Oh Yes They Call Her the Streak…

This morning I wanted to take advantage of the new truck with it’s very first delivery load and take a staff picture for newsletters and grant reports. I think the picture turned out really well. My favorite part is the blur in the right hand corner.

Jabez, said blur, is a complete nutbar sometimes. She loves people. She loves our staff. She LOVES when something exciting is happening, even if she has no clue what it might be. If there’s even a hint of enthusiasm in the air, she’s right there and ready to contribute. This morning when the group gathered she just started running around. Then there was some stick grabbing and shaking which was bizarre because you can’t get this dog to chase a stick on a good day. She prefers rocks. So much so that if she was gnawing on something it would be like she was gumming it because her canine teeth are flat from said rocks.

Anyway, staff pic done and an excited crew are off on their first delivery with the new truck. Jean was so excited to finally gets to drive it outside of the yard.

Chris is still sick :( I think he’s just getting annoyed now. I’m still feeling tired, but not as much as two days ago. The crying fits are becoming less. Seriously, this chick does not do well when she’s exhausted. So, pair one sickie with one emotional, exhausted female and we haven’t been the best combo in the last few days, but things are looking up. I think I just get to the point where I feel so wiped out that even the most reasonable, tiny request like, “Can you bring me some water and Tylenol?” gets interpreted as “Honey, do ya think you could go print some money, hitchhike for 10 hours, visit 30 stores to find two pills, hitchhike home, filter some water and cool it to the precise coolness that I like and then clean yourself up and bring that on upstairs to me with a great big smile on your face?” I’ve gotten some rest in the last two days and yesterday mustered up enough energy to clean most of my house (even cobwebs!) so that felt good. I need to do that to feel like I’ve got some semblance of order. I think I just let everything go when it’s busy telling myself I can concentrate on it later when there’s more time. When things are tidy and not smelling life is much better around here.

Tomorrow is US Thanksgiving. Duh!?! Don’t forget I’m Canadian, married to a duly. I mean a guy who has two citizenships. This is totally cool with me because it means twice as much turkey – probably my absolute favorite meal, and I’m a foodie. For the last couple years we’ve gotten together with our group of missionary friends for the day and have had a meal together and some good fellowship. I always look forward to it. Everyone will be coming over here tomorrow because we currently have the most space. Because we’ve been so run down someone else is doing the bird and others are bringing their yummies. I’m on pie duty and beverages. I’ve got stuff for pumpkin pies, but I thought I would mix it up a bit and do an Impossible Pie just for some variety. It’s a recipe that has been handed down through our family. It’s called Impossible Pie because you look at the recipe and think “It’s impossible that this is actually going to become something edible!” But, it does and it’s super easy and yummy.

Impossible Pie:

4 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. flour
2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
dash of salt
1 c. dried coconut

1. Put ingredients in a blender in order.
2. Turn on blender and count to 10 then turn it off.
3. Pour into an ungreased pie plate and bake at 350 degrees (F) for 35-40 minutes.
4. Serve with whipped cream or just plain.

Late addition: The done pie will come out like this. It’ll be a bit jiggly at first but will get more solid as it cools. It’s really like a custard type thing. Super yummy!

When everyone tells you what a stellar dessert that was you can thank my Granny L.

Okay, since I live in the Caribbean and we have a bunch of coconut trees in the yard and can’t actually buy the stuff in the store I’m going to go whack one open and dry some coconut!

I’ve been hearing random Christmas songs on the radio here. This is normal for this time of year. I was thinking on Monday that we’re now less than a month away from leaving for our Christmas break. I’m excited about that with everything that’s been going on, but also acutely aware of the things that we need to do before we go. Please pray for those things. With Chris being sick it holds some stuff up that’s really important, but then again, this is Haiti and nothing ever goes as planned.

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I just love it for so many reasons. I love the decorations and the sense of coziness that settles in. I’m not one of those people that likes to get insanely busy over the holidays, but rather prefer to just put on music and be at home with family. This will be the first year that I won’t be with my immediate family, but I get to be with my new family and I’m looking forward to some good time down in Vancouver, WA. My MIL already has tickets for the two of us to go on a theater date and I’m so excited about that. And a couple days later everyone else will be arriving in town. It’ll be the first time since I’ve met them that we won’t be getting together for something crazy like a wedding! I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone a bit better. I think Chris and I will also be doing a speaking engagement while we’re there and the in-laws are having an open house amongst other things. We’re trying to get all of our Christmas shopping done ahead of time so we don’t have to run around frantically right after we arrive. I think we’re about half done.

I’m going to go whack open those coconuts now and get some pies made. I wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to all and hope that you have a great time with friends and family.

Blessings,
Leslie