A particularly energetic gerbil was galloping on the wheel of my brain last night.  To the point where I gave up trying to sleep, arose at 5:00 AM  and hit the computer running to get all the ’stuff’ out of my head and onto the ‘page’, so to speak.  I’m sure my face will join the dinner plate tonight. Maybe I’ll serve a plate of Jell-0 to soften the landing.

Great Smiles

I’ve graduated!  The final bell rang and school’s out. I passed my Teach English as a Foreign Language online course and it’s on to Nepal in May to teach my Monk-lettes.  It’s not so much what I have in store for them, as what on earth do they have in store for me! All males, all  Buddhist monks, 10 to 20 years of age and the classroom is in the monastery.  Wonder what would happen if I walked in wearing a nun’s habit? On second thought, nah. This Saturday night we are hosting a celebratory partaaay with 12 guests so far.

Christmas @ Crossroads Mission

Would you believe the last time I posted on this blog it was before Christmas!  DB and I spent Christmas day volunteering at the Crossroads Mission here in Yuma at their annual Christmas Day meal and activities. DB was on trash detail and I was on table wiping.

We had a ball.  Over 3000 meals were served and that’s not counting the 200 that were delivered to shut-ins.  Here’s a partial list of happenings:

• A semi trailer full of fresh produce for the taking

• Racks and racks of clothing, blankets etc. for the taking

• Face painting for the kids

• Crafting for the kids

• Santa and prezzies for the kids

• Inflatable playground activities (slide, bouncing, etc.)

• Enough food to feed one of me for 2 years!

Just before serving time, we felt the earth shake and heard the thundering of a herd of Harley motorcyles.  They did not drive past, they came into the grounds! To our jaw dropping surprise they stopped and glared.  Long haired, bearded, pierced, tatooed, bald, leathered, muscled and fierce (and I’m just talking about the GIRLS!) . Kidding, the guys looked like that too.

Then they got off their bikes!  Yikes, what are we in for.  They swaggared up to the registration table and the next thing we knew they were donning aprons and took up their posts behind the steam tables to serve dinner!  You have no idea what a simple thing like an apron can do to the persona of a tough ol’ biker!

Wiping tables didn’t keep me too busy so I was able to circulate and visit with the guests.  They were wonderful.  So polite, grateful, happy to be there and loved to talk to us.  I met one wee one-month old Latino infant whose mother was so proud to show me.  She had 2″ long black hair (took all three of my kids over 2 years to grow that much mulch!), tiny ruby coloured earrings in her newly pierced ears and pink nail polish!

The best Christmas Day we have had in a long time. Please visit this link to see video and pictures of this event http://crossroadsmission.org/special_events.htm

SNEEZIN’

It’s been a year and a half now that we have been vet visiting with Sid the cat and his chronic sinus problems.  Now on a third round of antibiotics, antihistamines, sinus washes and blood drawings, he has found a way to get even with me.

It’s called the ’sneeze wash’.  With Sid sitting in my lap one evening, I could see the sneeze coming and quickly averted my face, only to receive the slippery, sticky results in my hair. That was the same day that Solomon, cat #2, filled my shoe with a meal marked ‘return to sender’.  Have to say he did a remarkable job.  Fully contained within the shoe, none  over the sides or on the surrounding carpet.

Ahh the never ending joys of our unconditionally loving kids with fur. And speaking of fur, it is our main source of fibre.

Squeezin' Pros

Got a system going

Oranges by the truckload around here. There are over 12oo RV sites in this park and each one has a citrus tree.  One description of Heaven is when they all come into bloom.  The fragrance combined with the warm desert breeze is enough to start your angel wings sprouting.

Now, of course many of those tree blossoms result in oranges. Bushels of them.  We got together with our buddies Elaine and Bob and squeezed over 300 for juice.  Got sticky, got juice everywhere and got a gallon of juice each. Then celebrated with a Tequila sunrise!

SPOTS

Every day I go outside and ’spot’.  With the amount of sunshine down here, even with a sunscreen,  skin will get colour.  Problem is, at my ‘age’ I no longer tan, I spot. Freckle ’spots’, liver ’spots’ and plain old unidentified spot spots. Blessed with the red2-smiling-monks-pichead skin of my youth (ok, the redhead needs a little assistance in retaining the coloure of days gone by, but the skin is ‘natural’) freckles come with the package.

So.  All you former clients back home to whom I gave s___ for getting sun exposure, it’s now your turn to give it right back!

I leave you this time with a photo of a full moon in the desert sky taken from the front of our RV

Midnight at the Oasis