Life in general....

New Blog

2009-08-19T10:25:00.001-04:00

I have decided to write all happening that are worth mentioning in my new blog entitled bluegreenandme.blogspot.com with the heading Paint and an Artist (it seemed more painterly)

Sorry for the lack of postings this last year...but i was busy with school and painting...now that i'm in the work force i have more time for random thoughts.... :)

Genesis: The Beginnings

2008-12-05T19:10:00.003-05:00

I finally completed my first attempt at reading through the entire bible, it took over 2years to complete. And so as I flipped back to Genesis, I have decided to do something a little bit different...art is also a great way to explain biblical stories...having studied a lot about art history I have several paintings and artists to choose from...and so we start with Michelangelo...because I love his version of the creation story.

Have you ever looked at pictures of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel? They are simply amazing, but my all time favorite is the creation of Adam. The scene is just beautiful-and do you notice who is tucked under God's arm? Eve, who else was to be created next? The thing is, it makes you think. Eve was always in the back of God's mind, but perhaps Adam needed to notice that he needed a companion, someone to share the beauty of earth with...all the other animals, birds, and creatures of the sea were created in pairs of two: male and female. It was Adam's job to name them all, so he probably couldn't overlook the fact that he was alone. And so Eve peers out from the mass of chubby angels that surround God, flawless and beautiful.

Oatmeal

2008-12-05T09:16:00.002-05:00

I never really new that there were so many ways to eat oatmeal, I always have to eat a very filling breakfast, and oatmeal is now my new favorite, especially when it is cold outside. I have found that you have to be very creative with oatmeal:

1. plain oatmeal - yucky
2. plain oatmeal with milk - not too bad, but it is just mush that you have to eat
3. oatmeal with raisins - we grew up on that, i never really liked it
4. oatmeal with raisins and milk - i don't really see the point of adding milk, cause then you have so very much more to eat...
5. oatmeal and brown sugar - that's a good one
6. oatmeal, raisins, and brown sugar - keep sugar in the equation and i don't care how much of it i have to eat...i'll like it
7. oatmeal, cinnamon, and apples - like that one, but it is missing sugar
8. oatmeal, cinnamon, brown sugar and frozen peaches - when you run out of apples, or the apples start to make you sick, frozen fruit is quite good.
9. oatmeal, raisins, and random nuts - i watch sarah eat in the morning, i thought i eat a lot, she eats A LOT, breakfast is her favorite meal.
10. the Sarah special - i don't know what all she puts in her oatmeal, but she eats healthily-not sure if it tastes good or not, but she eats it every morning...so it must be good.

So yeah, if you have any other thoughts for eating oatmeal in the morning...add them in comments...happy eating! :)

The silly girls at Redbud 4

2008-10-24T10:20:00.012-04:00

I've been meaning to post this since break...so sorry that it is late, but I've been a bit busy as of late...

Friday night brought Melissa and Rachel to my apartment. We were going to make biscotti and do other fun things too.

Rachel measures flour, while Melissa "whips" the sugar and butter

I take a turn at "whipping the butter and sugar" and made a mental note to buy a crank/hand beater

Melissa being silly :)

The silliest portion of our night revolved around mud masks and taking pictures of ourselves...

Face Masks!

The process begins :)

Could I look more sad?

Melissa with War Paint :)

And then...

Final product...three girls with blue faces and as Josh remark...its an early Halloween...

October Break

2008-10-17T22:18:00.014-04:00

For those of us who didn't go anywhere for October Break...we had to be creative with our time. After spending my entire afternoon painting, I was invited to go out with friends...our mission...to find the perfect ice cream shop in downtown Chattanooga...took a bit of doing, with me having to give directions (shocker) as we wandered around the streets of Chattanooga...until...da-da-ta-DA! we found the walking bridge.

The three girls...we look rather silly, but the seats were cool...

Then we had to go and play in the fountain...Jason tried to push us in...nearly succeeded a few times...but we were too smart for him.

Rachel and Melissa on Elephant...CHARGE!

Whoops! Don't fall off!

My amazing balancing skills...

It's a RACE! wonder whose winning?

A rather scary picture of Jason...

Now today, I had to paint...yet again...but in the afternoon, Melissa, Rachel, and I went canvas shopping...As you can see...Rachel had to share the backseat with one of the two canvases I bought.

Isn't she cute?

And here is my unfinished painting...the thing I have been working on for the past month...Rather glad that I am giving it to Josh...don't get me wrong...I like it a lot...but I have grown tired of working on it...at least when I visit Josh he will have one AMAZING painting in his room. :) hmm...I will have to ask him where he got it from...for I would like one just like it! :)

Riverine Warriors

2008-10-12T22:59:00.004-04:00

Last week, Josh sent me a video link that explained the history and the current mission of the Riverines. I of course was overjoyed, because I am constantly trying to get him to tell me the tell-able facts about his job. So this was a step in the right direction. The 26 minute video shows him and the other guys that he works with doing their jobs. Perhaps it is because I think that he is awesome and that I'm so overly proud of him that I want other people to see this video as well. The problem was, that it disappeared off the main page of the site, but Laura was amazing and found this link, which has the entire video. So for those of you who have no idea what a Riverine is or what they do, it is time for you to learn. Enjoy!

http://pentagontv.feedroom.com/linking/index.jsp?skin=oneclip&fr_story=c1583f75147b312028105bc054bdf303881c5215&rf=ev&hl=true

The art of Art

2008-09-23T20:34:00.010-04:00

It has come to my attention over the past few weeks that people, in general, don't know terms of art. And that is simply a problem that I can't over look. So I have decided to teach people a few basic things.

