One more day

Rob will be back tomorrow afternoon. As he's returning while I'm still working with a Greek small group, I've got a classmate picking him up from the airport for me.

Small groups went OK today. The one in the morning was a little rougher than the one in the afternoon. I think that's because I brought breakfast with me to class but didn't actually eat it. I'll try not to do that tomorrow. The afternoon was more relaxed; I started to get into the flow of things. I actually stood most of the time, writing on the board. Perhaps having something to do with my hands helped. Plus, it made me feel more teacheresque. Though I still sweated right through my T-shirt.

Got a new student ID this morning, to go with my new name. Hopefully, they'll accept that as a form of ID at the passport application office.

Belated birthday greetings

Happy Birthmonth, June!

Yeah, I remembered the day of. Then, I realized just then that I hadn't put up a fun picture of the birthday person, like I've done from time to time.

I like this shot alot, from our wedding day. That's Larry (Rob's brother) and Sammy (Larry's son) with June (Rob's mother).

Second day of school

I'm pretty excited ... almost too excited. The first time we all got together was Sunday night, at the ice cream social. Ryan and I put out all the stuff for making sundaes and cleaned up afterwards. The students and other LTSS people came to meet and greet. I got really jazzed, had to wind down over a few hours when I got home. I don't know what it is about being responsible for doing things in groups that gets me adrenals pumping like they do. Like, I can almost feel the buzzing in my fingertips and forehead. It's not really a nervousness, per se. It's more of a rush thing. The whole time, I can feel the impending crash and, somewhere along the way, I get the sudden realization that I'm going to collapse when I get home. I can only sustain the whole socialness-with-total-strangers thing for a few hours. And thoughts don't necessarily connect fluidly the way I wish they might. I can't really think of a more sensible way of saying that. It's just that multi-tasking becomes totally impossible when I'm in that mode. And if I get sidetracked, something gets forgotten, almost invariably.

This has been most noticeable since we started doing partnership development. Rob and I have both noticed that, after being at a church and interacting with people for several solid hours, we just want to go home or to a hotel room and not talk for a long time. And we want to do something harmless and mindless, usually computer games of some kind, just until the muscles relax, the brain stops spinning and the body can sleep. My inclination is that it is an introvert thing.

Well, I've been like it both days, after being a teaching assistant. After an hour and a half this afternoon in the small group, I just wanted to come home and watch Commander-in-Chief, streaming online. Finished out the season, in fact. Though I did finish cleaning the apartment while I was watching. And I did the Greek homework for Thursday's small group sessions so I'm ahead on that. I hope to finish the week's homework tomorrow so that I can fully enjoy Rob's return on Thursday.

Of course, he'll probably be sleeping away whatever is left of Thursday, once he gets back to the apartment, having been travelling since early Wednesday. But I've been skimping on sleep myself lately. Perhaps I'll sleep the rest of Thursday away with him.

The Legend of the Sky Kingdom

I read about this film on a plane, kept the magazine for this article, just so I'd remember the name of the movie for us to track it down later. Maybe we can find and watch it when we get to Africa.

Free shipping on photo stamps, deal on vitamins

This deal on Photo Stamps will end on June 30, though. Enter promo code dads.

Vitacost is offering 5% off on a vitamin order, promotion code PD66AWB6. Again, expires June 30. Shipping is always $4.99 for the whole order.

Why am I posting this? Because I'm trying to clean the apartment before Rob gets back and I'm throwing away scraps of paper with info on it, including deal flyers. But, here, they're just wasted digital space.

Blowfish baseball games

Info on their games at Capital City Stadium and abroad, including ticket purchase. Ryan and I are looking into taking the Summer Greekers to a game on July 4.

Greek vocabulary memory aids

I have uploaded the Greek flashcard program and the supplementary database of vocabulary organized by chapters in the Croy textbook to a server.

Alas, I only got as far as Lesson 24, which is still enough vocab to hold people over until July 24.

