Little glimpse of our past 2 weeks!

Guess I'm a tad bit slow in posting here. The past 10 days or so have been a bit crazy and busy.

I have had ear infections for over 2 weeks. First one ear, and then the other. Complete with intense feeling of motion sickness. A couple of times I felt like I had been in the back seat of a fast moving car on a very, winding road! It went from bacterial infection to a fungul infection. The antibiotic made everything taste like metal! Cuts down on snacking that's for sure. Since it's now a fungal infection, I'm off that antibiotic. (some small reason to rejoice!) One other missionary here has had the same thing, and has taken almost three weeks to recover.

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We did get our new vehicle, and that only took two trips to Santo Domingo. One trip to pick it up and another trip two days later to take it to the dealership and have the radio, spare tire mount and license plates installed.

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This is our first view of it behind the chain link fence at Customs. In 36 years of marriage, this is only the 2nd brand new vehicle we have ever purchased. The first was the month before our wedding when we bought a 1972 Datsun 1200 for $2,100 right off the lot! We thought we were in 7th Heaven back then when the dealer changed the radio from AM to AM/FM.

With this Terios we are excited to have a CD player, AC that works, seats that work, windows that work, a hatch that doesn't require a broom stick to keep it open, etc, etc.

The washers and wipers work on the front and back windows!!!!

With gas down to 130.4 pesos (34 =$1), and the increased mileage this will be a major savings for us!

It handles great, and is really comfortable to ride in! We are so thankful for all those who prayed and donated for this vehicle!

.It barely had enough gas to get it to the gas station, since we picked it up right at customs and not the dealership, It is Sonic Blue Metallic. The white you see is just protective plastic covering.

What you don't see in this picture is the fact that I am following behind Bob while driving the Explorer. He offered to let me drive the Terios, but I was nervous enough driving in Santo Domingo, let alone driving the brand new vehicle! Fortunately, here we are on the Malecon, where traffic is much lighter. And YES! I snapped this photo while driving!

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I finally finished a wallhanging that I have been working on for the past two years. I would work on it for a few days and then take a break of a couple of weeks or more. It is 4' x4'2" and hangs in the hallway leading to our bedroom and bathroom. But it is visible from the living room. It's not how I would decorate in the States, but I live in the tropics. In these photos I moved it out to our landing to get a better angle.

I pieced the background using different batik fabrics. The fish were cut from 'fish' fabric and then embelished with beads, sequins, or glittery fabric. The sea shells are actually from our walks on the beach. The 3-d embellishments that are meant to look like coral or plant life are from the Christmas decorations department at the stores here. Yes, they decorate differently here!

I'm quite pleased with it, and Bob loves it! Next project, probably after Christmas, is to actually paint the bathroom. Currently it is battleship grey with white and gold shower tiles, that have gold fruit baskets. Nothing I can do about the fruit basket tile, but we want to paint the bathroom blue and give it a tropical sea look. More photos to follow. I do have plenty of odds'n'ends from the big wall hanging to make 2 small ones to hang in the bathroom. These two pictures are close-ups of the two lower corners.

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Last Monday was our 36th wedding anniversary; Thursday was my 56th birthday, and Friday was Bob's 58th birthday. So, we spent three days relaxing and having fun. We went to the capital and strolled El Conde and ate there at Hard Rock Cafe. Had the best bacon cheeseburgers while laughing at some of the old music videos playing on screens mounted by the tables. "House of the Rising Sun" was our era! It's a bit pricey to eat there, but it was our anniversary!

Thursday we spent the day at the all-inclusive relaxing on the beach while reading under palm trees. Friday we went back to the capital and went to a mall (Bob's idea!). By the end of Friday, my legs and ankles were just about killing me with pain. I didn't think I had done any more walking on Friday than when we've gone shopping before, but for some reason my body rebelled. Tylenol, Advil and, eventually, a stronger pain killer, so that I could even fall asleep. Took it easy on Saturday, needless to say! Aging is hard on my body, I guess!

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Bob had a med team on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I spent some time sewing some Christmas presents. Can't say what, as perhaps David & Lyndie may be reading this too! Pictures possibly after Christmas. Sewing for me is relaxing, so to have two days in a row to work on projects was a real treat!

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This afternoon Danny and Mike arrive. Although we just discovered that their flight has been delayed in Atlanta. Not due into Las Americas now til about 5. We're going early to the airport to eat (Burger King) and watch the planes take-off and land. We each take a book and sit and relax! We're easily amused!

Til later~

~~anna~~