A few things that are not at all related:

1. Fiona, one of my bestest commenters on the blog , commented that perhaps people dont know or dont remember that they can log into our "guest" Xanga account in order to leave a comment on our blog. If you're having trouble leaving a comment anonymously please consider leaving a comment as though you have a xanga account. When the computer asks you for your login information use the following:

username: respondtojocsh
password: guest

let me know if you have questions about that. Also, i appreciate the comments that are sent to us also by email, which is just as good, although then other blog readers cant read them and comment on your comment, for instance. This is helpful mostly in assisting people in making their own comments or in passing on information or suggestions about the blog entry topic.

2. Vision Valley School is STILL DESPERATE FOR ENGLISH SPEAKING TEACHERS for the coming school year. Even if you're only a little bit interested, let me know so i can give you more information and i can tattle on you to the school administration so they can pray you over here. Seriously though, the VVS administration is desperate, but they're also very confident in God to provide the teachers. This means that if you feel like your sub-conscious is nagging you about this opportunity you should probably do it because it may just be the Spirit guiding you in this direction.

3. etc. (the rest is just blathering):

I confess that i'm writing more on facebook than i should be if i have a blog to do such things. shame on me!! I'm also journal writing much less. I was there just the other day and noticed that my last entry was dated November 18, 2009! for this reason i'm still holding tightly to the idea that at some point i can put my blog into book format for my own records.

I also confess i've been thinking a lot about quitting this place and moving back home. Now, before my family gets all excited and hopeful after that comment, let me explain: I reckon it has a lot to do with the many people who have left Mada in the last few months and the upcoming departure of our long time neighbours. That and i feel tired a lot of the time and my subconscious tells me that i wouldnt if i live in Canada. i know this isnt true. (i also know moms of babies are supposed to be tired all the time!) I especially know this isnt true when i come downstairs from a particularly tiring night and my dishes have been washed, the laundry is going and my baby is whisked from my arms as soon as i reach the kitchen. I sit here, exhausted but not harried, wondering how i could ever think that leaving this place could be the solution to anything. To be sure, any job Josh would get (95% of the jobs, that is) in Canada would be more difficult in terms of scheduling than the set up we've got going here. And, then there's the obvious reason that we're here at the LORD's request doing amazing work for the people of this country that is so utterly fulfilling, and we havent been given our leave yet by Heavenly HR. Simply, these thoughts of departure are flights of fancy during days of drudgery (in a manner of speaking) when i succumb to the human tendency of thinking the grass is greener on the other side. Never mind that the grass doesnt grow at all on this side! LOL. But the deck is nice and we are content here. And even if i am having a period of muddled thoughts (and, most likely something akin to a 'dark night of the soul') doesnt mean we shouldnt be here and we're not doing the great things the LORD planned in advance for us to do. Keep on keeping on, as they say.

We've put Judah onto a Chore Chart regimen, which he's quite excited about, as i thought he would be. We'll see if the excitement lasts longer than the first day. His chore chart includes chores like: help set the table, play with Asher while mom and dad are busy getting supper ready, do 1/2 hour homeschool workbook homework, read quietly for 1/2 hour, have quiet time, ride bike 10 times around the compound, clean up clothes, clean up toys. We've suggested that once he's done 5 times of each of those chores he can have a treat. I have hope that this set-up will encourage anticipation for something rather than the dullness of getting a treat every time we go to the shop. I aspire to reign in my own treat-buying also, as Fiona so astutely suggested.

Asher still hasnt any teeth, although he sucks his gums like someone without any teeth of their own... heehee. He's doing much better with his rice cereal swallowing and we're on to two solid meals a day now. Fruit is a bit of a stretch for him at this point, but i reckon it's just the new flavours and textures that he's turning his lip up at. His favourite thing in a day, i'm convinced, is when Mme Fanza arrives and takes him outside to hang out. He LOVES her! (i love her too!! ) He's pretty stable in his sleep routine at this point: one nap around 9 or 10 am, one between 1 and 2pm, and then up to bed for the night at around 6pm. He wakes up, normally, once or twice during the night for a snack and then he's up at about the same time Judah gets up for school (6:30-7:00). His sitting is also getting more stable, so he falls down less often. Judah loves to play with him, but usually just ends up hefting Asher up onto his lap and squishing him, which Asher tolerates up to a point.

