First of all, thanks to Linz for creating a new design for my blog.  Thanks, Linz!  Even though we are experiencing anything but winter weather (it’s technically summer here, although we are enjoying very mild temperatures), it is nice to think about the winter weather that our family and friends are experiencing this time of year; thus, the winter blog design.   We even had hot chocolate tonight, since it was a chilly 69 degrees.

The past week has been a bit unpredicatable…okay, more than a bit.  Out of the last 8 days, yesterday was the only day in which our electricity stayed on most of the day, and even then it went off for a little while in the evening.  It has been impossible to plan any household work which requires electricity.  We do have a generator, but it is not designed to carry the household power load.  I’ve really been working on not being so frustrated about the power, and when one task gets diverted because of no power, I try to simply go to another one that does not rely on power.  I still have my moments, but I’m working on not being bothered.   In spite of all the inconvenience, we have much to be thankful for.  Just to name a few:

• We’ve had more water these last several weeks.
• We are healthy.
• We’ve been safe from harm.
• We’ve been blessed with a well-stocked pantry, fridge and freezer.
• We have plenty of clothing.
• We know we have friends and family praying for us regularly.

So, if you ever get discouraged about things in life that are frustrating or even irritating, try to keep things in perspective, and remember all the good things that you’ve got going for you.

On to other things….we’ve been quite busy.  ACSOP graduation was last Saturday, and I made a cake plus 63 (yes, I counted them) cupcakes.  George and the boys have been trying to get a trailer fixed up and ready to use for our move. George and Jacob had a VERY long day today with a round trip to Nairobi.  They left this morning at 1:45 a.m. and were home by about 3:30 this afternoon.  I can’t believe they are still awake!

I’ve got a quilt in the quilting frame; one I’m working on for Linz.  I’ve also got a quick project going of a quilted table runner.  Today I roasted three chickens, cooked some stew meat, made a marinade and got some chicken legs soaking in that.  I wiped down the front porch and our kitchen floor (on hands and knees, thank you very much). Tomorrow I’ll do some baking and figure out what I want to make with 3 kilos of ground beef (known as minced beef here).  I’m trying to get a few extra things cooked up for the Samfords, who are arriving back home this weekend. I also need to cut up some green beans and get them in the freezer.

We ate supper outside this evening.  It was very pleasant and it was early enough so that the skeeters weren’t a problem.  That’s the first time we’ve done that in a long while, but we need to do it more often.

George and the boys, and hopefully Carey, will make a trip to Iringa next week, in order to look for housing.  We’d love to get moved by the end of the year, though that is probably pushing it a bit. We’ll see what this trip unfolds before daring to make any time projections. Yet another opportunity to practice patience!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!