Well, it's been an interesting month. I've been settling back down into the groove of working and church music-doing. My friend Megan took Stella for a good long time, which was absolutely amazing. I've had her back for a week now, and while she's as sweet as ever, and more or less potty-trained, she also hates being alone just as much as ever--and she expresses that by getting ahold of the most valuable object she can find and ripping it apart. (Lately it was our new bed.) Nathan & I have come to the conclusion that we really do need to find a better home for her, one where someone is usually home. I think we learned a valuable lesson about hasty decision-making. I'm certainly not looking forward to the house being empty again though. Hopefully any of you who are reading this who are young and stupid like us will learn from this! And yes, I did already decide to give her away several weeks ago, but as that decision was ALSO hasty, I thought it was impulsive and didn't stick by it...interesting turn of events...
In other news, you are reading the words of someone who successfully organized a roadtrip to Croatia over Labor Day weekend! Actually, given how the directions were bad and it was midnight by the time we got through Slovenia and into Croatia, it was purely by the grace of God that we got there. I went with 4 girlfriends and 2 strangers (who turned out to be very cool). We hung out at the beach and wandered around the town of Porec and saw their beautiful little Byzantine basilica. If you want pictures, give me your email address & I'll send them. Going there inspired me to agree with Nathan that it would be silly to fly all the way to Australia for R&R; when we have all of Europe in our back yard.
Speaking il marito, I haven't heard a lot lately, due to an visit by some bigwigs to his little FOB. So he's been busy under a microscope this week. He's still doing well, despite a run-in with a bowl of goat liver...He certainly enjoys getting mail! Thanks to those of you who send it. There are 2 pictures of him in the latest battalion newsletter, including the one above. One cool thing is that he's been writing to a bunch of different organizations asking for donations to improve life on the FOB, and they've been sending everything from an XBOX to games to books. He's helped a friend convert a room into a chapel, and has written some Christian publishers to get supplies for that. www.desiringGod.org posted his letter on their blog--you should check it out.
In a week I'm going up to Landstuhl to get my ankle checked out. (No one told me...apparently Italians aren't known for their surgical skills...) Actually, what I'll be doing is taking an ITR trip to Innsbruck, Autria, since I'd already signed up for it, spending the night in Innsbruck, and then taking the train to the Kaiserslautern/Ramstein/Landstuhl area Sunday and hanging out til my appointment Monday. Coming home Tuesday. It'll be quite the adventure. And hopefully one that concludes with me NOT having to get more surgery.
