Evo srca mog... ja tražim tvoje sad...

Saturday pictures

2009-03-02T20:36:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple pictures from Saturday... I'm bummed you can't see my sparkles ;)

Pictures...

2009-03-01T20:16:00.002-05:00

I was going to post some pictures of "Night of the Stars" but I can't find the cord to connect the camera to my computer - not surprising since I can't see the floor of my bedroom, much less the desk. I will hopefully post some in the next day or two. Oh, and no, I didn't win at the district level, but it was a really fun night and such an honor to represent my school. And another big no - I didn't trip on live TV! :)

Tonight...

2009-02-28T10:04:00.001-05:00

I meant to post this earlier in the week, but time got away from me. In my last email (a very long time ago) I mentioned being awarded the honor of "Outstanding First Year Teacher" at my school, West Gate K-8. Tonight is the district celebration for all the district nominees. The "Night of the Stars" will be broadcast live on TV and on the school district website. Oh, and not only am I a nominee, but my dad is one of the Master of Ceremonies for the celebration tonight!

I'm not expecting to win at the district level (I am up against about 40 other first year teachers), but thankfully they are introducing and announcing the nominees and winner of the OFYT first thing! So if you want to see me all glitzy and dressed-up (I bought three different outfits for the occasion and finally decided on one last night - don't worry the other two are going back!), tune in TONIGHT at 6:00pm EST to either one of the local stations listed below, or if you live out of county, state, or country it airs live at this web address:

http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/MediaServices/

Once you get to the website, look on the left side and click "Watch us live" If you can't watch tonight, they will also be rebroadcasting it through the video on demand option later in the week.

Here are the channels to watch if you live in St Lucie County. On Saturday, February 28, the “Night of the Stars” employee recognition event co-hosted by the school district and the St. Lucie County Education Foundation will air LIVE beginning at 6:00 PM on WLX, The St. Lucie County Education Channel. WLX is on Comcast Channel 13 in north St. Lucie County and Channel 19 in south St. Lucie County, and on Hometown Cable Plus Channel 19 in Tradition.

And if you want to pray about anything, don't pray for me to win... pray I don't trip and end up flat on my face on live television!!

Love,
LeAnne

It's been a while... (scroll down for pics)

2008-11-01T18:26:00.009-04:00

I really would like to keep up on the blog. I love teaching, but the last thing I want to do is come home and get on the computer. No promises on how much I'll post, but I will start posting more in the coming weeks and months.

I wanted to show off my new haircut... I don't think my hair has been this short since I was five... but I like it. I needed something new, so why not?

Teaching seventh grade has been great. I'm really enjoying getting in to the groove of my new career. Every day is an adventure... not quite as adventurous as Bosnia, but everyday has it's own surprises!

Skoobi is doing well... I'll put a new picture of her up here next time I sign on. I actually have a video I want to upload, but for some reason, it won't take. Let's just say she is quite fond of Dunkin' Donuts!

Besides teaching school, I've been busy at my new church attending a ladies Bible study on Tuesdays and then teaching middle school girls on Wednesday nights. It's a lot of fun, and I am so glad they asked me to involved with the youth. I am team teaching with a wonderful lady named Liz. Her and her husband took me out on their boat a couple weeks ago. It was SO much fun! I can't wait to go again. I put some pictures down below.

Liz does a ministry to the nursing home on Mondays. A few weeks back, she met a very downcast lady at the home... as they began talking, she told Liz her family was from Serbia! She has never actually been there (she's in her 70's, I think), but her family spoke the language when she was growing up. It was very fun to be able to go to the home to speak to her before we went on the boat. My language is so rusty at the moment, so it will be nice as I stay in contact with her to practice some. Liz and I plan on cooking up a little Eastern European something before we go next time. That should be fun!

In September, mom celebrated her 60th birthday. We decorated her office, and had a really nice day for her. No one had to wonder how old she was since we put the "Hoppy 60th birthday" sign outside her door! Yes, it's "Hoppy" since she collects frogs, remember.

A few weeks ago, two of my friends from Bosnia were here - Tiffany and Sladjan! It was really fun to catch up with them. We went to Downtown Disney, and had a nice and relaxing afternoon.

The most fun thing that has happened in the last two days was after 31 years of living in the same house, in Florida, by canal... we finally had an alligator in the yard! OK, it wasn't more than two feet long, but we finally had an alligator in the yard! It was so cool!! Mom was out walking the dog for me (I tend to come home from work and fall asleep on the couch for an hour) when she suddenly was at the window, yelling in a loud whisper " YOUR CAMERA, GET YOUR CAMERA NOW! THERE'S A GAToR OUT HERE!" And I'm thinking "Save my dog...! And yourself, of course!" :) So I grabbed the camera and ran out to find the sweet gator I aptly named Fred. He is pictured below... we haven't seen him since, but I'm more concerned about meeting Fred's Momma! :)

OK, well, I am back to blogging! I hope some of you are still out there! Drop me a line and let me know!

Just a couple pictures from my day on the boat. I loved being out on the river and the ocean. The ocean was very cool with all the waves. I would put a video on here, but it's kind of embarrassing hearing myself yelling "woohoo" the whole time :)

Tiffany and Sladjan show their true colors!

We had fun on Mom's birthday! It's great working at the same school together.

The sunrise over our canal and dunes the other morning... apparently this is where Fred-the-Gator was born!

Can you find Fred-the-Gator's eyes? Look smack dab in the middle...

There is Fred right before he went in the water. I tried to video his move, but my camera battery died! AARGH!

And here is a close-up of Fred... what a cutie!

First Day and Fay...

2008-08-20T09:24:00.010-04:00

The first day of school was Monday. I think it went very well. I enjoyed my first day as a teacher. It seems that I have many good students. However, we have yet to have second or third day of school! While Fay was only a tropical storm, she was full of water, and our county is flooded. Thankfully, we don't have any damage, but some friends of ours, only about a mile away, have a foot of water in their house. Most of the streets are impassable. We don't know if the schools will be able to open tomorrow since the people who need to go out and inspect them (like my dad) aren't even able to get to most of them.

One thing we need to work on is getting Skoobi to go potty in-between feeder bands :) She did fairly well, but did need to go out once in the middle of some good rain and wind. I'll put some pictures below for your viewing pleasure. As soon as that's done, I need to go and revamp all my lesson plans. No matter when we head back to school, it's going to be the first day all over again!

Just a quick video from our back window yesterday afternoon

(the video wouldn't upload, so I'll try again later)

The back yard beginning to flood... The neighbor's was already flooded.

This plant is supposed to be standing straight up, but it looks like a giant stomped on it!

More backyard pics

Skoobi loved the wind

The front of the house usually floods with more water than this, but it's still raining so you never know.

While not liking the river or ocean, Skoobi seemed to have a fascination with the really big puddles.

Skoobi's nemesis checking out the storm from inside her cozy room

The canal next to our house rarely has water in it... you can't really tell, but it's about 3/4 full... probably about 4 feet of water or so.

The backyard water started to receed this morning, but has kind of stalled. It will probably be there a few days, beckoning many mosquitos as it stands. Uugh.

Skoobi had to go outside at 11 last night. There was just so much water, the fire ants were floating around everywhere, and both Skoobi and I got bitten. The fun just never ends :)

Happy 61 Dad!

2008-07-22T07:31:00.003-04:00

Well, here is your present - everlasting fame on my blog :) Hope you have a very happy birthday! Love ya!

Lion Country Safari and a few other things...

2008-07-21T14:17:00.008-04:00

Who doesn't love to climb a tree?

Dad and Chandler playing golf at Lion Country Safari. We had a really fun time down there, and I personally had a great time seeing all the animals. Feeding the giraffes was definitely my favorite part. Below are some more pictures of that trip plus a couple others. I'll post some more later this week. I can't believe Chandler leaves tomorrow!

This here monkey was all about the pose

This was my favorite monkey picture

It was raining and mom was being weird...

Every one loves a bongo drum

Feeding the giraffes was very cool. That was my favorite part.

But...Butt...Buttt... I mean Putt!!

Zebras are pretty cool too

This was my favorite zebra picture

Here's Chandler meditating. Oh wait! It's a monkey meditating - my mistake!

The baby giraffe was so stinking cute...

Any idea what kind of wildlife eggs these are? I think it's a very cool picture.

I can't remember what they are, but they are very pretty

I hate birds - especially ones with bigger feet than mine!

Lions are cool

Everyone wants a water buffalo...

This little guy was a doll... he just finished pee-peeing and was wagging himself dry... too cute.

I have a picture almost exactly like this of when Chandler was about three and my sweet Gimel is giving him a kiss just the same way... Skoobi and Chan got along very well, so we were all happy about that.

Chandler got to go fishing on a boat with both his grandpas - he caught the only fish, pictures above. Not so shabby :)

Happy Birthday Bro...

2008-05-31T08:41:00.003-04:00

Happy 32nd Birthday John! My birthday present to you was stopping mom from calling you at what would have been around 4am your time... I reminded her you took the day off work and that wouldn't be so nice :) Have a great day - I love you!

A morning at the beach - blog post #200

2008-05-12T08:24:00.008-04:00

We took Skoobi to the beach Saturday morning. I've been wanting to do it for a while, but the dog beach is about a half hour away (the people beach is only about 10 minutes away) and I just haven't wanted to drive that far. It's also funny to me that the dog beach is directly across the road from the nuclear power plant... hmmm... But anyways, Saturday morning was beautiful, so off we went. As the above picture shows, we got there just after sunrise. Next time we'll try to get there for the sunrise.

I was hoping Skoobi would just want to jump right in (like the other two dogs that showed up after a while). But alas, she just doesn't seem to be a water dog. I think she is afraid of the noise the waves make when they crash. She's lucky it was low tide otherwise I don't think I could have gotten her this close to the water

There she is not liking the water too much. It's amazing how fast she could move when the waves came in. Maybe she's just a spoiled diva who doesn't want to get her precious paws wet.

Yep, she was not at all into the water. I'm not going to force her, we'll just go maybe once a month or so and hopefully she will get over her fear.

She did like the seaweed. Thankfully there were no jelly fish or crabs on the beach, or we probably would have had to stop by the vets office on the way home. :)

And there are her paw prints gracing the shoreline - at least till the next wave comes and washes them away.

Below is a video of Skoobi on the beach. I think I finally figured out what she is... part Dalmatian, part sissy-chicken! :)

Thanks for sticking with me through 200 blog posts... wow!

You Ain't Gettin' My Donut...

2008-05-05T08:16:00.004-04:00

We try to take Skoobi to the river for a nice long walk 3-4 times a week. It's about a 7 minute drive to the inlet and is much more scenic than the neighborhood. We went Saturday morning, and as usually there were quite a few squirrels running around. Skoobi saw one before we did (as she let us know by doing her new 'squirrel dance and whine') - it was really blended in to the tree it was sitting by. As we got closer, my mom and I finally saw it and noticed it was eating something. The squirrel kept one eye on us and the dog, and one eye on the food she was munching down on. We finally got too close and the squirrel made a break for it up the tree - with a whole donut in it's mouth! It was so funny watching the squirrel scramble in circles up the palm tree with a whole donut in her mouth! We just laughed and laughed - we couldn't decide if Skoobi wanted the squirrel or the donut more! Ad that squirrel was NOT letting some well fed spoiled dog even get a sniff of her precious donut. It was really cute.

Besides walking the dog, I've been cleaning the two bedrooms I'm living in. They aren't "dirty" but they have turned into storage units for me and my brother and sister. I found a dress I haven't seen in 4 years, some CD covers I knew I didn't throw away, my birth certificate and some medical papers I've been looking for for years. The good news is, I think I'm on my fifth garbage bag of stuff. That's liberating. I also have a lot for an upcoming garage sale and a pile for Goodwill.

I've also been volunteering a couple days a week at my mom's school. I helped at the book fair last week. My proudest moment was when I talked a boy out of buying some plastic bracelets and into buying a book. My least proud moment was when I tried to give kid change from a twenty when he only gave me ten. But he immediately pointed it out "Uh... I only gave you a ten." So, I gave him a free pencil since he was honest. I really enjoyed interacting with most of the kids. This week, I am observing/helping out in an autistic classroom for the morning on Wednesday and then on Thursday I'll be helping the kindergarten classes decorate cakes for Mother's Day. That one should be fun!

This coming month I'll be filling out job applications, visiting friends and supporters, and doing some babysitting. I'll continue to clean out these rooms, do some volunteering and a bit of traveling to visit people. I'm attending a good Bible study and trying to do some reading. It's still very strange being back, but I decided to take it one day at a time and "be still and know He is God..."

My First Tagging...

2008-04-22T21:53:00.003-04:00

I've been tagged by Germaine on her blog. I don't really know what that means, but I will follow the directions and comply only because it's G.

this is what I was informed that I needed to do…

Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 random things, facts, goals, or habits about yourself. At the end, choose anyone you think may answer - to be tagged, listing their names & why you chose them. You can’t tag a person who has tagged you.

1. Sadly, I like reality shows like Survivor and Top Chef... It's so pathetic, I'm ashamed to even write it. I even go to the websites to get all the Survivor gossip and watch "after the show is over" video. It borders on addiction.

2. I hate do-it-yourself shows... most people just watch and never really do-it-themselves.

3. For those of you who don't know, I have a dog and I love her very much. I have come to realize though I am not the pack the leader and I have much to learn from The Dog Whisperer. Skoobi must learn she is not the boss of me. I like the Dog Whisperer.

4. I'm in a very strange place in my life now, being pulled in many directions and not knowing which way to go. And I have no clue which way I want to go. I have no clue which way God wants me to go.

5. One of my favorite things to eat is white bread dipped in vinegar.

6. I'd like to travel to the southernmost point in Chile. I'd also like to go to Iceland and Poland. I didn't travel enough when I lived in Europe - another regret to add to my growing list.

7. I hate walnuts.

8. I bought a $100 Liz Claiborne purse at the Salvation Army for $10. I usually wouldn't even spend $10 on a purse, but I needed a nice one to take with me on job interviews. The salvation army rocks.

9. I can't believe I have to go on job interviews. I never thought at 36 I'd be looking to start a second career... I'm having a hard time with that - should I go back to school, should I go right into teaching, should I take a year off and just work a 'mindless' job while I transition back to life here? I have no idea...

10. I used to be a morning person, but now I'm a night person - if I fall asleep, that is. Now it just seems I'm a perpetually groggy grumpy person.

Ok, so now I have to pick people to tag... I suppose they need to have a blog and read my blog... slim pickens...

ok, so, um, in no particular order...

Jana W
Janelle B
Belinda

I can't think of anyone else who wouldn't be annoyed with me for picking them, so I'll leave it at these three for now... :)

Skoobi the Explorer

2008-04-22T07:14:00.007-04:00

I'm currently in Orlando for a few days, but before I came up I took Skoobi to the river by my house. She's never seen a big body of water before, and so I was curious how she would react. I don't have the funniest reactions recorded, but this should give you a decent idea...

The lapping of water is apparently not a soothing noise for my dog... She got a little better after a while. I'm really wondering how she'll react when we finally get her to the beach!

So where is the unwelcome friend?

2008-04-16T09:42:00.004-04:00

I took Skoobi out for her walk this morning. I wasn't really paying attention, just looking around the yard and trying to wake up when I looked down...

Snake skin in and off itself doesn't bother me, but it was just the startle factor of not expecting it that kind of helped me shake off the "just woke up" groogies. I have no idea where Mr Snake went, but I really hope he doesn't feel he has to show me his beautiful new skin. There's a big difference in looking down and seeing shed snake skin and looking down and a seeing brand new skin on a live, slithering snake (or even old skin for that matter). Especially when you have flip-flops on... And even more especially when you know super-dog will want to go forward and investigate it while all whimpy-master wants to do is run in the other direction!

And if you hadn't noticed, it's a pretty long snake!

**Update a couple hours later...**

I hate Mr Snake. He did decide I needed to see his pretty new skin. I guess if I liked snakes, I would say he was quite pretty. Very black, very long, very fast. Skoobi didn't see him, thankfully. We were just outside and about to go over to the side of the house when he stuck his pretty little head up out of the grass about 10 feet ahead of us. I froze, then with no shame, I freaked out. "SKOOBI GET IN THE HOUSE!" as I drag her to the door - poor thing doesn't even know what's happening. All she knows is that if I want to get in the house that fast, there must be something good going on outside! :)

Now I know black snakes are our friends and they can't hurt us and (according to my neighbor I just called to tell him about the snake) eat the poisonous snakes. I just don't like snakes... especially if they are long, and super especially if they are fast. I just hope it doesn't get in the house. That's never fun.

I'd love to be sitting outside with Skoobi now. It's a beautiful day. And Skoobi really hasn't gone to the bathroom yet. I really need to teach her to pee in the tub...

Update

2008-04-12T07:31:00.005-04:00

I know I haven't updated these last two weeks. It's still kind of strange being here knowing I'm staying. But it's been good hanging with the parents and just kind of relaxing and trying to figure out what's next.

I love having my clothes come out of the dryer. They are just so soft and clean and smell so good. It still takes e forever to go buy a (very expensive) gallon of milk. I just like wandering around the store and looking at things. I also love customer service here. Be it in person or on the phone, the worst customer service experience here is usually better than anything over there.

