Two more days!

It is hard to believe that Joel's trip to Zambia is almost over! He should be home late Saturday afternoon or evening (it is a 12 hour trip so it just depends on how early they leave and if there are complications on the road; a flat tire slowed them down 4 hours last time).

Joel has been gone since Friday morning so tomorrow it will be a week. I worried that I wouldn't sleep well while he was gone; that I wouldn't feel particularly safe in this house. We do have a guard who seems to be very careful while Joel is gone about staying awake and doing rounds around the yard to make sure all is secure. I have been keeping supplied with coffee and high sugar snacks!

I have been able to sleep pretty well...the only times it was hard was when Jonathan and Joshua wanted to share the big bed with me (because why in the world does Mom need all that space all by herself?).

Anna went to visit her new friend Janelle today. I guess Anna fell while they were playing and came home all banged up...her tooth almost went all the way through her lip, so she has a completely fat lip, sore on the inside of her mouth, a scraped up chin, a sore wrist and a gashed and bloody knee. She got another invitation from another friend for visiting tomorrow but I thought that she needed some recovery time.

Kaleb was picked up to go to youth group last night...I have to say, watching him ride away in a minivan full of teens (driven by a 19 year old) was kinda scary. It was dark and the roads are so bad here. They were going a very short distance, but we all know that statistics show that 79% (or something) of all accidents take place within 1/2 mile (or something) of your own home! (Isn't that right, Jamie?) Youth group ends at 8:30 and when Joel picks him up he is home at 9pm at the latest...so by 9:45 I was about ready to call my friend (whose house it was at) to find out what was going on. I didn't call because I KNEW that I would get a call if there had been a problem and it wouldn't really help Kaleb's standing in the youth group to be known as the kid with the worrier mom. So, the dad of the family (I was happy to see it wasn't the teen daughter driving this time!) dropped him off at around 10pm and I was sooo happy to have him home! Turns out that they had a huge game of capture the flag on the ABC campus and Kaleb had a great time. Actually, today when Anna was supposed to be home by noon and wasn't and by about 1:30 my friend called (same friend) to tell me that she had just heard that her husband had told me Anna would be home by lunch...was it ok if she stayed until 3pm instead...I had thought of calling earlier as well but didn't. I think that eventually I might get as good as my mom is about not worrying!

So, to sum up my week without Joel, we have been plugging away...doing our normal things in life. We walked to church on Sunday and found out that it only takes about 10 minutes to get there with all of us together. Kaleb was the only guitar player and I thought he did great! We have been busy in school (just a few things; we are in summer mode), cooking (today did several loaves of bread and made and froze pizza crusts!), cleaning and hanging around. I taught Jasper how to catch popcorn today (a skill that all self respecting dogs should master)...he just looked plain silly before with it hitting his nose and falling to the floor and him going diving after it.

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My heart and prayers have been with a MOMYS friend this week. A week ago yesterday her 12 year old daughter was hit by a car while riding her bike. She has been in a coma with very serious brain injuries since and the latest update tonight said that they didn't expect her to last the night. I am so sick at heart for her. If anybody thinks of it, please pray for Rachael (the daughter) and Corinne and Pete (the parents). Corinne has 12 children and I believe 6 grandchildren.