praise the Lord, we have a working telephone and internet access (as of today - 4/28/07!!!) never take your ability to communicate with others for granted. as if it is not difficult enough to move far away from family and friends, not to be able to contact them once you get there makes it even more challenging.
things move slowly in Sicilia, and now that we have a kitchen sink and the grass is finally coming in too, well, life is good. no one is in a hurry here. i think everything is just slower in the south - it is like that in america and it is like that in italy as well...
the real highlights i will save for the next post - it's now almost midnight and we have to get some rest so we can get up for church in the morning.
4.28.2007
3.26.2007
finally, Sicilia
it is hard to believe but my 3 traveling companions and i are finally in Sicilia - land of olive trees, lemon trees, orange trees - beautiful mountains, beautiful seas. our family is reunited and we hope to be in our new home - maybe as soon as this coming weekend.
we are grateful to be a family again. we are adjusting still to the time change although it has not been too difficult, i am a bit more tired than usual still in the afternoons and more awake late at night...
instead of recapping the last nightmarish days of our trip, we will just move on to our new life and see what exciting things God has for us here! today Lorraine picked me up and we just drove around a little to familiarize with the local area - we stopped in a huge field of blue, purple, yellow, red and orange wildflowers and picked some and knew we wanted to paint there sometime - it was so beautiful and it is still early in the season. there are flowers everywhere. lots of wildflowers all over the side of the road and on the hillsides. there are wisteria blooming everywhere. i'll have to get pictures of those for sure.
everyone has been so friendly and helpful. i've already been to the mall (to buy a gift for someone else!!) but have not been to the local markets yet. i'm looking so forward to that!!! here is a sunset from our hotel...ciao for now...
we are grateful to be a family again. we are adjusting still to the time change although it has not been too difficult, i am a bit more tired than usual still in the afternoons and more awake late at night...
instead of recapping the last nightmarish days of our trip, we will just move on to our new life and see what exciting things God has for us here! today Lorraine picked me up and we just drove around a little to familiarize with the local area - we stopped in a huge field of blue, purple, yellow, red and orange wildflowers and picked some and knew we wanted to paint there sometime - it was so beautiful and it is still early in the season. there are flowers everywhere. lots of wildflowers all over the side of the road and on the hillsides. there are wisteria blooming everywhere. i'll have to get pictures of those for sure.
everyone has been so friendly and helpful. i've already been to the mall (to buy a gift for someone else!!) but have not been to the local markets yet. i'm looking so forward to that!!! here is a sunset from our hotel...ciao for now...
2.22.2007
tonsils and house inspections
well, today was a very exciting day. i had to be at the hospital at 6am. somehow i made it thanks to a dear friend Jeannie, and the Lord getting me out of bed after a mere 3.5 hours of sleep! i was going to have my tonsils out, and not all that excited at the prospect. but most of my friends and i figured it was God's way of sparing me from having it done at a military hospital somewhere away from Brad if they don't offer at Sig or either having to fly back to the states while ill to have it.
anyway, showed up and had my labs and xrays done and was waiting for the surgery to start but they came in and said a blood test had come back positive that they needed to redo.
once it finally came back the 2nd time, they said inconclusive. so they could not do full-blown anesthesia. but at least they did some 'light' anesthesia which allowed me to sleep through the nightmare of being awake as i was having my throat cut on the inside! however, i was NOT spared being stabbed 3 different times with burning lidocaine to get an IV ready. i was dehydrated from not drinking since midnight and have small veins. so that part was not very pleasant. i look like a very large pin cushion in purple pajamas now that i am home safe and warm with all the pups laying around me.
the great news for the days is....drum roll please...one large hurdle for the sale of the house - the home inspection only turned up what the realtor calls 'a few small items' - miracle of miracles - everything is moving forward!! (we have not received the list yet)
the other major hurdle as far as the home is concerned is the results of the VA appraisal which we expect to come in hopefully some time next week. so thank you for continued prayers in that area.
