Mexico Pictures

Here are some pictures from our trip to Mexico courtesy of Stephen. I did take some but haven't even unpacked my camera yet.

Here is our outreach team... Bill and I, Dave (full time missionary), Cam

Antonia and her daughter Sue, Stephen and Megan (mission intern)

Here is our team of 4.
Cam's dream come true- drinking from a fresh coconut.
Some kids in clinic
Ahh. what a sweet shot of Bill and I :-)

if we weren't yesterday we are today

if we weren't totally spent after yesterday's clinic, we are today. another long hot day but we saw about 15 fewer patients though it seemed just as busy. bill almost got bit by a yappy dog who is about the size of guinea pig. our team did such an excellent job this week and i really commend stephen and cam for being so far outside their comfort zones and stepping up to the challenge. we couldn't have done it without dave, lydia, kyle and ellen - full time missionaries here. also antonia and sue came out with us three days, antonia missing work for two days to translate for us when kyle and ellen left town... we couldn't have done it without them. we leave tomorrow morning. i'm too tired to pack and can't wait to get home.

i'm a little freaked out because my friend Liz says she's getting married in 17 days which means in less than that i am flying to london-- i thought i had more time... i got a lot to do between now and then.

It really took it out of us

Today was really hot. We were inside the feeding center in Urias with no breeze. We had a few fans but it was really humid. We were busy, we saw about 90 patients and by the end of the day we were just spent. It is 8:30 and we are all about headed to bed. I can only face one more day of this type of schedule in this heat. I'm wilting. Tomorrow is our last day at Villa Union. Please pray it is not as hot and somehow our internal heat regulating apparatus kicks into overdrive. We have had a successful full week here but I'm ready for home.

I also learned while down here that I have no capacity to make french toast. I have tried at home. I tried here yesterday. In theory, it seems like a yummy good idea but never turns out right. My mom knows some secret that she is apparently withholding from me.

Things I have learned

So yesterday we had church and the rest of the day off and today was our official day off. Here are some things I have learned since I last posted:
1. Mazatlan has an amazing Thai restaurant. The best Thai food I have ever had
2. A little flattery will get you far if you speak Spanish- last night at our favorite taco stand where we go to get these amazing potatoes (papas), we arrived to them saying 'no papas'. Then Lydia asked them again and it was 'papas en un hora'. Lydia said to the gal waiting on us that we had come all the way to Iowa for papas. All of a sudden it was only 30 minutes. It couldn't have been more than 20 minutes until our steaming papas appeared.
3. Geckos make a really weird sound that is loud and sounds like someone is banging their toothbrush on the sink. They make this sound at very strange times of night.
4. It is hot in Mazatlan in September. Feeling guilty for staying in all day in the air conditioning napping (we did venture out for coffee this morning) I said to Bill, let's go take a walk on the beach. He said you step outside and if you still think that is a good idea, I'll go. I opened the front door, took one step outside, felt like the Hebrews in the fiery furnace and decided that another nap wasn't such a bad idea after all.

I have read 2 of my 5 books and highly recommended running, not walking, to the nearest library to get these two chick-lit-fluff-books (sorry everyone in Iowa City, I think I have the only copies)
--- she went all the way by Meg Cabot
--- the importance of being married by Gemma Townley

I have not much spiritual or inspiring to blog about but will, hopefully, after our day in clinic tomorrow. We are headed to Urias and should be a fairly moderately busy day. We'll see...

with a pirate 'r'

We had another great day today. It is a long story and involves lots of the 'politics' of ministry about how we got to be at Loma Bonita instead of Universo where we were slated to go but regardless it was great. The colonias are next door to each other and you can see one feeding center from the other too. The pastor at Universo who is a 'friend' (loose term) of the Vineyard but not under the umbrella of the Vineyard though he uses a Vineyard building (thus the politics) had his own 'medical outreach' today sponsored by the government health agency. I had to get a little chuckle after I saw a patient who was diagnosed with diabetes up the hill at the other clinic and referred to our clinic to get medicine because they didn't have any to give out. We saw about 25 less people than we did yesterday but it was short day because of it being Saturday. On Saturday in each colonia/feeding center, they serve a meal for the kids, have songs/games/bible studies etc which doesn't usually end until around noon.

