort to me to read everything I could get my hands on that would help me to grow and mature as a parent. 20 years later I can see how these words guided us as we parented our sons. We made it our goal to give Nathan and Spencer age appropriate responsibilities and freedoms at each phase of their development. Now that they are 21 and 18 we are excited to watch them as they make their own way in life!

DHL

Today Spencer and I went over to DHL to arrange to have his new passport picked up at the American Embassy in Moscow.

We paid 1,688.00 Rubles which is 65.91 USD to have this done. We were told it would be picked up by tomorrow(Wednesday) and delivered here the following day. We spent about 15 minutes getting everything arranged and paid for. It was simple, quick and a lot cheaper than flying to Moscow to pick up the passport in person!!

I emailed our contact at the Embassy to let them know when to expect DHL... I got an answer back right away letting me know that DHL had picked up the passport already and we should expect delivery tomorrow!

Spencer can hardly wait to get his new passport... it has a new photo on it that he likes much better than the one he took 4 1/2 years and 40 pounds ago. He is looking forward to the people at passport control not stopping to giggle and call their colleagues over to see how much he has changed!



Update: His passport arrived !! Spencer is on his way to the DHL office to pick it up!!