Today was probably the most "normal" day we've had since Janice and the kids deserted us. We essentially did school work all day and I was able to get quite a bit done with the Welcome Center's accounting program.
Celine, our domestic help, made hamburgers and french fries for lunch today and that was a blessing. The kids and I gobbled them up in record time. We don't often get them so whenever we do we devour them.
The highlight of the day was seeing my sweet hearted 15 year old son sit out front with the Chadian kids and show them things in books and talk with them in French and Arabic. He's quite gifted when it comes to language. He was so kind and gentle with them.
The low point of the day was watching Esther suffer with some intestinal bug of some sort. Poor thing complained about a sore tummy and cramping all day long. She's was also running a temperature. It is no fun for the kids to be sick. It's doubly bad when mom isn't here to helpl them through the pain.
Until tomorrow.
sf
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Day #7
We had electricity for the entire day! What a blessing.
I can tell you that I am doing a poor impersonation of Janice. We don't eat at any set time. I don't require the kids to do their schoolwork. Heck, they don't even need to get dressed if they don't want to.
It was well into the 100's today. Probably about 110 or so.
As I type this, all of the kids are sacked out in the front room except for Emma. She's gonna sleep with me tonight.
Payton has been complaining of a sore back. Wonder what that's about.
Keturah has what looks like an ingrown hair on her arm.
And, Emma has been feeling sick off and on for a few days.
Highlight of the day was our trip into town to our favorite bakery where all of the kids ordered breakfast this morning. I love going places with the kids and getting funny looks from people.
Low point of the day was discovering that our newly purchased 1 Terabyte portable hard drive no longer works. It has all of our family photos and movies on it. What makes it such a dissapointing discovery is that it replaced, at a great cost, another hard drive that quit working. I surely hope we can revive it without sending it back to the company that salvaged the data from the older hard drive. And to think, we had used the thing the night before to watch a movie. Yikes.
Until tomorrow,
sf
I can tell you that I am doing a poor impersonation of Janice. We don't eat at any set time. I don't require the kids to do their schoolwork. Heck, they don't even need to get dressed if they don't want to.
It was well into the 100's today. Probably about 110 or so.
As I type this, all of the kids are sacked out in the front room except for Emma. She's gonna sleep with me tonight.
Payton has been complaining of a sore back. Wonder what that's about.
Keturah has what looks like an ingrown hair on her arm.
And, Emma has been feeling sick off and on for a few days.
Highlight of the day was our trip into town to our favorite bakery where all of the kids ordered breakfast this morning. I love going places with the kids and getting funny looks from people.
Low point of the day was discovering that our newly purchased 1 Terabyte portable hard drive no longer works. It has all of our family photos and movies on it. What makes it such a dissapointing discovery is that it replaced, at a great cost, another hard drive that quit working. I surely hope we can revive it without sending it back to the company that salvaged the data from the older hard drive. And to think, we had used the thing the night before to watch a movie. Yikes.
Until tomorrow,
sf
Monday, May 25, 2009
Day #6
Last night several of the kids slept outside because the generator wasn't working. Well, tonight there is no need for that as of 3 PM this afternoon the generator is up and running. Unfortunately, the fix is only temporary as our mechanic essentially hot wired it by bypassing the computer controls. Seems there's an electrical system short somewhere b/t the motor and the control cabinet. Tomorrow, our elecrtrician will be coming to do a full system diagnostic (and hopefully repair it for good).
Talked with Janice tonight. Man, was it ever good to hear her silky voice. I can't believe how much I miss her and the kids. Unfortunately, her condition isn't improving so tomorrow it is back to the doctor for a change in medication. Liddy's illness is still a mystery so she's going back to the doctor as well.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, Esther's on day 4 of basically running around naked all day long. She really doesn't like the heat!!!
Highlight of the day was hearing the noisy hum of the generator at long last.
Low point of the day was the re-recognition that I'm here and Janice is there and there's nothing I can do about it.
Until tomorrow.
sf
Talked with Janice tonight. Man, was it ever good to hear her silky voice. I can't believe how much I miss her and the kids. Unfortunately, her condition isn't improving so tomorrow it is back to the doctor for a change in medication. Liddy's illness is still a mystery so she's going back to the doctor as well.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, Esther's on day 4 of basically running around naked all day long. She really doesn't like the heat!!!
Highlight of the day was hearing the noisy hum of the generator at long last.
Low point of the day was the re-recognition that I'm here and Janice is there and there's nothing I can do about it.
Until tomorrow.
sf
SURPRISE
This is what you get when you don't tell your Mother you are stopping by for a visit from Africa!Sunday, May 24, 2009
Day #5
Today was probably the longest and hottest day for us since we've been here. Not only are Janice and the kids not here, but our generator (and the smaller back-up generator) aren't working right now. So, that means that we've been without electricity for many hours today. Tonight, we're trying the battery system to see if we can at least keep the fans turning throughout the night.