Yesterday I forgot to blog about a few of our 'successes'... one man whom we had diagnosed with diabetes last time we were at Dona Chonita (last January) came back. His blood sugar was over 350 (normal under 126) last time, we supplied him with 9 mo of medicine and his blood sugar yesterday was 106. He is thrilled at how well he is doing. It was great to see him again and I feel honored to be able to be part of people's lives down here. We saw two other kids who had weird bumps/rashes that had completely cleared up; not because of our medication but it was nice to have their chart from last time and say to Mom- 'how is that werid bump on his gum line that we didn't know what to do with?'. I think our continuity and effort made to keep records really makes our patients here feel cared for.

Stephen, our journalist turned check in 'nurse', is making leaps and bounds with his Spanish. Today he was sounding out words before we left and trying to say "chequar" (I am not spelling it right but the Spanish word for to check). Anyway he wrote it as 'check with a pirate r after it'. And that is actually how it sounds.

Tomorrow we have church in the morning and basically the rest of the day to rest. Monday is our day off and Tuesday we start clinics again. Thanks for reading and keeping updated. Please pray we have some good time of rest and refreshment because we're tired.

busy and breezy

We had a glorious breeze all day today which was such a blessing. Dona Chonita's feeding center has no walls so it is dusty but the breeze was awesome. We were busy- Bill and I saw 82 patients between the two of us. Our, "I have a Masters in Journalism who learned how to take a blood pressure last night", guy (Stephen) did a fantastic job at triage with blood pressures, blood sugars and the like. He was awesome. Our, "I do something at Pearsons second shift and don't know anything about medicine", guy (Cameron) rocked the pharmacy. He thinks it started rough but no one could tell and it went really smoothly. What a great first day we had. We are exhausted. After eating some Taco Luna (our favorite Taco Stand) and counting like 5000 more vitamins for tomorrow, we are all about to hit the sack for some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs. Tomorrow we are at Loma Bomita... walls are higher but not complete so hopefully we'll have another breeze. Adios from Mazatlan

Mazatlan Day 2

So we got here safely and had no trouble at customs which is a good thing seeing as how we never got the 'offical' letter from the government saying we could bring in our meds. They were checking the baggage claim ticket on the bag with our names so we didn't actually take our own bags through customs because at Minneapolis the lady just tagged whatever bag as we checked in as a group. Anyway Stephen got asked if he had food in his bag which wasn't really his bag. He faked it well and said 'I think my wife may have surprised me with some cookies' and he got through.
It is hot here. Hotter than hot. We are staying in a condo instead of a hotel which is cheaper as it is owned by the main guy who started the church who is not here now. We went grocery shopping yesterday at a local fruit stand and at Sams to get food. It was fun to have our devotions this morning around kitchen table together as a group. Tomorrow Bill is going to make his delicious eggs for breakfast--- yummy!
Today we are headed to Dona Chonita which is one of the newest colonias the church is working in. It should be a busy day. The 'church' we are in does not have walls but a roof for shade. We are praying for a breeze.
Well our ride has gotten here and we are loading up the truck to get out on the road. If I can get internet I will try to blog after work if not I'll blog tomorrow.

An hour to spare

Got it all done with an hour to spare. Didn't get a nap so I'm going to get a Dairy Queen Blizzard which is the next best thing.

long week, big piles

It has been a long few weeks. Really busy at work, working a lot of days in a row, not getting enough sleep, being irritable about the aforementioned issues. We leave for Mexico this afternoon. We have not one thing packed but we have big piles so that is a start. So today I plan on getting it all done, including a few last minute errands, eye brow waxing, run with my friend Fran, new books from the library and a nap all before 5 pm. Again we covet your prayers for our time in Mexico. I will blog the best I can when/if I am able to get on the internet. We are taking our smallest team ever with 4. We have temporary lost our database because our laptop died. It is going to be about 100 degrees there everyday. That said I just know God will show up in amazing and powerful ways to change our lives again. Can't wait!