Despite the length of my blog entries (although you may have noticed they are fewer and farther between) i'm finding that i havent the time to do things that i'd really like to do, first and foremost on my list being finishing the quilt that i have already given (and then subsequently taken back) to my friend Heather for her birthday in April. Bah! Quilting is such a love-hate thing for me. I love to do it, and love the results of a finished project... if only i could finish a project!! Sorry Heather... hopefully i can get you your birthday present back before a month past your birthday! Also on my to-do list is put zippers into our duvet covers, sell MAF furniture as per my Housing Coordinator job description, do some writing, read something that requires brain power, cook things that arent on our tired meal repertoire, start another sewing project... What, you may ask, am i doing that prevents me from accomplishing these things? After all, i have househelp to wash my dishes and i did just mention that she whisks Asher away for stretches of time. I really cant say, to be honest. That's another thing on my to-do list: make a list of the things that occupy my time and determine how i can use my time better. What i should be doing right now, however, is completing my Beth Moore bible study homework for today.

ttfn.

Josh is finally home again after an almost 24 hour delay courtesy of Air Madagascar. It's SO NICE to be back to having a two parent home again.

We are, both of us, astounded at Air Mad's propensity for canceling flights at the last minute or having ridiculous delays. Of course, it's crappy for us when Josh cant return home after a week away, but i feel more sorry for the tourists who come in on Air Mad and then they've subsequently missed their domestic Air Mad flights to wherever it is they've planned to visit (assuming, that is, that Air Mad was still planning to fly there). How frustrating! (Especially since most poor-sap-north-americans only get a few weeks to get to the other side of the world and attempt to experience it). Like Josh mentioned, many of these tourists he met while waiting around for a new flight have paid exorbitant prices to get as far as they have only to have Air Mad screw their plans because they've decided to suddenly cancel a flight. I realize that there must be some kind of cultural somethingorother happening here because i cant fathom that anyone would voluntarily hose so many clients on a consistent basis just for kicks. Do they not realize that people will get so fed up that they'll avoid Air Mad at all costs?! Good thing our visitors are clever enough to not fly Air Madagascar and wont be hooped by a domestic cancellation since we're only a 5 minute drive from the airport.

What is the secret to maintaining a graceful calm and loving patience with a 4 year old yipping about one's heels like a coton?

(ok, i do know the spiritual answer to that question and have asked for help from the Almighty, but i think i'd like some help with some practical suggestions).

Today, as a reward (aka time wasting activity that i thought we'd probably both enjoy) we went on an outing to The Cookie Shop, which is located downtown. This requires long periods of waiting in traffic in very hot conditions (oh winter, where art thou?). We made it there with almost no frazzling of nerves due to road and traffic conditions. As we're pulling into the parking lot congested road with incessant traffic Judah is saying, "i can hardly wait to run around!". ...uh, there isnt any place to run around there Judah, we're going for a treat to eat, which means we have to sit down. Oh. "Is there a playground there?" No Sweetheart. No Playground. Just yummy treats to eat. We'll have lunch and then a brownie a la mode. Ok?

To make a long and tiresome story short, he didnt eat his pizza sandwhich, which he said he liked (it was only the size of one half a bagel). It became a source of tears and frustration. Then there wasnt any ice cream (ACK!). And once we got to the grocery store thereafter he was begging for treats and a ride on the automated ride. <sigh> The irony is twofold:

1. we had just read The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies the night before (his pick, not mine) and had yet another talk about not asking every time we go to the store for a candy and/or toy. ("But mom, I need this!"). I prepped him en route for the fact that going to the Cookie Shop was a special treat and that's what we were going to get today. Nothing else. He was clear on it all...

Josh and i have been talking recently amongst friends about how our children have a lot of stuff these days in comparison to what we had when we were growing up. Not only that, but we go out to eat and have treats very often now in comparison to when we were young. One person pointed out how going for icecream was an event that rarely happened in their family and, when it did, it was so special and fantastic. We wonder how we can turn back to a simpler lifestyle where our children know the value of special things because they dont happen very often. Going back to Canada is purely an exercise in futility on this front. Here it isnt a piece of cake either, as a matter of fact, although some may think that our children are deprived and need all the help they can get to live up to par with their Canadian peers.

Irony #2: Josh is in South Africa looking for an Ice cream maker. Ha. It aint just the children who need to turn back to a simpler lifestyle and refrain from wanting everything they see.

