Cheaper than Food
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Or, it snows in New Mexico? Eric and I were not anticipating the sight that met our eyes when we looked out the front door this morning. When people said yesterday that it was going to snow, I thought flurries. I really did think that when the snow melted in Michigan last April, it would be the last I saw of it for quite some time. No scraper, no boots, no winter coat...and three inches of snow on the windshield.To add to the irony, Eric turned on Christmas music this morning because he decided that it's the most Christmassy weather we'll likely see for the next 2+ years. I'm confused as to where all this precipitation came from when the air is so dry here in Gallup that I wake up with a bloody nose every morning and the backs of my hands are literally cracking.
But on an upside, Maggie was excited to wear her very first sweater this morning. Snow on Columbus Day, Minnesota? Check out our three inches on October 28! Brings back childhood memories of trick or treating in snowsuits....
We are often asked, from a professional medical standpoint, "How does one know that their infant is ready to start solid food?" Experience has taught us thus:
We are heading to the library today, because we have read most of the books we brought along. So, though we interminably give the recommendations, this is your opportunity to tell us what we should read. Feel free to give multiple suggestions.
Allow me, if you will, one more story of God's great provision and faithfulness. As Eric mentioned, Maggie and I are currently in Nashville visiting his family members. We are becoming more acutely aware every day of the dwindling time we have to spend with family before departing (especially since we got our tickets!! Departure date for Nairobi is Dec 9!), and so this has been a great chance for the McLaughlins to see a bit more of Maggie. Some people we know that we have already said goodbye to for the last time for the next 2-3 years. Some people we know we may not see again this side of heaven. And some people we hope to see one more time before we go, but don't know how in the world it will work out. My brother Eric is one of those people--we last saw him in early July, and I was starting to think it was going to be a long time before Maggie saw her godfather again.
Those of you who know Eric (brother Eric, not husband Eric), know that he's been working at an organic farm community for developmentally disabled adults. He loves it, since he gets to help the disabled community and "be with the earth" at the same time. Because it's in north central Minnesota, we haven't gotten up to visit at all. He's currently taking some vacation time to go on a three week choir tour with a special audition-only group...they started in St. Louis, travelled up to NYC and down to Georgia, and are now headed back via Chicago. Because I was planning to be in New Mexico the whole time, I paid no attention to his itinerary.
Yesterday, Sharon (aka Grammy) took Maggie and me up to Belmont church for a young moms Bible study that she helps lead/mentor. As the study was ending, her phone rang. When she called the number back a few minutes later, it was my brother! His choir had finished a concert in Georgia the night before and were heading to spend the night in Louisville, KY. They happened to be in the Nashville area around lunch and decided to stop (with no previous plans to do so). Eric figured, I have an hour, maybe I can connect with Sharon. He had NO IDEA that Maggie and I were in town. Also, Tim and Sharon live 30 minutes south of Nashville, but their church is in downtown Nashville, where Eric's bus stopped. If we had skipped the Bible study and had stayed home istead, we would not have made it to downtown in time to see Eric. And in fact, my original plan was not to fly in to Nashville until today, the 16th, but the frequent flier ticket wasn't available to be used except on the 13th.
So many factors coming together to allow me to see my brother, and Maggie to see her godfather and uncle, maybe for the last time in 2 years. We were all in shock the entire half hour, but it was a wonderful reunion. God looks down and smiles at His handiwork, bringing families together. What a blessing.
Rachel and Maggie are currently in Tennessee, visiting family, and today is my only day off from the urgent care clinic during the 8 days that they're gone, which is just as well, since I'm sure I couldn't entertain myself very well all by myself.
Our first visitor to Gallup (of many, I'm sure) has arrived. Rachel's mom Jean came in around lunchtime, and members of the McLaughlin home were recovered at least enough for a brief cultural foray. On the north edge of Gallup, off the previously named Hwy 666, there is a Navajo Flea Market every Saturday, which is apparently of such a magnitude that there is nothing else like it in the Navajo Nation (which is probably the size of Michigan or so).
Now that we have been living in our new "home" for over a week, we thought it would be fun to share all the wonderful unique features of this place. It took some searching, but we did finally come up with the following list.
Well, I've been about a week in the urgent care now, and I have the syndrome to prove it. Shockingly, after seeing about 10 flu patients a day, I myself have come down with the bug. A pretty bad bug, actually. One that makes me eat popsicles in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. I worked today in spite of it, but I feel pretty awful, and I'm debating whether or not I can work tomorrow. I drink a lot of green tea, even with a bit of Wild Turkey honey in it (which was randomly left in our apartment, and we didn't have regular honey). So I'm trying to work, because that's why we're here, but it's tough. So please pray for me.
Yeah, I know I'm a bit belated. It's a little bit embarassing after giving my parents a hard time about belated blogging. But we've been busy. We've been up to Michigan, back to Phoenix, and then out to New Mexico. But that's no excuse for skipping a good post. About 3 weeks ago, my grandma, my parents and I all had a Saturday off! (My schedule is very tough to clear.) So we decided to take a day trip. After reviewing the options from Phoenix, we decided to head north to the Flagstaff area. There are several reasons for this, the most notable being that it is about 30 degrees cooler 2 hours north, because you ascend a full 5000 feet in altitude. That's a vertical mile! Did you know that? I did.
Our first stop was to Walnut Canyon, site of a bunch of 12th century native american cliff dwellings. It was great, and as you can see above, I had a great time in my sling. Well... most of the time. It got rather hot later, after this picture was taken, and well.... it's just hard to stay in a good mood when you're hot and sweaty, right?