Of course, there are the things that I don't love... humidity. Is it possible to drown just by breathing? And it's only April! Ants... sugar ants, fire ants... ants! The lizard shock factor... the little booger jumped out at me in the bathroom. There is a baby lizard in my bedroom. I told him he could stay as long as he didn't jump on me.

Skoobi and the cat... oil and vinegar have a better chance of blending harmoniously. But we're sharing the house between them. It's interesting - we'll leave it at that. Took Skoobi to the vet and she passed everything with flying colors (except for getting along with the other dog in the the waiting room). I like the vet. They also have a boarding kennel and so we're trying that out next week.

The 'big' news is I bought a car. I usually wouldn't put pictures of it on my blog, but I know people overseas will want to see it and it's just easier than emailing everyone. It's weird because I've always paid cash for my cars, but now I have payments. I'm committed to paying it off early so we'll see how it goes.

Below are some pictures - enjoy!

Skoobi is happy being outside. We're buying a fence to put up for here, so for now she's chained up and someone has to be with her outside 1) so she doesn't terrorize people (she is a bit territorial, you know) and 2) so no stray dogs get her. We've had scary strays in the past and so I worry about her being attacked. But mom said we haven't had any in a while, so hopefully things will be ok. But I don't leave her outside alone.

Skoobi jumped right in the car -I had to really pull her for her to come out!

She just had a really cute expression here

Checking out the back seat

Where have we been? Oh, no where yet...

Here's the car, a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer... may it live long and prosper

I need to name the car something, but I don't know what yet. I thought about Lance, but that's kind of obvious... any suggestions, let me know!

We Made It... :)

2008-03-29T20:14:00.006-04:00

Well, as you can tell from the above photo, we made it! Up until the people at the Atlanta airport lost my dog, it was a great trip.

We arrived at the Vienna airport early (of course we did, this is me we're talking about!). I was tired and very stressed about the dog and worrying I didn't have all her paperwork. I never worried about Skoobi herself. Well, as we walked into the cavernous Vienna airport, Skoobi pitched the biggest hissy fit ever. She was so scared, she was just crying and whining and freaking out. And did it ever echo throughout the terminal! Oh my gosh! I was torn between feeling so embarrassed and feeling horrible for my dog! I was almost in tears, but I was also very tired.

I was the first person to check in, and the woman didn't even look at any of the paperwork I had for the dog. None... nothing... not a page. Why I bother to do things the legal and correct way, I'll never know. But off they took Skoobi, and they reassured me she would be fine.

I got on the plane a couple hours later, and there was a sticker on my seat letting me know Skoobi was on the plane. I had the seat next to me empty, and so I was thrilled with that. The flight was fine. Long, but no complaints. I'm toward the front of the plane, so I hurry through immigration after we land so I can grab my luggage and find the dog. I was the first person the check in remember, and so of course my baggage is the last off the plane.

But I had all five bags, and I rush over to get Skoobi - but she isn't there. Ok, I'm fine... I just need to wait. the door opens and I ask the man about my flight and he said all the dogs from the flight have been taken to where they are supposed to go. Um... where is my dog??

Two hours later, I am still in the international terminal and no one knows where Skoobi is. I am so upset by now because while the people are nice and seem to want to help, no one knows what to do or who to ask. One really nice guy said i should go through customs and go to the main terminal because maybe they just took her there by accident. So I ruch through as quick as I can, I find my folks and without a hi or hello I just say - "go look for my luggage - five bags, they lost the dog!" So I rush over to where the dog might be, but no one knows of a lost dog and said I should go to the lost baggage office. Aargh!

So, now I'm in tears. It's almost been three hours and no one knows where my dog is. People are making phone calls but not getting any answers. Finally, someone says they think they know where the dog is... there were seven dogs on the flight and Skoobi was the only one who should NOT have been transferred to cargo, so they think that is where she is by accident. Four hours after landing, the finally find Skoobi and confirm she is at cargo.

They said I could wait for her and they would bring her to me... but alas - they can't because she was brought in from overseas. So I have to go all the way back to the international terminal to claim her - not that I cared, mind you. Five hours after landing, I finally got a very stressed and sad Skoobi.

And that was the very condensed version of the story. It was awful not knowing where she was. And the poor thing hadn't had any food or water in ages. We got the the hotel and she just drank three bowls of water right away - which she proceeded to throw up. So, needless to say she had a very traumatic day.

But our drive the next day from Atlanta to Ft Pierce was pretty good. There was no way I was putting Skoobi back in her travel crate, and she was exceptionally good in the car. She either sat by me on the seat, or got down in-between the seat to keep mom and dad company upfront as you can see below.

She also took a nap in-between the seats. It was rather cute :)

Here she is today, her first full day in Florida resting in the shade - it's already so warm and humid here! I left snow and cold wind, and now I am wearing shorts and sandals. :) No complaints here!

Skoobi is adjusting much better than I thought.... she still hasn't met the cat, although they have smelled each others presence. For now, we are sharing the house between them - a couple hours the cat is locked away and Skoob runs free, then a couple hours me and Skoob are in the room and the cat runs free. It's a pain, but it works for now. I think it will all workout.

Oh, and how cool is the eagle flying around the neighborhood? It was so beautiful flying around, I'm glad I got a picture of it while it took a rest on the power pole.

Thanks so much for your prayers. The Skoobi getting lost experience is not one I want to relive anytime again soon! I am just very thankful she was found and is safely sleeping here next to me. I was thinking about how well traveled Skoobi is - even more so than most people I know! She's lived in Bosnia, Croatia, and now the US and has traveled through Slovenija and Austria. Not so bad for a poor little Bosnian street dog!

Arrival...

2008-03-28T06:09:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update... the very good news is that we made it to Atlanta. The very bad news was they lost Skoobi at the Atlanta airport and no one knew where she was for four hours, and when they finally found her, it took another hour for me to get her. Those four hours were beyond horrible, but she's sleeping here next to me quite content, so I'm very happy. Happy would not have described me yesterday...

I'll post the whole story probably tomorrow when we get back to Ft Pierce. Thank you so much for praying, and please continue to keep us in your prayers as we drive to Ft Pierce today.

The final countdown...

2008-03-26T15:29:00.002-04:00

I am about to take a nap, but just wanted to say hi from Croatia one last time. I'm ready to go, and am looking forward to having the trip behind me. I am still so stressed about the dog. I know I have everything, I just...aargh. I hate that I have to do this now. I wish I had the opportunity to travel with her before this big trip just so I know for sure I have everything and I know what I'm doing.

Ok, well, I should nap so I don't be all cranky on my trip :) Thanks for your prayers. See you soon!

Travel Prayer...

2008-03-25T04:38:00.001-04:00

Skoobi and I will be leaving for the airport at 2am Thursday morning (9pm EST Wednesday night) to catch our flight in Vienna. Our flight leaves at 10:30 Thursday morning (5:30am EST) and we should arrive in Atlanta around 5pm. The weather has turned horrible, spring has left for another round of winter so that is one concern. Even though I've checked many times, I'm still worried about flying with the dog. And this is first I've been out of bed since Thursday afternoon - I've been sick with some kind of coughing/sneezing/can't breathe/sinus thing. I have to finish cleaning the house, paying bills, and saying good bye to a few people in the next 48 hours, so please pray for strength and health as I do those things. Please pray for good border crossings, especially for no problems with the dog at the borders or airports. Pray for safety as we travel, and for my parents as well as they travel to Atlanta to pick us up and as we drive back to Ft Pierce on Friday. Thank you and I will see you soon!

I had flowers...

2008-03-20T09:58:00.003-04:00

Pretty flowers growing in the yard... yellow, purple, pink. Even two daffodils. The tulips were coming up, and I was hoping they would bloom before I leave next week.

But alas...

It's snowing.

Yesterday it was sunny and I was out doing errands, walking in the sun and the relative warmth. I didn't need or want a jacket.

But now it's snowing.

I also have a very bad sore throat and a cough. I really hope it goes away before I fly next week.

This time next week, I will be over the Atlantic with my dog in the cargo bay. Hopefully we will both be sleeping.

I do know when we get to Florida, it won't be snowing. My flipflops are packed on top of the suitcase. I'm so excited not to have to wear socks when I get to America. Socks are evil. I'm wearing them now, though, hoping they will make my throat feel better.

I can't believe I'm sick, and I really can't believe it's snowing. Ok, I suppose I can believe it's snowing because I already gave my winter coat away. Maybe that's why I'm sick.

Blah

Happy Birthday Tomislav and Petra!

2008-03-17T02:13:00.005-04:00

OK, so it's cool to have a birthday on St Patrick's day, and it's really cool that Tomislav and Petra have the same birthday. Too bad they didn't get married on St Patrick's day as well because seriously, how often would that happen?

So in honor of their birthday, I'm posting the pictures I mentioned on my birthday blog (see two entries below)

So, above you see Petra smiling, and Tomislav kind of just looking blankly...

Now Tomislav is smiling and Petra is kind of just looking blankly

And now they are both smiling thinking of their kids in college :)

See, I don't make this stuff up - it just happens and I am the grateful blog recipient! Do have a very happy birthday, and I'll see you latter!

Things that just really make you wonder...

2008-03-16T10:51:00.003-04:00

This story is from the town next to where my folks live. We all grew up there, and well, it's not the best of places, but it's not the worst of places either. So just go ahead and read the story, and if you finish reading and it just kind of leaves you shaking your head, you're not the only one...

Two boys decide to rob a...

March 12

2008-03-12T09:30:00.010-04:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures from my birthday shindig this evening. I just had a few friends over for a Mexican casserole and angel food cake (actually, I made cupcakes - no candles!) It was really fun, and I'm so glad everyone was able to come and celebrate with me.

Tomislav and Petra with their kids Daniel and Petar

Dragica, Me, Anita

Sanja, Boris (her boyfriend) and me

Me (again), Ivana, and her husband Zoran

This is my favorite picture of the night... The two pictures I took before this one were so funny. In one Tomislav was smiling and Petra was frowning. In the other, Petra was smiling, but Tomislav was frowning. I was trying to get them to smile at the same time, when Petra said "How can we both smile with the kids acting up?" So I said, "Well, think about when they are 18 and not living at home anymore." As you can see, both Tomislav and Petra perked right up!

Petar's "No, I'm not on drugs" look

All I asked for was a smile - it was a little tough for Zoran, but Ivana is radiant! :)

How did you know I bought chocolate ice cream for the boys?
And Petra is just so pretty in this picture.

Can you believe one of the boys is actually smiling???????

Sanja and Boris

And this is how I feel about now, so I'll probably wrap this up and head to bed.

Oh, yes, we couldn't forget Skoobi's traditional piece of birthday cupcake!

And some random facts of the day...

As of 3/12/2008 9:21:51 AM EST
I am 36 years old.
I am 432 months old.
I am 1,878 weeks old.
I am 13,149 days old.
I am 315,585 hours old.
I am 18,935,121 minutes old.
I am 1,136,107,311 seconds old.

Those 36 candles produce 36 BTUs,
or 9,324 calories of heat (that's only 9.3240 food Calories!)
You can boil 4.23 US ounces of water with that many candles.

Celebrities who share my birthday:
Darryl Strawberry (1962) James Taylor (1948) Liza Minnelli (1946)
Barbara Feldon (1941) Al Jarreau (1940) Andrew Young (1932)
Edward Albee (1928) Jack Kerouac (1922) Gordon MacRae (1921)

Top songs of 1972:
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan
American Pie by Don McLean
Without You by Nilsson
I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash
A Horse with No Name by America
Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me by Mac Davis
Me and Mrs. Jones by BillyPaul
The Candy Man by Sammy Davis, Jr.
Lean On Me by Bill Withers

My age is the equivalent of a dog that is 5.14637964774951 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

And some interesting historical facts other than it being my birthday...
0515 BC - Construction is completed on the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
1664 First naturalization act in American colonies
1737 Galileo's body moved to Church of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy
1755 First steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine
1881 Andrew Watson made his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain.
1884 Mississippi establishes first US state college for women
1888 2nd day of the Great blizzard of '88 in northeast US (400 die)
1894 Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.
1917 Stalin, Kamenev & Muranov arrive in St Petersburg
1918 Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint-Petersburg held this status for 215 years.
1934 Josip Broz (Tito) freed from jail
1945 USSR returns Transylvania to Romania
1964 Jimmy Hoffa sentenced to 8 years
1994 Church of England ordains first 33 women priests
2006 Slobodan Milosevic died

Randomness and that dog of mine...

2008-03-11T02:53:00.004-04:00

So, there hasn't been a lot to update on since my trip to Bosnia. One thing I did decide to do was bathe the dog. Skoobi hasn't had a bath in probably four years. Now, that's not as gross as it sounds - I brush her almost every day, and I spot clean her as she needs it. Besides, if you were anywhere in the vicinity of the last bath she had, you'd recall it just isn't worth it. She puts up a fight like a mad dog, and even though she comes out clean, everything else around her becomes quite messy.

But again, I was bored, and I figured I should give her a good cleaning before her first plane ride. So four days ago, I bought the shampoo and I gave her a good scrubbing. She hated it, but we got through it. Two days ago she was outside playing as normal. I went to the door to check on her and here is what I saw:

She hasn't been that muddy in a long time. The phrase "death becomes her" crossed my mind, but sometimes you just have to shrug your shoulders, roll your eyes, and grab the dog brush :) So, that's what I did - I just gave her a good brushing and all was right with the world once again. I can't wait to get her to Florida and introduce her to the garden hose.

And I must thank Jana for fixing my computer. I went to put a blank dvd in the other day to back up my files, and the disk wouldn't go in - it was like something inside was blocking it. I tried a bunch of things with no success. I mentioned the problem on her blog and got an email saying "I can fix your computer!" I read the email and my initial thought was "How can I trust this if Donovan didn't know about it?" (No offense, Donovan - I just wasn't sure I could trust Mac advice if it didn't come from you! ). But I decided to go ahead and try it, and it worked! So, thank you for fixing my computer Jana!

Tomorrow I'm having people over for dinner,s o today is straightening the house and making some food. Then I need to plan a trip to Zagreb one day in the next week, and that's about it. I'll post some pictures of my dinner party later this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Back to Bosnia

2008-02-25T13:33:00.006-05:00

I spent last week in Bosnia - it was a great trip. I am so glad I was able to go and see my friends that I haven't seen in so long. Here is a bit of the trip at a glance...

I spent the first day with Janice, but I didn't get any pictures because we were going to meet up again but we failed. But we had fun playing games. We also hung out a bit with Joy and it was fun to see her as well.

I was able to spend half a day with Miss Lina... We ate some yummy Turkish doner kebobs for brunch. I miss those. This actually was posed with the jogurt on the nose, but a few minutes before, she really did have an unknown jogurt dot on the nose :) We also did some shopping, which of course was a lot of fun.

Walking around downtown, we spotted these two guys on the rooftop - what was funny was that if you look at the guy on the right closely, you'll see he has a laptop. Where else are you going to see two guys on a roof with a laptop? Ok, probably other places as well, but it just struck us as really funny.

It was so much fun to go up the hill (in a taxi, mind you) to my first home and visit Slavica and Zdeno. As usual she had a nice lunch waiting for me, and it was just nice to hang out with them and catch up. She just had some kind of stomach surgery 10 days before me visiting so she seemed to be recovering well.

It's always good to see Zdeno... he always cracks me up. He hasn't been able to find work in over a year, so that is a huge bummer. But otherwise, things seem to be going well for him.

Wendy and I went out the dinner at the brewery, and you cannot tell from this picture, but it seriously is the best parking job ever. Up a curb and literally, a half an inch at most away from the light pole. We were both quite impressed - it was a pretty sweet parking job.

Donovan and Jocelyn came down from Visoko and picked me up in Sarajevo and we hung out for a bit there and then for coffee with Bruegger in Visoko before heading to Zenica. This picture was taken right after Donovan dumped Coke droplets on my camera. It was actually kind of funny. I guess it's not funny now because you kind of had to be there.

In Zenica, I had dinner with Paula, Tiffany, and Beth. It was a blast.I miss them all so much. What crack-ups. I was so glad it worked out for all of us to get together.

I didn't know it, but there was a home group that night at Nedžada's house. It worked out perfectly for me to see Nedžada, Donata, Merlina, and Caca. They had no idea I was coming, so when Donata opened the door it was the first time I ever saw her perfectly speechless. Kind of fun for me :) It was really good to see all of them and to be a part of the small worship service. It was great to sing songs I know once again!

Of course I saw Nela and Andrej. I can't believe he will start school in the fall. We had a really nice time catching up. It was hard to say good-bye once again. Saying goodbye was definitely the bad side of the trip.