Brad is recovering from a fall he had last weekend while at a festival in Acireale (or something like that) when he was trying to move out of the way of a tiny little princess in a fluffy dress walking with her father, he stepped back and was instantly landed on some lava on his side. he seems to be fine but is sore still. we are just amazed how he managed to walk around the festival 2 nights in a row and even take the fall and still be up and about. another miracle. we serve the living God who is awesome beyond words. praise His holy name!!!
anyway, showed up and had my labs and xrays done and was waiting for the surgery to start but they came in and said a blood test had come back positive that they needed to redo.
once it finally came back the 2nd time, they said inconclusive. so they could not do full-blown anesthesia. but at least they did some 'light' anesthesia which allowed me to sleep through the nightmare of being awake as i was having my throat cut on the inside! however, i was NOT spared being stabbed 3 different times with burning lidocaine to get an IV ready. i was dehydrated from not drinking since midnight and have small veins. so that part was not very pleasant. i look like a very large pin cushion in purple pajamas now that i am home safe and warm with all the pups laying around me.
the great news for the days is....drum roll please...one large hurdle for the sale of the house - the home inspection only turned up what the realtor calls 'a few small items' - miracle of miracles - everything is moving forward!! (we have not received the list yet)
the other major hurdle as far as the home is concerned is the results of the VA appraisal which we expect to come in hopefully some time next week. so thank you for continued prayers in that area.
Brad is recovering from a fall he had last weekend while at a festival in Acireale (or something like that) when he was trying to move out of the way of a tiny little princess in a fluffy dress walking with her father, he stepped back and was instantly landed on some lava on his side. he seems to be fine but is sore still. we are just amazed how he managed to walk around the festival 2 nights in a row and even take the fall and still be up and about. another miracle. we serve the living God who is awesome beyond words. praise His holy name!!!
2.19.2007
flooded laundry room, sales contract and no water!
continuing from the last post... in the midst of the house being packed the original realtor called and said the prospective buyers wanted to come to the house at 2pm. i said fine as long as they know about the packing. so they came out looked all around and then left.
about 4pm the nicest plumber you ever met came to my house. he prays and watches adrian rogers every morning with a guy from our church that brad and i know very well. he just is down-home honest and got to work right away on the flooding problem.
as i had thought, there was a backup in the line and it needed to be snaked out. so first he tried it from the outtake by the laundry room - snake wasn't long enough. so he went around the side of the house, found another one and started again.
meanwhile, the realtor called and said we had an offer.
after about 2.5 hours, the clogged drain was fixed! but when i went to turn on the washer and the water faucet in the sink, guess what??? NO WATER. nothing...not even a drop. it was dry as a bone even out by the well.
did i say he was the nicest plumber in the world? well he was. he even tried to troubleshoot the well. he determined it did have power, but that's about the max he could do.
then some very good friends of ours came by and brought me dinner and the video from our Revelation class which i was really glad to watch that night. they also offered a shower in the morning at their house.
i waited up to call brad for the name of the well guy since everything had already been packed up! so he gave me the name.
in the morning i actually went to my friends house (who deserves a whole post of her own for all of the time she spent helping me this week, including coming over here today to cook me food in the midst of my throat situation - her daughter has it too) thank God for friends. anyway, i tried that well guy and he wasn't available so i called the realtor for a name and got one. meanwhile, a house full of packers and furniture loaders were going to descend on my house - with no bathroom...
anyway, the packers/movers came around 10:30. the well guy came at 12 and in 15minutes there was running water...
everything in the house was gone by 4:30!
so now we are all caught up. and i'm back to the present - not being able to swallow very well or do much of anything.
oh, and the worst part of all was that i never sent out Ben's and Mom C's birthday cards - STILL - and couldn't call because my throat was hurting. so the cards are going to be very very late. but not as late as Brad's valentines package....
but the good new is...we have a contract!!! there is a home inspection scheduled for this week. and an appraisal should be following shortly...
good night all...
about 4pm the nicest plumber you ever met came to my house. he prays and watches adrian rogers every morning with a guy from our church that brad and i know very well. he just is down-home honest and got to work right away on the flooding problem.
as i had thought, there was a backup in the line and it needed to be snaked out. so first he tried it from the outtake by the laundry room - snake wasn't long enough. so he went around the side of the house, found another one and started again.
meanwhile, the realtor called and said we had an offer.