I'm tempted often to say that, surprisingly, i find it more difficult to battle envy and greed here than even in Canada. I wonder, however, if this might be because when i lived in Canada i was single, or else newly married and without any kids and therefore i had other things to occupy my mind and time with. Now, all i do is work at home. And it's easy to feel sorry for myself, to be sure! "Woe is me, a poor missionary doing without, sacrificing everything for the sake of the Gospel". Ha. While it might not be as padded a life as we would experience in Canada, i cant say with honesty that we're sacrificing much of material importance. And, in fact, i'm glad for this very circumstance! I've written many times on how happy we are to be living in a place where certain things have become rare and thus special and novel: special foods, watching tv (not to be confused with watching movies, we're not poor in that), and many many other things that, if we'd live in Canada, we'd take for granted, we wouldnt think they were special at all (bike riding, for instance. Using a dryer. camping.)

The terribly uncomfortable part about this situation is that it is a tension of opposites: on one hand i love the simple lifestyle that Madagascar promotes and, in some instances, forces upon us. I love that i feel, still, as though this is not my home and therefore what's the point in investing in investment pieces, if you will. After all, this isnt our home. We should be storing up treasures in heaven.

But on the other hand, i yearn for that stability that so many of my friends and family have. That knowledge that in a year's time, barring any act of God, they'll still be living in the same place they live now. They can rest assured that if they can afford one, buying a house is a clever investment and purchasing solid and dependable furniture for it isnt something to be ashamed of. Somehow i cant grasp onto that solidity. Living here, living this MAF lifestyle, makes it very apparent to me that we have no clue what we'll be doing in a year's time or where we'll be living. If i look ahead and try to comprehend living life with that kind of tenuous grip on life-expectation, never knowing what to expect and therefore never being able to feather a nest of my own, even if it is a small one, it just makes me... tired. It makes me feel like... i'm floating down life's river with no dock in sight.

But who needs a dock, right? If one's goal is the Ocean.

I think Aleve makes my baby nervous and excitable... hence his 4am wake up this morning with no intent to go back to sleep. Bah! Note to self: no more Aleve until breastfeeding is finished. Apart from that unfortunate morning event we're all feeling mostly up to par. The colds are still here and we're all coughing and snotting a lot, but that's child's play for us. We're also feeling pretty chipper knowing that there's only 2 (maybe 3 if we're unlucky and Air Mad goofs again) more sleeps until Josh gets back.

He told me today that after the first few days of not being able to get into the air because of a) some kind of security drill in preparation for the world cup soccer and then b) crummy weather he finally got to do some flying yesterday and today. This is good considering that's what he went to SA to do, so if they wouldnt have been able to fly i'm thinking he might have had to stay longer. Phew! for good weather!!

Today's cardboard craft was carved out of the cardboard airplane we made a few months ago: a Knight's (short) sword, shield, and helmet with movable eyepiece. Judah was pretty thrilled about his new getup. A second look makes me think his helmet looks more like a sorry excuse for a hockey helmet, but whatever. He wont know the difference. I also made the bamboo 'exersaucer' that Asher is sitting in... ha. not.

this photo is entitled "Knights of the round table"

After i made the cardboard armor i told Judah that he should remind me to read him the story in the Bible about the armor of God when we were having supper together. So he did. And i did. It was good. Although i reckon words like "helmet of salvation" and "breastplate of righteousness" are a bit over his head. But... who knows what sticks in that little 4 year old head of his. He's pretty keen on listening to me read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at night before bed, which also has quite lofty vocab, and lots of it English-English. I try to dumb it down a bit but... Well, at least it's better than reading the childrens' books we've read ad nauseum since we got here!

It's pretty amazing, actually, what you can find made out of bamboo here. I know back in Canada it's trendy to have things like bamboo wood floors (very eco-chic! ) and kitchen cupboards. Here, if you can think of something to make of bamboo, chances are you can get it made. It just doesnt look as... chic. I'll try to provide photos for your amusement later on, but i can tell you that in our house alone we've got: bamboo exersaucer, bamboo playpen (in right background of lower photo), bamboo armchairs and couches (notice our bamboo couch in the background of top photo), bamboo book shelves and bathroom shelves. There's also a lot of bamboo bed frames, bamboo cribs, bamboo dining table and chairs. It's pretty ingenious, actually, since bamboo is in such huge supply here and it's very cheap to use. The unfortunate part is that they're pretty cheap. I've noticed that as MAF families are leaving and we're consolidating 6 families worth of MAF furniture into 3 MAF families homes, we're slowly but very surely getting rid of the bamboo stuff. Alas. We're not so eco-chic here i guess.