I got what I wanted

This is the ridiculously cool Death Star which has scenes from all the 3 original movies which took place on this space station including the trash compactor scene (into the shute, flyboy!) and the final light saber battle between Luke, Darth and the Emperor. Comes with like 16 mini figures including a mouse droid and interrogator droid. Have I mentioned I can't wait until it comes?

How I spent my day

So I decided that you only turn 34 once so I better get all I could out of my day. So I got up early...how early? 5:52 am to be exact. Bill and I and our friend, Brian, went to run a 5K at a State Park about an hour away. So up before dawn and in the car, I was relishing the sunrise over the tall corn of the Iowa landscape on the way to Wild Cat Den State Park. Bill likes to study the race results from previous years to see if we will place in our age group. He kept telling me, 'oh you'll place for sure. last year the 3rd place gal in our age group got like 33 minutes' (I run between 28 and 30 minutes for a 5K). So I was ready to win some hardware on my birthday. This is a trail run so I thought I should add about a minute due to uneven/slippery/gravel/grass/wood chip footing. The first almost mile was all downhill and paved and I was feeling good. Then we made a right turn onto the trail and what faced us a steep railroad tie dirt steps. This was the first of too-numerous-to-count steep hills. It was ridiculous. This is why the results are so slow because it is a freakin' hard course. I had to walk/hop/skip/jog up a couple of big hills in the second mile. There was a treacherous downhill that I had to gallop down so I wouldn't fall flat on my face. I have never ran a course that hard. I ran the first mile fast in 9:06 and the second all hill in the woods mile was in 12 minutes. I haven't run a 12 minute mile since my first 5K last year with no training. I was hoping to get a medal in my age group when we started. By mile 2 I was hoping to finish in under 35 minutes. By mile 3 I was hoping to finish. Across the finish line I came in 32:17, very respectable, and 5th in my age group. I was lucky to have come out of the woods at all. With that said, the scenery was beautiful and it would be a lovely park to take a nice romantic walk in but not the place I may ever run again.

Here is Bill and I post race, post a few bananas and water so we are able to smile

Bill got 2nd in his age group and Brian got 3rd. The coolest thing is that the medals were pieces of wood with stamps on them. I was coveting a medal before the race, but died to that dream during my second hop/skip/walk up a hill.
Ok so we loaded up in the car and headed back to Iowa City. Bill took Nile to his soccer game and dropped Gabby and I off at the Hawkeye game. The boys met us before halftime. It was a rout, we beat Florida International 42-0. The team looked really good and the guy, Rick Stanzi, I think should be our stating QB started and he looked sharp, but then again it was against Florida International. However, a win's a win so we'll take it.

Bill's sister Susie and her husband Tim came to the game with us.

The Hawkeye Family Iverson
Bill and I in our new matching shirts and hats. I know I say it a lot on my blog but we are terribly cute, aren't we?
Ok so after the game, we came home. I jumped in the shower and got ready for a pampering trip to the mall with my bosom friend, Ali. She treated me to a fancy coffee drink from Panera and a pedicure. Even though my feet are kind of ticklish, it was so relaxing and nice. Ali and I got to chat and sip our fancy drinks and enjoy the massage chair. I have cute toenails to show for it.

Now I know my Grandma Scott would disapprove of my wearing white shoes after Labor Day, but I couldn't help myself. They are cute and matched my dress. While I was getting my pedicure, I was winning "Coolest Wife Ever" award by 'allowing' Bill to have the fantasy football draft in our living room on my birthday. I had to take some action shots when I got home. The boys (actual resident doctors from Bill's department) were overly impressed with my understanding/flexibility and graciously sang Happy Birthday to me as they left the house.

