...no more teenagers!

So today we're feeling really old -- just because our youngest is one day older!



We have no more
teenage children.

So, congrats, Joey!!! (who celebrated 9 hours before us because he's in Australia! and who usually is a blond unless he believes the box that says the hair color is temporary! and who obviously is serious about his college life!)

Years pass in a blink!

This morning Jim and I have been looking at pictures of our little girl, Jeri!
What a cutie!

... and today she turns 25! Still a cutie! Time is a strange thing. Maybe it messes with our minds sometimes because we are


created for eternity.

Breath-taking!

So, yesterday morning I truly experienced something breathtaking ... I choked on some food and didn't breathe for maybe as much as two minutes!

Quick version: In a hurry to get ready yesterday morning I was working on face and hair, standing in front of a mirror, and eating toast while I worked. I don't know how but the toast got caught in my throat. Without oxygen, I not only couldn't breathe -- I couldn't speak. Jim was far off down the hall in the living area. I tried to cough it out, etc -- nothing. So I went out in the hall to get Jim's attention. We have cement walls -- banging on a cement wall doesn't create much noise and I was trying to conserve what ever oxygen I still had so I just slapped the wall until he heard me. By the time he reached me, I had dislodged something enough so that I could wheeze a little. So he didn't want to do the H. Maneuver and cause injury... Anyway, I poured some water into my mouth, spilled a whole lot of it, and begged God to give me breath. And He did. There's no scientific reason that I should have started breathing but the wheezing turned into one good breath and I knew the worst was over.

My eyes were bloodshot and my head was beet red while struggling. Then, I got pale and flushed. And weak. So, I rested for half an hour and then we headed off to work.

But, at work I still was very weak and short of breath and feeling like I'd pass out any moment ... then my arms were getting a bit numb when I was working at the computer.

So, we thought -- enough! Go home and get some rest. So, we headed home for the afternoon and I slept. A lot.

I've eaten toast again ... with great care and fine success.

But, you know how people always say that life was in slow motion for them during these "near death experiences"? It's true. I can recite every little thing I thought and did for those few minutes that seemed like an hour.

We thank God for giving me breath and allowing me to be on earth for a longer time. And I'm feeling incredibly grateful and incredibly dependent. We really have so little control over life. And death.

Missing the good 'ole USA

Today I'm going to ask for more than I provide because we're a bit home sick, I believe. Well, a year ago we were in the U.S. -- first in Colorado, getting our house ready to lease and seeing friends; then in Alaska for our son Brad's wedding and seeing friends and family. Due to the lovely U.S. tax laws, we can't be in the country more than 32 days a year even though a kaboodle of our money is going back the U.S. government as it is ... a bit frustrating!

So, our next U.S. trip will be in December. Right now, that sounds very cold and very far away!

I welcome any emails, snail mails, and blog comments. Even our news on the U.S. is sketchy because all of our international news is based out of the U.K. and has very few 30 second U.S. news bits! I'm missing the political "punditting" -- before an election is a wonderful time to tune in to talk radio, etc. Our only TV political editorials are Wolf Blitzer and John Stewart -- both on CNN, one being almost impossible to suffer through due to his clever but foul mouth!

Politics here? Well, the new President, Yar 'Adua, is appearing to be a bit more honest than the typical government official. He's reversed a few sales that the previous Pres. orchestrated right before leaving office -- sales to himself and his cronies. And Lagos State has received some federal money it was due for many years. And they are trying to increase the presence of honest, trained police in our area. (Previously, both terms -- "honest police" and "trained police" would be oxymorons!)

But we are now on a curfew here in Lagos because the robberies are increasing in most of the areas that expats tend to visit. With the surge of expats moving out of the rivers/delta areas to Lagos, crime is shifting, too. So, we're not on lockdown at all and hope not to be -- we just have to be home by 10 p.m. every night -- which is never a bad idea, anyway!

The sun is peeking out so Jim and I will sit down for a lovely lasagna meal, prepared by our cook, and then maybe we'll spend a couple of hours at the pool. This is the way a Sunday afternoon should be spent! (Well, if we can't find a home church, yet, at least this is a good second choice!)

We've lost all sense of seasons and can't imagine that pre-season "football" is back already. There's no hint of Fall in the air, here, and there never will be!

Thus endeth my random mind-wanderings for the day ...

Please stay in touch!