Well, it's here. Ethan has an unofficial case of H1N1. He started showing symptoms on Friday and is still feeling pretty yucky today. Mostly just a fever and a cough. Not sleeping as much as I would expect him to. Doctor said there is really nothing that she can do for him--Tamiflu won't help at this point. Jay and Olivia are on Tamiflu now with the hopes that they won't get it or won't get it as bad. Poor old mom gets nothing--except the flu I guess!
Last night I heard Olivia screaming around 4 AM. I knew something was up because I can't even remember the last time she woke up in the middle of the night. She was just laying there screaming and I just knew she had thrown up. I got her cleaned up and by that point she thought the whole thing was pretty funny and kept saying, "Wee-ah burp! Wee-ah burp!". She was still laughing about it today, talking about how she burped. It makes me smile. :)
So that's the news from our house. It is going to be a loooong week.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
AfricaWorks...indeed!
One of the highlights of our Grand Canyon trip was getting the chance to get to know Samuel Grottis. Samuel is a good friend of Jimbo's and I'd been hearing about him for several years now but had never really gotten a chance to meet him. You might doubt Samuel's intelligence given that he agreed to fly to Arizona from Mozambique to do a death march across the Grand Canyon but I assure you, he is quite astute. :)
When Jimbo "retired" from P&G six years ago, we knew retirement wouldn't last long. But I don't think any of us anticipated him traveling to Africa and becoming enchanted with the continent. He joined a group of Wooddalers on an AIDS missions trip and realized, with his P&G hat on, that a stable economy would make a huge impact on the spread of the disease. This trip set in motion his eventual involvement with AfricaWorks.
He got involved with World Relief, which is where he met Samuel. Samuel is a fascinating man. He is from Zimbabwe originally, where he was a freedom fighter in his youth. Really! He was also an atheist and a communist of all things. While imprisoned and tortured he heard the voice of God speak to him in his cell. He had scant experience with religion up to this point. God set him on a new course for his life and he eventually ended up working at World Relief, where his most recent position was as Director for Southern Africa.
Samuel and Jimbo co-developed the AfricaWorks concept during Jimbo's visit there in 2004. The AfricaWorks mission is to be the “hands and feet of Jesus” by developing sustainable jobs for the poorest of the poor. They seek to empower native Africans in some of the continents poorest countries to become business owners and provide sustainable income for their families and communities. AfricaWorks is different than other aid organizations, which is what I love about it. A person gets a small business loan from AfricaWorks, establishes their business which they run and take care of and gradually they pay that loan back to AfricaWorks. Then cycle starts again. I love that money is not donated to people to start a business--it not only makes AfricaWorks self-sustaining, it gives the people power--they make the choice and the effort themselves.
AfricaWorks is rolling through communities and picking up momentum with each loan given. So far, it has been involved in the creation and sustenance of nearly 5,000 jobs! Samuel was telling me that people who are skeptical only need to see a neighbor's business in action and they immediately want in. Samuel recently left his position at World Relief to become the CEO of AfricaWorks and has big plans to continue building the organization.
I have become a little enchanted with Africa myself lately and have been trying to learn more about it, mostly through books Jimbo gives me. I also had a chance a few months ago to talk with Joshua who was visiting from Mozambique. He kindly suffered through my ignorance as I pulled out a map of Africa and peppered him with questions. I just didn't know much about which country was where--I felt like such an idiot! But he was helpful and explained what the other names have been, where it is safe, where he wouldn't like to visit. It was so fun!
I'd love to take a trip to Africa someday, even though it scares me quite a bit. But I would love to see the country, meet some people, see what kind of change is happening through AfricaWorks.
You can read more at africaworks.org!
need help!
Does anyone have a travel agent they would recommend? Jay and I are planning a vacation to celebrate 10 years next year (yahoo!) and we'd like to take a really great vacation. We thought of going back to Sandals but aren't sure we want to spend quite that much. I thought maybe a travel agent might be able to help me more than Google. Let me know if you have anything for me!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
that's my girl.
