When You Say You Need a Break.....be Specific! :)

Just an fyi...I wrote this last week and never posted it.  I decided to go ahead and send it and then I will update you in the next post. :)

Not a lot of time to blog but wanted to update those of you not on FB that Hudson has broken his arm.  We are in Jakarta for a homeschool conference and while he was playing football with several friends  there was a big tangle of kids and his arm got stepped on or tripped over.  Either way it ended up with an incomplete fracture.

Some dear friends of ours, who live in Jakarta, took us to the expat (foreigner) clinic where they immediately took Hudson in to be examined and x-rayed.  Thankfully they spoke great English there and so I felt very comfortable and so did Hudson.  I have to admit here that.....I am not really good in crisis type situations.  Like, don't ever pick me to make life or death decisions, it won't be pretty.  I blank out, stutter in my responses and generally look like I had a lobotomy the day before, is that a clear enough picture?  So while I was confronted with several options and questions on insurance and means of treatment, I went nearly catatonic and my sweet friend Charlotte would then gently prompt me in the right direction after I looked at her with pleading eyes that begged her to tell me what to say.  Charlotte....THANK YOU!!  I have so much more to share about this I hope to get back to it some day, just not enough time right now.

We got in touch with our company Dr. who then set me up with a national Dr. who arranges things for us with national doctors.  So with his help we set up an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon.  After an hour long taxi ride in this hideous Jakarta traffic, we had to wait almost two hours at this national hospital because the Dr. was detained.  I sheepishly admit that when they came to tell me that he was going to be late...I was asleep!  LOL  How embarrassing, I literally fell asleep in the chair waiting.  The lady giggled when she noticed that she had woken me up!  The first hour we were entertained by the saltwater fish tank that, intending to or not, resembled a real life "Finding Nemo" scene!  It was very cool to watch and to see all of the live coral, but by the time we entered that second hour of waiting.....Hudson and I were no longer enthralled by the fish!

Seriously, by the second hour I was resorting to singing songs about Dr. Nico (whom we were waiting on) much to Hudson's chagrin...but at least I got a laugh out of him with my terrible rhymes!  Now, Hudson is feeling okay, but so anxious to get back to his friends.  This is one of two times a year that they can all be together and they definitely make the most out of it!  In fact, one of the problems that this broken arm is causing him is that his friend Matthew was coming to "Folgers" to spend about 5 days with us (because in the life, sleepovers involve plane rides!).   He is worried about what they can do and if we will be able to fly back home on Friday.

Finally we were called back and we were greeted by Dr. Nico, and Dr. Teddy who had arranged the appointment.  Dr. Nico is a bit eccentric but in a fun way not in a creepy way. :)  But I am not kidding I bet he used the words, "Crack his arm" like 15 times in a row!  I was like, please can we use another word!!  Ouch!  His English was pretty good but he kept saying one word that I still have no idea what he was talking about, and really, this is not a time to just smile and nod when they are talking about putting your son under!  Thankfully Dr. Teddy walked us out and made sure we understood everything clearly.  So all in all, I felt very good about the care that Hudson was receiving.  If you remember what Barry went through in a "Macchiato" hospital then you understand that I have major apprehensions regarding national hospitals..

After removing the cast and observing his arm, it was very obvious that Hudson's bone was bowing out, or angulated, as the professionals say.  I guess since the bones of kids still have some elasticity, this is the problem with an incomplete fracture.  The Dr. said a complete fracture or break is actually better.  Well, leave it up to us to do it right! :)

As it stands now, Hudson will have the procedure to "re-crack" his arm and set it straight on Thursday before lunch.  They felt that waiting a few days would be fine and enable Hudson to complete his testing which is what we came to Jakarta for initially.  I am not sure he was so thrilled about that  but he has really been a trooper.

Thank you, we love you and appreciate all the love and concern so many of you have already poured out to us!

I Am Developing Trust Issues

It's true. I walked into the kitchen the other day, after a key event, and told Barry I was beginning to have trust issues with him, which caused him to laugh.

Now, before you call Member Care and sign us up for marriage counseling, let me explain the reason for my trust issues.

