Hello May, My Dear Friend
I think I should start off by saying thank you to the five of you who still check in faithfully. Okay, there’s more than five, but seriously, I’m amazed that you still check things out when I go 6 weeks between posts.
Time has been whipping by here and I keep feeling like I want to sit down and write and get all the thoughts out of my head, but then something else comes along and needs my attention. Know that I’ve written you books in my mind over the past weeks :)
We have a research team here right now. Same group as the one in August, but a different project this time. Clean Water for Haiti isn’t part of the study this go round, but they love us so much that they asked if we could host them and they could rent a driver and vehicle for 10 days. They’re such a great group to have here that we couldn’t resist :) I’m fascinated by the research they’re doing and would love to share more but I don’t know what we’re allowed to talk about, etc. I do know that it could have a big impact on water treatment and medical care in Haiti. They’ve basically turned the round house into a lab, which just amazes me. I haven’t had the chance to go down and see everything they’re doing yet, but have plans for that sometime this week. I definitely want to take my camera and get some work shots of them too. Camera…where art thou??? (Yonese was cleaning the other day and put my camera bag on my office chair while she swept and mopped under the desk where it usually sits. Yeah, it had a layer of dust on it…)
We’re still having vehicle issues, but starting to make some progress, I think… Lol! It’s like a three ring circus around here when it comes to what’s working and what’s not. If you know of anyone with $50,000 that they want to give away to purchase a new vehicle for us that would be awesome.
My kids have literally grown an inch in the past month. It’s crazy. I ordered a bunch of their uniform stuff for next school year and got it yesterday. Alex looks amazing and my heart broke a little because he’s going to be starting Kindergarten in August and he has to wear a tie!!! I promise to share pictures soon, because he has to wear a tie!!! Oh my heart. I dressed him all up in his full garb and he did a fashion show for everyone. After gushing over him I groaned because I’m pretty sure the size 13 shoes I ordered him aren’t going to fit come August. Oh yeah, he’s going to be 4 in July, and is sporting a size 6 dress shirt. It’s a bit big, but I’m guessing by the end of the school year it’ll be just barely fitting. He’s a giant!
I’ve been swimming laps three times per week at one of the local hotels. Got a pass with some friends back in February and apparently swimming is my sport. I’ve always enjoyed being in the water, but never swam for exercise. When I first started I would do 10 laps just to get my blood flowing, but was pretty lazy and would move on to other things after I did my time. One day I was there and got into the flow and my body just wanted to do more. Now I’m pushing out 30 laps each time and have a goal of getting up to 40 by mid-June. My friend Maggie swims and exercises with me, which is so nice because it’s a social thing too. I’ve seen how much better life is with getting regular exercise and have been just as surprised as anyone else that swimming is something I love to do. Didn’t see that one coming!
I think regular exercise naturally brings about change in the way we eat because our bodies start wanting and needing different things. I’ve been working at cutting back sugar and starches/refined carbs. Things like bread and pasta, which are my comfort foods. This week with the group in I’ve been cooking some of those things again and yesterday hit my wall of being maxed out. I just felt bloated and gross. Today I was staying away from that stuff and felt a huge difference. It’s just not worth feeling yucky anymore.
We’re now officially in the one month window for summer vacation, and I’m not going to lie or mince words – we’re excited!!! Typically we have a lot of speaking and fundraising things to be doing while home, but this year we have nothing on the calendar except fun, fun, fun. We get to spend a couple nights in Miami to take care of ordering the new solar system for the new house (!!!) and the kids are so pumped. “We get to stay in a hotel! With a pool!” We have stuff to do that will take up most of a day, but I’m looking forward to doing something special with them at the same time. They’re at such a fun age right now, and Chris and I are SO looking forward to the stuff we’re going to be doing this summer. I get to take a train ride with the two of them while Chris puts our van back together, we get to spend a couple weeks with each set of parents, and a couple weeks visiting friends and taking the kids camping to one of our favourite parts of British Columbia. The Rolling family is looking forward with much expectation!
Aaaannnnddd, I know it’s been a while since I updated on the house progress. I desperately need to do a post because things look SO different!!! Our internet isn’t working well or I’d post pictures.
They’re currently doing the form work for the ceiling pour on the first floor. It’s a lot of work to do the form work itself, then they have to go and add in all the tied rebar. The whole process takes several weeks. We were aiming to have the roof on the second floor by the time we left next month, but we think we’ll be a couple weeks off, which is just fine. I promise an update soon so you can see what’s going on. It’s exciting! In the words of our kids the last time we went out as a family, “It looks like a house!!!” :) I’m most excited to see the room sizes now that there’s some form of covering on them because I was holding my breath about all the design decisions I’d made. Fun, fun!
So that’s life here right now. I know I’ve forgotten a ton, but it’s the most my brain can do at the moment. I’ll try to get back to writing more soon.
~Leslie