Click the following links to download:

• Greek flashcard program
• Croy vocab database

I originally got the program from Dr. Enermalm's website, here.

The flashcard system that Jeff developed will be available soon at Dr. Peterson's Summer Greek webpage.

more on Rob

[from an email from Rob]
Shawn is even now trying to get me a doctor's note that says that because of my penicillin alergy, I shouldn't get a polio vaccine. My records show me as up to date--most people get just one shot and one booster. I have four shots and a booster. But Namibia is still wanting people to get them. I have a really bad intuition about getting the vaccine. Am hoping the doctor will write me a note and that I'll have to worry about it no further.

Nothing else to report. I'm at the Bible House today. Sometime today we're going to debrief the KKG survey taken at the beginning of the month and at about noon (just over an hour from when I'm writing this), we'll have a coffee and cake reception for everyone who participated in the song and drama workshop.

The Ambiguity of 'Anthropos'

This study of the Greek word 'anthropos' is worth a look-see. I hadn't seen this particular argument before.

NOTE: I haven't checked the references or, frankly, read the whole thing so I'm not vouching for this article, just pointing it out. I just tripped over it while looking for something else and thought I'd make a note of it to check out later. Feel free to add a comment to this posting on anything that you find in it.

For everything else ...

I got "inspired" with a fun Powerpoint idea for Summer Greek and just had to come home and throw it together, real quick. If you have Powerpoint on your computer, you can save it to your computer and/or view it by clicking here:

SCIFI.COM | Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King

One of my sisters, Hope, recommended that Rob and I watch Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, so I'm blogging the official site so I don't forget.

Biblical Greek: QUIA Games

Found an online resource for games to help students learn Greek; flashcards, matching, concentration and the like.

Why dry-clean?

I hauled out some pants that are "dry-clean only" to wear tonight and they were all crumpled from the trip to the West coast a couple of weeks ago. I left our clothes iron in WA so I wasn't sure what I was going to do for my meeting with Ebenezer's outreach committee in a couple of hours. So, I threw them in the dryer for 10 minutes. They straightened out perfectly! Very pleased, me.

Foreign Entry Requirements

Got this email from Rob yesterday:

So far a printout of the penicillin allergy webpage has served me well. No one is forcing anyone to take the vaccine; there's just too many people lining up to get it. The only real issue now is if they'll let me leave the country.

From the travel.state.gov website: "IMMUNIZATIONS: Under the International Health Regulations adopted by the World Health Organization, a country may require International Certificates of Vaccination against yellow fever, especially if you are traveling from an area of the world that is infected with yellow fever. Prophylactic medication for malaria and certain other preventive measures are advisable for travel to some countries. No immunizations are required to return to the United States. Detailed health information may be obtained from your local healthcare provider or by contacting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, telephone 1-877- 394-8747 or Internet:www.cdc.gov."

So, it looks like Rob probably won't have to be vaccinated at the airport after all. Whew!

Vaccination schedule

Shock About the Return of Polio: "The first round of the National Polio Campaigns runs from June 21-23, the second one from July 18-20th, while the last one scheduled for August 22-24 is for all children under the age of five."

Seems weird to keep the children until last. But, it's been almost exclusively adults who have been coming down with polio so far so I guess adults are actually the high-risk group, for some reason.

I wonder if anyone is checking to see what all these adults have in common besides, currently, polio. "Constant Gardener", anyone?

Way to go, Jilly!

Eyewitness News - Smart Woman: This is a news story on the art and science of lipsology, as developed by Rob's aunt, Jill Eddy. She's printed me several times now; it's accurate.

Bodies are very smart things. People who can figure out what bodies are saying? They're pretty smart too, I think.

Polio situation update

I just got this email from Rob:

Sni,

I'm glad you sent out those links. I just read the medinfo site which says that you shouldn't get the booster if you have a severe allergy to penicillin. I wouldn't have known that otherwise. That might also explain why there's no record of me receiving it as a teenager; by that point it would have been too risky.

