T minus 12 days and counting......

As you can tell by reading this, I obviously survived my first week without my wife and son. I did not die from starvation, nor did I fall down the stairs and injure myself (again). I must say that the Work days are a lot easier to get through, since I wake up at 6am and only get back in the evening, and then it's time to think about and make myself some dinner, and finally I can collapse on the couch and watch TV before heading to bed. But on the weekend's and public holidays, it is different. The house is dead quiet, except for the faint sound of warm air emanating from the ducts. I am not used to that! I have become accustomed to hearing Little Einsteins, Barney or Teletubbies polluting my lounge, or Nathan, taking after his grandfather and setting the sound to the maximum so that his computer games can drown out every other thing that can fit inside a house. I am used to climbing into a warm bed at night, and having Liesel snuggle up to me automatically, whether she is awake or not. I have all that and more (think South African chocolates) to look forward to in just 12 days time. That's only 2 more work weeks (the easy part) and 1 weekend to get through...........

The good news from Botswana is that Gabi is getting stronger every day and is sounding much better than she was even a week ago! The bad news is Nathan has come down with a bad cough and sore throat and is quite miserable. Please pray that he gets better and for Liesel as she looks after him in Botswana.

This week we celebrated Thanksgiving Day on Thursday. During the day, I kept myself busy by doing some DIY jobs around the house. The temperature outside was dropping, and after doing what I needed to do, I came inside and watched a DVD. The DVD was pretty depressing (Reign over Me with Adam Sandler), and really did not help that I was alone. Fortunately, I had an invite from my bible study leader to join his family for a Thanksgiving dinner that evening. I headed over to his place at around 4:30 and then we drove over to his mother-in-law in Lakewood. She lives in a beautiful house that is literally perched on a cliff overlooking the Rocky River. It was amazing to see the swollen Rocky River flowing about 50 feet below us. And it was also nice to see some snow flakes falling that evening! I shared a wonderful meal with Tom and his extended family, and had a good helping of Turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, and then had some delicious pumpkin pie and whipped cream for dessert. Afterwards we played some games together around the table, and Tom and I beat the ladies in a game of Taboo. Unfortunately, when we played scrabble, I lost to Tom's wife, Lynn, because her first word, using all her letters, was CANOEING! Who does that???? That gave her 72 points and I just couldn't catch up... CANOEING... sheesh!

On Friday morning, I awoke to see my lawn was covered in a dusting of snow! It was our first real snowfall of the season, and was quite sad that Liesel and Nathan weren't around to experience it. As I looked at the snow, I thought of them sitting in Botswana in the 100F (34C) weather, and did not envy them! Give me snow any day!


On Friday and Saturday, I hit the shops a few times in my quest for Christmas gifts. I am happy to report that I have 4 less people on my list that I need to buy for now! On Saturday evening, my manager hosted a holiday party for everyone in his department. The best thing about it is that he literally stays less than five minutes away from me! It was a really fun party and the gift exchange was rather entertaining! Also, it was somewhat interesting to meet their cat, Quincy. He is a hypo-allergenic cat (is that an oxymoron?) that doesn't shed. Who knew that such cats existed?? Well, that night my allergies didn't bother me one bit, so it must be true!


On Sunday, I played at church again, for the last time until January! It was a really good service today, since there was no message, but 4 people were asked to give their testimonies! These personal accounts of how God worked in their lives was really inspiring!
After Church i came home, and had a chat to Liesel, my mom and my sister, and then braved the 40F (5C) weather to go and clear the leaves from the lawn. Hopefully that will be the last time I need to use the lawnmower until next year April (I am sure that's what i said last week!) Theoretically, I did not use my lawn mower to cut the grass, but instead, raised it slightly and put the grass catcher on, so that it would suck up all the leaves, which it did beautifully!

Now it is time to climb into a cold bed and ride out the next couple of weeks! Than you to all of you who have been worried about me and called me, or e-mailed me. I really appreciate it!