Another Crazy Week

Well, maybe I'm gonna have to change what I said before - maybe my life IS crazy all the time!
This last week has been exciting - as seems to be the normal, lately!
The Lord provided money for the moped we've been praying about, so John got to go to Accra last Tuesday to buy it. He headed out early Tuesday morning and got home late Tuesday night. On Wednesday, he decided it was time to try it out - keep in mind John has never driven a moped before...he started by trying it out on our compound, but there wasn't enough room to get up any speed. So, he decided to go over to the university campus across the road. There are a lot of paved roads there. After about 30 minutes of driving where no people were (and very slowly), he was feeling pretty confident. He headed over to the area near the lecture halls, where there was quite a bit more traffic. To make a long story short...a tro-tro cut him off, he didn't see a huge hole in the middle of the road, he swerved to miss it, he didn't know his back brakes weren't working...he drove into a gutter (a 3-ft. deep cement ditch on the side of the road), just as all the students let out of class...Let's just say, he made quite a scene! After everyone stopped laughing (including John, who wasn't hurt), a bunch of guys helped him get the moped out of the gutter. A worker saw what happened and called his brother, a bike repairman. And now, the repairman has been working on it since then. You see, almost all the mechanics who work on bikes are Muslim and right now we are in the middle of Ramadan (aka a nice reason to not get any work done). Did I mention that the mechanic and his family thought John was a Muslim? Must be the beard! Oh, and did I also mention that the mechanic's daughter thought she would make a good third wife for John? He did not agree!
Ella had a cold that moved down into her lungs and got infected. So, she was quite cranky and miserable from Wednesday going. Her antibiotics seem to finally be working, which is not only good for her, but also good for me, since she's not been sleeping well (and neither have I!).
We got caught in a downpour out visiting on Friday, not such a good idea when you've got a sick child, but some kind people lent us their umbrellas so we could get home! And then, when we got home, Carey reminded me that we hadn't had school yet. (Friday morning was spent at the clinic with Ella, and the afternoon was spent trying to visit in the rain.) So, we had school at 6 pm, while I was trying to cook supper. I guess it's good to know that she likes school so much!
The weekend was busy as usual - we had a good turnout for Sunday morning meetings and a great turnout for Sunday evening.
And now...another week is already well on its way!
As you can see, I still don't have my camera program set up. We're still waiting on one disk to arrive from the States and then.....maybe...we should have our computer back to normal! Hopefully soon!

Paper Towels

As all of you who follow this blog know, I live in a developing nation (a.k.a. third world country). That means that we have very little development! That includes industries, companies, or corporations. Very few things are made here in Ghana or are made for companies in Ghana. That means that almost everything has to be imported from companies in other countries. This fact leads to two problems: first, the items imported are limited, and second, that most the items that are imported are very expensive. Now stay with me, I really said all of that for a reason.
Coming from America, it was hard to imagine not being able to get things I was used to, but I wasn't sure what exactly those things would be. When we first arrived here five years ago, the list was quite long. We couldn't get much of anything (even in the capital), including internet service in our house! But over time that list has been greatly reduced. Still there were some things that I never thought I'd have while living here in Ghana. One of those things was paper towels. Until I came here, I never realized how much I used them! As a mom with two small children I'm continually cleaning up messes, and when all the messes have to be cleaned up with kitchen towels it really adds to the already overwhelming laundry problems! (See the post entitled "Water" for an example!)
Well, yesterday I went to the store and for the first time ever, they were selling paper towels. At first I didn't get excited, because I assumed they'd been imported from Europe and would be very expensive. But when I looked closer, I realized that they were a brand new product from our only paper products manufacturer in Ghana! Hoorah!!! Part of me is afraid that people here won't know what they are and so won't buy them, but even if they are only here for a little while, I'll think of them as my special little blessing.

A Better Week

I'm sure you all must think my life is total chaos all the time, but that isn't really the case! Of course, for those of you who know me personally, I guess I'm a little more prone to the dramatic than some might be!
Yes, my foot is healing quite nicely now, and most of the purple dye is gone, too! Ella seems to have suffered no adverse side effects from drinking the medicine so we're happy about that!
Our visit with missionary Andrew Aaron went quite well, despite all the craziness he got to experience at our house!
And now, we are getting ready to start school. Yes, I am now officially old - my first child will begin K4 this year! I'm sure most of you are wondering why we haven't already started. To make a long story short, somehow all the books didn't make it in our luggage, we had a missionary come to visit, we're in the middle of starting a new church, etc., etc., etc. So, we start this Tuesday! Believe it or not, I'm very excited and very nervous! But, I'm sure Carey and I will be fine once we get in a routine.
Our computer is still not totally repaired, (I won't bore you with the details) but hopefully this week I'll get my camera software loaded up so you can have something more interesting to look at than just my writing!
I'll try to write more soon.