I'm being very careful with what I come in contact with. Thanks for sending the prayer request, though. The Lord is watching out for all of us here. Don't worry. I've been doing everything I can as well. Have been rubbing lemon oil on my hands after contact with anything with a remote possiblity of being infected (ie, after shaking hands). Only drinking double-filtered water (again, with lemon) and not using toilets in public places.

Tomorrow is my last day in Opuwo. Travelling back to Windhoek on Thursday.

Rob

So, this was a complication I hadn't tripped over. I'm doing more digging even now. Found one pdf document that refutes the penicillin allergy danger possibility. A site that the CDC referred me to says that the risk is to people who "who had a life-threatening allergic reaction to the antibiotics neomycin, streptomycin, or polymyxin B". That doesn't look like it includes penicillin.

Polio Vaccine | Vaccine Education Center

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: What were the differences between the polio shot (IPV) and polio drops (OPV)?

"Each vaccine recommended for use against polio had its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of the OPV was that it was almost 100 percent effective at preventing polio. Also, because the vaccine virus was present in the stool, about 25 percent of people who came in contact with someone who was immunized, would also be immunized (this is called contact immunity).

In the early 1960s, when immunization rates in this country were low, contact immunity was an important feature of OPV. However, despite OPV's 40 years of success, there was an extremely rare but frighteningly dangerous side effect: permanent paralysis. Paralysis caused by OPV occurred in about one of every 750,000 people after taking the first doses of the vaccine. Since 1979, the time when natural polio was eliminated from the United States, OPV caused about six to eight cases of paralysis each year.

The IPV form, now recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), does not, and cannot cause paralysis. But the original IPV, made in 1955, wasn't a very good vaccine. A few people immunized with at least two doses of the old IPV still caught polio. In the early 1980s, due to advances in protein chemistry and protein purification, a much better inactivated polio vaccine was made. This new IPV obviated concerns about the old IPV and has been the only polio vaccine recommended for use in the United States since 1998."

This is a bit of good news ... the contact immunity concept. So, supposing they do make Rob take OPV, I'd probably be exposed just enough to become more immune.

From a CDC website link

NNii. Vaccine Information: "Two types of polio vaccine (OPV, oral polio vaccine, and IPV, inactivated polio vaccine) were created in the 1950s. Both were highly effective in preventing polio. Initially OPV was preferred because it helped to increase community immunity to polio.

However, about 1 out of 2.4 million doses of OPV distributed in the United States actually caused vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP). In an effort to reduce this terrible side effect, a new polio vaccine schedule was recommended in 1997 (two doses of IPV followed by two doses of OPV). The new schedule decreased, but did not guarantee elimination, of vaccine-induced paralytic polio; so, effective in the year 2000, an all-IPV schedule was recommended, and OPV is no longer administered in the U.S. OPV continues to be used in countries where wild polio infections still occur."

It's the mOPV form that is about to be distributed in Namibia.

Polio prevention & treatment

Just doing a little digging into polio management information:

- treatment using massive doses of vitamin C
- info on the incubation period and symptoms
- use of pleconaril for 16 days to kill the virus
- more on vitamin C, caution against exercise if infected
- how to test for infection
- the Mayo Clinic info page

Rob's immunization record

Here is Rob's record:





June gave me a bunch of his health records from when he was a baby when we were visiting them for Christmas one year. She also kept the doctor's order for the vaccines:



Thank God for mothers! And, frankly, it makes me want to never throw away a piece of paper ever again.

