5-Day Weekend

Everyone enjoyed a 3-day weekend here in Honduras since yesterday was Independence Day for all of Central America. Those at The American School, myself included, enjoy a 5-day weekend in honor of Independence Day and National Teacher's Day.

Melvin and I have been taking it easy, watching TV and movies. He is back to work now, but going anywhere would have been pushing it. Plus, I need to get to working on progress reports which are due Thursday. I can't believe we've been in school 5 weeks already ... time is flying! Christmas will be here in no time!

Peace and blessings!

Melvin's Birthday

Melvin's birthday was August 3rd, but I just got to uploading the pictures. Well, better late than never right? I got him a Batman cake because that's his favorite comic book character, and the latest Batman movie had just come out so it was fitting.

The family shot!

He's so old now that he ran out of breath!

Surgery Update

Melvin went into surgery yesterday at 8am. I was at school, desperately awaiting the call that surgery was complete which finally came in around 11:30. The surgery took a little bit longer than the Dr. had anticipated. Apparently, Melvin's veins were very enlarged and more likely to bleed which made it more difficult for the doctor to reach the vertebral disc to remove it. He finally removed it and replaced it with a metal plate and 4 screws.

I spoke to Melvin around 4pm. His throat was extremely sore since they had to move it out of the way for surgery, but other than that and some stinging from the cut, he is doing fine. He should be out of the hospital by tomorrow, and on his way home by Tuesday.

My Tia is also in the hospital with a small blood clot in her chest due to her blood disorder, and for monitoring of her blood levels. Her blood level is still too thin for her to be released, but we expect she will be released soon.

It's been a difficult week to try and keep everything together, but it's over now. I'm looking forward to next week!

Peace and blessings.

I Survived!

Well, I survived the first week of school. It's been a tiring week, but the kids are great! Melvin left yesterday for Houston. He meets with the surgeon on Monday, and his surgery is scheduled for next Friday the 22nd. I'm sad that I can't be with him, but thankfully his Mom was able to go with him. He has been extremely stressed, which doesn't help his neck at all. The insurance company has been acting a little bit funny, but I think that's always the case.

Teaching is pretty hard work. I've always appreciated my teachers, but now that I am in their position I appreciate them even more! For their first assignment, I had the kids write me an All About Me letter to introduce themselves. I wrote one to them as well! I'm looking forward to reading them this weekend.

Well, it's been a tiring but a successful week. Worrying about Melvin makes me even more tired but I know everything will be fine.

Peace and blessings!

Walking an Emotional Tightrope

Have you ever had something exciting and something disturbing happen at the same time? It's an odd sentiment being caught between the two, or in our case, the four!

Things we are happy about:

• Our first BIG purchase ... a new car! (See previous blog)
• My new teaching job at The American School

Things we are upset about:

• My "Tia's" adoption falling through ... we were hoping to begin the process adoption anew here in Honduras, but it seems that it was not God's will for it to happen
• Discovering that Melvin needs neck surgery, which will have to be in the U.S., and most probably I will not be able to go with him

With all life's highs and lows, it is important to remember that God alone is what makes us whole ... not a feeling, or an item, or an event, or a person. Never let a high or low define who you are ... let your relationship with God define you.

Peace and blessings.

Taking the Plunge

Well, I'm way past due updating my thoughts, but we've been in the middle of lots of exciting things!

I've been offered a position at The American School of Tegucigalpa, Melvin's alma mater. It is by far the most prestigious private school here. I will be teaching 6th grade English this school year to fill in a vacancy, and then will transition to working in the speech/language/hearing educational realm. I've never taught 6th graders before, but I'm diving in with all my energy!

Now that I'll be working full-time, we definitely will need a 2nd car. We've decided on the 2008 Honda CRV in pearl white. Hopefully we'll be getting it next week!

We finally arranged our apartment the way we've wanted. We now have a TV for each room, so any visitors are assured a comfortable stay that includes cable. We've acquired quite a collection of paintings to decorate the walls of our entryway, living room and dining room -- a total of 5, all from popular latin american painters (Sandre, Ciseron, Gomez, Diaz). I will try to remember to upload some pictures soon.

I've also been working with Dr. White, the President of Baxter Institute, to set up an audiology wing at the James Moody Clinic on campus there. The clinic provides great services for many people who would not otherwise be able to afford it. Medical, dental, and nutritional needs are addressed. Soon, Lord willing, we will be able to provide hearing care services. There are even programs in place to help those who are interested to learn a trade such as haircutting or sewing. We should be starting to receive equipment next month, including a sound booth which is very exciting! Please pray for the success of this endeavor because it will be a blessing to many people.

It may be rainy out, but the path ahead looks bright!

Life is but an oxymoron ...

Well, I've finally arrived to the world of blog. My first thought upon arrival was that this would be a good way to organize my thoughts, but I've deceived myself once again. How can one truly organize thought? The term "organized thought" is in itself an oxymoron. I don't know about you, but my brain is all over the place. I feel like I go from A to B to X sometimes and then I'm left wondering how I got there so I can work my way back to C. I don't mean simple distraction, like when you're in church and the sermon may be a little dull so you wander off to something like how you need to get the oil changed on your car. (I'm not endorsing wandering off during church ... I'm just acknowledging that it happens!) I mean the domino effect that is triggered by a spoken word or any visual stimuli that reminds you of something else, that in turn reminds you of something else, and then you're left wondering what you were wondering in the first place. I guess that's the drawback to being a high functioning organism with seemingly infinite brain storage capacity. Thanks to this blog, I can now organize my disorganized thoughts. Hope to enjoy my stay here. Peace and blessings!