Monday, February 23, 2009

if only.....

William asked me, "Mommy, do marshmallows grow here?"
 
Unfortunately not....but here is a picture of a marshmallow I know.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Mama i stap wantaim mi

She's here!  My Mama from Sarang has arrived.  I thank the Lord she is here with me.  She has big a huge help and encouragement to me. She has a strong faith in God and I know she prays for me a lot.  She is really becoming a 'Mama' to me and my love for her grows daily.  I can't believe she came all this way to help me while Andrew is gone and she's going to stay the full three weeks.  At first I was very nervous at the length of her visit because I didn't know what it would be like, but now I'm incredibly thankful.  I couldn't do it without her here - I told her that if she would'nt have come I probably would be on a bus by now with W and J to come and stay with her in Sarang.
 
 I've been finding it almost comical at the things I had to learn when I lived with them compared to the things she is learning living with me.  Here are my observations:
  •  I had never bathed in a river and was scared to death the first time.  How do you bathe in public?  And how to you bathe when all those curious onlookers are watching you?
  • I had to show Mama how to turn on the water for her shower.  I wondered if it was the first time she'd ever showered in complete privacy.
 
  • I had never anything over a fire other than the odd hotdog or marshmallow.  While I was in Sarang I had to master cooking rice, baking bread, frying fish etc etc  over a fire.  It felt silly to have a 10 year old know more than me about cooking.
  • Mama is scared of my stove and doesn't touch it.  I do the cooking. :)
 
  • The first time I washed clothes in the river I had NO idea what was the best way.  I wanted to observe the other ladies and just copy them but unfortunately no one was washing clothes.  But I did have a crowd watching me to see how I would do it.
  • Mama doesn't know how to use a washing machine.  She lets me wash her clothes (except her undies - she insists on washing those by hand)
 
  • I often forgot to bring my dishes with me when I went to bathe.  They bathe and wash dishes simultaneously.
  • Mama loves washing my dishes, but I had to show her which soap to use and how to turn on the tap. 
 
  • When we lived in Sarang I had to get used to making just enough food as we had no way to keep it.  Whatever we couldn't eat we'd give away to somebody.
  • I noticed that Mama seems to forget we have a refrigerator and she tries to finish all the food at meal time.  Sometimes I actually purposely make extra so that we have leftovers for the next day to eat!  I'd better tell her that!!
 
  • In Sarang they thought it was kinda strange that Andrew and I shared a bed and our boys slept separately from us. 
  • Our Papa stayed one night when he dropped Mama off....so here's the dilemma; who will sleep where?  They did share a room which turned out to be fine, but Papa had a terrible sleep because he doesn't like to sleep on a mattress.  When he comes to pick up Mama he wants to sleep on the floor.  I noticed that Mama was sleeping on top of all the blankets instead of between the sheets.  She had been complaining that she was itchy at night and I saw she had been using a scratchy wool blanket to cover up at night.  I explained to her she needs to sleep underneath the sheets and then she'd sleep better! 
 
  • I loved the strong family ties in Sarang.  I could hardly tell who's kid was who's while we were there because they are just so intermingled.  Every kid has several Mamas and Papas.  They really take care of each other and share what they have.  It's like one big happy (most of the time) family.
  • Since Mama has been here I've been very conscious that I don't even know what some of our neighbors names are.  We live so close together yet so independantly of each other.  It's completely opposite of the way they live.  Mama feels responsible for me and has come all this way.  And if she hadn't come who would've come to help me?  Who would've cared for me?  I have friends that would've helped, but not in the measure that she is.
 
I love it how God has taken two completely different people from opposite ends of the earth and put them together.  The thing that is so obvious to us is that we share the same Spirit - the Spirit of God.  It has united us and made a strong bond.  I know we'll be lifelong friends.
 
An explaination of the pictures:  Mama has never been to the highlands of PNG before so she wanted a picture of her and the mountains.  Her, me and the boys went to watch the horses.  She hopes that W & J will ride horses when they turn 7. :)  In her spare time she's been working on a bilum.  She is going to give it to somebody very special from Canada....

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Saturday, February 07, 2009

get to know me...

This is the Lisa edition of getting to know me. I think Crystal will be tickled...

1. What's your favorite dish your mom makes? well, it's more of a tag team with mom and dad....their famous steak dinner with usual; G.B., caesar salad, steamed broccoli with cheese sauce. okay, i'll stop.

2. If you could be anywhere else in the world right now where would it be? I'd be heading off to Winkler, MB.

3. Who's your favorite character on LOST? Siyid, hands down.

4. What is the oldest item of clothing you own and still wear? I still wear my U2 Popmart Tour t-shirt. I got it in summer of 1997. (and FYI I sat beside Mr. Deschauer at the concert..i know...crazy.)

5. Are you an introvert or and extrovert? I'm and introvert with a dash of extrovert.

6. What's your biggest pet peeve? Stinky dishcloths and towels. Ew. Bleach, people! Bleach.

7. If you could be someone else for a day who would it be and why? I'd want to be Andrew so I could know what really goes on in a man's mind and I could find out how to love him better.

8. Write down the first fond memory that comes to your mind. Our dinner party at C&C's with the gourmet burgers, homemade icecream, and a whole lot of laughs. sniff.

9. Do you like tupperware? I'm afraid to now.

10. If you could have any superpower what would it be? I'd like to be invisible. It'd come in handy.

11. Which countries have you all visited? (not including layovers where you were just in the airport) Ecuador, United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Japan, England, Kenya, Australia, Papua New Guinea.

12. Which country would you like to visit next? Vanuatu

13. Favorite icecream flavor? Rolo...but it has to be eaten at Clear Lake.

14. Are you a rebel or do you follow the rules? weellllll.....I have been tagged the black sheep in the family.

15. What's your favorite chore? I like hanging up clothes on the clothes line.

16. What do you like about yourself? I like it that I like to have meaningful friendships.

17. What would you change about yourself? fear of man is no fun.

18. What inspires you? Being around godly people.

19. What's your favorite fruit and your favorite veggie? Grapes (I miss them!) and Broccoli.

20. Last place you ate out? the Teen Centre! Yay!

21. Are you an early bird or a night owl? an early bird, but not by choice.

22. If you were on a deserted island and could take one person with you (not including your spouse) and one thing with you what would it be?
I'd have to say I'd bring Ruby, Gideon, and Ethan (I know that's 3 but I need to get to know them...and I can break the rules because I'm the author of this thing) and I'd bring along my collection of Robert Munsch to read to them.

23. What's your favorite smell? Arlene. (Crystal Loewen must state her 2nd favorite smell because I already know her favorite smell is Chris' temples)

24. What's your least favorite smell? Stinky dishcloths. We covered this already.

25. Are you a door slammer? Yes. (blush)

26. Do you tell people when their fly is open? Depends on who it is. My rule of thumb: if it's a man that you don't know very well...keep your mouth shut. Anyone else - yes.

27. Share something quarky about yourself. Not under any circumstance will I touch the hand railing on an escalator. (I watched a 20/20 investigation report...thanks a lot John Stossel.)

28. Worst movie you've ever seen? Happy Gilmore.

29. Do you like the person who wrote this? I hope you do...

photos of the week

Here are a few of my faves from this week. 
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Sunday, February 01, 2009

yum-O

I made this recipe tonight. It's one of our new faves. You should try it.

SAUCE:
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
1/8 tsp ground red pepper

VEGGIES & CHICKEN:
3 cups broccoli florets
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 Tbsp minced ginger
4 tsp minced garlic
2 lbs thinly sliced boneless chicken breasts
oil for cooking
1/2 cup cashews (I used peanuts cuz they're much cheaper here!)
4 pkts ramen noodles (or you can use rice)
Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. Steam broccoli and set aside, keeping warm.

Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to wok or large skillet. Add garlic and ginger. Heat until garlic starts to spatter. Add chicken and onions. Stir in sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions. (Save seasoning packets for another use). Drain noodles and add chicken mixture, stirring to mix. Arrange broccoli on top and sprinkle with cashews. (I just stirred in the broccoli with the chicken and served it over rice...forget the noodles.)