Here is Bill making a pick. Check out the clotheslines of player name stickers. Oh yeah, Bill bought some 'home fantasy football kit' from the Internet. Another thoughtful pick made by Dr Anderson
This is where the day went from good to terrible. Our downstairs laptop hasn't been working so well. This morning it was turned off which is odd but Nile said he was on it last night and the screen went blue. Bill had turned it back on and it started ok but was making a loud noise and not really doing anything. So I shut it down and let it rest. About 20 minutes later I turned it back on...started to boot up ok and then a black screen stating

No operating system detected.

Ok so I tried it again.

No operating system detected.

Crap. Sh*&. Does that mean what I think it means? I called my Dad, he says time to call the Geek Squad. So we take the laptop to the car and try to salvage the evening. Bill takes me and Nile out to Oyama, my favorite sushi restaurant. It was yummy but I kept thinking about

No operating system detected.

I feel the need to blame it on someone. Nile and his stupid computer games seems logical, he is right across the table after all (Gabby falls in this category too but she wasn't at dinner so she escaped the blame game). Bill and his need to think we need to download all those updates that pop up seems to be another logical choice vs. I could blame Bill for about anything at this point, that is what husband's are for, right? My dad for buying me a laptop 6 years ago that would some day break is a stretch but another candidate for my frustration.

We finish sushi which was yummy and head to Best Buy. I'm getting a headache. I hate when the Geek Squad chuckles like 'what a loser' as I bring another antique computer in for repair. Bill bails on me when I go to the service counter. I begin to explain my problem. We boot up the computer. It says

No operating system detected

One Geek Squad guy walks by and says, "Oh that's no good". The guy helping me shoots him a 'oh I agree but that is not a helpful comment' look. He says for $70 they can run a diagnostic on the hard drive to see if they can recover anything. I ask him how this happened. Could it be a virus someone downloaded? (kid's fault) Is it just a bad/old machine? (dad's fault) Just bad luck? (bill's fault just because). He says "No, not a virus. They typically don't do this. It could have overheated and just burned out the hard drive." We leave our laptop on all the time and I turn it off only a few times a month when the fan seems to be blowing extra hard. "Yeah that's probably it" says the geek squad guy. So it is actually my fault. Crap. Sh&*.

Then I start to think of all that is on this laptop. Our database for Mexico (luckily I have a back up), all our Ipod music that we will lose if we transfer to another computer without the backup discs which we don't have. I am getting a headache. My resume (maybe that job offer I just turned down could email me back the resume I emailed them?), all of our running stats, any Word document I have typed in the past 5 years... the list goes on. My headache gets worse. We leave the laptop at Best Buy and I pray they can recover our hard drive. I don't even care about dropping the cash to by another laptop (we were probably due) but I just want my memory. Is that too much to ask? It is my birthday.

We get home. "Do you want to open your presents?" Bill asks. "No" I reply. I just want to pout. So I lay on the couch and flip between some college football and Walk the Line. My life is no where near as pathetic as Johnny Cash's and that fact starts to cheer up a little bit. I don't really want to open my presents because I don't think Bill got me what I wanted. The box is not big enough. With our new tradition of no Christmas presents, I really want what I wanted for my birthday. Finally I am ready to salvage what is left of my birthday. Before the

No operating system detected.

I was having a pretty good day.

Bill did get me an ice cream cake (yummy!) and my folks sent me these beautiful flowers. I smile as I am about to make a wish.
Action shot of my wish. I hope it comes true.

So Bill did get me what I wanted. This ridiculously cool Lego Death Star; it is just has not been released yet. It will be here later this month. I cannot wait. My birthday will be over in 45 minutes and I must say looking back on it, I made the most of my 34th. Awake and on the go for all, but 5 hours and 52 minutes of it.

tomorrow is...

Tomorrow is my 34th anniversary here on planet Earth. I love my birthday. I can't wait to wake up and celebrate me all day long.
Tomorrow is also my 1 year anniversary of meeting my goal at Weight Watchers. I have kept the pounds off for one year and that is certainly something to celebrate too.