Thanksgiving 2011

Traditionally on my blog, I have a Top 10 list of non-traditional things I am thankful for from the past year. Why non-traditional? Because I try my hardest to be thankful all year long for the traditional things like Jesus, grace, God's provision, family, friends, health, etc. This year, though, the list looks a little more traditional. Why?

I'm not gonna lie...this year has not been easy. And one of the things I sort of feel thankful for is that it's over. As I look back at the year, I think things like:

• I am thankful that the Chef's wife didn't die, and that God brought her through that terrible heart ordeal.
• I am thankful that my friends were all safe during the uprisings in Tunisia, and that even though I didn't understand why God had me leave when He did...I am glad now that He had me leave when He did. I probably would not have handled a revolution very well.
• The Radical Experiment was hard, and part of me feels like I didn't even do it to my upmost ability, but I am thankful for how it opened my eyes...to how greedy I am and how much I do not put Jesus first in my life as a I should.
• Language school was a dark and lonely period and I am thankful that I'm not there anymore.
• Living with the Wise family was awesome and challenging all at the same time, and I am thankful I got to experience that...but again, thankful that I'm not there anymore.
• There were some deep hurts this year that sent my soul down into the pit, and I'm still trying to figure out how to be thankful about that. I am thankful now, that it seems God is beginning, hopefully, to pull me out of it.
• The summer in Paris was unexpected, continued my homelessness for even a while longer, and that was yet another challenge. But I had fun, and am thankful that my relationship with Paris was restored, renewed, redeemed. I'm glad we're back in each other's good graces.

In the midst of all those things, though, there were so many great things to be thankful for!

10. Friends. I've always hoped and even prayed to have a good close girl friend. God's given me several. Joy. The Superhero's wife. The camelridingcowgirl. The Real McCoy's.

9. Having a HOME. After 27 months of being homeless, living out of a suitcase, having my stuff strewed across several continents, I finally have a place to call my own. I finally got everything in one place and unpacked. I finally started putting down some roots.

8. Master Yoda and Princess Leah's wedding. Yippee! I have a sister-in-law! I am so thankful that I got to go home and be there for the wedding.

7. It's been several years since I put this on the list, but SKYPE. I am so thankful for the internet and being able to stay connected with my close friends and family with webcam's and phone calls. It makes me far away seem not so far away.

6. The sunshine in Marseille. The warm weather in Marseille. MARSEILLE.

5. That I have a year in a furnished apartment so that I can take my time in furnishing my own place, and even just looking for my own place. I don't make decisions quickly. And the extra year helps not have to pay for everything all at once too. So thankful for all of that.

4. All the fun things I've gotten to do this year. 8-Course Meals, Chateaux, Giverny, Bastille Day, the Tour de France, Cinema in the Park, Chick-Fil-A, Arles, Swan Lake.

3. The Fly Lady. I really am thankful for her cleaning/organizing/motivational systems and how it helps me to get my house in order. There is peace that comes with knowing that my sink is shiny and there is this little joy that comes from that peace. I am thankful for all of that.

2. My kitchen. I began dreaming of my own kitchen when I was about 22 or so. And while I've had kitchens since then, I never could afford to buy good enough stuff for the kitchen to be able to cook in it the way I dreamt of. This year, that all changed. I have a big kitchen. I can afford to buy stuff for my kitchen. I have time to cook in the kitchen. I love my kitchen.

1. Grace, mercy, God's kindness and love. It got me through this year. It gives me hope that the next year will be better.

So...Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Know that I am truly thankful for each one of you and the gift of your friendship in my life! I hope that your Turkey day is wonderful, your fellowship with friends and family blessed, and that no matter what you're eating or where you're eating it, that you are thankful for God's wonderful grace, love, mercy, and provision in your life.

Top 10 Tuesday: Thanksgiving Edition

Top Ten Tuesday has been digitally remastered to uh, Thursday...for thanksgivingish reasons. I hope you all enjoy your turkey, sweet potatoes and pumpkin. I know I'll enjoy mine. (And for those of you who wanted it, the Pumpkin Risotto recipe is posted just below. Yum Yum. Only good as a side dish, though, not a main meal).

Top Ten Non-Traditional Things I am Thankful For
(Traditional being things like Jesus, family, friends, health, home, etc. Of course I am thankful for those!)