Rob's email: 6.19.2006

Hi Sni,

I don't know if you've heard. It doesn't seem to be making international news. But do a few online searches and you'll come up with it. Namibia is currently experiencing an actual polio epidemic. To hault the spread of the disease, they're having mandatory vaccinations of everyone in the country (2.5 million people, according to one report I read) on Wednesday. I don't know if I've had the polio booster already or what affect there will be if I have a vaccination having already received the booster. What I need for you to do is contact my mom and find out if I've been vaccinated for polio and between the two of you see if you can locate a document which proves this. If I can't show that I'm "up to date" for polio, I'll be forced to be vaccinated... if not on Wednesday, then as a condition for leaving the country (sounds like a lot of fun, getting a shot at the airport, eh). Any kind of official looking document with my name and record of polio vaccination can be scanned and emailed to me. I can print it at the translation office here in Opuwo and carry it around with me for the rest of my trip.

So, that's my task right now ... track down Rob's vaccination info and get that taken care of. More to blog later ...

Midnight ramblings

The tire looks fine, or it did earlier today, anyhow. I'm going to walk to church tomorrow morning (there's a Lutheran church on my block) and then drive to Michelle's in the afternoon. It'll be a test. If I make it to her place no problem, the tire will be safe until Rob gets home. If it flattens on the trip, I'll go to the Firestone. Rob did call Firestone from Africa on my behalf, after all.

Today was an official rest day. It was tough to do, with all the contacting I need to do. But I couldn't be calling pastors today anyway. First thing Monday AM, I can do more calls. By my calculations, there were 22 area pastors that I never spoke to, either because my message on their answering machine (or with a person) wasn't responded to or there was no answer repeatedly at their number. I'll give them a ring on Monday. There were a few that were on vacation or attending weddings/funerals as well that need a call.

I do feel weird calling churches aroung here though when I was at synod assembly. I thought being there would open up more opportunities for us. Like, I'll be calling pastors who may have walked right by my table and had not a lick of interest. Wouldn't they have stopped to talk to me if they were interested? Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong. I believe in what Rob and I are trying to raise finds to do. I wish I had more faith that churches would care enough about reaching people through Bible translation to put their treasure where their heart is. This "partnership development" experience can be frightfully bi-polar sometimes. I can be talking to someone one minute who gets visibly animated and excited at the prospect of Bible translation, asks to keep in touch before I have a chance to even show them the prayer letter sign-up sheet. That's encouraging. Then, a pastor comes up to me and tells me that he's challenging his congregation members to make monthly committments ... and I believe him because his church handed us a check on our first visit. That's encouraging. But this is followed immediately by several people wandering past my display who won't even make eye contact or return my smile, presumably for fear that I might require something of them. Shyness? Personal problems unrelated to me? Perhaps I take it too personally. But when I'm one of 2 people in a small hallway and they act like I'm not there when I smile and say "hi", well ... that's discouraging. When I call a church and the phone-answerer says, "We don't accept solicitations," as if I had just tried to hawk a fake Rolex on them, that's discouraging.

Boy, I just slipped into whine and complain mode. Part of me feels like I shouldn't be quite so honest about the emotional aspect of "partnership development". But part of me is tired of trying to be chipper all the time. I have doubts. I tell myself that these doubts are not in God ... they are in people. I don't know if I can trust people to provide what we need to be able to get to Namibia. Can't God work in spite of people? Sure ... but, frankly, God doesn't write checks. People do. And we have some great supporters, people whose names we see on our donor reports and at the end of emails, cards and letters that give us a little rush of strength. But we have to be at 80% of our support by November and 100% before we can go. And we can't even start getting our start-up fund (car, rent, dishes, etc.) together until our regular support is accounted for. And our current support level is 40% ... that's what the last couple of months were and that's what our overall average is since we started PD last fall. That gives us 4 months for our support level to double from what has developed in the last 10 months.

I guess the thought of that is getting me down. Maybe I'll look at this posting tomorrow or next week and think, "That's too personal ... I should delete that." But I need a miracle. And, tonight, just before midnight, with my husband away for more than a month and it being too late to call anyone, I just feeling like being honest ... with myself, most of all.