Nela and Andrej

My last evening, Slađan, Tiffany, and I went to my favorite place for čevapi. Oh my gosh... it was even better than I remembered. It was beyond fabulous. My shirt still smells like the restaurant. I really don't want to wash it, but yeah, it's gross so I will :)

Oh my goodness what a horrible picture of me - I was so tired! Tiffany looks fabulous as usual, and look at Slađan in the reflection. he was a pain as we're standing there smiling, and he's taking a video of us instead of a picture... boys... it was kind of funny, actually, but you have to be harsh with Slađan :)

Tiffany and I walked home from the restaurant, and after we were chatting for a couple hours, I realized ' "hmmm, I think I have a fever!" I didn't feel well most of that day, and sure enough, I had a slight fever. It broke in the night, and while I didn't feel great in the morning, I decided to take the bus back anyways. It wasn't so bad, but I was definitely glad to get home (to a very happy dog) and go to bed. I stayed in bed all day yesterday as well. I feel pretty much back to normal today, so I'm glad what ever I had didn't last.

So... there it is in a bit of a nutshell. It was so great to see people and to be where I feel at home. So much changed, but so much remained the same. I love Bosnia and all my friends there. I can't wait till my next visit...

Bittersweet

2008-02-19T02:21:00.003-05:00

I made it to Bosnia safely last night. It was an uneventful trip which is always good. In ways it was almost if I had never left. My favorite mountains, my favorite bend in the river, all the trash in the river... It was kind of nice to sit in a smoke-filled restaurant for dinner last night. My clothes still smell like the burning cigarettes. It's not a smell I thought I would miss.

I've missed the character and charm of Bosnia. There is just something about this country that grabs you and wont let you go. I can't believe I haven't been here in over a year. A lot has changed, but so much remains the same. I knew I missed living here, but I didn't know how much till we crossed the border (and a smooth crossing it was, I may add).

I'm looking forward to seeing more friends today and the rest of the week. I wish my trip could be longer, but I'll just have to try to fit as much in as I can. I probably won't post again till I get back to Croatia, but then I'll post with pictures.

Till the weekend...

Skoobi...

2008-02-16T13:13:00.004-05:00

Skoobi has been spending time each day in her crate to get used to the long trip to the US... She's doing really well. When I get back from Bosnia next week (I'll be visiting Sarajevo and Zenica the 18th-23rd), Skoobi is going to sleep in it over night a few times. I'll probably have a harder time with it than she will!

I just love this picture of her... Joj, already - let me out!!

Casey Pic

2008-02-11T09:35:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted a picture of my nephew in a while, so here is one I just got last night from my brother. I can't believe how big Casey is now. He's so stinking cute!

Thank goodness Boa vs Python is done and over with :) There was one character I actually liked - he was the most hysterical reporter ever. But he got eaten pretty early on. It was very sad.

I love it that I can rent movies from Itunes now. It's cheaper than renting movies from here, plus I don't have to worry about really bad quality from the video store, late fees, or walking in the cold or rain. And there is a much better selection online. I've been watching a movie every Sunday after church. It's been nice to come home, make some popcorn, snuggle up with Skoobi, and watch a movie. Last night I watched "The Core" It wasn't too bad. It had some good one- liners and I enjoyed the special effects. I think next week I'm going to watch a movie called "Sunshine" about a trip to save the sun from imploding or something. If they re-started the earth's core to spin this week, I'm sure they will save the sun next week.

I love cataclysmic disaster movies :)

sigh...

2008-02-08T14:01:00.000-05:00

I baby-sat again today, and was hoping the new season of Survivor would be available for download so I could veg in front of the computer with some left-over chicken. But alas, as of yet it is not on Itunes. I downloaded a movie to watch sometime this weekend, and have decided to save that for tomorrow evening. So I have eight channels to choose from on my TV - any guess to what my viewing pleasure choice is? Believe me, the choices were very very thin tonight...

I am into the sixth minute of Boa vs Python (yes, sadly it's a real movie released in 2004)

Oh look, It's minute seven and two more people are getting eaten by the snake... wow, even super special "made to kill a 80 foot python" guns can't stop it. I have no idea why they are trying to kill it only seven minutes into the movie.

Haha... they tried to blow up the snake but the guy dropped the dynamite and blew him and his co-workers up... I have no idea who the guy and the co-workers are, mind you - it doesn't really matter, I guess, since they blew up.

but now the python is loose, I guess the boa is next to be set free by people who don't know how to use super special "made to kill 80 foot boa" guns.

Oh, I hope Survivor is ready to download soon...

Sigh... minute nine and five people dead... I don't think this is supposed to be a comedy, but it's actually quite funny in that "it's not supposed to be funny but it is in a sad sad way" kind of way.

Maybe I'll just go to bed.

Baby sitting

2008-02-06T16:04:00.000-05:00

I've baby sat for Tomislav and Petra a couple of times the last few weeks. Here are some pictures of Daniel and Petar. Even though they didn't look happy, they really were having fun making cookies. And they had a lot of fun eating them too :)

Superbowl

2008-02-03T06:37:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to catch the Superbowl today. I like both the Patriots and the Giants, and even though I really didn't follow the season this year, it would have been fun to watch the game. It should be a good one. There's one Croatian channel carrying the game, but I don't get it on my TV. I was hoping to watch it online, but alas. I can listen to it online, but being in the wee hours of the morning, I just don't think I'd be able to stay awake without the visual stimulation.

I really don't know who I want to win... Like I said, I like both teams. It would be kind of fun for the Patriots to be 19-0, but it would be fun for the Giants to beat the the so far unbeatable team. I guess I'll just wake up tomorrow and be happy for which ever team won. When two teams I like play each other, I usually would cheer for the underdog (Unless it's Tampa - I alway s want Tampa to win), so maybe I should be rooting for the Giants. Oh, I don't know. It's just a a game. I kind of wish I lived in Arizona so I could rent my house to one of the crazy people paying thousands of dollars to go to the game.

The best thing about the football season was that Miami was 1-15. Oh how happy I would have been if they were 0-16, but 1-15 isn't so bad. :) There's always next year for Miami to be a perfect 0-16.

OK, well, more later this week...

Dogless for three hours

2008-01-17T03:07:00.000-05:00

Wow... and it's going to be a long three hours. I love that dog. I took her to the vet this morning for her vaccinations, but I didn't know he was going to knock her out and do an IV drip! She was actually kind of very hyper (no surprise to people who know her), and so I don't know if this is normal, or he just figured it would be easier if she was sleeping. It just broke my heart to see her trying to fight the sedative while just sinking down on the table.

I have to go pick her up in three hours so I have the house totally to myself. It's just so weird to not have her sitting by me or following me or whining or begging or licking me or barking or playing or just being with me. She's six years old this month - I can't believe it! Oh, and they weighed her - good grief! She weighs 60 pounds! You'd never know it to look at her - she's got muscle :)

I also found out she needs a new microchip. He couldn't find the one we got in Bosnia. That's so frustrating because I was told the chip from Bosnia was good throughout Europe. Sigh. So, he's going to implant the new chip today as well... and check her ears and some other stuff. I'm going to make an appointment to get her teeth cleaned as well.

So in honor of my under-anesthesia dog, here is a video of her talking back to me :)

UPDATE!! Now I understand the anesthesia... I also wanted him to clean her teeth - I thought we were going to make a separate appointment for that, but he did everything I needed today! Poor thing is so traumatized... but her teeth are beautiful, her ears are clean, and she is vaccinated against every bad thing they have vaccinations for. And she takes her anti-parasite meds in the morning. The new microchip works fine, and she is such an easy dog to walk on the leash when she wakes up with some of the anesthesia stuff still in her blood :) It's the nicest walk we've ever had together :) She's napping now - it's so good to have her back!

Jan 15

2008-01-15T11:11:00.000-05:00

Today is my first anniversary of living in Croatia. I celebrated by having cereal for breakfast and lunch... probably will have it for dinner too.

Extending Christmas...

2008-01-02T07:45:00.000-05:00

We finally made it to the assisted living facility. A group of teens here helping with the gypsy ministry took some time to come with us to sing songs and give gifts to some of the people in the home. I'm really hoping in the next few weeks to begin going there to visit with Vesna (Vesna is Zdenka's daughter - Vesna's daughter Sandra lives here and is pictured below). I'm really looking forward to the opportunities to serve there. Please be praying for the precious people I met today...

Anita translating for one of the women in the group.

Sandra, pictured in the orange shirt, is Zdenka's granddaughter. She's is anxiously awaiting her Christmas gift while enjoying the music program!

This lady is Ana... I had a really hard time understanding her except for that she is alone and very lonely. She cried most of the time (except for the times she was laughing with me when I was trying to understand her!) and just accepted all the hand-holding and hugs that were offered to her.

Ana during the Gospel presentation.

A happy Sandra looking for her mama.

I'm sorry some of the pictures are blurry and are of the same people and from the same angle... I was trying not to distract easily distractable people with the picture taking... :)

Christmas in Varaždin

2007-12-28T02:56:00.001-05:00

Christmas was nice... Below are some pictures and just some comments as the day went along.

The Christmas tree on Christmas morning after Santa came :)

Skoobi getting very excited about her presents

When no kids are involved, it's really fun to have a dog - she really got into opening presents!

This isn't the adorably cute video... I still can't believe I lost that one... but this one is the second cutest, but so far from the really good one where Skoobi was literally ripping into the gifts and throwing wrapping paper everywhere... sigh.

Skoobi waiting for more presents... can you say spoiled?

A very happy (and spoiled rotten) dog

Janice and I actually exchange gifts as well... but being in our pajamas and wild hair, I opted not to post pictures of myself - after all, it's my blog :) But we did have fun exchanging gifts and being in pajamas most of the day.

After presents we had special coffee from Dunkin Donuts and Christmas bread - it's SO good!

Later in the afternoon we walked to Anita's for some tea. Lots of kids seem to have received sleds for Christmas, and so it was fun to watch them slide down the steep hills of the moat by the castle. Not something I would do!

The castle in winter - very pretty

One of the trees decorating the town.

Me and Anita after tea

Anita, Janice, me in front of Anita's tree.

It started to snow as janice and I left Anita's apartment, and so we walked home with flakes falling. It was a nice, quiet, white Christmas - hope you enjoyed your Christmas!

Christmas Outreach

2007-12-27T12:46:00.001-05:00

So, where were you a year ago today? I distinctly remember where I was a year ago - being turned around at the border during my first attempt at the move to Croatia. But, while I can roll my eyes at it now, I decided not to dwell on it and post the cutest video ever of Skoobi opening her Christmas presents. I lost the video. I was so bummed. It was adorable. I guess I shouldn't attempt to do anything I consider important on December 27th. I think I'm officially declaring December 27 "Stay in bed, snuggle with the dog, read books, and take a nap" day. And since that is what I basically did today, I'm off to a good start :)

Below are some pictures of our Christmas outreach this past weekend. It was a nice time and very well attended by about 35 people. Lots of food, fun, and fellowship as we celebrated Christmas together. (Captions are under the photos)

Group shot

Ana, two of her kids, and Anita around the food table - so much food!

Dragica talking to Beba and one of Beba's friends

Ana's close up with Anita's son (Marko), her dad, and a surprised Anita

Zlatko's wife, Ivanka

Marko again

Luka (Anita's older son) and Nancy preparing some Christmas songs

My friend Janice, pictured with me above at the outreach, came from Sarajevo to spend Christmas with me and the mutt. She just left today after spending a fun week here playing games, walking in the snow, watching some movies, and hanging out. I'm glad she was able to come as it was nice to have company, especially for Christmas. She's part of the reason I stayed in bed most of the day - her being a night person, I was up so late some nights, but still up early the next day. I was exhausted! But it was the good kind of tired, because it really was fun having her here!

Ok, well, even though I don't have that cute video, I'll post Christmas in Varaždin pictures tomorrow. I'm off to start a new book - I already finished one of the ones I got from my mom just last week! I always say I'm going to read slowly, but once I get started, I just get so into it!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T08:20:00.001-05:00

Looks like we're going to be having a very white Christmas here!

And for a fun holiday treat from me and Skoobi, - click here!

Catching up... and some pics

2007-12-18T14:04:00.001-05:00

So did you ever have one of those couple of days where you think - "Oh good grief - what else?" While nothing bad has happened, little things keep happening that make me think "If one more thing happens, I'm going to go insane!"

On Saturday, I put a bowl of soup in the microwave, turned around and heard a not-so-good noise coming from behind me. I turn around and wow - what pretty fireworks are taking place in and around my microwave! So, we quickly pull the plug (which so happens to be on the other side of the kitchen) and just kind of stand there thinking... "OK, well then, that was exciting!"

So for 48 hours I had heat up food on the stove. Totally not complaining, it's just... different. I can't just take the plastic bowl out of the freezer and make it hot. There are just more steps involved with out a microwave.

So then let's back up 24 hours. Monday night I was so excited. The last episode of Survivor (I know - totally pathetic, but I can't stop watching it) downloaded and I had a busy yet quite productive day so I planned to heat a frozen pizza, hunker down under lots of covers on the bed, and enjoy the Survivor finale. I turned the oven on to pre-heat and jumped in the shower. Thirty minuites later, I'm so excited... in my pajamas, gonna have hot pizza and watch Survivor. I open the oven to put the pizza in - the oven is stone cold. AAARRGGHHHH! The light is in on like normal, but no heat. It's as cold as my refridgerator. I want to cry. No microwave and no oven = no pizza.

I was going to have that pizza if it killed me. So... I decided to pan fry it! I wish I took a picture. My two little baguette pizzas just a frying away in the pan. OK, honestly, it didn't work all that well. The bottom was very nice - hot and crispy, but the top, well, it was a bit cold. Although when I chewed it, it kind of turned a nice temperature in my mouth... My crappy appliances were not going to beat me!

So Anita took me to buy a new microwave today - it's a lot better then my old one - it really heats things up fast! My landlord called a repairman to come in the morning for the oven - kind of strange to ask for prayer for an oven, but with Christmas coming, I committed to baking a million cookies for presents and other things, and well, ya can't really do that without an oven! I'm really hoping it's just the element and can be fixed quickly. And I know when I hope about those kind of things, it usually turns in to a huge drama... please, no oven drama!!

Here are some pictures because I decided blogs without pictures are a bit boring...

Anita took the two pictures below in town the other evening.

Below is my Christmas grass... When I was out with Anita today, she put one in the cart. I eyed her suspiciously and said - "Why are you buying a pot of grass?" She said it was a traditional Croatian Christmas custom. So of course I bought one. I want to be traditional - when in Croatia... and then she said I had to tie and ribbon around it. So now I think I'm really traditional, but I have no idea the significance of it all. I'll get back to you on that!

Here's a picture of me by my Christmas tree.

And here is the puppy, kind of depressed that she has all these cool gifts under the tree but she can't open them till Christmas :) i found a store with cheap dog toys! i was so excited as she really needed some new ones, so I got her three for about $6 - very cool!

So, on Thursday I'm heading to Zagreb to visist my friend Ljubica - remember her? We used to walk together in the park every morning. And then I am meeting my friend Janice - she' s coming from Sarajevo to spend a week with me here for Christmas - yea! I'lm very happy to have company, especially someone for Christmas. Pray for safe travels, and a fun time with Ljubica and with Janice. Also please be praying for our Christmas outreach this coming Sunday evening.

OK, thanks for stopping by - Talk to you again soon!

A real pain in the mouth...

2007-12-15T09:40:00.001-05:00

Why do I love laptops? Here I am working (doing paperwork for my church, writing emails, posting on my blog) and I'm still in bed at 3pm. OK, technically I'm not still in bed, but I am bundled up under the covers while I work! I think yesterday and today have been the coldest days yet this year. The low this morning was about 25 and the high 32. Yesterday was the same. It snowed yesterday and just started again about a half hour or so ago.

I just got up to let Skoobi out for a few minutes, and made some slightly warm coffee for myself. Why only slightly warm when the house is kind of cool and it's snowing outside? Well, yesterday evening Anita and I went out to do some shopping. We met in town and it was cold and a bit snowy (but thankfully there was no ice on the sidewalks - I followed a sidewalk plower/salter home. I'm smart like that sometimes). We went to a couple stores and I was so bummed because I took my most awesome glove off to check my cell phone and a few seconds later, I realized I didn't put the glove back on and it was gone! We retraced our steps three times, and no glove. I was so bummed. Not only were they the warmest gloves ever, they were a gift from one of my best friends. That sucks.

But otherwise it was a nice time out. How does this tie into slightly warm coffee? I'm getting there... So on the way home, I was still bummed about the glove. I had older ones with me, but they didn't really work, so walking home, my hands got really cold. I stopped by the store near my house to buy something warm and easy for dinner. I decided to make fake pizza. I bought some bread and cheese, and when I got home, I put spaghetti sauce on the bread along with the cheese and shoved it in the oven.

Then I was happy because I checked my email and I had a message from Itunes telling me the newest episode of Survivor was ready to download - Yes! So I started to download it while I got ready for bed and the pizza was cooking. I talked to my friend on-line while the pizza was to finish and the episode to download. Then the download was complete and I got the pizza out of the oven and snuggled into bed with the dog and the pizza and hit play on the computer...

So Survivor starts and I'm so thankful for a warm bed and hot pizza...well, the pizza was really really hot. I just bit right into it and - OW! It was so hot! I'm spitting out pizza and guzzling milk, missing the first few seconds of Survivor. So I wait a few minutes for the pizza to cool, and take another bite. Apparently I didn't wait long enough... Aargh! I have a huge blister on my tongue and another on the roof of my mouth. So I can't even eat anything fairly warm without being in a lot of pain.