Driving home from preschool yesterday, I noticed that Olivia was eating something. Knowing that I hadn't given her any food I asked Ethan what she was eating. "Oh, she's eating my craft that I made today." he said nonchalantly. The craft was popcorn glued to a paper plate. Olivia had a mouthful of glue-covered popcorn! Yuck. So naturally, being the stellar mother that I am, kept driving. :) A little gluey popcorn won't kill her...at least I don't think it will!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
i don't want to see you die at the gym.
Okay, I had a bit of disturbing incident yesterday and want some input as to how I should feel.
I was at the Bloomington Lifetime yesterday for the first time. There was a girl in the row in front of me on an elliptical. She was going balls out. She was not drinking any water. And her bones were about to pop out of her skin. It was painfully clear that this woman is deeply into an eating disorder. Her ankles were about 4 inches in diameter and her muscles looked like they had been adhered to a skeleton in biology class. She had this horrified look on her face as she stared at herself in the mirror, pushing herself to go harder. After she finished at least 45 minutes on that machine, she hopped on to another machine and kept pushing.
So my question is this: what responsibility do we have to say something in this situation? My first reaction is that although she clearly needs help, it is not my job as a stranger to step in and say something. People with eating disorders are notoriously difficult to help--a stranger stepping in isn't going to do much. Does the gym have a responsibility when they see a member clearly abusing their body at their club? What if this woman has no one in her life that will confront her about her problem? What if her heart just gives up one day?
What do you think about this?
I was at the Bloomington Lifetime yesterday for the first time. There was a girl in the row in front of me on an elliptical. She was going balls out. She was not drinking any water. And her bones were about to pop out of her skin. It was painfully clear that this woman is deeply into an eating disorder. Her ankles were about 4 inches in diameter and her muscles looked like they had been adhered to a skeleton in biology class. She had this horrified look on her face as she stared at herself in the mirror, pushing herself to go harder. After she finished at least 45 minutes on that machine, she hopped on to another machine and kept pushing.
So my question is this: what responsibility do we have to say something in this situation? My first reaction is that although she clearly needs help, it is not my job as a stranger to step in and say something. People with eating disorders are notoriously difficult to help--a stranger stepping in isn't going to do much. Does the gym have a responsibility when they see a member clearly abusing their body at their club? What if this woman has no one in her life that will confront her about her problem? What if her heart just gives up one day?
What do you think about this?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
hallelujah!
A few updates....
1. The preschool year has begun! Ethan is in 3 day mornings. We've been at it for 3 days now and have even been on time each day! He loves it and takes off running for his classroom as soon as I set his feet on the ground. It gives me and my little man some much needed space and it gives him a new outlet for learning and new people to ask questions of. I get a break! I still have Olivia with me and unfortunately her behavior is going downhill as Ethan's is going uphill. Oh well, can't have them both in good spirits at the same time I guess.
2. MOPS starts tomorrow! I am starting my 4th year of being a discussion group leader. I love my group and this year looks to be fantastic! It is such a blessing to have these women to hang out with, rejoice with and commiserate with. I remember how lonely I was that first year of motherhood--wishing that I had some good friends that lived close by that I could really connect with. Thanks to MOPS I have more friends like that than I ever hoped for! If you are a mom that wants to know more about MOPS, just email me! I will hook you up right. :)
3. I am officially a small business owner! I have kept mostly quiet about this because I wanted to wait until it was official. Myself and two other women (Terri Miller and Sally Reed) have started a small coaching business called more coaching. We provide strengths-based coaching to individuals, couples and families. This has been a dream of mine for some time. My passion lies in helping couples strengthen their relationships by figuring how to best use their strengths in the marriage. I just didn't have the strengths needed to take it to the next step. Thankfully Jimbo hooked me up with Terri and the rest is history! You'll be getting an email from me once we get all our stuff together. But be thinking about giving a gift certificate from more coaching to someone for Christmas or for a wedding/engagement present. It is the gift that keeps on giving! :)
4. Jay and I leave for the Grand Canyon in one week! I will not be partaking in the hike this year--I learned my lesson last year. And my toenails have never quite recovered. :( Jay and a group of 22 other victims will be hiking from the North Rim to the South Rim--in one day! That is about a 25 mile hike and highly discouraged by the park rangers. But who cares about them, right? :) I have a muy importante job--driving a car full of everyone's gear so they don't have to haul it across the canyon. I will have a 5 hour drive all alone with my ipod--I can't wait. For those of you that know me well, you know I love to road trip. I don't get to do it much now that we have kids. So the idea of just driving without Olivia screaming bloody murder is delightful! We are already anticipating numerous stops at In n' Out and have budgeted accordingly. Our kids will go stay with the grandparents--many thanks go out to them for making this happen!