Of course, that's what private journals are supposed to be for, right? :)

Laptop heaven

I am soooo happy to have it back! I got it after lunch yesterday. I feel like I can fly! OK, now having typed that, I just feel silly. But, seriously, it's pretty great to have my laptop back. Thanks be to God!

Rob's blog: The Email Excerpts

Rob said that I could put things from his recent emails to me up here, in lieu of blogs ... here they are:

5.31.2006
To clarify, *I* never got lost. I always knew exactly where I was in relation to the park (which was fenced in).

I used all of my available lotion to keep the sunburn at bay, but eventually my neck and nose peeled pretty badly. On the last day in Botswana, I realized I had an aloe plant growing right outside my door. They grow freakishly big in Botswanan soil. Had I realized that, I would have ground a few leaves to goo and rubbed those on my skin. Kedra had a bit of aloe gel, which I've been using, along with lavender oil.

We're doing surveys this week in villages well outside of Windhoek--seeing how closely they're following the radio programs related to the new translation. Today, we stopped at a gem market. There's people who live in corrogated metal shantytowns and spend their days climbing around in the mountains finding various types of crystals and whatnot, which they sell on the side of the road. Something to add to your research project: types of gems and crystals available in Namibia and their relative value... to make sure you get good deals from the gem finders.

I ate a hamburger here yesterday at lunch. The beef tastes different. Raised on wild grass, instead of on chemicals and "feed." Farm practices which would be considered "organic" in the States are normal here.

6.1.2006
Right after this email goes out, I'll be making another trip to the Apple store. If the computer can be fixed, I hope to begin work immediately on a next newsletter. I've written several articles about the Naro project.

6.6.2006
News: the computer people have had my Mac since Friday. They've isolated the problem... the laptop is overheating which is causing a malfunction in the screen. But they aren't sure yet what's causing it or if it can be fixed without too much trouble.

Other news: Shawn just told me that the have a polio outbreak in Namibia. I shouldn't be at risk, but it wouldn't hurt to pray for extra health.

6.7.2006
I got the computer back from the shop today. They ran it through hours of diagnostics (which cost me about $25 US, which was a lot less than it would have cost in the States; services are cheaper here).

[Rob on the weather] It's not the steamy hot Africa of recent imagination. Even when the days are perfectly warm and pleasant, inside buildings it is inexplicably cold. No central heating or air conditioning. I wear a sweater inside and take it off to go outside. The nights are very cold, with no way to heat things up. I'm sitting in my room now with two jackets on. Even though it's only 9:00, I'll be going to bed soon, just because it's too cold to stay outside of the covers.

Kedra let me check email on her computer. I skimmed some of my messages. Recall something about hairstyle. I don't remember the various options. ["Tee hee," giggles Eshinee] I only had a moment to look, because the songwriting workshop was getting going again. Will have to reread and respond later (perhaps later the same day you receive this email). You probably want to be all styled for the assembly, so I won't delay too long.

I *am* having a great time here. This *is* what I was made to do. That said, I'm looking forward to being home again soon. And home, I've learned, is wherever you are also.

I've been here three weeks and neither Brad or Angelina have even called. Next timeI see them, I'm telling them I don't want them to name the baby after me anymore.

6.10.2006
I'm using Shawn's computer. Mine has been having a difficult time getting any kind of performance lately. I have the supersitition that I have a finite number of "reboots" left to me and I'm afraid to use them up.

Last Friday, Kedra and Judy headed up to Angola. Shawn took the day to show me around Windhoek. Got to try one of the local espresso places, look at real estate, price household goods, and shop for cars. The Caddy is not sold in Namibia, but I got a price quote for the nearest equivalent, which I think is called Touren. There's like two cars that look almost identical and have almost identical names... the quote is for the cheaper one.

I have a meeting on Monday with Barney, the director of the Bible Society here. I need to articulate our role to the Bible Society. Also on Monday, in the afternoon, I'll be looking at some of the locally available real estate "for let." There aren't many rental properties here; it's mostly to be purchased.