OK, so that was a long boring story - here is another one. I heard a bunch of dogs barking last night. So did Skoobi. She wasn't happy to not have been invited to the party. But they eventually went away and we went back to bed. I got up about 7 and was going to turn the heat on and let the dog out, but I popped open my email window first to let it download. Well, as I'm standing there, I swear I hear a dog crying. I look at Skoobi and she's snoring, not crying. So I listen, and I hear it again. I go to the window, look out, and there is a dog in my yard! My yard is totally gated - I have no idea how this dog got into the yard!

Well, I can't let Skoobi out until I get the dog out of the yard. So I get semi-dressed (it is 25 degrees outside mind you) and go outside. Skoobi is inside crying and whining her head off. I go into the yard - no dog. So now I'm really confused. I know there was a dog in the yard, and I have got to figure out how it got there. Well, then I see it - in the neighbors yard! I'm thinking "What the heck?! The dog is obviously stressed and looking for a way out. So in my pajamas (because we all know I can't leave a dog in distress) I unlock my gate, walk down the icy sidewalk to my next door neighbor's gate to see if I can let the dog out. I didn't even know if I could open the neighbor's gate, but turns out they don't lock the gate so I opened it quietly and tried to coax the dog out. The dog iwas terrified and wouldn't come to me.

So, I open the gate a little and leave a doggie treat by the door, hoping he would just come out on his own. So I walk to my gate and turn around and see the pup trotting off down the street. Poor guy. Hopefully he found his way home.

So I come in my house and let my mutt out. She proceeds to go crazy cause she smells the dog scent in the yard. I'm searching all over the yard trying to figure out how the dog got in and out. I think he squeezed through the big gate sometime last night, and then I found where he went under the fence into the neighbors yard. Skoobi can't do either, she's too big, so I'm glad there isn't a gapping hole somewhere I didn't see where Skoobi could escape. Sigh... a day in the life.

One other thing about shopping with Anita is I was able to buy Skoobi some Christmas presents for really cheap - woohoo! She needed some new inside toys and I got three for only about six bucks - not so bad! They are all wrapped and under the tree. She'll be so excited :)

Well, there you go... a long and boring blog post. Sometimes life's like that. It's nice to have a boring day every once in a while to catch up with paperwork and email and write on the blog :) Now I think I'm going to go outside and stick some snow in my mouth - even slightly warm coffee is painful!

I'm no vampire...

2007-12-12T04:55:00.001-05:00

I'm having a hard time coming up with something clever for this blog title. Maybe the block is because I should be cleaning, but blogging is so much more fun. :)

On Tuesdays we have our Bible study at Varaždinske Toplice. Usually we met at Ana's house, but Kristina wanted us to come to her place so she could make us a meal. Apparently they slaughtered the pig over the weekend, and below is the pig feast she prepared for us.

The dish in the background is kind of like deep fried fat, except I think it's baked. Think pork rinds except these are soft with fat in the middle. They weren't bad, but I could have used a little salt on mine. The big plate upfront is holding some of the best pork I have ever had in my life. The outside ring of meat was amazing. I just can't say enough about how so unbelievably good it was - holy cow, or pig... whatever. It was amazing.

The sausage on the inside was... good. It was interesting. Sometimes you just need to eat the food without being curious as to what you're eating. I'm up for most things at least once. I mean, the worst thing is that you eat it and it kills you - and then I'm basically a martyr, right?

But anyways, it's basically blood sausage. Pig blood sausage. Anita told me ahead of time that Kristina prepared it, so at least I was prepared as well. So I told Kristina I never had it before but that I would absolutely try some. So then she started to tell me what was in it. Paraphrasing - "We don't use a lot of blood... there's rice... we use the meat from the head and of course the lungs..." I decided to stop listening at the lungs... Lung was not an organ I had eaten yet - I've done eye and kidney and face meat before, but not lung. My decision to stop listening was based upon my personal rule of only knowingly eating one organ per meal (yeah, I made up that rule yesterday).

But honestly, I actually liked it. It wasn't my favorite, but it certainly wasn't horrible. I won't be making it anytime soon, but it's one more food and one more organ conquered!

Below are a few other pictures from our time together (Oh, and it didn't go unnoticed by me that no one else ate the blood sausage!)

Dragica and Ana (please continue praying for Ana's healing from back pain)

Anita and Kristina the Chef!

Dragica and Ana again

Dragica, Ana, Me, Kristina

Ana, Anita, Kristina, Dragica (with her little bag of pig fat)

And since I live in a country that actually celebrates Christmas, I bought my first Christmas tree - yeah it's fake, but it was on sale for half price (only $13 for a 5-foot tree!) and I can use it every year now, so I thought it was a good investment. So below, I introduce you to my Christmas tree - I named her Maggie...

Zdenka

2007-12-08T07:06:00.000-05:00

A few people have asked me to post a picture of Zdenka. I checked and I did post one a while back, so here is the picture and what I had to say about her back in October. If you would like to send any words of encouragement to Zdenka, feel free to email them to me and I'll make sure she gets them... The picture and comments below, like I said, were from a blog post I did in October. I think this was one of the last times Zdenka was able to join us - we had a small communion service. Thank you for your prayers for her and her family... Blessings!

Zdenka is pictured above (along with Anita's mom, Dragica). Zdenka is just such a precious woman. There are four generations living in her home, and it is a very difficult situation for her physically, emotionally, and spiritually . Anita and I went to visit her on Wednesday. I just love being around Zdenka. She's one of those people that no matter if she is laughing or crying, she just oozes the love and joy of Christ. I need to spend more time with her - I know she can teach me a lot.

Happy Thanksgiving - finally

2007-12-03T14:10:00.000-05:00

I took this picture this evening - the sky was so beautiful after an ugly, overcast, rainy day. I was very happy the picture came out so nicely.

So today I finally had a Thanksgiving dinner with some friends. Sanja, Anita, and Petra came over for turkey, stuffing, potatoes, candied yams, green beans, gravy, and apple pie. It was fun to cook a huge meal and entertain some friends. You all "know" Sanja and Anita, pictured here below.

Petra, pictured below with Anita, just moved to Varaždin last week with her husband Tomislav and her two sons ages 2 and 4. They have known Anita for a few years now, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them more as they have come to be a part of our little church outreach. I met them a few months ago as they were deciding on where God was calling them to move, and so I'm glad they decided to move here and to become part of the fellowship.

I really need to get a tripod or something so I can start being in the group shots! I think we all had a good time of food and fellowship this evening. I had a great time - I love to entertain! but now, I must go to bed. There was a horrible wind storm last night, and my shutter kept banging into the windows and waking me up. I'm exhausted, and I must get up early tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

The dragon in my bathroom

2007-12-03T07:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it isn't really a fire-breathing dragon, but it sure reminds me of one... I remember when I first moved into the house here and took my first shower - the water heater turned on automatically and scared the bajeebies out of me. So, here is my water heater turning on - it heats all the water in the house plus the radiators. It's really nice because I have a never-ending source of hot water, which is a super-bonus plus now that it's winter time! :) And make sure you have the volume up so you can hear the fire-breathing dragon in all its splendor!

Firsts...

2007-11-23T03:38:00.000-05:00

The first printing of the Bayash Bible for Children has been published. Here it is pictured below. You can see more pictures of the Bible in the hands of the kids on Bob's blog: http://roma-diary.blogspot.com/

We finally had first snow this past weekend. It was almost a relief - you knew it was coming and the tension was just growing and growing and you could feel it in the air... OK, that's probably quite over-dramatic, but now that it has snowed, it can snow anytime and it's just snow. It made everything nice and pretty, but a south wind blew in this week and now you'd never know we had any of the white stuff at all.

Skoobi loves the snow, as you can see in these couple pictures above. It's nice having the yard as now i don't have to bundle up every time she wants to go out. We did play snowball catch for a while, and that's always fun.

Below is just a strange thing... Skoobi hates the bathroom. It's where I send her when she's bad or when I need her to be gone for a while, like if I have a repairman over or something. But she REALLY hates the bathtub. I haven't given her a bath in years because life is just too short to deal with her kicking and screaming (My dog is very clean, don't worry, I brush her like a mad woman, and I spot clean her when she needs it). But anyways, the last two days I've come home to paw prints in the bathtub and shampoo bottles knocked off the shelves! It's so weird. I have no idea why she would want to go in the tub... It's very twilight zone-ish, especially for those who, back in the early days, knew the trauma of giving the mutt a bath!

Yesterday (Thursday) Anita and I went to Zagreb to have lunch with Ivanka (Zlatko's wife). Anita and Ivanka are pictured below. It was really nice to see Ivanka as I don't get to see her that often. We had a great lunch at the new mall, and just chatted and had a good time. It was nice to get out of town for the day and of course, we had to do a little shopping. I had to buy a new mixer/chopper thing because mine broke and I pretty much use it every day. I also finally bought a full length mirror! After six years, I finally don't have to stand on a chair and look at my reflection in a window to see if I look semi decent in my outfit... I spoil myself...

Sanja, my language teacher and I had some hang out time yesterday. A huge, new store opened up here in Varaždin and so we decided to check it out. The stuff is so expensive it's just ridiculous. We weren't planning on buying anything anyways, but even if we were, we wouldn't have been able to! We had a lot of fun, which was the point of it all. I'm glad Sanja and I are able to be friends outside of my little tutoring session. Pray for her as she'll be gone all next week taking tests back at her college.

I love this picture of Skoobi. It's just so cute... That's her "Oh please don't make me come in I really really want to play some more in the snow" face. :)

My Thanksgiving dinner was canceled, and so yesterday was just a regular work day for me. But it was nice to go visit Zdenka and then hang out with Sanja. I did make some turkey chili for dinner, so at least I had some of the bird :) I am planning on making a small Thanksgiving dinner for a couple people the week after next. It will be nice.

Well, I guess that's it for all. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, and I'll try to post again soon... I had a really fun video to post, but I couldn't get it to download. It's the second video on my camera I've lost, so I need to figure that out... but anyways - more later!

Awwwww...

2007-11-12T07:36:00.001-05:00

I was actually going to try and write a real and insightful blog today, but alas... Well, then again, my nephew is real, but I don't think he's very insightful yet. I can't believe how big Casey is now - he's just shy of seven months. He's looking very cute in his Croatian soccer outfit - thanks so much for the pictures Angela!

Look at the big boy!

Pretty soon he'll be standing all by himself, and then walking, and then running, and then high school graduation, marriage, and then I'll have great-grand nieces and nephews... A niece would be nice - eventually :)

So is he smiling or going poopies??

So is he smiling or has he finished going poopies?

Awwww... My little brother and the baby... cute cute cute :)

More Pictures - Day of the Dead

2007-11-02T12:45:00.000-04:00

No, it's not a horror show, and actually we know it as All Saints Day (or Festum omnium sanctorum, if you want to get Latin with it). It's a huge holiday in most places in the world where people pay homage to their dead relatives at the grave yards. Calling it a huge deal really isn't giving it justice. Families gather for it just like families in the States gather for Thanksgiving. I live just two blocks from the huge cemetery in Varaždin. For the last ten days or so, people have been cleaning the graves, placing huge flower arrangements, and putting hundreds of candles around the graves. I cut through the cemetery a lot, and so it's been interesting to see. We went out to one of the graveyards last night. Some pictures are below. I didn't use a flash, so you really can't get the full picture. The only light was from the thousands of candles - it was a sight to be seen.

And here is a video I took at the cemetery... It's not so hot since I was trying to be discreet, and if you tend to get carsick, I probably wouldn't watch it if I were you...

Here are some of my neighbors trees changing color...

And since I realized I put too many pictures of Skoobi on the blog, I decided not to put one today... so here is a video of her playing in the yard :)

And a happy belated 10th birthday to my nephew, Chandler - I can't believe you're 10!! Love you!

I'm fascinated that pretty soon, I'll have over 5000 hits on my blog - that's crazy! Thanks so much for coming by here and being a part of all the craziness!! That's all for now... thanks for stopping by!

Pictures

2007-10-29T12:05:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd post some pictures for you. It's all kind of random, but pictures are always fun.

The tree is close to Anita's apartment building. I haven't seen much fall color being stuck in town, but this tree was pretty. I was in front of a store when I initially stopped to take the picture. I moved so people in the store wouldn't think I was weird for taking a picture of a tree. I didn't realize when I moved forward five steps that I was in front of a tinted window to a very crowded cafe. You can't win them all.

Anita's birthday was last Monday. She actually made that cake. It's just funny because the last few times I've eaten things over Anita's, her mom made the food and Anita warmed it up - which is totally fine of course, but it took a little convincing for me to actually believe she made her own birthday cake. It was really good, by the way, with chocolate and pureed chestnuts. Really, really good.

I take way too many pictures of Skoobi, but how cute is she here just sleeping the long, dark, cold, rainy day away?

I love eggs in the morning, and usually have at least one egg a day (except for tomorrow since even though I went to the store twice today, I forgot to buy eggs), and this is the second time I had a double yolk from one egg since I've moved over here. I just think it's so cool. I've been told by more than one person that means I'll have twins... so since it's happened to me twice, does that mean I'll have quads? Shudder... But even before I knew about the double yolk/twins thing I had a dream I had twins, and another that I had triplets. Shudder again...

Karin was our speaker at the women's tea this past Saturday. She gave a very moving account of God's love and grace in her life, and as she told her story she stopped and played songs on her cello and sang. Yes, I know that's not a cello, it's the litte itty-bitty guitar thing she used for one of the songs. It was really a nice evening.

Here I am with Ana and Sanja. Sanja is my language teacher... all of my language teachers have been so incredibly beautiful... Amra in Sarajevo, Donata in Zenica, and now Sanja in Varazdin. It's a fascinating trend. Sanja ia Ana's cousin, and I am so glad Ana introduced us. Sanja is great and comes over my house for a few hours a couple times a week. She came to the women's tea this past Saturday (where we took the picture), and is looking forward to the next one. She is hoping her mom can come next time. I hope so, too.

And here is a face shot of me and Sanja. I'm getting pretty good at those self portraits. I was showing Sanja the pictures on my camera and she was really laughing. When it gets dark before five (we changed our clocks back this past Saturday) and it's cold and dark and rainy and I have no desire to go out to town alone, I take pictures of stupid thing in my house trying to make them look cool. I even took a picture of my tonsils - I was actually impressed it worked. And no, I won't be posting that picture :)

Well, I must cook dinner. Hahahahaha... let me rephrase - I must open a can of chickpeas and mash them and pretend I'm Greek as I eat my poor yet tasty excuse for hummus. It's my last can of chickpeas. That's very close to tragic. Ok, not really, but I'm really into smashing chickpeas. OH! and I found frozen turkeys today at the store. I don't know how long they will stay in the freezer. I'm having a small group over for Thanksgiving, and I want to make sure I get one, but I couldn't buy it and carry it 30 minutes home with everything else I was buying. Hopefully it will be there next time.

OK, well, there you go... have fun - drop a comment if you can...

Country Roads... take me home...

2007-10-15T13:46:00.001-04:00

Anita and I went to Zagreb on Wednesday to the new mall. Now I'm not so much a mall person, but it's a real mall and it's really nice. It's funny because it is only about a five minute walk from my old apartment in Zagreb but it only opened a couple weeks ago. So we parked there and walked to avoid paying to park in the garage. It was really fun to get out of town for a day and look at all the things we couldn't afford :) We did find some fairly decent bargains... Anita got a sweater, I got some slippers (the floors in my house have no rugs - my feet have never been so cold!), and we just had a fun, mostly worry-free day.

This picture of Anita and I was taken a few weeks back. We forgot to take pictures at the mall and the ones I self-took of us in the car sitting at the red lights were, well, less than stellar. Yeah, not so good. But the memory for me of mall day was when we were just back in town off the highway, listening to Croatian radio when John Denver came on with "Country Road" Next thing I knew, Anita was turning up the volume full blast, singing at the top of her lungs. What was I to do but to join in at the top of my lungs?? We'll definitely be keeping our day jobs, but it was just really fun. Anita actually sounded really cute with her Croatian accent - I just couldn't believe she knew all the words!

The weather finally has transitioned fully to fall. It was 31 degrees when I woke up this morning, with a fine display of frost on the ground.

The first picture above is a bottle with frost on it. Skoobi plays with them in the yard, and I eventually recycle them. The second picture is of the frost covered lawn. The third is my ice covered patio table... I scratched something in it, but it didn't come out in the picture. So there you go - first frost. i hope it's a long while yet before I post pictures of first snow :)

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm going to Anita's for lunch, and the on Wednesday I'm meeting a girl to see if she will be a good match for a language teacher for me. I'm really hoping we will hit it off and she will be a good teacher as I really need to start language lessons (like two months ago). Please be praying about our meeting. Her name is Sanja.

Below is just a cute picture of Skoob. I love my digital camera. It's just such a fun thing to have, and such a huge blessing. I'm sure it make my blog a lot more interesting!

How's this?

2007-10-09T02:41:00.000-04:00

If you stopped by in the last couple of days, you saw I changed my entire blog. It was black and neon and pretty awesome looking. At least I thought so. Apparently many of my friends have weak eyes :) Anyways, here is a less harsh new version of my blog. I hope it meets my readers approval. Because really, it is so much more about you than it is about me.

I haven't posted a picture of my new nephew in a while, so below is a cutie picture of Casey. I need to get some new pictures of Chandler as well, so I'll post those as soon as I get them. As always, thanks for stopping by, and let me know if this blog look is more appealing to you or not - cause I can go back to black and neon in a heartbeat!

Ok, I couldn't get the picture to post because it was from my brothers camera phone, I guess. But here is a video, which is also from the camera phone... ok, go figure :) But he's so cute!

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Just six days late...

2007-10-06T05:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry... I know I said I'd post these pictures on Monday, but Jana Brink was here, and I had two deadlines I had to meet this past week. But all is basically finished, and I have time to blog a little bit now. Fun Fun!

And here she is back in the Balkans - Jana Brink! We had just finished an excellent lunch and were chatting with Anita over tea. It's funny because Jana and I have very few pictures together since we're always taking pictures, so we made sure Anita got one of us.

Jana did a great job on getting her information and pictures for her thesis. She also did the dishes while she was here, which made me a very thrilled and grateful hostess. And I was glad to hear Skoobi is still her favorite dog :) It really was fun having her here, and she and members of her family are hoping to come back next summer to make her gypsy building project a reality - I can't wait to have the whole Brink clan here! If Jana washes the dishes and makes pizza, I can get her mom to cook everything else, her dad and brother to do the yard work, and her sister to wash the windows... works for me! :) And praise God that none of my neighbors lost any chickens while she was here!

Below are Some pictures from the ladies tea last Saturday. The lighting wasn't so good, so my pictures aren't that great - sorry. We had 16 women come, including several new ones, so that was very exciting for us. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and we're looking forward to our next one at the end of this month.

Below I am pictured with my two new friends, Ana and Kristina. I've heard about them throughout the summer, and I'm so glad to have finally met them a few weeks back. It's a little bit hard to spend time with them as they live in the next town over, but on Thursday Anita and I went to Ana's house for coffee. It was a fun time of fellowship with them and with Ana's sister from Switzerland. I'll tell you more about Ana and Kristina in upcoming email updates.

Zdenka is pictured above (along with Anita's mom, Dragica). Zdenka is just such a precious woman. There are four generations living in her home, and it is a very difficult situation for her physically, emotionally, and spiritually . Anita and I went to visit her on Wednesday. I just love being around Zdenka. She's one of those people that no matter if she is laughing or crying, she just oozes the love and joy of Christ. I need to spend more time with her - I know she can teach me a lot.

Thanks once again for stopping by the blog. It's a good place to keep caught up with the day to day adventures of LeAnne and Skoobi! Much love and many blessings!

Catching up, and some good news!

2007-09-27T13:26:00.000-04:00

I'm behind in blogging. Lots of stuff to catch up on. First... the winner of my "name the newsletter" contest is... Paula! It was so stinking close between her (LeAnne's Latest) and Joce's (Hrvatski Highlights) that I decided Joce gets a prize for runner up. I still don't know what your prizes would be, but you'll get them as soon as I can get them down there for you - thanks for playing! ;)

The even bigger and better news of the day - I have my new visa! I went to the police station today to register Jana Brink, and when I walked in the lady said - "Oh, hi, I have your visa, do you have your passport?" Rock on! Thanks so much for praying.

Speaking of Jana Brink, here she is with her favorite dog ever:

Thankfully she hasn't killed any chickens yet... Do be praying as she starts visiting the gypsy villages tomorrow and getting the information she needs for her project. I'm really glad she's here, and we've had fun catching up today. I'm looking forward to see how this architecture thesis project will impact the gypsy communities in the future. It's going to bless many people.

Below is a picture of poor Skoobi. The cat is in our backyard, just sitting and taunting poor Skoobi. I can't let Skoobi in the backyard because she can escape. Apparently the neighborhood cats have figured that out - there were 4 of them sleeping back there the other morning!

Things have definitely picked up speed , and I'm really enjoying living here and becoming more involved in ministry. I am just thrilled to have gotten the visa today. Such a burden has been lifted. Saturday is our women's tea - please be lifting that in prayer and I'll post some pictures of it on Monday. Until then, be blessed!

I need help, and you could win a prize in the process...

2007-09-24T06:30:00.000-04:00

Apparently my creative juices just aren't flowing today... well, it's been a couple of days. I'm trying to come up with a snazzy name for my newsletters and email updates and such... but I am at a loss. I can't think of anything fun that goes with "LeAnne" or "Varaždin" or "Croatia" or "Hrvatska" "Croatian Chronicles" is just kind of lame, but you get the picture of what I'm looking for... I need your submissions really, really soon... like within 36 hours :) If I pick your name as the winning name, you'll get something. I don't know what, but I promise I'll send you something!

OK... I'm waiting! :)

Can you guess the song?

2007-09-19T15:01:00.000-04:00

I assume my dad, Beth Summay, or Lina will win - I'll tell you why later as I don't want to give any other hints. Below is an article and a link to the actual article about an incident that happened in my beloved Zenica. It immediately reminded me of one of my favorite songs, although the song I'm thinking of has a slightly different ending. Any guesses? Oh, and very few people know the real name of the song, so if you come up with that - bonus points!

Couple divorce after online ‘affair’

A Bosnian couple are getting divorced after finding out they had been secretly chatting each other up online using fake names. Sana Klaric, 27, and husband Adnan, 32, from Zenica, poured out their hearts to each other over their marriage troubles, and both felt they had found their real soul mate.

The couple had met in an online chat forum while he was at work and she in an internet cafe, and started chatting on under the names Sweetie and Prince of Joy.

The pair eventually decided to meet up - but there was no happy ending when they realised what had happened. Now they are both filing for divorce - with each accusing the other of being unfaithful.

I'll let you know who wins in a day or two... :) Have fun!

Happy 59th Birthday, Mom!

2007-09-11T02:20:00.001-04:00

Sorry mom, I know you told me yesterday to make your birthday blog "better than your father's" but you don't get "60 things you may not know about my mom" until next year. And since you hate getting your picture taken, it's been kind of hard finding any images of you. So, I gotta work with what I have.

Below is what my mom looks like when you are holding one of her grandchildren and you won't share them with her - she's kind of greedy like that... Thankfully she only has the sheriff's department shirt and not the gun to go along with it.

And here she is all smiles with her grandkids...

And here are mom's other sources of "pride and joy"

Hey... it's my blog, I gotta make myself look good!

Mom got an early birthday present yesterday - I got an email from her as I was getting ready for bed saying her school was in lockdown because a tornado was sighted not very far from the school. Nice...

So even though it's not the happiest day in American history, I do hope you have a very happy birthday - I love you!!

Happy 36th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

2007-09-04T02:25:00.000-04:00

Happy 36th anniversary, mom and dad!

Well, that's an old picture... what is up with those shirts?
And look at all that hair! Even my mom has a ton! :)

Ah, here is a better picture :)

I hope you have a great day and many many more years to come!

I love you!!

Possible sucess...

2007-08-31T04:56:00.001-04:00

Well, I think the yellow jacket problem is solved. Zoran the bug man said "the toxin will take a few days to kill them all, but it should be OK now." I have no choice but to trust the bug guy. below is a picture of him after he was done spraying. It's not the best picture since I didn't want him to know I was taking a picture... who takes a picture of the bug guy? But he was nice, and he charged me $15 less than they quoted me. Not so bad :) It was a little stressful when he first started. I thought it was going to be two of them in protective gear... nope. Just Zoran in his normal clothes. So he climbs the ladder to get a better look and proceeds to BANG on the roof. That was my cue to go inside. My philosophy would be NOT to let the yellow jackets know I was coming... but to each his own.

So I stayed safely in the house with everything shut tight, with my can of Raid nearby and Skoobi crying in the bedroom. I watched out the window expecting to see a swarm of yellow jackets, but there was none. When he was done, I asked him to go into the living room to see if they all decided to hide from the fumes in there. Below are pictures of the floor - the dots would be the dead yellow jackets from the last few days. There were a few live ones in the room. Zoran just flicked them and they died... I'm just not into flicking things with stingers. But I think I did see the hole they are coming in through, so hopefully I'll seal that up sometime this weekend.

One of the reasons they make me so nervous is that I've never been stung by a wasp or bee or hornet or anything. Fire ants and mosquitos - of course. I'm from Florida. But never by one of the others. So, I have no idea if I'm allergic to them or not. It wouldn't be so pleasant to be stung and then to pass out on the living room floor and not be discovered for days. Poor Skoobi... but hopefully I don't have to worry about that any more.

Below is a picture of Anita and Ljubica (from Zagreb). We went to have coffee for her after we dropped Jim and Carole off at the airport last week. It was really fun, and I was so glad to be able to see her and catch up with her. I have a few other photos on my camera, but they won't download for some reason. I'll try and work on that and post those for you as well.

I guess that's all for now... Have a blast and I'll talk to you again soon! :)

.

Srellik tekcaj wolley

2007-08-30T12:27:00.000-04:00

So the yellow jacket killers are coming tomorrow morning to kill my yellow jackets. They came today to assess the situation. When the one guy saw them and figured out what they were he jokingly said to the other guy in Croatian "Ah... now I see what she meant by 'they're like bees but more dangerous.'" I thought "like bees but more dangerous" was a pretty good explanation since I was lacking in the knowledge of the word for yellow jackets in Croatian. Actually, they just used the regular word for "wasp." I could have done that...

I also should stop researching about things I don't know anything about. I'm starting to think education isn't all it's cracked up to be... I mean, did I really need to search Wikipedia about yellow jackaets and learn: "...from this time until her death in the autumn, the queen remains inside the nest laying eggs. The colony then expands rapidly reaching a maximum size of 4,000 and 5,000 workers and a nest of 10,000 and 15,000 cells in August and early September. At peak size, reproductive cells are built with new males and queens produced. Adult reproductives remain in the nest fed by the workers." I could have 4000-5000 yellow jackets living in the roof of my house. Do you know how much stress that brings me?

So tonight I'm going through the rest of the house (I'll take a picture of the living room floor and all the dead yellow jackets before I clean them up tomorrow) and plug up any holes I think may lead to the outside. I've sprayed all my shutters with Raid and the screens as well and shut the windows up tight. I have to decided where to put myself and Skoobi tomorrow while they kill the bugs... it will either be in the bathroom or in my bedroom. I have one hole in the bedroom I need to seal tonight. The whole thing has me really nervous, actually. I'm hoping they are confined to that one part of the house, and they all just die immediately and there isn't any swarming or anything. I have no idea how this works. The men were really nice though, and I asked if Skoobi and I needed to leave, and they assured me we would be ok in the house.

I think Skoobi and I will sit in the bathtub, me with a can of Raid in each hand. And even though I'm tempted, I am not going to do the research on the over-inhalation of bug killer fumes... sigh. Tune in tomorrow to see how it goes... if I don't post, it's probably a bad thing.

stekcaj wolley

2007-08-29T11:53:00.000-04:00

My newest problem looks pretty cool spelled backwards - actually looks kind of Slavic, a bit more on the Polish side. And I don't really know why I'm suddenly spelling things backwards. Can you develop OCD later in life? Or maybe it's just a denial of reality... would I rather deal with stekcaj wolley or with yellow jackets?

So I seem to have a colony of yellow jackets living in my house. Yes, that would be IN my house. Apparently they are living between the outside wall and the inside wall of my living room, and are finding their way into the living room through little cracks and such. I've just come to this realization in the last 24 hours, so it's all just kind of sinking in. I have the living room shut up tight, and got a number to call a bug person in the morning. Problem is I need to get into the living room to pull out a few things and to set the VCR to tape my favorite TV show tonight. I'm hoping a friend will be able to come over later and "cover me" with a can of Raid while I run in, grab the stuff and set up the VCR. I know you must be thinking I'm nuts to want to set-up the TV, but it's the series finally tonight and the show isn't on till 2am. Heck, I'm a quick draw with the remote. I can be in and out in 30 seconds flat :)

I know the yellow jackets aren't a huge deal (ok, they can potentially be a huge deal, and I don't want me or Skoobi to get hurt), but it really has me down. It's one of those things where you're tottering on the fence - if you fall one way, you burst into laughter. You fall the other way, you burst into tears. And I guess it's not just the yellow jackets... did you even have one of those days where you wake up and you just know it's going to be a great day? The sun is shining, you're rested, everything is great. The five minutes into the day you stub your toe... five minutes later you burn your hand on a pan, 10 minutes later the dog is fighting with a cat, an hour later you get a phone call and your late for a meeting you didn't know you had, then you get an email with bad news... I woke up bright and cheery Sunday morning, and ever since it's just been one thing after the other. Nothing in and of itself is particularly horrible, but now I'm just tired and not so cheerful.

I am thankful that the YJs stayed outside till Jim and Carole left. I'm thankful I can close off that room. I'm thankful I finally bought a freezer yesterday. And I suppose I'm even thankful for the new bag of about 20 tomatoes my neighbor just gave me :) And I'm thankful for all the tomato recipes (and now to have a freezer to put all my creations in). So, I know overall, life is pretty good. Well, I know in my head that life is pretty good. I just have to figure out why my heart won't believe it.

"Redips" is "spideR" spelled backwards... I'll never double-dip again...

2007-08-27T13:23:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I just did another stupid thing. No, I didn't tell my neighbor I loved some other vegetable :) I was going to blog about spiders. I hate spiders. Growing up, my dad said there were three kinds of screams 1) the bug scream, 2) the roach scream, and 3) the spider scream. You see, even though my parents have now lived in the same house for 30 years, way back in the day when they bought it, the people before us raised spiders. OK, the thought of that makes me want to vomit. But anyways, we used to have these HUGE nasty black HUGE spiders just come out of no where in the house (insert full-body-convulsion shake here). And even 30 years later, every once in a while, one still crawls out of the wood-work (no wonder I moved half-way around the world!).

Back to the stupid thing. Yesterday there was a well-sized spider in my bedroom. Not just in my bedroom... it was on my bed! I soaked my sheets with Raid. But I overcame the heebie-jeebies and slept ok last night considering the tingling sensations that woke me up a couple of times through out the night. Eeeeeeeek. So, today I was in there hanging some clothes when another freaking spider crawled out from under the bed! Thank God I had my Swiffer mop thing right there and I was able to crushed him before he actually touched me (insert another full-body-convulsion shake here). So, then I proceed to finish off the can of Raid by spraying under the bed, the curtains, the window pane and even the glass, the bottom of the closet, behind the closet, in the corners... how sad that I would rather poison my self with... poison... then to deal with spiders. Oh, I hate spiders...

I haven't even GOT to the stupid thing I did... so here it is. As I sat down to write this post, I thought it would be "fun" to find a picture of a spider to put with it. So I googled "spider" and then clicked the "image" button. Goooooooooodness - what was I thinking?? Do you know what kind of images popped up on my computer? SPIDERS!! Lots of scary spiders in bathrooms, and on people, and really really big ones... that's what nightmares are made of!

So now I need to go watch something pleasant on TV or something to get those spider images out of my mind or I seriously won't go to sleep tonight. Maybe I should go rent "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" :) Oh, and by the way, thanks for all the tomato recipes!! I'll be making some of them tomorrow in-between putting netting up on all my windows, stuffing every crack and hole that may possibly lead to the outside with something, and then spraying it all really well with Raid... "Diar" is "raiD" spelled backwards...

Some more pictures...

2007-08-22T14:44:00.001-04:00

Here are a few more pictures of Jim and Carole's trip for your viewing pleasure :)

Carole and I at one of the villages.

Jim teaching a "Sunday School" class before the church meeting at the Hitching's house.

A very pretty picture of the Adriatic Sea from the island of Krk.

Me, Anita, and Carole at the Krk harbor

Jim and Carole and a day of mountain hiking

Jim on top of the world (and Carole is in the restaurant a few hundred feet down the mountain, and I'm in bed sleeping several kilometers away)

Karin gave us a beautiful cello concert before we left Lokve

Thanks for stopping by - come again soon!

.

Pictures... finally

2007-08-19T04:36:00.000-04:00

I know, I know... I should have been posting pictures all week, but between the water heater suddenly not working, an unexpected trip to the mountains, and lots of other stuff I didn't post any pictures... Here are a sampling of pictures from Jim and Carole's trip (They are kind of small since I am posting a lot of them... I didn't want them to take forever to download). I'll post some more later :)

I took the above picture of the castle... I think it's one of the best pictures I've ever taken. It's much prettier when you don't compress the file.

Carole was the guest speaker at our first women's tea. She did a great job sharing her testimony and really seemed to make a connection with some of the women. Pictured above are Anita, nancy, Ivana, Beba, Antonia, me, Branka, Dragica, and Carole.

The above picture was taken at the first gypsy camp we visited. The baby almost died a few weeks ago from choking on milk, but thankfully Bob was there and was able to rush the baby to the hospital.

Carole with just a handful of the gypsy kids.

This little one just captured Carole's heart.

Life in the village...

Nancy is leading a group of children in song at the second village we visited. It's so great to hear the kids sing in their own language. This village is such a contrast to the first.

Jim, Nancy, Bob, and Carole

Two of the guys Jim was able to befriend while he was here. On the right is Luka, Anita's son. There are so few mature Christian men here, I know Jim was a huge influence and encouragement to them. I know they long for Jim to come back again.

Anita took us to the mountains for a few days... had some good walks and some good rest. pictured above - Anita, Carole, Karin (she is Swiss and spends most of her time in Croatia working at the rehab center we are associated with up in the mountains. She really enjoyed our visit, especially the Bible studies Jim provided by the fire every evening. It was suich a blessing to her.) and Jim.

Jim, me, and Carole on the island of Krk.

I have hundreds more, but I think this will do for now, and hopefully leave you desiring more... not just a desire to see pictures, but to come and be a part of ministering here with us!

Visitors!

2007-08-07T09:04:00.000-04:00

Well if everything goes as planned (OK, excuse me as I pick myself off the floor from laughing so hard), this time tomorrow (Wednesday) my pastor Jim and his wife Carole should be here in my home in Croatia! Here we are pictured above during my trip to the States this past June.

I'm so excited as this is the first time someone from my church has come to visit me. And actually, I've only had one other friend visit me the entire six years I've been overseas, so this is just way cool to have company. The fact that it's Jim and Carole just makes it more fun for me.

Jim has been overseas several times to Africa, but this is his first time coming this way and it's Carole's first time overseas ever. I'm so glad she's coming to visit me! God's really blessed this trip already as Carole has never had a passport, and the waiting period has been months - she was able to get hers in only 9 days!

Today has been spent cleaning and getting ready for their arrival. I only have a few more things to do, and then I'll run to the store for a few last minute things and then relax. Do be praying that everything we have planned will go smoothly and the things I still need to plan can be worked out (especially a trip to Bosnia). I'm really looking forward to the visit!!

Wow... that could have been bad...

2007-08-03T01:36:00.000-04:00

OK, so I'm sitting here doing my morning ritual of checking my news sites and blogs on the internet while I wake up. Now before I begin my rituals, I start Skoobi on hers. I prop open the front door (which stays open most of the day for her to come in and out as she pleases), she goes potty while I get her breakfast and fresh water, she comes in, eats and then either goes back outside to sleep in the sun, or she curls up on the couch.

So I'm sitting here reading a blog when I hear something in the kitchen. Skoobi's eating her breakfast... but then I think - "I thought Skoobi was in the living room." But she sneaks around sometimes, so I figured she was just finishing off her food before heading back outside. I continue reading the blog I was on, but then I thought - "Why is she eating so slow... I really thought she was in the living room." So I kept reading. Then I had to blow my nose, and when I took the tissue from the corner of the desk, my eye caught a glance in to the little sliver of the kitchen I can see from my desk. It so happens to be the part where Skoobi's bowl is. And it just so happened I could see a tail... not a black short-haired tail.. a white and orange fluffy tail that belonged to a white and orange fluffy cat!!

Oh my...

My dog doesn't like cats... that's actually putting it mildly. She abhors cats. That's actually putting it mildly, too. She's all dog when it comes to cats... she wants to kill them all, but she wants to maim them first and make sure suffer in the process.

So my next thought was... well let's not go there, but the thought after that was - "Where's the dog? The life of this cat is in my hands." So I quietly got out of my chair as to not alert the dog to the problem because I still think she is in the living room. The cat hears me and, thankfully, bolts out the door. But Skoobi hears me as well, and comes prancing in from the living room. I block her from going outside right away trying to give the cat a chance to escape, and so she goes to her food bowl - where she immediately smells the signs of an alien predator in her domain. She looks at me with eyes of betrayal and disgust... "you let the feline in, and you did not tell me... it ate my food. I kill you after the cat."

She ran out into the yard, and I followed hoping a smack down (or should I say a claw down) was not going to occur. Thankfully the cat was smart enough to quickly jump the fence.

Thankfully, I didn't have a bloody and screeching start to my day... cats...

.

Definitions...

2007-08-02T09:45:00.000-04:00

The following news story is from my Croatian news website -

-----------------------------------------
Fired Eight Shots In Unwed Spouse

Thursday morning at 8 o’clock AM in downtown Slavonski Brod, a man armed with a pistol fired eight shots at his 35-year-old, unwed spouse, after which he turned himself in to police.

It is believed that the incident followed a short argument between the two, possibly sparked after the end of their relationship.

The woman was wounded in the chest and stomach, and after undergoing surgery, is still in critical condition.

County police confirmed that the 41-year-old used an unregistered weapon, and will be charged with attempted murder.
-------------------------------------------------

OK, so what exactly is an unwed spouse??

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Finally, my house....

2007-07-26T15:17:00.000-04:00

Below is a quick, wind-blown video tour of my house... The quality isn't great because I had to compress it to get it to upload... I'm still learning all this video kind of stuff. I wish it was a crisper picture, but over all, it's not bad. There is commentary, so turn up the volume. :) I hope you enjoy it!

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

2007-07-22T00:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, dad! Have another mega-Pina Colada on me!

Hope you're able to get some rest today... you shouldn't work too hard on your birthday. Wait... the above picture wasn't taken on your birthday. but it was taken several years ago as you can see the darker hair on the side of the head... :)

Here are some things you may not know about my dad... I don't know if I can come up with 60 things - I mean, sheesh, 60 - but we'll see what we can come up with... in no particular order:

1. My dad was in the navy for a little while
2. He was medically discharged for sleep-walking
3. They were afraid he'd fall off the boat (I've never seen him sleep walk... hmmm)
4. My dad used to have an afro. Obviously I don't have a picture of that one.
5. He also had a bright red leisure suit thing
6. And green and yellow plaid pants - the 70's ugh
7. He was born in Pennsylvania
8. He speaks some Polish
9. His grandparents were Polish immigrants, as were his parents (cause they came with his grandparents.
10. He was a radio announcer for over 30 years
11. His radio name is Ron Donovan
12. You can call my house in FL and ask for John, Jack, or Ron and be asking for my dad
13. When I was in high school, he bought a big truck. A big F150. It was a mid-life crisis thing.
14. Also when I was in High school, he dressed up as the Pink Panther (the mascot was a panther) and marched along with us in the band. This was a surprise to me. My dad, AKA the Pink Panther. Sigh...
15. I don't think my dad missed one of my marching band gigs.
16. I threw my dad a surprise party for his 40th birthday. That was 20 years ago.
17. My dad worked at Curtis Mathis
18. He was assistant manager at JByrons
19. A few years ago, he was St Lucie County non-Instructional Employee of the year.
20. He was a site maintenance foreman at an elementary school when he won the above.
21. Now he is a plumber in the county school system.
22. A plumber... our toilets at home never really flush well.
23. My dad's a plumber...
24. When I was in the 6th grade, he drove a red renault station wagon.
25. In the red wagon, he was in a horrible car accident - a semi ran a red light and broadsided him on the driver's side.
26. That was before seatbelt laws. if he had been wearing his seatbelt, he would have been killed.
27. After the red wagon, he drove a gold wagon. I got to drive that in high school - the Gallick's gold grocery getter.
28. Way back in the day he drove one of those long, blue station wagons with the wood paneling on the side... oi.
29. My dad is afraid of heights. Guess I know where I get that from.
30. On a family vacation, he took us to the light house in St Augustine

HALF WAY THERE! (Do you remember being 30??)

31. At the above-mentioned lighthouse, he MADE us climb to the top.
32. Then, he wouldn't come outside because he was afraid.
33. I don't think he knows my brother and I conspired to throw him over the side.
34. My dad taught me how to talk properly into a microphone - he was a radio announcer
35. When I was a baby and my kidney problem flared up, he would call his friends at the Pennsylvania Highway Patrol and they would give him safe passage to my hospital in New York
36. Apparently he drove fast.
37. Not only does he speak some Polish, he can understand it too.
38. My dad is an only child.
39. Sometimes my dad acts like an only child. :)
40. Sometimes it's really obvious my dad is an only child.

Only 20 more to go...

41. My dad hated when I went to college
42. I mean he missed me
43. But I lived on the third floor with no elevator... and I had A LOT of stuff.
44. My dad rented a u-haul to get all my stuff home from college.
45. He had his gall bladder removed before they had the small incision surgery.
46. He has high blood pressure
47. He golfs. I think that's supposed to help with the pressure. I think it just makes it higher.
48. He used to get soooooo mad when we would eat HIS pistachios
49. He also used to get mad when we ate his Tasty-Cake Cup Cakes.
50. REALLY MAD...
51. He loved our first dog, Chrissy, much more than he ever let on.
52. He brought home a hurricane-displaced kitten 18 months ago. A cat... sigh. Chrissy turned over in her grave.
53. He talked mom into paying for all of my computer instead of just half
54. He puts fun things into packages my parents send me.
55. He loves his daughter-in-law, Angela
56. And he loves his grandchildren Chandler and Casey
57. And he loves his wife, my mom
58. And he loves his third born, my bratty sister Jean
59. And he loves his second born, my bratty brother John
60. And he loves me, his first-born, the best!

I did it! I don't know if many of you made it this far, but anyways - happy birthday, dad! I love and miss you very much!

That dog...

2007-07-19T02:48:00.001-04:00

Don't let that cute picture fool you. Skoobi almost lost her life today - twice.

Skoobi and I were in the yard today for about 2 hours. She was running around and then sitting in the sun, and I was reading and contemplating. Yesterday the high was 102, and the same is forecasted for today, so it was pleasant enjoying the cool of the day before the sun rose too high.

But anyways, today was garbage day and I needed to run to the store, so I put Skoobi in the house. I left all the windows open since the store is only 3 houses down. I thought Skoobi would be fine since she had already been outside for a while.

She started to pitch the biggest fit ever. Barking and whining, and screeching. Good grief. You would have thought I was torturing her or something. I just kept going though, figuring she'd calm down in in a few minutes. I was hoping my neighbors wouldn't kill me for the noise since all the windows were open. So, I unlocked the gate and took the garbage can out, turned around and relocked the gate. Skoobi is standing on the couch looking at me through the window and barking and crying her head off. I start to walk towards the store and glance up at Skoobi again. This time, she is standing with all four paws on the window ledge. I'm horrified that she is going to fall, so I race back to the gate and as I unlock it, she jumps out the window and into the yard and runs over to meet me at the gate.

So, that's the first time she almost lost her life. It's over 6 feet from the window ledge to the ground. So I get into the yard and inspect her to make sure she didn't hurt herself, and then since she was fine, I decided I was going to kill her - the second time she almost lost her life. So I dragged her to the house - she wasn't coming easily as she knew she was in trouble - and put her in the bathroom so I could calm down. I shut all the windows in the house, let her out of the bathroom and went to the store. She was still pitching a fit. I could hear her even with all the windows closed.

When i got back, me and the mutt had a long talk while we shared some ice cream. I'll close the living room window when I leave so the temptation to jump isn't there, and she won't try to figure out ways to climb up and jump out any other windows. :) Sheesh. I can't believe she jumped out the window!

By the way, I'm almost done unpacking, and as soon as I am, I'll post a video tour of the house. Hopefully by this weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Trying a video...

2007-07-14T04:52:00.000-04:00

So this won't be too terribly exciting as I'm trying to learn the video mode of my camera and also figure out the best way to post it to my blog, but here is a little clip of Skoobi playing in the yard this morning. Once I get it all nailed down, I'll post a video tour of the house and some other stuff. Let me know how it turns out :) It does kind of end abruptly. I guess my finger hit the button a bit early. My bad...

Made it!

2007-07-12T15:01:00.000-04:00

Just wanted you to know Skoobi and I made it safely to the new house today... pictures will follow as soon as I unpack. Thanks so much for your prayers!

It's so fun having a digital camera :)

2007-07-09T10:18:00.000-04:00

I keep forgetting I have the camera. I should have taken a picture of the black sludge in my tube as I washed my rugs and curtains and towels and sheets before packing them up this weekend. Here's a picture of all our hard work:

And here is Skoobi trying to not be stressed out with all the boxes and packing and commotion. She's a trooper! I can't wait for her to be able to play in the yard in just a couple days :)

And here she is in doggie heaven enjoying a bone I bought her for a treat after her run-in with the dalmation (see the entry below this one if you don't know what I'm talking about):

I went out for coffee with my friend Snježana on Thursday and got totally soaked in the rain, but it was fun. She is pictured below in the shirt I got her from America. She loved the shirt, and it was the perfect size, so I was very happy that she was so happy :)

Today, Ljubica cooked me a going away lunch, and I got a picture of her displaying her sweatshirt from Oregon... it was way too hot for her to model it... she would have passed out straight away! She loved my gray sweatshirt I wore in the winter when I walked Skoobi, so I was so glad to be able to find her one while I was in the States.

And here is a picture I took from the window the other day. It wasn't raining or anything, but there was the pretty rainbow over the not so pretty factory. :) Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Come back soon, and hopefully I'll have pictures of my new place posted! Thanks!

Ok, I need to vent before bed...

2007-07-03T16:01:00.000-04:00

If you've read the my monthly prayer email I just sent out, you know I've had a pretty darn good day... however... something just happened that about put me through the roof. A dog just attacked my Skoobi!

That stupid dalmation - her name is Kora - doesn't like Skoobi, and her owner never has her on a leash. We were just finishing up our walk when I saw Kora in the distance. I pulled Skoobi over on the other side of the sidewalk (it's a huge sidewalk) and tried to walk fast hoping stupid Kora wouldn't see her. Well, she did, and as soon as she did, she started to run towards Skoobi with teeth bared. Then, anticipating the attack, Skoobi started to go for her. I'm trying to hold Skoobi back while Kora's owner is yelling at her to get off Skoobi. Skoobi is trying to protect herself and me, and I'm thinking "I am going to kill this freaking dog." The lady finally gets Kora off Skoobi, and pushes her away, and then Kora comes back! And then I'm seriously thinking I'm going to kill that dog, but they only fought for a couple more seconds, and then Kora went away. The lady asked - is your dog ok, did she bite her? I look at her like she's crzy - yes, your dog bit my dog! Are you blind? I was so mad...

So we started walking back to the apartment, and I am soooooo mad. I made Skoobi sit to calm her down a little and I pet her neck. When I looked at my hand, there was blood. So then I started looking around for a stick to go beat the snot out of Kora. but I pet her some more, and didn't see any more blood... I think Skoobi bit Kora back, and it was Kora's blood. When I got back into the apartment, I checked her all over, and I couldn't find any marks or anything. I get so angry when people don't have their dogs on a leash.

And Kora better pray to the doggie god that we never cross paths again...

Happy 21st Birthday, Jana!!

2007-07-02T02:37:00.000-04:00

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday!

Lovin' the hair!!
Cooking cheesy noodles... did you eat anything else?

You were always so happy

Very, very happy - especially bright and early in the morning. Not even a new Mac or a surprise visit from a friend could make you smile

I know... I just had to put it on... I like the sparkly scarf. Is that a real smile?

You're only really are smiling when you're with me :)

Ok, and I guess you smiled when you were on spring break in Florida... who wouldn't?? Happy Birthday! Love ya!

Something to think about...

2007-06-26T11:43:00.001-04:00

Well, first, Dad and Belinda were correct - It was Vladimir Putin's motorcade that I was able to see yesterday. Kind of cool. I want helicopters to follow me where ever I go :) And Skoobi, thankfully, seems back to normal today. Yeah!

Anyways, I haven't posted a serious blog in quite a while. So, I have decided to post a blog and hope to get some dialogue going. (Ok, is that how you spell dialogue? That's what it says at dictionary.com, but looks weird to me.) Well, let's get some conversation going :)

So, I received this email a few months back. If it came to you - how would you respond?

"No offense, but I think the Bible is the biggest problem with Christianity. There is just something about a 2000 year old doctrine that is constantly, like you said, misused to prove opinions, governing my personal beliefs, and way of life. I look at it like this. I don't murder people because I feel in my heart murder is wrong. Not because the Bible tells me so. I feel homosexuals are perfectly normal people, that live perfectly normal lives, and are not committing any sort of injustice religious or otherwise because of my interactions with gay people. A truly good person is capable of deciding what is right or wrong by using their own judgment. The Bible is a great guide line for that, but has many obvious flaws and has to be accepted as fallible. Not to mention that time, and information change the way things are perceived. Let's say, just for arguments sake, that homosexuality is a disease, should people with cancer be cast from God's hand since they are diseased as well? Let's say for arguments sake it's a choice, should all Christians other than Roman Catholics be cast from his hand because they chose to interpret the Word differently. I just find it rather hypocritical that a religion whose in it's early days followers were cast to the lions dens, and sought acceptance and the right to believe as they saw fit, would show the same lack of acceptance to a group who seek only acceptance. Acceptance and fair treatment. They want to marry and enter into a monogamous loving relationship, and the government, because of it's Christian influence, denies them that right. There is no other form of couple denied that right. Gays are constantly labeled as wrong, immoral, dirty, permiscuous, and spreaders of disease. All of which are completely ignorant. And that is where my problem lies. The ignorance of the masses. The masses that in this case are Christians. People who can put so much faith in a 2000 year old document, but not in scientific findings as recent as this year. If you are willing to accept some finds and not others where is the line drawn? Where it suits you. And if it continued to be preached that gays are wrong and immoral, ignorant masses will continue to hate and mistreat them."

So, what are your thoughts?