Step back in time with me to my second year of marriage. The year is 1991. We were living in Little Rock, AR, (Here's a shout out to all my Geyer Springs FBC peeps!) as newlyweds, living in bliss, enjoying student m*inistry, and eating at Tony's Egg Roll King (yes, Tony, and he was Chinese! lol) Instead of raising our salary, the church moved us into a house that was on property that they were in the process of building a new church building on. The house was a bit run down, but had an old charm to it. In fact, here is a funny side note, one day the pastor took us out to eat at Tony's Egg Roll King and talked to us about moving into the house and took us out to see it. As we are leaving the house and going back to the church office, Barry mentioned that it's not a bad little house and suggested that maybe the pastor might want to fix it up and move there himself, to which the pastor replied "No, that house is too old, when you guys are done with it we are going to tear it down." Hahahaa That still makes me laugh. I know what he meant, but I don't think it came out like he planned! I always wondered if he realized how that sounded.

Back to the story. We moved in and since we had a water bed, and it had just been filled, it was too cold to sleep on that first night so we opted to sleep on our big orange sleeper sofa that someone had given us. We snuggled into bed and I drifted off to sweet dreams of how I was going to decorate the house and make it our home.  That is until "it" happened. "It" is when I woke up to see Barry out of bed and shaking our covers and sheets.  Now, since in the last year or so of being married to him, he had never exhibited this type of behavior I ask him what he is doing. His response? "Nothing, it's okay, just go back to sleep." What? So now I am fully awake and want to know what is going on, only to find out that as Barry was laying there not quite into lullaby land, he felt something run across his chest. Run.Across.His.Chest. What? In 2 seconds flat I am out of that bed and lo and behold, there were mouse droppings in the bed. In.The.Bed.  Needless to say, I sat up on the couch all night wrapped in my quilt and we watched mice run all over that place. It was infested in a major way. The church sent an exterminator the next day thank goodness, but that was a rough start and I still cannot believe Barry said "Nothing's wrong, go back to sleep."

Now to the present time, 2012. It is 6am and I am doing some morning dishes from breakfast when I think I see something run under the stove. Now, listen, we constantly have cicaks (cheechaks=geckos) running around our house. That is normal. So I am looking at the direction and thinking to myself, was that a cicak? It was awfully dark colored, but the cicak by the trash can is always dark because the trash bag is black.  As I am pondering this, a huge..HUGE..HUGE rat comes running from under my stove into the storeroom.  There is a slight chance that I may be exaggerating it's hugeness, I mean I didn't get a great look because I was too busy screaming my fool head off!  It was definitely bigger than anything I have ever seen in a  house!  Five months, I only had five more months to make and we could have been rat free for three years, but no, it had to happen.  Have I heard them in my roof before? Yes, all running and squealing around in there but never had they made it into my home.  This means war.  It must die.  If you love rats and are going to write and tell me how cute or whatever you think they are...at the risk of sounding rude, don't.  I don't care to hear it. Just go watch Ratatouille and keep those warm fuzzy thoughts to yourself.  (Like who was the brainiac at Disney that thought rats in the kitchen was a good idea?!)    It will die.  Make no mistake.  Fast, Slow, quick or painful makes no difference to me, seriously.  Let there be no confusion where I stand on this.

So..where does the trust issue come in?  After all this transpires and I make Marshall shut the storeroom door so that I can trap the rat and devise my plan for his immediate death, Barry says that he thought there might be one because he had been hearing something under the stove!  Seriously?  And he said nothing?  Nothing, to the person that he loves and who half of everyday stands at that stove making meals for her family?  Let me tell you people, I have to get down on my knees every time I want to use the oven and light the flame myself.  On.My.Knees.  Do you understand how close that rat has been to me?  I shudder at the thought even as I type.  SHUDDER!!

Do you see my point now?  To be fair, Barry's explanation is that he doesn't want me to be worried or afraid if there isn't a need to be.  Isn't that sweet?  Uh, whatever! :)  So now you know why, as he says this statement in light of this event and as I recall the story from 21 years ago, I am having trust issues with my dear husband.  I love the man, but in this area...........he has some 'splaining to do!

Let it be known that he went and bought about four different forms of rat traps and poisons.  So he has taken steps toward redeeming himself.  That being said, until I see a carcass, I still have issues!! :)

My hero preparing the glue trap

Lots of good sticky glue

The girls run for protection behind their barricade as Barry opens the store room door to place the trap

Be watching for next week's post where Marshall becomes a human banana split!

The Fire Station

How did I forget the picture of the fire station?  I just want you to gain perspective on this situtaion.  This was just built in the past year.  There is a much larger fire station at the Chevron Oil Camp that is similar to what most of us are use to. 


Happy New Year friends and loved ones!  This  year, 2012 = 6 months in Macchiato + 6 months in the USA....sounds perfect to me! :)