Tuesday and Wednesday are essentially days off. Again, I hope to be exploring the city and getting a feel for the things we'll need to bring and what we'll need to buy. Like, phones, for example, are very expensive. More than $100 for a land line; we should bring a phone from home. Beds too. Easily $1000 for a decent mattress and boxspring.

On Thursday, I drive north to Oshakati with Shawn. We'll be staying overnight there, then we meet with the ELCN bishop Friday morning. Then, I'll be dropped off at Judy's place in Opuwo either Friday or Saturday.

I'll be "holed up" for a few days in Opuwo. Shawn needs to return to Windhoek and the rest of the Dhimba team is still in Angola. There's some talk of meeting with a local team trying to develop a media program; they wanted some advice on what kind of equipment will best meet their needs. But I'll probably just watch whatever DVDs I borrow from the Boylans for a few days.

When the Angola team returns (Sometime between Sunday and Tuesday), we're going to try to get an impromptu songwriting workshop set up in Dhimba. The two previous "workshops" have found participants so ready to go that Kedra hasn't done any instruction; I still need to see "how it's done."

We'll drive back on Thursday. Friday is a day off.

My last week, Monday and Tuesday will be spent recording the Oshindonga version of "Living in Hope" which is a collection of scriptures giving hope to those suffering with AIDS (though the content is good for anyone in a time of terminal suffering).

My flight leaves Wednesday morning. Kedra and I have the first part of the flight together. We'll meet with some Bible Society leaders in Johannesburg, then fly out separately. And I'll get back Thursday afternoon.

On my computer: because of the deadness of my computer, the KKG editing still hasn't gotten finished. Kedra and I have had to both use her computer, which takes a lot longer.

In other news, the gout, absent for most of this trip (I haven't even opened the second packet of Advil) flared up Friday afternoon. We were going to go rock climbing again today, but I could barely walk last night. It's better today, but still stiff and sore. I think its specifically related to the amount of water I've been drinking. Had very little on Friday, because we were driving around shopping.

Good news for you: cornnuts are sold in the local "Fruit and Veg" store in bulk. Personally, I've gotten hooked on the store's Yogurt Peanuts.

Weird tire

Rob has suggested that the tire may not be flat at all, not in a permanent way. He says that they do this from time to time and that, once filled, they hold for weeks. Other people have mentioned that weird, random flattenings happen in the south, who knows why.

So, it's sitting with air in it at this time, me watching to see if it goes down anymore. It looks OK this morning. I'll do my trip to Ebenezer next week, maybe groceries this week, see what happens.

My laptop should arrive here by Friday; I got JAARS to mail it to me.

I'm much calmer today. Just too much going on yesterday, fresh on the heels of flying across the country twice in less than a week and 2 days of heavy people-interaction. Once I had realized that I was unable to do anything about the car or computer yesterday, it kind of allowed me to sit back and rest for the day, get my juices back for the weekend. Once I get my laptop, I'll be working through the weekend. I've written down (on Pay-Per!!) all the stuff I need to do with it when it gets here.

Flat tire

I get in the car and start to drive to Waxhaw to pick up my laptop. The car feels funny so I stop and take a look at the tires. Sure enough, one looks a little flat. I drive off anyway. By the time I get a few blocks away, I'm definitely noticing a problem, wigglyness. I stop at a gas station. The tire is definitely flat.

I put air in and drive home. So, not only do I have a flat tire but I have no idea what to do about it. And they are under warranty but they're under warranty under a Firestone credit card in Rob's name. I call the company. I'm not authorized to use this card. So, he either needs to call Firestone from Africa and put me on as a user or I wait until he gets home to get it fixed. Like, I have no transportation for the next 2.5 weeks. Either that or I bite the bullet and pay out-of-pocket for a new tire. This is so crappy, I could scream. I may go home and do just that.