after about 2.5 hours, the clogged drain was fixed! but when i went to turn on the washer and the water faucet in the sink, guess what??? NO WATER. nothing...not even a drop. it was dry as a bone even out by the well.
did i say he was the nicest plumber in the world? well he was. he even tried to troubleshoot the well. he determined it did have power, but that's about the max he could do.
then some very good friends of ours came by and brought me dinner and the video from our Revelation class which i was really glad to watch that night. they also offered a shower in the morning at their house.
i waited up to call brad for the name of the well guy since everything had already been packed up! so he gave me the name.
in the morning i actually went to my friends house (who deserves a whole post of her own for all of the time she spent helping me this week, including coming over here today to cook me food in the midst of my throat situation - her daughter has it too) thank God for friends. anyway, i tried that well guy and he wasn't available so i called the realtor for a name and got one. meanwhile, a house full of packers and furniture loaders were going to descend on my house - with no bathroom...
anyway, the packers/movers came around 10:30. the well guy came at 12 and in 15minutes there was running water...
everything in the house was gone by 4:30!
so now we are all caught up. and i'm back to the present - not being able to swallow very well or do much of anything.
oh, and the worst part of all was that i never sent out Ben's and Mom C's birthday cards - STILL - and couldn't call because my throat was hurting. so the cards are going to be very very late. but not as late as Brad's valentines package....
but the good new is...we have a contract!!! there is a home inspection scheduled for this week. and an appraisal should be following shortly...
good night all...
a bunch of packers, a sales contract, and a very sore throat
where do i begin? i think i'll start from this moment and go backwards... the question is - why am i awake at 2am??? because my throat feels like someone is trying to cut their way out of it. sorry but that's what it feels like. it's probably nothing compared to kidney stones (still praying for ya Brian). but at this moment my right tonsil is the center of the universe. got sick friday afternoon, and spent yesterday and today praying for healing, and not to get an abscessed tonsil like last year to no avail, but i'm not giving up on the praying part. for some reason today sometime after 7pm the pain just escalated. sleep is not the escape i was hoping it would be. i've gargled with 1/2 a salt flat today and drank never ending cups of hot tea with honey. seems that antibiotics are the only hope. on the outside i have some freaky looking rash on the lower half of my throat and top of my chest.
thursday and friday i was back to work. weds my friend and i drove to the warehouse where all of our belongings had been unloaded and being prepared and stuffed into crates for the ride to the port and then the long ocean journey to Sicily. lucky furniture!
the saga really goes all the way back to thursday, when a new realtor came by to discuss a new contract for the house. brad & i discussed it and i was ready to sign. turns out he couldn't make it back out until friday and then not until noon. so basically both of those days that i had taken off work to prepare for the packers were not spent preparing for packers.
on friday about 1pm our original agent called and expected on offer friday night or saturday. fri. night i was up until 2:30am preparing for packers. all day sat too. no contract offer came in.
sunday went to church, came back, started a load of laundry, and flooded the laundry room. called some folks and did not get a solution until monday morning (the flooding had stopped once i turned off the washer...)
so monday the packers showed up around 10:30am and worked until about 2:30 and almost had the entire house finished.
okay...this is long...i'll finish with a Part 2...
thursday and friday i was back to work. weds my friend and i drove to the warehouse where all of our belongings had been unloaded and being prepared and stuffed into crates for the ride to the port and then the long ocean journey to Sicily. lucky furniture!
the saga really goes all the way back to thursday, when a new realtor came by to discuss a new contract for the house. brad & i discussed it and i was ready to sign. turns out he couldn't make it back out until friday and then not until noon. so basically both of those days that i had taken off work to prepare for the packers were not spent preparing for packers.
on friday about 1pm our original agent called and expected on offer friday night or saturday. fri. night i was up until 2:30am preparing for packers. all day sat too. no contract offer came in.
sunday went to church, came back, started a load of laundry, and flooded the laundry room. called some folks and did not get a solution until monday morning (the flooding had stopped once i turned off the washer...)
so monday the packers showed up around 10:30am and worked until about 2:30 and almost had the entire house finished.
okay...this is long...i'll finish with a Part 2...
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