5. I just read a completely enthralling book: King Leopold's Ghost. Jimbo is super involved in a non-profit in Africa called AfricaWorks. I saw him reading this book at Crow Wing and hijacked it from him whenever I could. I finished it last week and would highly recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in Africa. It is about the colonization of the Congo by Belgium and basically what a disaster they turned it into. Gives some interesting insight into why Africa is the way it is. Now I am reading Scramble for Africa which Jimbo says will give me an even greater picture of why it is such a mess. I will say this--what was done to the Africans was horrifying. There is no other way to put it. They were set up for failure from day one. I give major praise to people like my dad that still decide to go there and try to make a difference even though it seems like a mere drop in the ocean.
I know there was more stuff I was going to write about but Olivia just pooped so I have to go deal with that. Later!
1. The preschool year has begun! Ethan is in 3 day mornings. We've been at it for 3 days now and have even been on time each day! He loves it and takes off running for his classroom as soon as I set his feet on the ground. It gives me and my little man some much needed space and it gives him a new outlet for learning and new people to ask questions of. I get a break! I still have Olivia with me and unfortunately her behavior is going downhill as Ethan's is going uphill. Oh well, can't have them both in good spirits at the same time I guess.
2. MOPS starts tomorrow! I am starting my 4th year of being a discussion group leader. I love my group and this year looks to be fantastic! It is such a blessing to have these women to hang out with, rejoice with and commiserate with. I remember how lonely I was that first year of motherhood--wishing that I had some good friends that lived close by that I could really connect with. Thanks to MOPS I have more friends like that than I ever hoped for! If you are a mom that wants to know more about MOPS, just email me! I will hook you up right. :)
3. I am officially a small business owner! I have kept mostly quiet about this because I wanted to wait until it was official. Myself and two other women (Terri Miller and Sally Reed) have started a small coaching business called more coaching. We provide strengths-based coaching to individuals, couples and families. This has been a dream of mine for some time. My passion lies in helping couples strengthen their relationships by figuring how to best use their strengths in the marriage. I just didn't have the strengths needed to take it to the next step. Thankfully Jimbo hooked me up with Terri and the rest is history! You'll be getting an email from me once we get all our stuff together. But be thinking about giving a gift certificate from more coaching to someone for Christmas or for a wedding/engagement present. It is the gift that keeps on giving! :)
4. Jay and I leave for the Grand Canyon in one week! I will not be partaking in the hike this year--I learned my lesson last year. And my toenails have never quite recovered. :( Jay and a group of 22 other victims will be hiking from the North Rim to the South Rim--in one day! That is about a 25 mile hike and highly discouraged by the park rangers. But who cares about them, right? :) I have a muy importante job--driving a car full of everyone's gear so they don't have to haul it across the canyon. I will have a 5 hour drive all alone with my ipod--I can't wait. For those of you that know me well, you know I love to road trip. I don't get to do it much now that we have kids. So the idea of just driving without Olivia screaming bloody murder is delightful! We are already anticipating numerous stops at In n' Out and have budgeted accordingly. Our kids will go stay with the grandparents--many thanks go out to them for making this happen!
5. I just read a completely enthralling book: King Leopold's Ghost. Jimbo is super involved in a non-profit in Africa called AfricaWorks. I saw him reading this book at Crow Wing and hijacked it from him whenever I could. I finished it last week and would highly recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in Africa. It is about the colonization of the Congo by Belgium and basically what a disaster they turned it into. Gives some interesting insight into why Africa is the way it is. Now I am reading Scramble for Africa which Jimbo says will give me an even greater picture of why it is such a mess. I will say this--what was done to the Africans was horrifying. There is no other way to put it. They were set up for failure from day one. I give major praise to people like my dad that still decide to go there and try to make a difference even though it seems like a mere drop in the ocean.
I know there was more stuff I was going to write about but Olivia just pooped so I have to go deal with that. Later!
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