Monday 5/1: This morning we woke up to a great crash. My first thought was that Layton was trying to fill up the big Gott jug in the kitchen with ice and water for the day. But he was in our bedroom playing Magna Tiles while Jared and I slept in. Jared went to investigate and here the fan in the kitchen had fallen down, pulled the electrical guts part way out of the wall and the blades had shattered. Seems like everything is breaking around here lately… the printer, the WiFi, the washer, the battery back up and now the fan.😂 as long as it’s none of us we are all good!!! 😂 Layton of course hoped his dad would let him have the fan to take apart and see how it worked. I’m convinced he is going to be a mechanic or an electrician when he grows up. Anything that can be dismantled or has wires is his chief joy. Uncle Trevor told him he should try taking a smart phone apart. I said “that’s only funny until he actually tries it.” His alarm clock found its way into the trash because he cut the cord off of it. I said “now you won’t know what time it is when you wake up!” He said “but mom, I needed that cord.”🙀 anyways the fan soon had new blades put on and was perched back in its rightful place. This time a-bit more secure!
Clinic was canceled today since it’s a national holiday. “Labor Day” “a day to celebrate the achievements of workers” according to Wikipedia. Jared still had to go do some things with one of the patients so he took Layton with him. Then they hiked off to Farmgate and were going to get Layton new shoes and more shorts but most of the shops were closed. Here you never know, some shops and markets are open on holidays and some times they aren’t! Jared came home with mangoes so I was enthused. They are just in season now. Spent the rest of the day doing usual things… laundry, cooking etc. Now that I have a wee babe to care for my cooking seems to be lacking luster. (Jared says it’s still good but to me it doesn’t seem that way!) I don’t put as much effort into it as I did a few months ago I guess. Been trying to find some quick and easy meals that don’t take much prep to prepare! Shania isn’t a high maintenance baby but she seems to know when mama walks out of the room to go do something. It’s not long until I hear the most pitiful wail because she thinks she’s all alone. So the princess must be comforted! Our joke is that she must have a pea under her mattress. (One of Layton’s favorite stories now.) She can go from a dead sleep to an absolute wail in no time. 😂 Kelly’s are coming into Dhaka today. They have appointments at the embassy Tuesday. Miss Trish is coming for night and staying for a few days. Looking forward to that.
Tuesday 5/2: Shania is 1 month… she is up to 8 lbs from her 5# 8 oz birth weight. She is definitely more alert and loves to just look around and stare at us all with her big blue eyes. A sly little grin appears occasionally😄 Miriam says she looks “very strict” when her eyes are open! Jared had clinic today. His number of patients was back up to 25-30. They’ve been down during Ramadan and Eid. One day he had none and one day he had only 6! Layton and I spent the morning doing odd jobs around the house. Jared had quite a large stack of papers that needed shredding from some file cabinet clean out that he did after the Rajshahi project was closed down so we worked on that for quite some time. Layton has been loving audiobooks recently. “Those books where you don’t have to turn the pages.” So he listened to Junie B Jones off and on throughout the day. Kelly’s dropped off Sally here with Miss Trish while they went to the Embassy. Their three oldest needed new US passports. Went to sing at the clinic in the evening. Kelly’s went with us so that added some volume. They came over after singing and Lanae and I threw together some BBQ chicken quesadillas. Jared went and bought some chips and Kelly bought some fruit and bon appetit… Earlier in the day I had been racking my mind what I could put in the crockpot that would feed all of us if Kelly’s wanted to come over. I was drawing a blank so I prayed about it. All of a sudden I thought of doing shredded BBQ chicken which can be used for a multitude of things! I was thankful for the practical answer to prayer. I knew I could always freeze it if we all decided to eat out instead. The Lord and I seem to talk often about food matters. Had a fun evening with them. It’s hard to believe that in 2.5 months they leave!
Wednesday 5/3: The past two nights Shania has slept for 5-6 hours without waking up! It’s glorious. I’m not getting my hopes up though that it will last! In the morning Miss Trish and I went to Farmgate. Had a good trip… we were dripping with sweat by the time we got home. Got Layton more shirts and shorts and some bigger sandals. The sizes here are so different. I finally discovered a Bangladesh “8” shirt for boys is like size 6. Then there were some Carters brand shirts that said 4T but they fit like size 6, so came home and all the shirts fit but 2 pairs of shorts were too small but that’s ok! The other pairs fit😃Then size 8 shorts are more like 5T-size 6. Theres no such thing as fitting rooms in the market so just did the best I could at estimating what would fit him. I got 2 3 pc sets, some cotton for a new pair of pants for one of my existing 3 pc sets. That was the first time I had went to Farmgate without Jared. Crossing the streets there always sets my nerves on fire so I was relieved when we got back to Siza Court! These people on motorcycles just drive like bats sometimes, add in the buses flying by zippy fast and then the beggars yelling “sister sister.” I told Miss Trish… “this is why Amazon is a good thing!”😂 But yet on the other hand it’s fun to go out and about to see the sights and marvel at the teaming millions of humanity all crammed into one city! One time we were walking along by Farmgate and in the sidewalk was a big pothole with a little puppy curled up in it sound asleep. Jared spent the afternoon going to the auditors office. They are still working on it. Some papers have been fixed and some still need “amends.” Maybe by the time we leave in 2.5 years the 2022 audit will be completed.😂 Jared got word from Jon that Trevor got his security clearance so now he can get a work visa! We might all be legal here yet! A comment from one of my lady friends today here… “you’re up walking and it’s only been a month?” 😂 She hadn’t seen Shania yet and I met her in the courtyard at the guesthouse. She would hardly give Shania back to me, just held her and “babo babo babo!”