10. The ability to read
9. Coffee
8. Rain, especially in the desert
7. That I haven't died while driving in a round-a-bout yet
6. Being able to buy pumpkin in a foreign county
5. Flip flops in warm weather and fun socks in cold weather
4. That I got this opportunity to live and work here in this crazy desert
3. That the rats are dead
2. My curly hair
1. SKYPE!!! (Do you skype? If not, why not!?)

Just so it can be said, though--I am thankful down to the pits of my core for Mom, Dad, Master Yoda, Auntie K and fam, the two Aunt S's and fam's, MEME (and I don't mean the blog tagging, I mean my wonderful grandmother) and Grandaddy, Grandaddy in Texas, the gazillion cousins, Ms Deb and fam, and all of my parent's church.

Also thankful for LO-ren, the Alma Gemea, KKW, Sparky, H & S (and third), all my scattered friends in US and abroad, S & S in C, the futebol guy, the P5, the friend here who shares the same name as Sparky but whose name shall not appear on my blog, Miss Sally, and my church here.

I am thankful for my health, and that I've not gotten seriously sick while being overseas during this last year. That I'm not suffering too bad during my six months of a stupid medication and praise the Lord, only have two months left to go. That the dentist gave me a clean bill of health once again this week--no cavities, no problems, everything's good, thank goodness. I can see, hear, walk, and use all my fingers. :)

But most importantly, and without it everything else would be naught, I am ragamuffinly grateful for my precious Jesus. He sees my heart and loves me anyway. He knew my wretchedness and chose me anyway. He is my salvation--from sin, from despair, from myself. He set me free, is setting me free, and will set me free--praise His glorious name! I am so thankful to even be able to know of Him, much less have the unspeakable privilege to know Him more and more each day. What deep mystery of love is this?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..."

Top 10 Tuesday

As I am beginning to process my return to the US (in 37 days), I've also begun to embrace this place a little more. So today's list is a big hug for this place.

Top Ten Things I'm So Glad I Got to Experience HERE

10. The Indonesian exhibit
9. Watching sunsets over the water
8. Life in the desert, in a Muslim desert
7. The Chinese Circus
6. A athletic event for charity (okay, hasn't happened yet, but will in two weeks, and if I actually go through with it, it will certainly be on this list!)
5. Global Village (haven't blogged it yet)
4. Playing bridge with Miss Sally and co.
3. A friend named Sam
2. Desert safari with Sparky
1. Desert picnic with friends

Top 10 Tuesday

I decided that because I like top 10 lists so much, and because people are always asking me questions like, "what do you like about it there? what are you looking forward to in regards to returning to America?" I would start a new weekly installment here at NeverHome.

Top Ten Tuesdays!

This week's Top Ten:

The Top 10 Things I LIKE about it Here in the desert... (drumroll, please)

10. Bendy straws! Everywhere you go, they give you BENDY straws!
9. Magic towels! What are Magic towels, you ask? They are paper towels the size of a napkin, that come in a box like Kleenex--no tearing them apart. Just reach over, pull out of the box, and you have a tissue! A napkin! A paper towel! NO--a MAGIC towel!
8. As much kebab and Indian food as I want.
7. You never have to complain about the rain and not seeing the sun.
6. My church here ROCKS.
5. Learning a language that uses a different script.
4. Most people dress modestly and believe there is a God.
3. Sand DUNES!
2. Camels!
1. Sparky lives here! (and all my other friends too).

A question for you to ponder: What do you like about where you live?

Rules of the Squatty Potty

I normally am not one for bathroom humor, but I found myself tickled pink yesterday, as I was still laughing about the things I observed in the ladies' squatty at the beach on Friday. If you're not amused, I do apologize...but squatties are a part of life in this part of the world. You have to learn to laugh at them at some point!

SQUATTY POTTY: a hole in the ground with footprints on each side (just in case you don't know where your feet should go).The unspoken rules I observed at the ladies' squatty at the beach--
1. Etiquette does still exist of certain types of people being allowed to move to the front, no matter how long the queue: very pregnant women, very old women, very young children holding themselves with their legs crisscrossed.
2. Showering in the squatty is not appreciated by the women waiting in the queue. Just because there is a water hose in there, doesn't mean it is there for the removal of sand. There are showers outside for that. The hose is for cleaning a particular body part...once you start spraying elsewhere, the waiting women will beat the door down.
3. If you are using the squatty to change clothes (either into your swimsuit or out of it), any woman who needs to use the squatty for its true purposes has the right to move ahead of you in the queue.
4. If a fully covered Arab woman goes in the squatty in front of you, be patient. She's got a lot of arrangin' to do with all that cloth!
5. If an extremely proper Englishwoman enters with a young toddler, and proceeds to explain loudly to him how to use the squatty, it is completely appropriate to chuckle to yourself. If you hear him fall in the squatty, it is completely appropriate to laugh out loud, as long as you make a face that communicates you also feel bad for the little guy.
6. If you are a Western woman dressed in a bikini, expect every Arab and Asian woman to move ahead of you in the queue for no apparent reason. The reason: you lost all priviledges when you decided to show that belly button ring of yours in this part of the world. To them, skin must mean no need to use the squatty.
7. Bring your own toilet paper. Squatties don't provide them. If the public squatty was nice enough to provide toilet paper, the paper has long since been soaked through by the hose.
8. Germaphobes beware or be understanding! Most people leaving the squatty will not wash their hands, because they did not use their hands--they used the hose. I agree with you--they were in a squatty, they ought to wash their hands! But their logic is not the same as ours, and thus, as Loren would say, 'Bathroom hands!'
9. Expect to wait a very long time for your chance to use the squatty, for the above mentioned reasons: everyone has the right to go in front of you, covered women, showering women, the hose going berserk...
10. Don't think you can escape using the squatty. Spending a day at the beach in 100 degree weather with Central Asians equates to lots of water and lots of tea. Nature will call, and round here...it calls you to a squatty.

Top 10 phrases in Germany and the UK

Time to donn your English or German accents. Please note E before the word for English accent, or G for German. Have fun. We did.

10. (E) "Oh bother!" Now really, why don't we Americans say that instead of "darn" or whatever. It's too much fun.

9. (E) "Come on now! I don't have time to play!" Exclaimed by our driver when she couldn't find the entry way to into a Hilton parking lot.

8. (E) "I'll just pop over to the caf for a cup of tea." Pop seems to be their favorite verb in the UK.

7. (E) "Do the lorries drive fast on the motorways in the US?" The only reason we enjoyed this one, was that it was so early in the morning, Schroomie #2 thought the driver meant girls named Lori. She responded, "most everyone drives about the speed limit."

6. (E) "Hob." What's a hob? A stove top.

5. (G) "Schmuck." Yes, that's right, schmuck. I laughed and laughed. It means jewelry. I got even more tickled when I thought, "With this schmuck, I thee wed." Hehehehehe. Can you see what a dork I am? Schmuck.

4. (G) "Schnitzel." For previously named reasons.

3. (E) "There's Windsor castle." Okay...I forgot to say that we saw Windsor Castle from the motorway, and I didn't really have 10 words or phrases, so I figured it ought to fit in somewhere.

2. (E) "Sleeping policeman." What we rather boringly call in the US, a speedbump.

1. (G) "Ausfarht." So I think like an 8 year old boy. But this word for "exit" we saw a gazillion times on the Audubon (which, did I mention, is simply a motorway? Not like the Volkswagen commercials. False advertising). Pronounce it phonetically and see why I giggled like the big dork that I am. =) Sorry if I offended anyone.

One day excursion redeemed

I decided to return to D.C. in an attempt to redeem my previous one day excursion (although I did not return with the same people). I had a wonderful day and in true form to my deep love for top ten lists, here are the highlights of the day.

10. Seeing the Hope diamond at the Smithsonian. (It wasn't what I expected, though, and I like the family heirloom diamond on my finger better!)
9. The Legacy of the Punjab exhibit at the Smithsonian--of course my favorite exhibit would have to do with India! I loved pressing the button that made the Sikh music play!
8. Riding the Metro, reminding me of my Europe days.
7. Stalking two (Central Asian looking) foreigners at the Lincoln Memorial, trying to figure out where they were from (or to work up the courage to ask them, which I never did).
6. Pretending to be secret FBI agents delivering information on the sly in the park...
5. A very friendly deaf man walking two very friendly schnousers.
4. The colors of the leaves around the memorials was breathtaking and indescribable. They left me speechless.
3. Spending the day with two fellow nomads, sharing stories of our travels all day long. Crystal's story of dingue fever was probably my favorite.
2. THAI Tanic Restaurant. Get it? How could we not eat there? It was fab.
1. Adult organized league KICK BALL in the park, full with uniforms, ref's, and power drinks. KICK BALL. God bless America.