Esther again went most of the day without clothes on. She even ran around the yard for about 45 minutes, with Tawnee, buck naked. First thing she wanted this morning was to take a cold bath. Poor thing doesn't do the heat very well.
Tonight we went into town with some friends who blessed us by buying us dinner and giving us about 2 hours of A/C. What a treat!!!
Highlight of the day was the dinner and A/C.
Low point of of the day was waking up at 4 AM as the power turned off thanks to the backup generator giving up the ghost. I think the best thing to do with it is to put it in a very large hole. Our mechanic thinks it can be fixed. We'll see.
Until next time.
sf
Esther again went most of the day without clothes on. She even ran around the yard for about 45 minutes, with Tawnee, buck naked. First thing she wanted this morning was to take a cold bath. Poor thing doesn't do the heat very well.
Tonight we went into town with some friends who blessed us by buying us dinner and giving us about 2 hours of A/C. What a treat!!!
Highlight of the day was the dinner and A/C.
Low point of of the day was waking up at 4 AM as the power turned off thanks to the backup generator giving up the ghost. I think the best thing to do with it is to put it in a very large hole. Our mechanic thinks it can be fixed. We'll see.
Until next time.
sf
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Day #4
The big 30 KVA generator is still not running. So today we are operating with our smaller back-up generator. It is smaller in every sense of the word except in its consumption of diesel. We have to put about 7 liters of diesel in it every 2 hours. Makes for a fun night. Its radiator leaks like a sieve so we have McGyvered a hose to the open radiator. Said hose is left on at a trickel. Works well. Our electrician thinks he's found the problem with our big generator and will attempt to purchase the part tomorrow. I sure hope he is able to do so.
The wife of one of our guards had a baby this past week. Tomorrow he's having a naming party at 4 PM. I was invited. So were the kids. After a family poll it was decided that we are not going. Seems as though the kids don't really have the desire to stray too far from the house since momma's gone. Can't say that I blame them.
Highlight of the day was having electricity for the past 24 hours. What a blessing.
Low point of the day was the 2+ hours it took to purchase 5 barrels of diesel and get it put away in the diesel room. My friend Dan helped me. By the time we got done we were covered with dirt and diesel and we smelled really badly too.
Until next time.
sf
The wife of one of our guards had a baby this past week. Tomorrow he's having a naming party at 4 PM. I was invited. So were the kids. After a family poll it was decided that we are not going. Seems as though the kids don't really have the desire to stray too far from the house since momma's gone. Can't say that I blame them.
Highlight of the day was having electricity for the past 24 hours. What a blessing.
Low point of the day was the 2+ hours it took to purchase 5 barrels of diesel and get it put away in the diesel room. My friend Dan helped me. By the time we got done we were covered with dirt and diesel and we smelled really badly too.
Until next time.
sf
Day #3
Today was fairly normal for us. Kids did homework and played. In the evening we watched a movie with some friends. Intermingled with all of that was several hours without electricity as our generator is not working at the moment. Our mechanic thinks it is one problem. Our electrrician thinks it is another. I really don't care what the problem is so long as it gets fixed.
Tomorrow holds great promise as they'll both be here at some point to diagnose and treat the problem.
Speaking of diagnosing and treating.... latest word on Liddy is that the doctors aren't sure what she has, if anything, since tests are coming back normal. I'm not sure I buy their conclusion at this point since she's been suffering with "nothing" for almost 3 months now. She will most likely not spend tonight in the hospital which I am sure will make both her and Janice very happy. As for Janice, she reports that she's actually feeling a bit better. Perhaps, just maybe, she'll see marked improvement soon.
Highlight of the day: There are 2. One was Ethan asking me to do homework with him. The other was seeing Keturah start working on next year's school books. She spent so much time working today that it reminded me of Alex during this past school year.
Low point of the day: Getting up at 3 AM to put diesel in the generator. (It was working then.) Didn't get back to bed until after 4 AM as I needed to take a shower and I called Janice.
Until tomorrow.
sf
Tomorrow holds great promise as they'll both be here at some point to diagnose and treat the problem.
Speaking of diagnosing and treating.... latest word on Liddy is that the doctors aren't sure what she has, if anything, since tests are coming back normal. I'm not sure I buy their conclusion at this point since she's been suffering with "nothing" for almost 3 months now. She will most likely not spend tonight in the hospital which I am sure will make both her and Janice very happy. As for Janice, she reports that she's actually feeling a bit better. Perhaps, just maybe, she'll see marked improvement soon.
Highlight of the day: There are 2. One was Ethan asking me to do homework with him. The other was seeing Keturah start working on next year's school books. She spent so much time working today that it reminded me of Alex during this past school year.
Low point of the day: Getting up at 3 AM to put diesel in the generator. (It was working then.) Didn't get back to bed until after 4 AM as I needed to take a shower and I called Janice.
Until tomorrow.
sf
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