We might be on the mend already, praise God. At least there isnt anymore vomiting going on, which is a blessing in and of itself. I reckon these colds will stick around for a while yet, but after stomach flu it feels like we can easily manage Thanks for your prayers, i definitely felt them. And those of you who are praying - unrequested - for patience for me during this time without Josh to mediate, those are proving effective as well.

Before Josh left on his trip he took a few days off to spend with us. We took the opportunity to go on an outing to the zoo, which we've never been to before. Friends of ours suggested taking Judah's bike so he could ride around instead of walk (which invariably means Josh is carrying him after 15 minutes). What a clever idea!

 
The zoo isnt all that fantastic for seeing animals, but it's a nice walk around and the boys enjoyed it. I was more interested in the lunch afterward, since we were downtown i thought we could drop into Le Cafe de la Gare, which is located in 'la gare', the train station, right downtown on Route d'Independance. I'd been hearing reports from many people that this place was really great and had a fantastic ambiance (somewhat difficult to find here). And, true to their word, it was pretty awesome! Once i feel more confident leaving Asher behind i'm hoping to go out for dinner there with Josh.

In other news, Asher just turned 5 months last week. He is now eating cereal once a day and sitting up on his own. I think we might just be beginning to be on a stable sleep routine too (hurrah!) Judah is practicing writing his letters and numbers. Next week he's back to school and i think he's close to a break through in speaking french (fingers crossed). The weather is getting cooler especially in the evenings and mornings (ca. 12C) which is somewhat chilly when we get out of bed in the morning. Brr. But we havent started with fires in the fireplace yet. Josh still has to brick up our new slow-burning fireplace insert before we can use it properly. We're looking forward to Josh's birthday in a few weeks and, in a few months, a trip with friends to the coast.

please add vomit, diarrhea, stomach writhing and chills to your list of prayer items to bring before the Lord on our behalf. When i asked for Him to cleanse us of our illnesses i wasnt thinking of this as the best way to do it. I am so thankful for friends who continue to invite Judah over to play and for my lovely househelp lady who has played with Asher all day and put him down for naps. Unfortunately she's leaving at 1:00... hopefully i'll feel like standing up by then. I really hope that Judah wont catch this stomach flu also. bah! Josh is usually the puke patrol.
 

we could use some pretty heavy duty prayers just now.

Besides the fact that Josh is barely gone on his 7 day trip to South Africa (he's back on Saturday), Asher is sick with a cold/flu that clogs him up quite seriously. He also seems to choke on something every now and again (big globs of mucus in his throat?) which freaks me out and makes me fear he'll keel over during the night (which of course means i dont sleep well at all, even apart from the usual 3 night feedings). When i do go to feed him in the night his breathing is so bad and laboured i wonder how he can drink. I confess i've tried sucking his snot out of his nose with my mouth (ick, i know, but i'm that desperate). And now i'm feeling more than just exhausted from not sleeping through the night and not getting much rest during the day because Judah is a high-energy, high-entertainment-needs kinda kid, because i'm also getting sick. Even this would be mostly tolerable because i've got great friends who have offered to have Judah over for play dates with their kids, leaving me to just concern myself with Asher. But now Judah is also sick and i fear that his complaints that his "mouth hurts" means that there's a good chance his strep throat is back (oh God, please let it not be so!) He's just crying upstairs in his sleep just now i'm sure because he's finding it difficult to swallow without pain. He's also crying randomly during the day about the thought of going to his friend's house to play. I think this may be in part because he's feeling so miserable that he doesnt want to leave his mom. I'd find this endearing except for the part about me being sick and having a sick baby on hand which means my energy level for interacting with an emotional 4 year old who hasnt the ability to play on his own and already watches too many movies is pretty low.

I'm in the market for super-human strength right now. and miraculous healing for all three of us.

Josh, by the way, also is sick. He's got a week-long check pilot course ahead of him and still needs to find an icecream maker The last time Josh had a head cold and was flying the plane he said the pressure hurt so badly he... well, sinus pain and piloting an aircraft dont mix, let's just leave it at that.

