What a day!

Well, today was one of those days. A good day? A bad day? I am not sure!

I needed to have a hard talk with a good friend this morning and so I left the house a little bit sick to my stomach. I hate confrontation but it was an important talk and I was really glad that I had done it afterwards. However, I did some crying and when I left I was still very close to tears.

I had to rush off to ladies bible study; the kids wondered if I should maybe not go because they could tell that I had been crying, but I went anyways. There were only 3 other ladies there and when each of them looked at me at different times as they (or I) arrived and said, "Darcy, what happened?" I broke down and gave them each a good cry. :-) so silly. But so nice to have good girlfriends whose shoulders are open for me to cry on.

So, in the middle of the bible study Anna came to get me that there were some people in our yard talking to them (Joel wasn't home but Morris, our yard worker was there) about shutting off the electricity. Yikes; so I ran (sadly, stepping on some doggy doo on the way) home (I was right next door) and tried to talk the man into not shutting off our electricity. He talked to Joel on the phone and then told me that Joel told him that we had no money so couldn't pay our bill. I told him I KNOW my husband didn't tell you that; and that we had already paid our bill and he could NOT shut of our electricity. I was SOOO not in the mood to deal with this; and when he tried to give me the form saying he was going to shut off our power I wouldn't take it. Finally I was able to talk the guy into not shutting off the power.

So, I went back to the bible study and just enjoyed a nice talk with the ladies and we didn't end up leaving until almost 2pm! So glad that Alissa had made lunch and fed the kids while I was gone.

That afternoon at 3 or so Carolyn came over for speech with the boys and when speech was done we were able to have a great visit. Sigh...thank the Lord for good friends! We could talk without worrying about supper because a lot of us were going to go to the new restaurant our church opened up in town.

During our visit a man who had really, really over charged us for something came by to ask for Christmas and New Years presents. I couldn't believe he did that; when I had no gift for him he asked for mangos (which weren't ripe yet). He told me that he had seen Joel who had given him the gifts he asked for and had sent him to me so I could also give him gifts. I told him I KNOW my husband didn't do that (what was up with people lying to me about Joel today?) and sent him on his way. I was maybe more abrupt than I should have been, but after my dealings with the electricty guy, I was just not in the mood to deal with this guy.

Right before supper time Sally stopped by on her way home from exercising and we were able to have a quick chat. I love Sally's visits; she often stops by on her way home from working out and we visit for awhile before supper time.

We left and met up with a bunch of friends at the Grace Hot Pot and had such a good time. There are no real restaurants here so we haven't really had a meal like this with friends where you don't have to cook before hand or clean up afterwards! It was just fun visiting with everybody. What a nice evening! The kids sat in one area at several tables and the adults sat together. The restaurant was closed except for us; it was very nice.

Anyways, so we got home around 8pm and I realized that I was thinking of what a great day I had; instead of what a rotten day (like it started out). Also, it is a day for the record books; I didn't cook at all today! Kaleb made breakfast, Alissa made lunch and we went out for supper! Yay!

We have been in Zambia for more than a year now; in Africa for more than two years! It always seems amazing right after the birthdays of the kids and I realize how much they have grown since we left.

We had a fun Christmas time this year. We were planning on taking a trip to Malawi to visit friends but the other missionaries also had plans for the holidays and since everybody couldn't be gone at once, we stayed in Kabwe. It was relaxing and nice and there ended up being a huge fuel problem in Malawi so we figured it was probably just as well that we didn't go at that time. On the 26th we went to a little retreat place called Ibis Gardens which is less than an hour away for 2 nights. They have a wonderful pool (Jon learned to swim!) and a place to play volleyball and the kids taught me frisbee (Andrew is a good teacher). We watched movies before bed and played games during the day and ate at the restaurant some meals; some meals just had sandwiches in our rented house. It was very nice. Short; but still nice just to get away.

Joel is going to be going to the US for awhile coming up and he is going to take Alissa with him! I am so excited for her and also for my parents and Jamie who get to spend time with her (because she is a great person!). I am going to miss them a lot; I have no idea what I will do without Alissa's help (she teaches Josh and Jon mostly and also helps me a lot with cooking); and also without her company. It is fun to just hang out with her and laugh and talk about life.

Ok, now that I remembered my address for this blog I will have to see if I can write in it more regularly. And maybe after Joel gets back from the states I will actually have a camera again!