What famous person did you see today?

2007-06-25T03:06:00.000-04:00

OK, so I actually didn't see him, but it was the fanciest and biggest motorcade I've ever seen. I knew he was in town for a meeting yesterday, and figured I would see his entourage heading back to the airport as my apartment is right on the main main road to the airport. I grabbed my digital camera too late, but the pictures I got are below. I only got the tail end... believe me, it was an impressive motorcade with a helicopter at the beginning and another at the end and lots of beautiful, shiny, black expensive cars with blacked out windows, and even more police cars - the new, pretty police cars... so here are the pictures. I'm so bummed my camera was in the other room, and I didn't get better ones.

Now, you have to guess who the famous person is... no hints. I'm sure you can find it on the internet... I haven't decided on the prize, but you know there will be one.

Skoobi still isn't feeling well, so I'm going to try and find a doctor to come to the house later today. I'm going to take her outside one more time (I just feed her after having her fast for 15 hours, but she's been drinking a lot of water), and then call the doctor. I hope she's ok... she's my pup.

OK, go and guess the famous person while I figure out how to make my dog well. :)

Fireworks and a Sick Puppy

2007-06-24T14:55:00.000-04:00

Well, the last couple days have been interesting. The fireworks that started Thursday night were actually the start of an International Fireworks Festival. So every night starting at 11:30, a half hour long fireworks show begins about 500 feet from my apartment :) So, this early to bed, early to rise person hasn't been on the best of schedules. I think tonight is the last night of the festival. One can only hope.

Another thing is that Skoobi has been sick. I was supposed to go to Varazdin to church today, but Skoobi started being sick yesterday morning and is still having some problems this evening. I have the phone number of an emergency vet who does home visits, but with it being Sunday and a holiday weekend, I just don't know if I can afford it. I've checked her symptoms on a website, and I'm pretty sure she ate something bad (she's always eating something off the ground when we go on walks). She's not dehydrated, not anymore lethargic than usual. She's eating and drinking fairly normally (although the site said I should withhold food for a while). If she still has the frequent loose poopies tomorrow, I'm going to call the doctor. I'm just glad that if she has to be sick, I'm here and not in America. How horrible to be sick without your mommy :)

Otherwise, I visited Ljubica yesterday for breakfast. That was fun to spend sometime with her. I bought her a sweatshirt from the States. She loves my gray hoodie, so I was thankful to find one in Oregon for her. She really liked it. Today is her birthday. She's 71. I didn't see her today since Skoobi was sick, so I was glad to spend some time with her yesterday. (Skoobi and Ljubica pictured below)

Ok, well, I guess that's about it for now. I'll post again soon. I am going to do a cat blog (don't tell Skoob), and then one in response to an email I received... talk to you soon!

Happy Holidays...

2007-06-22T03:46:00.000-04:00

Well, for most of you it's not a holiday, but it's a big holiday weekend here in Croatia. Today is "Croatia Uprising Day" and Monday is Croatia State Day. Thank goodness that in the park yesterday Ljubica mentioned she was going to the store since it was a holiday. I still don't know all the holidays here, and when there is a holiday, everything is closed. So I was very thankful as I was planning to go to the store today, but instead I was able to go yesterday. A good thing since everything will basically be closed till Tuesday.

These pictures below were from the celebration in the park last night - bringing the holiday in with a bang. I haven't used my digital at night before this, so they aren't the best pictures, but it was fun to watch the fireworks from my window. That was at about 10pm. As Skoobi and I were sleeping at 11:45, we jerked awake by a huge explosion. She hates loud noises and began to freak out. I looked out the window, and they were doing fireworks again! The first group at 10:00 lasted about 10 minutes. This second set - a half hour! Skoobi and I didn't get backj to sleep till almost 2am. Oh well - happy holidays!

It's only 9:50 am here, but it's the first day that my apartment isn't an oven It's been hotter here than in Florida this past week (in the upper 90's). It's been awful. I don't have A/C and so it's really difficult to be able to cool off. Skoobi and I are on a wacky schedule. It's flaming hot by 8am, so Skoobi and I get up at 5:00 to go for our long morning walk. I putter around the house till about 10, then we go back to sleep during the hottest part of the day (I get the morning sun through all my windows - even with the shades down, it's nasty), and then get up in the early afternoon. I don't go back to bed till between 10-11 when the house finally cools down some. Skoobi and I go for another walk between 9-10 in the evening when it's a bit cooler. Poor Skoobi doesn't even want to play in the house during the day, she gets so hot. The sun rises before 5 and doesen't go down till about 9:15, so it's a long day to begin with.

Here is a picture of my nephew - still such the cutie...

And here is one of my favorite pictures from when I was in the States. I was so excited to see a shuttle launch! It was so beautiful I haven't seen one in ages, so it was a great treat!

That's all for now, but I have a couple more blogs to write this week - stay tuned :)

Success...

2007-06-12T11:26:00.001-04:00

Ok, so it's probably one of the least attractive pictures I've ever taken of myself, but I just wanted to put a picture of me and the mutt together again :)

Thanks for your prayers. The trip wasn't the best, but it certainly wasn't the worst. At check-in, my bags were all slightly under-weight. That's a first. My flight left Orlando a bit early, so I wasn't worried about making my connection to Frankfurt in Charlotte at all. Ha! I look at my watch after waking from a nap and wonder "Um... why aren't we on the ground?" A few minutes later the pilot comes on and says there is bad weather and everyone is in a holding pattern over South Carolina. He said they estimated the landing time to another 45 minutes. That put us an hour late, but still time to catch my flight. 45 minutes later, we're still in the holding pattern and he gets back on and says "Well, they told us it will be at least another 45 minutes. If it's anything over that, we'll have to divert to Myrtle Beach because that will be the extent of our fuel." You know, you never really want to hear a pilot talk about "the extent of our fuel" even if that extent is longer than you plan on being in the air.

But I digress (as usual)... about 35 minutes into the second 45 minutes, he tells us we have been cleared to land. It was quite turbulent, but I've been in worse. But here's the kicker. We PULL UP to the gate at 4:15. My flight to Frankfurt leaves at 4:30. And of course, we are at the "A" gates, and my flight is at the "D" gates. The flight attendant gets on and says most all of the flights are delayed and to check the monitors when we get to the terminal. Yep... about 95% of the flights were delayed. But no, not mine! So me and this German family start booking it to gate D3. We were still a couple gates away when we heard the last call. But we made it with one person right behind me as the doors closed at 4:35. My first thought when I sat down - "Well, at least I wont' have to worry about my luggage when I get to Zagreb."

The flight is so long, and I didn't sleep as well as I hoped. I did watch the Rocky Balboa movie, and I really liked it. I thought it was very good - a very good ending to the series. Of course after the movie, there was some excitement as a old Indian man started to have chest pains. It looked like they slipped some nitro under his tongue, and apparently that helped.

I still hate Frankfurt airport. It's so confusing and I got lost again, but with plenty of time to catch my flight. That flight was late, but I was just happy to be on the final leg of my journey. I made it though the border with flying colors and a smile from the immigration guy. And then here is another kicker - I don't how in the world this happened, but ALL my luggage arrived with me. I have no idea how they got my stuff from the plane from Charlotte to the Frankfurt plane in 20 minutes. But I must say I was quite impressed.

Skoobi was very happy to see me, as I was her. Magdalena had lunch ready for me which was nice. I broke one of my rules, and after Magdalena left, I laid down and took about an hour nap. I was so insanely tired, I just didn't care. And since Skoobi snuggled up with me, I didn't want to get up and wake her in the process... :)

So, I'm slowly unpacking, trying to figure out why I no longer have CNN on the TV, and writing this blog. I'm going to take Skoobi out for a nice walk in a bit, and then hit the sack early. I'm still tired, and am looking forward to sleeping in my bed tonight.

Thanks for your prayers... I'll be in touch again soon!

Talk to you soon...

2007-06-11T07:48:00.001-04:00

I'll be heading out in a couple hours to the airport. There are so many of you I wanted to see or call and I just didn't have time... I'm sorry. The good news is that it's cheaper for me to call you from Croatia, so expect to hear from me in the next few weeks :)

Please pray for my flights today as bad weather is being forecast pretty much every where I'll be. I only have a bit over an hour to make my Frankfurt connection in Charlotte, so please pray the thunderstorms won't come till my Orlando flight takes off.

Thanks to all of you who housed me and taxied me places. It was really great to be here with family and friends. I'll update my blog when I get home tomorrow...

The Sterns Family

2007-06-08T09:32:00.000-04:00

So here is a long overdue update... I have a lot of stories to tell, but since I haven’t had a steady internet connection and have been busy with meetings and visiting friends, time has flown even faster than I expected.

So, here is one of my favorite stories (with many more to follow in the coming days):

I spent another night with my dear friends in Merritt island as they invited me to a luau that the base where Pete works was having. Now Rachel and I have been dear friends for 17 years now, but the really fun things is how different we are. I mean... different. She teaches manners and etiquette - she attended the Protocol School of Washington to be certified. When Rachel eats potato chips, she gets a bowl. I keep cutting the bag so I don’t have to reach as far down. At a party, she would get a beautiful glass and fill it with the best of wines. I grab a Corona, slip a slice of lime in the bottle, and swig it till it’s gone. There could be 53 different forks on the table and Rachel (and her children) would know how to use each one - I’m looking for the spork. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture. I just love the fact that we dearly love each other, and take each other as God created us. And do we ever laugh when we get together!

So, we’re getting ready for the luau and Andrew, Rachel’s son, comes out in shorts and a hawaiian shirt, all nice and neat. Rachel looks at him and says, “You know Andrew, it’s beach thing, so you can un-tuck your shirt.” Andrew gives her the strangest look and says “Un-tucked? What’s that?” Of course, Aunt LeAnne gives Rachel a horrified look and then steps up to the plate and says “C’mon on over here boy, I’ll show ya what un-tucked is!” Andrew gets a horrified look that says “Oh Lord what is that crazed woman going to do to me?” But then he suddenly perks up and goes “OOHHH!!! I know what un-tucked is!” He runs to his room and comes back proudly displaying an un-tucked shirt. I loved it. I then proceeded to explain to him what the word “disheveled” meant. He wasn’t getting it - but I’ll keep trying :)

On the way home from the luau, Pete was asking the family which food they liked best. Andrew started and said he liked the one noodle dish. Abigail said how much she enjoyed the pig - I was so proud she used “pig” instead of “pork.” Pete agreed with Abigail that the pig was his favorite. Now thankfully it was dark and no one could see the biggest eye roll EVER that I was about to give to Rachel. Pete asked her, “And so Rachel, what was your favorite part of the meal?” Rachel, the self-proclaimed food snob, responds “You know, I really enjoyed the watercress in my salad...”

I’m sure the Sterns family is still going through Aunt LeAnne detox and therapy, but one thing is for sure. If I ever have kids, they are going to spend a lot of time with Aunt Rachel, Uncle Pete, and Abigail and Andrew. I love you all and can’t wait for next time - oh and, I’ll be watching that shuttle launch today, Lieutenant-Colonel Sterns!

I'm too tired to blog...

2007-05-30T21:13:00.000-04:00

but I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures in no particular order... All the planes and time zones are really starting to get to me.

me and the parents

Shaq and Nanc - my friends who bought me the digital camera that I used to take all these wonderful pictures.

me and my brother

me and my sister

the whole family - front row; me, mom, chandler back row; angela, john and casey, dad, jean

chandler - forever mesmerized by tinkertoys

john and casey

me and angela

casey all bright eyes and bushy tailed

me and the baby

just too cute...

Hello from the Pacific Northwest

2007-05-27T00:48:00.000-04:00

The flights to Oregon were pretty good. Long, and three time zones the wrong way, but pretty good nonetheless. I've decided I'm a travel snob. It was so strange to be traveling with people - my mom and dad, my aunt and my cousin. I'm just so used to doing my own thing and not "worrying" about anyone else. So between that and people who don't read the security signs before they get to the metal detector ("Really? I can't bring a machete on the plane?), I decided I'm a travel snob. Ok, it wasn't a machete, but how many times must you be told you can't bring liquids onto a plane??? Sheesh...

But it's been so great being with family. My nephew Chandler is almost 10. I can't believe how much he has grown. And my new nephew Casey is just so... stinking little. He's a doll. I can't get enough of him. I spent almost all day Friday with him, Chandler, and my brother and sister-in-law, Angela. It's been great getting to know her as well.

John and Angela

The jet lag is getting to me, but on the plus side of it all, shopping is dulling the pain some... there isn't any sales tax here, and so things are slightly cheaper here than if I bought stuff in Florida. That's cool. My sister just started selling Mark Kay, and so she threw her first little party today. The stuff I bought was cheaper than if I bought it in Florida... niiiiiiiice. Below is Jean after the Mary Kay party.

Another cool thing is some of my friends up here decided to help me out and buy me a digitasl camera! How awesome is that? So now, when I blog, I can immediately post pictures instead of having to wait an eternity to use all my film and get them put on CD and all. I'm so excited - thanks Shaq and Nanc!! (No, I didn't misspell the names) I'll put their pictures up tomorrow simply because I can! :)

Well, now I must turn into the bragging aunt... below are my boys, Older brother Chandler, and younger brother Casey - can't you just eat them up??

So, most of the above pics were taken at Red Lobster tonight... Now, I had mentioned to my parents how i wanted to take Chandler out to dinner one night since I'm the family member who sees him the least. My mom came up to me this morning... "So, we were thinking you could take Chandler out to Chucky Cheese or something tonight." (Me shaking my head in agreement) Mom continues "So, we're going to go to Red Lobster tonight..." I gave my best 'you have GOT to be kidding me' look. "OK, um, mom. I love Chandler with all my heart, but do you seriously think I'm going to take him to Chucky Cheese while you all are at RED LOBSTER? I don't think so. Yeah, so not happening." Needless to say, my lobster tonight was awesome :)

OK, I must go to bed... it's 7:12am in Croatia, 1:12am in Orlando, and 10:12pm in Portland. I have no idea what time my body thinks it is... I'm just thankful I'm tired when it's nighttime.

Oh, and here is a 'sneak peak' at my new haircut - and notice - NO BARRETTE!:

It's not the best picture as I snapped it of myself when I was playing with the new digital, but I think yu can tell how much of the mop got whacked :) It's so much curlier - I love it!

America...

2007-05-22T14:31:00.000-04:00

So today I drank Diet Pepsi "Jazz" Strawberries and Cream soda... It wasn't bad, I just can't figure out how they come up with these flavors. They also had cherry/vanilla flavor.

And the blog news of the day - I got my hair whacked off. Ok, not really, but I did get 8 inches cut-off and it's still below my shoulders. That's awesome. All the yucky dead hair-colored ends are gone, and so now it looks like I colored my hair dark brown, but it's actually (and finally) my natural hair color. I love it, all bouncy and fun.

I talked to Magdalena a few minutes ago. Everything seems to be going well with Skoobi - yeah! She's doing well on her walks and is eating and is back to her cheery disposition after the trauma of me leaving :) Magdalena has 3 younger brothers, so I was glad to hear she is enjoying the solace of my apartment.

I always forget how much I love American commercials. When my dad wants to flip the channel during the break, I'm always saying "Nononononono! I want to watch the funny commercial." They crack me up more than the shows.

We leave to go to Orlando in an hour or two and fly off to Oregon in the morning. It's going to be odd, actually flying with a group of people. I'm so used to just traveling by myself, so it will be interesting being with my mom, dad, aunt and cousin... fun fun. :)

Now while I know gas prices are much higher in Europe, it was really painful pumping $3.13 a gallon gas into the rental. Uugh. One gallon of gas is 3.78 liters... so that equals 82 cents a liter. One liter of gas in Croatia was about 8.3 kuna when I left. That equals $1.53 a liter, which equals $5.78 a gallon. I guess $3.13 isn't so bad... and makes me very thankful that I don't have a car in Croatia.

Well there you have it - an update and math lesson all in one :)

Update on my life...

2007-05-21T19:50:00.000-04:00

I finally made it to my parents' house today. The last few days have been a mixture of fun and productivity. I've done some shopping, and in God's grace, hit many good sales and saved a lot of money on some clothes and shoes I needed. I went swimming and got some sun. Church on Sunday was great. I miss my church very much. It was very fun to meet two new babies - Charlotte and Lilia are just adorable. It always amazes me how quickly my friends' children grow up. There were some people I didn't recognize at the beginning of the service and realized half way through "Oh good grief - those adults are Dan and Dru's kids!" And of course, most of my friends' children are now taller than me... and they never seem to tire of pointing that out. "Miss LeAnne, Miss LeAnne - I can look you in the eye now..." "Miss LeAnne I can see the top of your head!"

Worship was wonderful - the entire service just meant so much. The longer I'm away, the more I appreciate my church and the people that for all these years have loved and cared for me. I've been affiliated with Covenant for 17 years, and a member for almost twelve. I'm truly blessed to be a part of the church. I had lunch with my pastors, their wives, two of my good friends and their families after church on Sunday. It's been good to catch up with people face to face instead of email and phone. Jay and Penni are always gracious hosts, and Lydia and Riley the beagle are always just enthralled with me... ok, not so much Riley, but Lydia and I have fun :)

Sunday I drove to the Sterns home... my dear friend Rachel and I have been incredibly close friends since freshman year of college. I love her and her family dearly, and I know they love me as well. I always have a blast there. Her husband, Pete, is just one of my favorite people. He's pretty high up in rank in the air force and is currently working at the Cape. I thought Pete was pretty cool when he worked at the Pentagon (remember my lunch there last furlough), but get this - he's one of the three people who has the power and authority to scrub a shuttle launch. How awesome is that?? Of course you never want to be the one to have to scrub a launch, but I mean seriously, that's power. :) Unfortunately I won't be able to go, but if I was, for this next shuttle launch Pete could have gotten me into a building with lots of buttons that make the shuttle "do things" (he said I couldn't touch any buttons though...) and I could wear head phones and listen to things, and then run to the roof and watch it blast off. I was drooling at the thought - I love that kind of stuff. The timing just won't work unfortunately... I really wanted to try and lunge for a button :) And I just love the Stern children, Abigail and Andrew. I could just throw them in my suitcase and haul them back to Croatia with me.

It's good to be with my folks tonight, and then tomorrow I get a haircut and drive back to Orlando with the folks to stay in a hotel to fly to Oregon early Wednesday morning. Uugh. The last thing I want to do is to get on a plane and head three more time zones to the west. BUT, I am looking forward very much to seeing my brother and sister, and my new sister in law and the nephews. It should be fun - if I can stay awake and be hungry at the appropriate times. My folks did make me one of my favorite meals tonight - speedies... Oh my gosh, they are fantastic... marinated meat skewered and grilled, then put on italian bread with ketchup - YUM!

OK, well, I will update again soon... thanks for stopping by! :)

Hi from Florida...

2007-05-18T22:26:00.000-04:00

Well, I made it here in one piece. The flights went pretty well, but the airports just were insane. I will never fly through Frankfurt and Charlotte again. Things were just so disorganized and chaotic. I almost missed my flight in Charlotte because the flight from Frankfurt took off an hour late because we had to wait for these 20 German children going on a field trip to America. I'm pretty sure the entire flight crew wished we had left without them. I sure did. But I made it and my luggage made it, and so there really isn't much to complain about.

It is pretty warm, but not painfully hot for which I am thankful. I bought some awesome and much needed clothes today, plus some really cool new ear phones - background noise reduction ear phones. I didn't know I needed them until the 20 German children got on the plane. I wanted new ones anyway, and so I'm really happy with these ones I bought.

I also picked up my rental car today... sigh. All I wanted was a nice, unnoticeable little nova or something... Oh but no... of all the cars, I got the one that I absolutely hate. I walked out of the airport and to the little parking spot where the car was waiting. I got to spot L-32, looked up, and there sat my PT Cruiser. Uugh. Now while it is a beautiful blue color, I just hate those cars. Oh well. As long as I get from point a to point b, life's good.

And in an amazing show of brilliance today, I erased every last phone number off my cell phone. Don't ask me how. It's a long story that could have been prevented at many levels and yet I proceeded through each and every level even while the voice in my head was screaming - "No, really, don't do that..." Thankfully, I am not a person who solely relies on technology, and so I have all the phone numbers except for the last 4-5 I put in written down in Croatia in a notebook, and I also have most of them on my computer. I basically just reset the entire phone in one fell swoop. I haven't been that mad at myself in a while. It's just so freaking frustrating.

Well, I just wanted to say hi... I'll be updating during the trip, so check back when you can. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement :)

Just a little update with some pictures

2007-05-15T04:23:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to do a quick update before leaving for the States... in less than 48 hours I'll be on my way. I have a lot to do today and tomorrow. I'm not sure where all my time went. I had guests from Thursday until yesterday, and then yesterday - Monday- I took a day trip to Varazdin to visit the Hitchings and to see some more of the town, and to experience a little bit of the gypsy ministry. We were only at the village 15-20 minutes, but it surely is something I won't soon forget. I don't think I could even begin to describe it... I think what struck me most were all the toddlers and babies... there are 31 children at the village and most are under the age of 4. They were either naked or in winter clothes - and it's been HOT the last few days - and all of them were barefoot walking in the mud and broken glass. Most were sniffling and all were quite dirty. The 'village' only consists of 6-7 buildings, I can't remember the exact count, and there is one water pipe for everyone. No plumbing, electricity, sanitation... just a mud pit.

I'd love for you to go to this website - Roma Diary - and see pictures of where I was yesterday. Start at the bottom and scroll up. Many of the girls start having babies at age 14-15. By their early twenties, many have 4-5 babies. Alcoholism and abuse are huge problems. Do be praying for the Bayash people, and for the people working with them, especially for those working on the Bible translation project.

On a lighter note, I saw the coolest thing on the way out to the village - stork nests and baby storks - it was so cool. I have never seen such huge nests, and i'm pretty sure I've never seen storks before, well except when they dropped my brother and sister off at our house many years ago... but anyways - it was very very cool.

Below are some pictures I promised a while ago... read the captions, drop me a comment, and I'll see many of you in just a few days... blessings

Skoobi loving that Happy Meal... talk about spoiled rotten

I love that dog way too much...

Skoobi and I went to Ljubica's house for a fish dinner.. it was so good. We're going over again today for lunch in just a bit. Ljubica really likes Skoobi and always brings her treats to the park in the morning.

Ljubica came to my house a week or so ago and I made her biscuits and gravy for breakfast. She really liked it and ate them right up. She wanted the recipe, and so had to fess up it was bisquick and a mix for the gravy... oh well, she still liked them and I'll pick her up a couple packages while I'm in the States. And of course, there is Skoobi doing her classic 'but i'm hungry and my mommy never feeds me - give me food give me food' begging face...

a video of casey...

2007-05-06T06:18:00.000-04:00

sorry i haven't posted lately...

2007-04-30T13:57:00.000-04:00

but i'm having some computer issues... my shift keys have stopped working. but thankfully, as you know, i will be in the states soon and can get the problem fixed. i called the mac store at the florida mall today. talk about unhelpful. so i called the apple care hotline and nathan the canadian was quite the helpful man. the guy at the store said i have to come in and fill all the paper work out, wait a while, blah, blah blah... nathan said - hey, give me an address and i'll just send you a new keyboard. nathan is my new best friend.

so, sorry about not capitalizing my letters and not having the correct punctuation for exclamation points, question marks, and parenthesis. you have no idea how annoying this is. thankfully in two and a half weeks, it shouldn't be a problem anymore. so all in all, i still love my mac - thank you nathan the canadian - exclamation point and smiley face...

The cutest picture ever...

2007-04-23T13:12:00.000-04:00

My two sweet nephews, Chandler and Casey... I can't wait to spoil them in person in just a few weeks!!

I actually have a lot I want to blog about these days, but been having some computer annoyances, and just a lot to do... but I will be back to real blogging soon... but I mean, c'mon... how cute are my boys?

Welcome to the world...

2007-04-19T02:55:00.000-04:00

My nephew, Casey Jay Able Binder-Gallick was born a month early last night... I think it was still April 18 in Oregon where he was born. :) I was going off the messages my brother sent me through the night to keep me updated on things (Angela's water broke, but she didn't go into labor and had to be induced hours later) and checked my email as soon as I got up to make sure that when he actually called me to let me know Casey was here, that it wasn't a dream!

Casey was 5lbs, 13oz and 19 1/4 inches long. The doctors said even though he is a month early, he is fine, but may suffer some jaundice. He also has a bruise on his head because he was born face-up instead of face-down... at least I think that's what my brother told me on the phone last night. But it all should heal up nicely.

I'm really glad I'll be in the States in a month. Casey's due date was the day I fly to the States (May 17)... I was afraid Angela would be late and I wouldn't get to meet him. Now I'll get to play with a 5 week old - fun!

I just wanted to share our happiness with you... I'll surely post more pictures when my brother has time to send them :)

Happy anniversary, Skoobi!

2007-04-10T09:33:00.000-04:00

Well, mommy LeAnne told me today was my five year anniversary of me coming to live with her! I can't believe she's been my mommy for five years! We had a great day today! After our walk this morning, we went to Ljubica's house (she's the nice old lady from the park who brings me treats!) and she made me and mommy pancakes with chocolate! What a great way to start my anniversary day... It was fun to go to her house and she let me run all over it. I loved it because she has a balcony! I miss our balcony from Bosnia.

Then mommy had to go out for a while, but she told me she was going to have a great big surprise for me when she got back... I had no idea what it was, so I decided to take a nice long nap to make the time pass. Well, mommy got home about 10 minutes ago, and oh my goodness! Can you believe she bought me my very own happy meal from McDonald's?? Holy cats! It was so yummy... I had a hamburger and french fries - crazy! Mommy took some pictures so when she gets them developed, I'll make sure to put some on the blog for you. Oh! And the toy prize in the happy meal was a toy puppy! How perfect!

Speaking of puppies, I played with the puppy beagle again. We found out his name is Astor. I love him. He's my favorite. Mommy says when Astor barks it sounds like her beagle friend Riley in America. Mommy likes the beagle too, but not as much as she looooooooves me.

So, I just wanted to tell everyone about my happy meal and how much I love my mommy. I'm so glad I'm her puppy cause I know she spoils me so much it borders on stupid. But at the same time, I definitely know she loves me. She says her favorite part of the day is when she comes home and sits on the couch and I put my head in her lap. If that's all it takes to get a happy meal, I truly am blessed!

Oh, I heard some of you don't think that I write these blog... you think my mommy writes them for me... well, here are some pictures mommy took to prove to you I really do write these... I love you all - here's to many many more years with my mommy! Enjoy the pictures and the captions below them.

This is me with a little writers block... it'll come to me...

Aha! I think I got it...

I must be the smartest puppy in the former Yugoslavia...

Blogging makes me a very very tired puppy...

2007-04-09T16:38:00.000-04:00

It's been so beautiful lately, I thought I'd share a few pictures I finally got put on a CD. I must be the only person in my profession without a digital camera... but enjoy these pictures taken from my apartment window and at the park across from the main train station. And tune in tomorrow for a special blog from Skoobi...

A phalanx of beef...

2007-04-02T06:51:00.000-04:00

The below quote I found while reading a news article about official government UFO files being released to the public in France... I can't remember where it came from, so I hope I don't get accused of stealing anything... but I'm not claiming it as my own. I just thought it was one of the funniest sentences I've ever seen on a news website...

'A phalanx of beefy security guards formed a barrier in front of the space agency (CNES) headquarters where the announcement was made, "to screen out uninvited UFOlogists," an official explained.'

Because I had no idea... here is phalanx defined by dictionary.com - (in ancient Greece) a group of heavily armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep, with shields joined and long spears overlapping.

Maybe I should start a 'word of the day' category. Can you use 'phalanx' in a better sentence than the one above... and do you think the beefy security guards in France had spears and shields... shields, maybe.

A funny story and some other stuff too...

2007-03-23T11:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, here is the funny story I mentioned the other day... Skoobi and I were in the park early, before 7am doing our "lake laps." During our walks, I'm doing one of two things... thinking deeply/praying or yelling at the dog. It goes something like "God, thanks for today and the beautiful - SKOOBI STOP EATING THE GARBAGE! - sunrise. STOP PULLING ON THE LEASH! - Father - DO NOT JUMP ON THE JOGGER! And Lord, I thank you for your grace... SKOOBI!" You get the picture.

Anyways, we've been walking on the path that goes closest to the lake. Skoobi was actually behaving and I was lost in thought, when at the shoreline, there was a rustling and a huge commotion. Now, I don't know how this is possible, but within no more than a few seconds, all the following thoughts went through my head... "Oh my gosh! It's a gator! Why are we walking so close to the lake, I know better than that! We have to get away, I have to save Skoobi. She can run fast, I should just drop the leash, but NO! She'll try to fight the gator and then I'll have to watch her die... I have to pull her, where should we go? There's no tree to climb... I couldn't leave Skoobi anyway... wait a minute... I'm in Croatia... it's a pond and it's 30 degrees outside. There are no gators in Croatia... what the heck?" So I look towards the shoreline, sigh and shake my head "You stupid, stupid ducks..."

I guess it just goes to show you can take the girl out of Florida, but you can't take Florida out of the girl... :)

So lately I've been reading a lot of blogs. Not that I'm wasting time or anything, but I've run out of books to read, and there are some really great blogs out there. Some of them have really touched me deeply in the areas of where I struggle the most. There is a great series on Psalm 51 at Paul Tripp Ministries. There are two great blogs for single women at The Purple Cellar and Solo Femininity Two of my favorite theological ones are Between Two Worlds and Reformation Theology There are a few others, but this will do for now... I hope you can browse through a couple of their posts... it's really great stuff.

More soon!

Why is it snowing?

2007-03-20T05:10:00.000-04:00

I don't understand why it's snowing... There was barely a dusting of snow all winter, and now everything is in bloom and beautiful and the sun has been out and I could go outside for our afternoon walks in sandals and short-sleeves... sigh...

So this morning I dragged myself out of bed (I've been really tired lately... going to bed at nine, not wanting to get out of bed at all the next morning...) and wasn't happy to see the rain. But Skoobi loves walking in the rain (and so do I, actually, but usually when it's warmer) so we headed out to our walk. We met up with one of our park friends - a really sweet old lady that we talk to every morning. Well, half way through our walk, the rain changed to snow. Skoobi was thrilled. She loves snow more than rain. I, on the other hand, turned grouchy. I hate snow. Ok, it's beautiful, and I understand that... but it's slippery and cold, and eventually turns ugly. It was funny in that Skoobi's black coat slowly but surely turned white... the abonmidable snow dog. Now Skoobi is all snuggled up in my bed under my warm blankets, snoring away. She's so cute it kills me. I love that dog.

I really need to go. I have a lot to do today, but I'll leave you with a story from last week that still makes me smile. In regards to the old lady I mentioned above. Her name is Ljubica, and she is just so sweet. A little over a week ago, Skoobi and I met up with her in the park. I mentioned that my friend Wendy was coming from Bosnia for my birthday. She was so cute as, she speaks English pretty well, as she said "Oh happy birthday! And you'll be twenty _________?" I said "Actually, I'll be 35" She literally took a step back, put her hand over heart and said in Croatian "Svaka čast! Stvarno, ti izgledaš super!"

Ok, Germaine - I know you are dying to translate it - so go for it. Don't leave everyone in suspense for very long...

More later... I have another funny story from our walk yesterday... I'll keep you waiting for a few days :)

Random thoughts...

2007-03-16T13:50:00.000-04:00

It's kind of nice to hear from people say "Hey, you haven't updated your blog in a while." I like that people read it.

So tonight I was planning on watching Survivor, but Itunes hasn't a uploaded it to download yet. That's quite disappointing. I hope they have it ready for downloading soon.

I did have a nice birthday. You saw the pictures of my party on my last post, and then on Sunday my friend and former team leader from Sarajevo, Wendy, came and spent my birthday with me! It was great - we had so much fun. After church Sunday evening we went to my favorite restaurant and ate Asian food to our hearts' content. On Monday, my actual birthday, we did what every good American girl wants to do on her birthday - shopping! I had just paid off my credit card, so I was good to go :) I actually kept my spending in check, but I did buy a few fun things - a nice plant Wendy helped me pick-out was the highlight of my spree. It's almost as tall as me, and the hook was when Wendy said - "That one is easy to take care of, and really hard to kill." Into the cart it went :) It looks great in the living room. I'm very pleased. Then later that evening we went out to eat again and talked and talked and talked... did I mention Wendy was the first American I have seen in two months?? Yeah... I probably talked WAAAAAAY too much!

This evening I rearranged my living room furniture, and some in the bedroom. Again, it was Wendy who gave me some ideas, and they are totally working. I have some more to do, but by the end of the day tomorrow, I'm going to have one nice looking apartment. I want to go buy one more plant, and yeah... I'm going to be rocking. Then I just need to get my ceiling fan installed and I'll be pretty content in my little apartment.

Skoobi made a new friend in the park - a baby beagle puppy! It was so cute watching them play yesterday. I thought Skoobi was going to kill the poor thing, not because she was being mean, but that she was just so much bigger than the pup! She'd trample it, but the beagle would just pop up and say "Ok, bring it on, I'm up for some more!" The beagle's owner and I were just laughing and laughing. I hope we get to see them again. She was really nice, and I was very happy Skoobi made another friend. Since Skoobi is behaving more and playing with dogs, I've been able to talk to some people in the parks and such, and so that's been really good for me.

Here are a couple pictures of the park. I really hope I can get a digital camera soon...

My mom...

2007-03-10T16:15:00.000-05:00

So I just got off the phone with my mom... Here is how part of our conversation went...

Mom - How did your birthday party go tonight?
Me - It was fun
Mom - Did you make the cake using the stuff we sent you?
Me - Yep it was really good, thanks.
Mom - So, you're turning 36 tomorrow...
Me - Um... my birthday is Monday and I'll be 35...
Mom - Oh... yeah... I knew that.

And I thought I was getting old... But I love you, Mom! Here's a picture of the cake and some friends who came... thanks for sending the pictures, Branimir!

Thanks for the cake decorations, dad!

Visnja, Daniel, Magdalena, Skoobi, Me, Zvonko