Thursday 5/4: Spent the morning catching up on things from yesterday… kept the washer going. Jared worked on papers for renewing Layton’s passport and then getting one for Shania. Some have asked if she will be considered a Bangladesh citizen. She only would be if Jared or I are Bengali. So we get a birth certificate that says “citizen born abroad” and get her a normal US passport from the US embassy. Then when Jared applies for his work visa he adds her to our family list to be included in the visa. In the afternoon Layton and Jared went to the guesthouse and put together some tract packages. Sometime soon we want to go do some of the tract routes that are around here and outside of Dhaka. Shania and I fell asleep and slept for two hours. At this point a nap is as good as a million dollars. During the day she only wants to nap if she’s laying on my chest. Spoiled little girlie! Shurov came for sweet tea and chocolate cake later in the afternoon. Layton spent the evening planning his future. He wants to build a shop large enough to drive two combines in it, then Shania will drive truck for him. Meanwhile Grampy will weld two cars together for him to see how that works out. (“Mom, do you know how to weld?”) It’s a good thing dreaming is free! At bedtime we were having our story time and he said “Mom, I’m sure glad your not fat anymore. It makes sitting on your lap so much easier!” thank you son, thank you I appreciate the positivity.😂
Friday 5/5: Church this morning… Kelly’s came to church with us! They decided to stay in town for a day or two to do some shopping. I think the sisters liked being able to talk with Lanae since her Bangla is great! I was glad they were there because I’ve been wanting to ask Sumita more about her back pain that way Lanae could help me with the questions. The poor dear looks miserable. After church We decided to go to Danmondi this time instead of Gulsane. It’s about the same distance from our place. Was neat to see some different sites. Had lunch at Herfeys. Was actually able to find parking right close by. Sometimes you just park where you can and walk a distance. Not sure what the guard thought of the 5 white children getting their moneys worth out of the play place. At one point Layton had the rocking horse and was sliding down the slipper slide with it. I was horrified but Lanae consoled me about my child’s actions and said steam has to come out somehow.😂 I made a mental note to add that to my list of things to tell myself when Layton is bouncing off the walls here at home. Haha! After lunch we stopped at Artisan to get Layton a few more pieces of clothes that I couldn’t find at Farmgate. I just really like that store! Old Navy and Carters brands with American sizes. Plus it’s all nicely sorted out into tidy stacks by size. It is more expensive than at a market but the clothes are better quality and seem to last longer. At Farmgate I could only find cotton shorts, and Layton likes the stretchy athletic type. Thankfully Artisan had just the kind he likes! So he shouldn’t need any more clothes for quite some time unless he goes through another crazy growth spurt. Went to UniMart then came home quite exhausted! Taking a baby places wears me out. Shania was good as gold and slept the whole time so I don’t know why it’s tiring.
Saturday 5/6: Lucky came to cook today so I was glad to have one less meal to think about. Actually two less meals because there’s always enough leftovers for another meal! Miss Trish and Kelly’s headed back to Golpagange. Layton always has a sad time when the company leaves. But this time wasn’t so sad because in a week from today we are all going to Kulna to celebrate Whitney’s graduation! (Trevor and Lisa’s girl!) we haven’t left Dhaka since revivals so looking forward to going out to the village again. For lunch Lucky made the usual chicken curry. She made some vegetables in a way that we hadn’t tried yet. Okra with scrambled eggs and fried onion, pumpkin fried with cinnamon, and then we had fried eggplant. I love the eggplant. Once I got used to the slimy texture it was good. Every time Lucky or Josna make it they always say how much Duane boss loved eggplant! They can remember what every missionaries favorite food is! Lucky has been extra careful with her cooking since I had Shania. It’s kinda cute. One time she made a huge bowl of dal, way more than we would ever eat at two settings and she said “it’s good for your milk.” Then today she said she left spice out of everything but the chicken! Her whole face just lights up when I bring “Sania” into the kitchen to see her. She thinks her long brown hair is just beautiful. We have a very hard time understanding her village accent so it’s hard to communicate with her which is quite grievous to me. She always wants to tell me things that sound so interesting But somehow between hand motions and lots of repeating we can get the point across. I thought it was just me but the other missionaries say they have a hard time understanding her sometimes too so that makes me feel better! Midafternoon we heard the welcome sounds of thunder! I’ve learned when it starts to thunder to go out and take my wash off the line right away because otherwise the clothes and unmentionables will flutter down to the courtyard in the wind. Not that I have ever had my undies sail down there or anything… 😂 Usually there’s barely a breeze so I don’t even clothespin them down. There was a good downpour and an amazing wind!! It was like a good spring Kansas wind. This afternoon Jon and Jared worked on papers. Doyle’s papers are submitted and hopefully Trevor’s work visa comes soon. I never knew that being in the mission involved so much on paperwork and visas!
Sunday 5/7: Jared had clinic this morning. He said he stayed pretty busy. Business is picking back up! Layton and I spent quite a-bit of time reading Homer Price and Mrs Piggle Wiggle while Shania had her morning nap. He wonders if he could learn to whistle and catch a skunk like Homer did. It was pretty toasty outside this afternoon so we stayed inside and just took it easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment