Tuesday, February 07, 2006

The little annoying things... That BITE!!!

So, what is little, bites, has a straw like mouth and is a pain? For those who don't know yet.... Mosquito's. Yes, it is that time of year again (that's all year, but during the rainy season it gets worse) . Normally we are safe since our windows have screens, we use bug plugs (kinda like the scented plugins that go in the wall, except these don't smell and chase away the mosquitoes) and we try to keep the door closed. That would normally take care of most of the bugs. Although, the last weekend we (the Patton family) were out at this seminar for the Brazilians. So, mom was smart and didn't put on bug spray. Even though she wasn't there during the night, they still got her. The mosquito's here carry something called dengue. (the word is a link so you can look it up since I am short of time)

In short mom is really sick. Pray for her.

well, thanks for reading

In place for the normal writer.....
Jacob Patton

PS: I did this more like my blog since I am NOT mom

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

What Has Seven Lives?

It is eight o’clock in the evening. I have a bullfrog in the shower waiting (although he doesn’t know it) for dissection on Friday. Caleb was home for the day with an ear infection. The man who is learning to edit and produce CD’s was here all day.

For the last three days two workers have been taking down what was left of our plaster ceiling and the supporting framework. We now look up at the roof. Generations of dirt from the ceiling and plaster dust are over everything. Last evening I had to wash all the dishes in the cupboard as I found out they were dirty when I went to set the table for supper. I have been one day ahead of the workers packing up all the things that were in most all the up stairs. Tomorrow they will rip out the wall between and the cupboards inthe office and the boys room

Earlier this week we received an urgent note from my parents to stop using out ATM card, the only way we get monay down here. We were overdrawn even though our records showed we were OK. Unbeknownst to us the fees for the ATM card we use to get all our money down here have gone up from approximately 3$ to 20$ for about ever 400$ we take out – the beginning of January.

Our internet has been down for two days. They say we were disconnected since the credit card they use to charge the monthly fee expired…. in 2004. Even a native Brazilian was unable to reason with them in a timely manner.

Four days ago the cat let the birds out of the cage, although he was unable to eat them, that did not stop them from flying the coop. The two of them left a single feather behind.

<>Today two busses I got on didn’t go where I wanted them too, so I didn’t make it to the ce dream shop to buy peanut paste, our only source of peanut butter. The natives get restless if we run out. So I will have to head back downtown tomorrow morning for it.

This is the third day the car has been in the shop, who knows when we will get it back – I haven’t been able to do the weeks grocery shopping yet; I will have to carry them home by hand tomorrow. We have a guest to pick up at the airport on Friday and a team arriving Sunday. The repairman needs 300$ for a sensor we could get for 60$ in the states. One of the members of the team arriving this weekend will try to get it for us.

So what keeps us all together? Knowing the Lord is here with us and we are doing his work.

Back to our question, what has seven lives? Here in Brazil cats have seven lives. One night last week a stray preteen cat was dumped over our wall into our yard. Josiah found him in the morning. How the cat ever survived with two guard dogs that don’t like cats loose in the yard we will never know. By lunchtime the kids had fed and named the cat – and I knew we were in trouble. It was such a friendly, well-behaved little thing. With no place else to go we kept it. The dogs have stopped quivering when the cat looks down off the second story at them, but Dexter is planning on cat for lunch if it ever sets foot downstairs outside while they are loose.