Please also pray that Josh's flight back on Saturday leaves at the right time. On his departure yesterday his Air Mad flight was originally supposed to leave at 5:30pm. We went to the airport at 3:30 to drop him off. Good thing we went in with him because they told him that the flight was postponed until 7:30. Good thing we live 5 mintues from the airport, so we drove home again to wait there. When we dropped him off again two hours later we left him at the airport thinking everything was now on time. At 9:00pm !!! he finally texted me to say that they were just boarding the aircraft. He got to his hotel that night at 2:30am. So. All that to say, I'm sure he doesnt want to go through another round of delays and the nonsense that has become normal for Air Madagascar flights, but even more crucial (to my mind at least me and the boys will definitely not have much capacity for the news that Josh's flight has been canceled, for example, or postponed a day or two.

i'm off to bed. tomorrow'll be another long day.

I had my first overnight camp out after being here for 4 years.  I guess I have been lucky if you want to call it that.  It was actually quite an enjoyable experience although I wouldn't want to have to do it too often.

Because of the very early departure our clients wanted at an airport 2h15min away I headed out the day before to be ready for them at 7am.  Upon arrival to the middle of no where called Tsivory I met a local who happened to live right next to the runway who was happy to go for a walk with me down the airstrip to take in the sights.  Tsivory is nestled in the mountain of the largest volcano in Madagascar (not active) and so I was presented with some beautiful views in which to camp in.  After our walk he invited me to come see his family compound where numerous brothers and sisters etc etc lived where we ended up in his house for a chat.  Interestingly enough half the village kids it seemed followed us straight through the front door as well so we were a packed house.

After our visit I headed back to the airplane to set up my "bed" in the aircraft.  I thought the weather was cool enough that I wouldn't have a problem sleeping with the doors closed to keep the bugs and cattle thieves out.  I then proceeded to watch two episodes of Top Gear and head for bed.  After about half an hour of restlessness I opened up the door and set up my mozzy dome under the wing, it was just too stuffy in the airplane.  The fresh breeze was great and the stars were fantastic.  I tried to photo some night shots but it didn't work out so well.  I finally fell asleep to the sounds of cows mooing and dogs barking.

At 4am I was rudely awakened to the sound of the shepherd boys taking out the innumerable head of cattle to be grazed for the day.  4am while it was still pitch dark these guys padded their cattle right beside my tent and so ended a short night.  By 5 the sun was breaking the horizon and my night was officially over.  A memorable night to say the least but too short.  I got up and packed my belongings back into the airplane, had a small breakfast of Rusks i.e. dry bread, and juice, then got ready for my clients.

A few things about camping on a runway in Madagascar:

Not a lot of privacy.

Even less privacy when you are the only white guy for hundreds of miles.  I was really quite uncomfortable with 50 sets of eyes watching my every move whether I was setting up camp or sitting and reading a book they were always watching.  It was nice to know that these folk were sleeping right next door and so I did feel a little more secure in that.  It did make for some awkward moments though.

No toilets.

Dark comes very early, and there are no lights anywhere.

All in all though it was a fun experience.  Very peaceful despite all the farm noises and smells and the locals were very friendly despite their curiosity with me and all the weird things I needed for sleeping.

In case you want another clue about the anniversary blog, try going to the blog entry from the week of April 19, 2006.

It's almost 8pm. Josh has been sitting alone in the dark in the airplane in the bush far away from anyone since it got dark at around 6pm... and the SAT phone apparently isnt juiced up, so he cant even call unless he starts the plane up. Although he brought a whole whack of stuff with him for this overnight tonight (chips, no-cook ravioli, canned salads, water bottles, etc.) i'm sure by this time he's either already sleeping or keeping up a running monologue to pass the time until 5am sunrise. He did say he was looking forward to doing some star gazing though, so perhaps that'll keep him busy for... half an hour. Last night he made an off-hand comment that he really shouldnt have, "I'm sure there arent that many bandits around that area." ...

I just came downstairs from reading Judah a book with hardly any photos (!) We've started reading him The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, which he seems to be tolerating laudably for the time being. He fell asleep while i was reading though, which may either say he was really tired or else the book is above his level. His belly and one upper thigh is covered with intensely itchy bug bites which i'm sure are the result of fleas. If you read blog entries from April 2006 you may also see that Judah had similar problems at that time as well. Maybe it's the time of year. I've managed to find 5 out of the 7 Narnia books at random sales here in the last few years. The latest gold mine was at the Humane Society Fund raising Book Sale, to which i generously gave 20,000Ar in support of the lovable animals that it helps.