Sunset cruise

Shehan's vintage ride, originally uploaded by eshinee.

Shehan took me for a spin around the neighbourhood in this Model A Ford that he restored and "convertiblized". Cool, eh?

Shehan & Rachel

Rachel & Shehan, Portland, Chinese garden, originally uploaded by eshinee.

I've been staying with them since Saturday night. They have a very cool house. The room I'm staying in is a lovely shade of green, with funky bamboo blinds. I slept like a log last night.

I went to their church this morning, St Matthew's Lutheran here in Beaverton, OR. The pastor said I could present at their church in the fall; cool, eh?

Tonight, we'll watch the Frefly pilot. One convert at a time ...

With the not-so-wee doggie

Rachel & Eshinee, Portland, Chinese garden (02), originally uploaded by eshinee.

Outside the Chinese garden

Eshinee, Portland (01), originally uploaded by eshinee.

Looks like I'm further from home than I really am. Note the bag; it was a gifty from the synod assembly that all registrants got. Isn't it pretty?

A walk on the waterfront

Eshinee & Rachel, Portland (02), originally uploaded by eshinee.

Rachel and Shehan took me downtown for an afternoon stroll at the farmer's market and the Rose Parade floats.

At the synod assembly

I guess that's it ... I'm here. I had a good day. My shoes were comfy and I had a chair to sit in so I wasn't all pained at the end of the day. I got 3 mini burgers from room service. They were outrageously priced but just what I needed. First meat I'd had all day.

I met lots of people today who took information to share with their home churches. This time, I was smart and took notes on who I met, what churches they go to. I didn't think to do that at the SC synod assembly.

I'm also drinking coffee again. Not much of a choice; I had a headache when I arrived into Portland yesterday and didn't want to be all miserable. So, I had a latte. Now, I need to keep my coffee levels up so I can be alert and not be rebounding during the assembly.

My friend Rachel, who was at Cross of Christ when we first started going there, lives in Portland now so she is coming to take me to a movie tonight, with her husband. We're going to see Cars. Tomorrow night and Sunday night, I'm going to stay with them. I fly back to Columbia on Monday.

Not such a Beastly day

Here's a link to an interview of Dr. Enermalm, who was my Greek Readings professor this spring. She's talking about the Biblical significance of the number 666.

Click her picture to see the video:

I guess I'm not getting my laptop back before the trip. Sigh.

My perm is pretty fun. I found out last night that the curls are tight enough that I can braid all my hair into one braid and it just stays, without a fastener. I know that they'll loosen but I am enjoying the tiny curls right now.

Continuing with my calls to Portland churches today, once it's 9AM on the west coast. And I have to pack still.

Waiting for Thursday

Rob emailed me with his flight info. He's coming back on June 29, at 2PM.

I should do some laundry and pack tomorrow. Today, I'm going to make a bunch of calls to Portland churches, see what I can work out.

This morning, I permed my hair. That's my big birthday gift to me. Well, really Mom and Dad's and Dennis and June's birthday gifts to me. They sent me mad money for my birthday. I thought about it and decided that what I REALLY wanted was low-maintenance hair. I am pleased. I'd post a picture but Rob has the digital camera.

And he doesn't know what I've done so don't tell him. It'll be a surprise; hopefully a good one.

The Waiting Game

Just waiting for another email from Rob so I have something exciting to share. :)

I have to pack for my trip to WA for the ELCA SW WA Synod Assembly. Flying out Thursday morning, coming back Monday. Hoping to have my computer back to take with me on the trip.

Came over to the SUB to drop off the recycling. Now, headed back. Fruit for dinner.

Exegettes

This is a bit of experiment, an exercise to keep my exegetical skills sharp. Lot of ex's there, eh?

I'm going to do little word studies and such on upcoming lectionary passages, listed as posted on the dates for which they are scheduled. While I may not get it done every week and may not do all readings, I will play with things that intrigue me.

Click on Luther's head to see the new blog: