Subtitle to this blog entry: You know you're tired when losing a bowl of popcorn is traumatic...
Hi everyone!
Lesley here, wanting to say hello to loved ones, friends, ANYONE who will listen! whew, I'm wiped: Maybe the following is why.
Just completed our third week of school. Last night was Back to school night. Open House type of deal. Parents come to visit teachers. Teachers present their classrooms and course outlines. Some parents come, some don't. Teacher's get mildly stressed. Lesley was there as a parent and a teacher. Kindergarten presentation was excellent. Maya had work in her desk. She is actually doing stuff there! Mr. Bridell loves teaching Julia. Is having a bit of trouble keeping her organized. Welcome to the club! Lesley normally goes to bible study on Friday's after school. Wouldn't miss it for the world. Had to cut short Bible study because of Back to school night. Short supper, long evening. During the introductions, the elementary music teacher was not introduced as part of the elementary staff. Lesley not impressed. Dean was fine with it. OK, moving on...
Dean and Dan trying to get Sureyah ( Logos Grad) into Canada, to study at Trinity Western University. Scholarships in place. Funding in place. many doors open. This week, Sureyah goes by himself to Bangkok, to Canadian Embassy. First time out of Cambodia and he's on his own. More paperwork needed. Needs health check up. Embassy wants to send him back to Cambodia for doctor. Dan says get medical done in Bangkok. Dan tries to Pay hospital with Credit card. Won't work. Tried to send money through Western Union. Machine eats his card! Sureyah needs cheaper lodging. Finds cheaper lodging. Embassy says it's a 4 week wait for medical and all papers! Sureyah is crushed (school starts in two weeks. Plain ticket to Canada booked for one week.) All this is still currently unresolved. Please Lord, let him be in Canada for the FIRST day of school!!!
Househelper Sokhom has had a bad week. Can't work Wednesday, as Brother is sick. Didn't know she had a brother. Thought she had 4 sisters. One sister died last year. Thursday she comes to work. Says brother has died. Needs friday off for funeral. Is very sad. Cooks two meals for us, for THursday and Friday, and still does all our laundry. I tell a Khmer friend at school that Sokhom is in mourning. She gives me money to give to her. I find out that one is supposed to do this for funerals. We did not give any money when her sister died. She was dropping hints at the time. We give money for this funeral. She was probably hoping to get paid Thursday (early) to help cover costs. I did not think of that. Sokhom made some other small and miniscule slip ups the week before. Was frustrated with her. She offers to pay for the mistakes. I will not take her money. Lesley needs to not get frustrated over a few dollars and double purchases. Deal with it.
The Gr. 1 class is very busy. Very loud. Gr. 1's talk alot. I encourage new Teacher Ms. Cole and we work together. Thursday, there is a kitten lodged somewhere in the ceiling above Gr. 1 room. Kitten cries. And cries. Cries alot and long and very loud. The kids are distracted by the crying. Kids make crying cat sounds. Friday. Kitten cries again. Alot and loud. One of the guards tries to find kitten. It is in the roof, and cannot be reached. Kindergarteners hear the noise all day too. Stuck kitty. Crying kitty. A High school class goes on a field trip to see how silk is made. Student Dipan buys silk. Seller gives him a free kitten. A kitten so young, it's eyes aren't open. This kitty may not make it. Dipan brings back to school and whole school loves small kitten. Next day, Dipan rescues kitty in Gr. 1 ceiling. Dipan now has 2 kitties, he is feeding by syringe. He carries them around school. To class. Kitties cry alot. Everyone wants to hold small kitty. Kitty doesn't look well. By Saturday, the news is that the small kitty has died. Crying kitty from ceiling? Still with Mommy Dipan, so long as we know.
Lesley loses her voice 2 weeks ago. Still enjoys birthday party. No voice all week. Teaching music by CD. Hand actions. Lots of hand signs. Trying to read stories in Library time. Getting frustrated with inabilities. Sunday, Lesley starts to feel sick. Monday getting a cold or flu. Tuesday, too sick to go to school. Stay home. Sleep all day. Maya home too with the runs. Not fun for Kindergarten. Mr. Hein takes over as substitute. Wed. make it to school. Flu/cold moves into head and sinus. By weekend, try to swim underwater. Pressure is intense. Head might explode. Voice gaining, but not strong. Still trying not to talk. Cold moves into chest. Coughing up phlegm. Gross. Sorry for the details. Starting to feel better if only the sore muscles and intense fatigue would go away. Heat not helping. Week three of poor health. Operating at about 80% Driving Lesley crazy. Want to feel rested and wondering how.
Cold and throat causing choking spells. First, in a music store on Saturday. Got a tickle that couldn't cough out. Choking badly. Crying tears from inability to breath. Needed water immediately. Tried to drink. Freaking Stephanie out. can't talk. Eventually catch my breath and try to explain. Second, at choir practice. (Trying to join an adult choir in PP. Can't even sing due to laryngitis. Go anyways.) Take a sip of water and it goes down the wrong tube. Immediately start to cough and choke. Run out of rehearsal. Can't get air in AT ALL. Chest is heavy with phlegm. water is now also in lungs. CAN"T GET AIR iN AT ALL, and I'm not kidding. Outside, by myself, choking. Almost pass out. Wheeze in air for 20 seconds. Life flashes before my eyes, seriously. Start to get oxygen. Sit outside for 10 minutes. Breath in. Breath out. Thankful to breath. Traumatized and shaking.
Working at and enjoying new Library job. Teacher comes in looking for DVD's from last year. Can't find DVD's. Slightly upset that we can't find DVD's. Start to search the cupboards. Ly climbs up to top cupboard with boxes. Ly starts to cry "oh no!" Brings down boxes. Termites have eaten textbooks. LOTS of textbooks. Brand new, hard cover, Microsoft office 2007 textbooks for this year. Eaten. Some completely. Pages chewed up. Covers off and crumbling. 10 books salvagable. 20 in the garbage. A tremendous shame. So hard to get textbooks out here. So hard and so sad. What a waste. Took pictures of bugs, bugs and more bugs. Termites crawling all over them, everywhere! More than maddening. And unbelievable.
There is no air con in the library. Actually there is, but if we run it, it blows the power for the whole building. 2 librarians, one fan. Get a second fan from music room. It sort of works. Stops and starts. Only blows on my legs. I'm sweating all the time in the library. Putting away books is a work out. Ly never seems to sweat! The kids come in. They are hot. Need the fan on them too. Our library also has the staff photocopier in it. Very distracting to run library while photocopier is copying...
Trying to get to school everyday on time. Need to be there at 7:30 for devotions. Must leave the house at 7:10. No problem. 7:00. Finish eating. "Clear your dishes." 7:01. Gather snacks, get vitamins. make sure all have water and waterbottles. 7:05. Brush teeth. Pack bag. get keys out to unlock gate. "Julia, where are you?" Call again for Julia. Julia is looking for something. Steph is waiting. Maya needs hair brushed. 7:07. Try to unlock gate. Julia calls if we know where her something is. No, we do not. You should have packed the night before. Put water into bag. Make sure Maya's snack is in bag. Find out who hasn't eaten vitamin. Yell at Steph to clear her spot. Milk is still out. Put cereals away. 7:10. Need to leave now. Julia can't find her runners. Steph runs upstairs for something. Maya waiting. Put on your helmet, Maya. Maya tried to wear runners. Change your shoes Maya. Dean shaving in the bathroom. "Maya have you been to the bathroom?" Maya needs to go to the bathroom. Take shoes off. Dean brushing teeth while Maya using bathroom. Julia still not down. "Hurry up Julia!" Julia comes down. Needs to brush teeth, but bathroom busy. Mom unlocks gate and starts to move bikes out. 7:15. "If we do not leave now, we will be late." Steph gets on bike and waits. Maya waits for Daddy on the moto. Julia is almost ready. Still needs runners. Julia needs snack. Julia gets her water bottle. 7:18. I'm not waiting anymore. Dean leaves on moto with Maya. Julia gets packed on bike. Mom gets off bike to lock gate. Sokhom shows up. She needs to ask questions. 7:21. Start pedaling like a madperson to get to school on time. Traffic is busy. Cross busy street successfully. Arrive at school 7:29. Miracle. Park bikes. Wait for girls. Enter school property. Go directly to devotional room. Sit down and listen.....
Our new car. It's a love/hate thing. Love having a vehicle for the rain, and long distances. Hate actually having to drive it in PP traffic. Very stressful. There are no lanes. Motos fly around you. You get stuck waiting all the time. Apparently no working fuel gage on car. It's been on empty since we got it. I fill it up. so empty, have to stop at $50 on fill! Not impressed. (seems like nothing to North American folk, but when a fill on the moto is $2.70 at best, $50 is a big chunk of money!!!) Gauge goes up! maybe it does work--just needs gas in the tank to register! Car gone for 2 weeks, getting body work done. Ok, didn't need it anyways. Not sure if we'll ever get our car back. 2 weeks later, no phone call, no warning, two guys waiting outside our gate. Car is returned and fixed. They want money. I won't pay. Dean is not around, he's made all the deals, I have NO idea who these two guys really are. Sorry, you have to wait until my husband comes home. They're not impressed. Been waiting a long time already. Well, maybe you should PHONE that the car is ready, or let us know you'll be "delivering" it back. Strange. They get their money next day.
Car is finicky. Battery troubles. Miscellaneous times it won't start. All because I'm taking the key out the wrong way, and leaving lights on in car. Got it. Next time it barely starts on way to bible study. Turning over, won't catch. Car stalls just outside our gate before I park it. Not impressed. Dean comes out and starts it. Is it me? Today, we drive to mall for supper and groceries. I drive for practice. Car working fine. Air con good. Everybody happy. We turn into parkade, I stall car, and it DIES, completely. No life at all. Won't turn over. No click, nothing. Dean pushes wife and 3 kids into nearest parking spot. Dead. Look under the hood. Looks fishy with battery wires, but no solution. We decide to eat enjoyable burgers and not think about car for a half an hour. Eat. Half an hour is up. What to do? Look in mall for jumper cables. Sorry, no Canadian Tire. Go back down to car. Nothing. Decide to push it out to see if it starts on the run. Julia and Les (complete in skirt) push as HARD as they can, backing Dean up. Stephi directing traffic! Once, twice, three times a charm. Car starts. Les jumps up and down in parkade in glee. No electrical. I mean, not a lick of headlights, guages, air con, nothing. nada. dead. We decide to forget groceries and just try to make it HOME. (Sorry, no BCAA here!) Dean drives home with no lights. IT's a good thing that's not necessarily illegal in Cambodia. Follow other cars for lights. Keep opening doors at stops to get in air. Air is not fresh. It is a about 80% carbon monoxide from all the idling exhaust at stops. We all choke in car. Maya is sweating. Falls asleep. Half way home, all the electrical kicks in! LIghts! Air con! Definitely the battery. We make it home (PRAISE GOD!). Car will not start in driveway. At least, home. Will work on repairs and new battery tomorrow. Sigh....
Weary. Feeling weary. Everything seems to be a big task, takes lots of time. School is enjoyable, but collapse in exhaustion every day at 8;30 pm. Monday after school: staff meeting. Lesley ditches kids. Tuesday after school: 2 piano lessons: Les asks another teacher to watch Maya. Wed. after school: Aerobics. Can't get out of library in enough time to get to 4:30 aerobics. (still no energy for exercise.) Thursday after school: race to orthodontist. Steph needs adjustment to her appliance. Come back again in an hour. Take all kids home, run back with STeph. Dentist fiddles for 30 minutes with adjustments, only to finally realize have to start all over again with new appliance. Must come back in a week. Friday after school: bible study, shortened, run home, pick up bread on way home. Guy doesn't speak english. Won't sell me bread off his cart (only sandwiches). Finally sells me two baguettes. I'm ticked. Home late, back to school for open house/parent night. Kids home alone, AGAIN. Hmmmm....
Finally get home, tired out but the evening went well. Clean up the breakfast and supper dishes (No Sokhom, remember? Real life!) Finish dishes. Craving popcorn. Found kernels a few weeks back at a store. Hard to find out here. Must make popcorn. Use oil in pan. First batch ok, second batch burns a bit. Kids come down and start eating my popcorn. I, as a good mother, share. Make a bit more popcorn. 20 minutes making popcorn. (This is going to be so good!!!) Salt it up, pour beverage for Dean and myself. 2 beverages = no hand to carry the popcorn. "Steph, would you carry the popcorn upstairs?" Sure. Turn my back. Hear the sound. Crash. Popcorn all over the floor!!! We all freeze, and stare, just like in the movies, with mouths open. Can't say a thing. I just walk away and go upstairs.
Eventually we laugh. It was pretty funny. Steph felt so bad. Seems like these small difficulties add up over time: Health, transportation, work, kids, marriage, technical difficulties, cats, termites, popcorn! It's all working together to build character. Praying about it? Not enough, I'm afraid, and there the problem really lies. Oh for more quiet time, proper priorities, rather than good intentions. Good thing we're all a work in progress.
I hope you've read this and had a good laugh. If you can relate to anything today, I understand your pain and meet you there! It's all true, every last word of it. It's just that kind of a place out here. Everything takes enormous amounts of energy, that the heat alone can drain out of you quickly, never mind short term illness, cultural frustrations, mechanical difficulties, you name it!
Anyways, thanks for listening and letting me vent. Sorry if it sounds like complaining. It's not meant to. Please stay in touch with us. I know many of you are enjoying your last few days and weeks of summer holidays. I hope they are enjoyable. Please send us e-mails if you can, we love to hear from you all. I know it's a two way street, we need to do more reaching out, too. But if you got the impression from us this summer that we're doing "great" and we're handling stuff real well, so now we don't "need" you, THAT WAS A MISTAKE! Please, we need our loves ones and family to stay in touch and pray for us! thanks for all that you do. Take care all!
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