Asher and i are embarking on a new (again) campaign to settle into a bedtime routine. I'm attempting to doggedly keep at it despite his screaming and schleming while i try to read him a bedtime story. I invited Judah in for tonight's book, "We're going on a Bear Hunt". He was enthralled. Asher was cranky, whining and altogether disruptive. <sigh>. But, i continue to have hope that one day the daily and nightly routine will be similar to the day before it. and then the next day will be the same too... and then i'll hold my euphoric breath a few more days until i feel i can safely expect (against all reason) to sleep through the night and plan my day around scheduled nap times.

The volcanic ash, which has some of you stranded in Canada wanting to get out of country has many tourists stranded in Madagascar wanting to get back home. Yesterday we met a handful of Germans cooped up at the Raphia Hotel (where we always eat Sunday lunch, remember).  They've been waiting a few days to fly out and, because of the situation with airtravel, they cant leave Tana (where's there's NOTHING to do) for fear of missing the 20 minute window Air Mad will give them to get to the airport to catch their flight. I heard of so many stories of how this ash is mucking things up all around the world. It is truly amazing how much we depend on air travel: flying doctors, for example, in for operations. Buisiness people. Tourists stranded and wracking up HUGE and unexpected lodging costs while they wait to return home. Our Program Manager is now in Kenya where he arrived and then heard that the rest of the administrative team is caught up and cant arrive until the flights from Paris can depart. What a waste! Now he's in Kenya diddling around doing nothing while his kids are on vacation here wishing he could be home. I just read on Facebook of another team of people here in Mada who have been told they wont get out until May 1! Can you imagine!

Josh is flying out to South Africa at the end of this week. He most likely wont be affected by the ash, but he continues to bite his nails, so to speak, about the possibility of Air Mad canceling his flight at the last minute, which they've been doing on frequent occasions recently. Many of our flights, actually, are due to just that: a mission team flies in to do a special event in, say, Tuliar. They arrive in Tana only to be notified that Air Mad has canceled the flights to Tuliar. I speculate it has mostly to do with few people flying? and/or Air Mad's financial situation. Whatever the case, the poor team is thus stranded in Tana with a big "do" in Tuliar with them as the main event... That's where MAF comes in. Josh hopes he wont be delayed on his way to SA because Sunday is the day he's booked for shopping.

The evenings and mornings are definitely getting cooler. I seriously contemplate the prospect of taking an early morning shower these days. It's way more comfortable to wait until about 10 when the air temperature has warmed up a bit and it's not uncomfortably cold in the bathroom. Although we're excited about the upcoming winter season and using our new slow-burning fireplace insert that we bought off our former program manager before they left, i am definitely NOT looking forward to "freezing" in my own bedroom before i get into bed and when i have to get up. Brrr. Hopefully Asher will be sleeping through the night by that time so i dont have to do too many frigid trips down the hall in the middle of the night. On the bright side, i'm loving wearing long pants again and looking forward to wearing the cool-weather clothes i got while in Canada. Hurrah for sweaters! Boo-urns to always feeling and smelling sweaty!

The garage sale we hosted on Saturday was mostly a success. I think we sold most of our little junk, but i guess i must have priced my clothes too high because hardly any of the clothing sold. Oh well, i can learn from my mistake and mark them lower the next sale.

We went into the hangar today to drop off Josh's overnight kit. Me and the boys took the opportunity to weigh in again on the hangar scale. Still a discouraging result for me, but Judah weighed in at over 17kg/38lbs; Asher at 8kg. Asher has also started eating solids every now and again. It doesnt seem to affect his night sleeping though, unfortunately. He's almost ready to sit on his own, which is exciting since he finds lying on his tummy a drag. He does move around a lot though as he reminded us again this morning when he rolled off our bed. Ack! Good thing it's got short legs! He also looks like he should be getting a tooth soon, but of course that could mean it will come anytime from tomorrow to 5 months from now. Anyway, he likes to gnaw on carrot sticks instead of teething toys while we sit at the supper table. I suppose it has better flavour.

Well, it's past 8:30. I guess i should head'er upstairs and to bed. Josh is undoubtedly sleeping already in his dark plane in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully we all have wonderful uninterrupted sleeps.

It's our anniversary today. April 19. Does anyone know what we're celebrating?