wordless wednesday.

support haiti.

it's christmastime and i know that everyone's money is tied up in presents and charities.

consider this year sending money to a charity that supports haiti. there are plenty of christian organizations and NGOs that work in the country and are making change and doing amazing things.

i could list a bunch of charities - but after reading a blogpost about a young girl traveling to haiti this month, i decided to ask my readers to support her. in a time of disease and destruction, young people are still feeling called to share gods love on the island of hispaniola - and for me, that's powerful. young people who could be spending their time and money doing so many other things but instead are selflessly getting on planes to a country desperately in need of Jesus this Christmas season.

So, if you're feeling inclined - check out and read about samara's "advent conspiracy" and consider donating financially to Rachel's trip to Haiti.

run run run

so, in 2010 i was supposed to be getting healthy. remember that?

well. i did okay, but lost track of the exercise somewhere between amely deciding not to sleep through the night and the humidity trying to suffocate me while i ran. excuses, i know, but sleep deprivation is brutal and you've never experienced humidity until you've lived in the DR. (unless you've been to a rainforest, and then i'll exempt you from my generalization).

we did okay with eating choices, but i'll be honest, it's hard for me to passby chocolate. so when all is said and done i'm nowhere near where i need to be.

so. on my vacation, i've gotta get back in the saddle. partly because here in philadelphia the heat isn't going to suffocate me (however, the cold might freeze me!). no promises on the healthy eating, but the exercising is definite because i definitely don't want to gain back whatever weight i did lose this year.

here's to getting back in shape BEFORE the new year!

we have arrived.

i know in my last post i promised continuing posts starting thursday. alas, things got busy and, well, here i am. sunday night.

travelling with two babies and a three hour layover was... not un-fun, but not something i'd describe as fun. it was thanksgiving. people wanted to go whereever they were going and a three year old in the middle of the walkway with his little suitcase was holding them up.

three cheers for samil who walked the entire way from the plane to customs, then to baggage claim and then out and around and through security again in miami airport. three cheers for amely who jumped out of her stroller three times. guess i ought to start using that straps.

we did get home in one piece, and not utterly exhausted, so i'd say the trip was a success.

we celebrated thanksgiving on friday - turkey and cranberry sauce, yes please. and on saturday we celebrated my neice's first birthday. today i headed out sola to the church of a good friend. that brings us to now.

and regular, more interesting than this i promise, blog updates.

happy thanksgiving (belatedly, of course, because that's my style).

absence

blogher so gratefully reminded me about my blog via email this week.

the blog i apparently have neglected for the past month!

don't worry folks, i'll soon have five weeks of unlimited internet access to fill you heads with mindless babble on thursday.

see you then!

craziness that it is.

with all internet excuses aside, i´ve not blogged in a long time. i´ve slacked on a lot of things recently and life is just moving f.a.s.t.

i started back to work ¨full time¨in september. it´s not full.time. please. it doesn´t even count as part time in the states. but for me, it´s consistent but still takes a chunk out of my day. i´ve got a fair amount of students but luckily there´s not a lot of running around and the pay is way better than i´d actually make in a ¨real¨job.

i had decided that i wasn´t going to work more than 15 hours a week, including my SAT prep class early on. but, the opportunity has arisen for some college counseling and i´ve taken it. stupid? maybe. but the extra money is going away for a rainy day.

the kids are getting bigger and samil, especially, is like a little sponge. his language that was worrying just a few weeks ago is taking off (albeit in spanish more than english) and we´re happy not to have to take some (costly) measures to fix a speech problem. i think the reason that he is spitting out more spanish than english is that i´ve been seriously slacking on the educational front.

shame on me. here i am ranting about how horrible it is to stick your kid in dominican preschool because they learn more at home... except, i´m not offering it. so. i went on the cleaning spree of a lifetime to organize and and then create a plan of action. both kids really get a lot out of the more-guided activities and play we do (and behave so much better afterwards). sadly i made it through every room in the house except the kids room.

i´ll blame that one on the plumbing disaster we had yesterday morning when the pipes under our kitchen sink literally exploded.

this week the plan is to get back on the exercise bandwagon, plan out the meals again and finish the kids room. and then create the plan and stick with it.

i´ll let you know if it actually happens.

help with a technical question

so, since i don't have internet at home, i've been trying to write some blogs and then post them - but when i copy and paste blogger won't accept the format.


any suggestions how to fix this?