Very Random Bunny Trails

We are a few weeks past Matt's 15th birthday and a month and a half until my baby girl turns 13. Where does the time go?? Today Abby is staying home from school, sick with a sore throat, cough and slight fever. The funny thing is, I had to practically tackle her to the ground and put her back into bed to get her to stay home from school. At one point I thought she might defy me and head to school when I wasn't looking (she was already in uniform when I discovered she's not feeling well), and my first thought was "How do I discipline for THAT?" What would I do? Go to school and report to her teachers/principal that "Abby refuses to stay home from school!" That scenario made me laugh, but fortunately she crawled back into bed and there she still lies.

I'm sitting in a corner of her peaceful, green and turquoise room (photos of new paint jobs to come) and thinking about all that's going on in the last while. What it comes down to is that we're busy and the skies are constantly bringing new, LOUD thunderstorms. That's a summary in a nutshell.

You may have heard of the various tragic natural disasters that have occurred here in Indo in the past week. There have been 2 earthquakes and consequent tsunami in some islands off of Sulawesi (wiped out 20 villages), Mount Merapi has erupted (8 hours by train from us) and is threatening to do it again, there is constant flooding in Jakarta (doesn't harm us but is devastating to many families in the slums), and there has been a drought somewhere in Indo since February. Here we sit in our little Lippo bubble and watch the news, read the papers, and it's not overseas, it's right in our own backyard. The best we can do as people untrained in disaster relief is to send money for those who know what they're doing, and to pray for those who are involved, victims or rescuers. Not a whole lot different from back home. Once and a while an opportunity comes up where a group of people volunteer to go into a community and help rebuild. We haven't participated in anything like that yet but would like to.

It truly is amazing that as the world seems to be in chaos all over, life in its beauty and simplicity still goes on. Here in Lippo we just received some very heartwarming, exciting news from a young couple that moved here in July. They've been married 9 months and have just found out that they're pregnant. With twins. They've gone from calling their baby Peanut to calling them Peanut Butter and Jelly. That's pretty cute. They do ultra sounds here extremely early, and at 5 weeks they were already able to tell that there are two fetuses. Incredible!

This news has brought me to realize that there are very few twins here in Indo. With a population of 14 million in Jakarta alone, you'd think you'd see them all over. When I begin to list my friends either with twins or who are a twin, it's pretty big for our Cdn population! Kathleen, Dale, Tara, Stephanie, Renkemas, Lois, Maura, Sarah & Bethany, Rebecca's new grandbabies coming (boys!!), the new pastor who came when we left...and those are just the ones off the top of my head, and not including the ones I grew up with in school! BTW, 5 of those listed are from the same church. I know that we don't drink the water from the tap here in Indo, and we do in Canada, so that must be the answer.

Speaking of water and earlier, rain, I just have to fill you in on the most recent weather patterns here. We have had some of the loudest, windiest rainstorms here that I've ever seen. Just the other day, Tris was at the golf course and I was sitting on our foyer floor, looking outside, when 3 bolts of lightening came down in front of me, two doors across from our house, and hit a lightening rod. With those bolts came some earth-shaking, teeth-rattling thunder, and, I must admit, a few screams from within our home. Screams of "omygoodnessdidyousee/hearthatitwasincredibleandsoscaryithitthelighteningrod!!" amongst some laughter. Our helper came into the foyer with dinner-plate sized eyes (JUST like the dahlia), and our driver ran into our kitchen, not wanting to go back outside. Needless to say, I cancelled the appointment I had been heading out the door to. As for Tris at the golf course, he heard the same and picked up his ball (without putting, even!!), grabbed his clubs, and headed for cover.

It's never boring here, and there's always a story to tell.

Thanks for reading.