Today we shall learn about Subtractive Charcoal. Who knows what that is? Anyone? Well in that case I will show you. But first you will have to go to the campus shop (or any REAL art store) and ask for Cotton Ragboard...that is a must.

If you don't already have this medium, then you will have to pick up Charcoal too...and some scotch-tape

The first thing you must do is tape all four sides of the paper. It is hard to see in this pictures...but the sides have been taped.

Then you will take the charcoal and draw all over the paper:

Next you will start to rub in the charcoal:

Yes your hands will get dirty...but keep rubbing and don't touch anything besides the paper:

After about 15 minutes of drawing and rubbing you will have a nice charcoal black sheet of paper...

now this is a requirement...you have to find someone to hug...because take a look at your hands....other people need to share in your charcoalness

Now to get a picture, you have to take an eraser and erase all the light areas out...sorta like you see on this finished picture (I did that my first year at Southern) But I am currently working on a much larger one.

To be like Kristin

2008-09-05T23:12:00.002-04:00

My first full week of school is over and now I sit at my computer, wishing that I could go to bed. But I'm not tired, for it isn't midnight yet. You see for the past 5 nights I have gone to bed late...very late and have gotten up very early. I get up at 5a.m so that by 6:15a.m I am ready to paint for 2 hours, then I eat breakfast and walk to my first class of the day which is painting on Monday/Wednesday and Medieval Art History on Tuesday/Thursday. I don't make it back to my apartment until 5:15pm (I actually have to eat lunch as I walk to work/class), at which point I decide to either eat or exercise (and then eat). I then spend the rest of my evening/night studying, pouring over the books, soaking in all the information that I can and generally exhausting myself...but yet finishing all of my studying. Which is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, no matter how tired you might be, because I love to learn new things.

But the other night I remembered our little apartment of Redbud 1, with Mama Beth-Anne and Cousin Kristin (we had so much fun). I always went to bed early, no matter what...I was generally in bed by 9:30pm. Beth-Anne went to bed after check and Kristin (bless her heart) stayed up and studied away...into the early hours of the morning. So this week, as I sat wide awake in front of my computer, typing out notes or reading thick history books or drawing thumbnails, I thought about my housemates who actually made me want to strive to get A's in all of my classes (which is quite a hard thing to do with art), and I thought about Kristin and her early morning alarm clock...funny, now it is me...turning off my alarm and trying not to awake Sarah.

And so I have decided that I am exactly like Kristin and Beth-Anne too, we could be sisters actually, we strive to do our best, we want the grade that we have earned, and so we stay up late...striving to do better. I'm a small cut-out copy of Beth-Anne, for the desire to have the last word when it comes to our grades, drives us to try harder and since she graduated, that particular "duty" has been passed on to me.

Kristin was always the best nurse that she could be. Beth-Anne strived to be the best teacher that she could be. And now I must strive to be the best artist that I can be...which means that I will have to sacrifice my time to achieve that goal. But you know, that is fine with me...

I like the challenge.

The Summer

2008-08-21T23:27:00.002-04:00

I have this general feeling that everyone thinks that I have fallen off the face of the planet. But I haven't, it was called Summer School. But I am done with that now and what is more important is that I passed Spanish 201 and 202, what is even better is that I NEVER have to take Spanish again :)

So, school is about to start again and with school (and much more enjoyable classes) comes stories to blog about. :) So just be patient :)

The Switch

2008-05-30T16:38:00.002-04:00

Shopping at Wal-mart

2008-05-23T18:10:00.000-04:00

I was hauling a 35lb bag of cat litter into the trunk of my car, all the while complaining to no one particular as to why Buffy was still allowed to be an indoor cat during the prettiest months of the year, when suddenly my inward complaints were interrupted.
"Excuse me ma'am are you nice?" Surprised, I looked around for the voice. A bit irritated at being interrupted, I wasn't feeling very nice, I hate shopping, I hate Wal-mart, I hate lines (I had just finished standing in one for 20 minutes), and I had a growing dislike for the young man standing in front of me who insisted in calling me "ma'am".
Turning to face him I smiled sweetly and told him that occasionally I could BE nice. He then went on to ask me if I were in college, I said yes; then he wanted to know where, I told him Tennessee; at which point he asked where again, and when I said Chattanooga his face lit up, "Well then you have to be nice!" he said which a smile, "Everyone in Tennessee is real nice!" I had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to go away quickly.
Suddenly he asked, "You read magazines?" To tell the truth, I don't. And getting this unwelcome visitor to understand that I had no interest in buying anything from him was going to be hard.
Calmly I told him, "No, I don't." As if not hearing, he went into his memorized speech. He told me all about how whatever he was selling was going to help him pay for college somehow (still don't know how), but more importantly he could be picked to travel anywhere in the world for 2 weeks. He asked if I had ever been to Amsterdam, I told him that I hadn't, he said that is where he wanted to go, cause he had never been there. I almost wanted to ask him if he had ever been to Micronesia and if not to look up hesaidgo.net and find something better to do with his time then annoy already irritated Wal-mart shoppers...but of course I didn't mention it.
He could tell that I really wasn't interested in what he was selling so he pressed a bit harder...trying to get me to buy a magazine subscription from him because he was good looking. That was a bit much to handle, the guy was wearing a baggy yellow t-shirt, baggy jeans, his blond long hair looked like it hadn't been combed in weeks, and he reeked of cigarette smoke. I mean if he wanted anyone to take him seriously and buy a magazine subscription from him, you would think that he might dress up a bit, cut his hair and not smoke a cigarette 2 minutes before talking to a possible customer.
I finally was able to explain to him that I was not interested, I did not want any magazines and I wanted to leave before Friday afternoon traffic got any worse.
He glared in my direction as I turned and picked up the 2nd 35lb bag of cat litter, stalking off he shouted over his shoulder, "You aren't very NICE!"
"Oh well," I thought starting my car, "I didn't come to Wal-mart to please you anyway."

Exercise: Who controls who?

2008-05-18T20:35:00.001-04:00

There are things that just make you wonder. Who really did decide that running in place is actually fun? I mean what genius decided to create what we now call a Treadmill? Really it is just a hunk of plastic and metal with a spinning belt on it that has the power to hurl people through the air. And People even spend hundreds of dollars in purchasing these sophisticated running machines. But it doesn’t have a brain. There are no thought processes going through the machine itself. People tend to think that they are in control of these seemingly harmless exercise machines, but I actually think that the tables have been turned and it is the machines that hold our enjoyment and livelihood in the clutches of the on/off button.
When running on a Treadmill people foolishly just select a program, assuming that the 30 minute workout will be something that they can handle. At the beginning things go well, they are chugging along, enjoying themselves greatly when they suddenly notice a beeping noise. This noise indicates a change in speed and grade. Suddenly the once over confident jogger is now sprinting down a steep hill. If they stop the result would be disastrous as they would face plant on a rapidly moving object. Right when the human can’t take much more the malicious machine decides that there has been enough down hill and with three short beeps, the speed decreases and the grade increases. Whining with sheer delight the machine watches as the sprinter becomes a burdened hiker, groaning and breathing heavily the person begins the ascent. Their fate is determined by the will of the machine.

I liken this to that of a hamster running along on its wheel. It is quite joyous as it runs in place, the scenes outside the cage get no closer, but the little beast is quite happy. Suddenly an evil little brat of a child comes into view, she made her first appearance in the movie Finding Nemo and now instead of killing fish, she amuses herself with terrifying rodents. Seeing the little hamster joyously running in its’ wheel gives her a fabulous idea. Reaching into the cage, she gives the wheel a spin. Panic overcomes the hamster as the child gleefully sings to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star, “Little hamster on a wheel, let’s see how fast you can spin, round and round and round you go, like a Frisbee in the sky, little hamster on a wheel, let me sing this song again.” The wheel is now spinning out of control, the annoying song continues and the helpless hamster with eyes bulging scampers along always striving to get AWAY. This lasts for about 2 minutes as Darla sings her song for the 15th time. Suddenly bored, Darla reaches out and catches hold of the wheel, causing it to come to a complete halt. Unfortunately for the hamster, momentum causes it to keep moving. A large amount of thumping and thudding is heard as the poor little hamster crashes around the wheel as the realization that it can STOP running enters the scheme of things.
At long last the hamster sits at the bottom of the wheel, the world is spinning, its’ little head hurts greatly and its little beady eyes glare in the direction of where Darla was. Around this time Darla reappears with her uncle’s video camera, hitting the record button Darla reaches in and spins the wheel. At which point the hamster begins the process yet again.
The wheel = the Treadmill; Darla = the evil outcomes of the treadmill; and the hamster = us, the unsuspecting human who thinks that WE control the machine.
I came up with this particular illustration for the Treadmill, while running on one. I had selected a particular program called “Trail Run” and I felt, to tell the truth, a lot like that little hamster. There was no rhyme or reason for the gradient changes or the speed increase and decrease…it was like the machine itself was thinking own.

Can your feet do this?

2008-05-18T20:15:00.004-04:00

This morning at breakfast, everyone in my family tried to stand with their feet positioned exactly like mine...and they couldn't do it. I actually find this position very comfortable and will stand with my feet tilted just so without even thinking about it. Most people don't find it comfortable at all...but what about YOU? Can YOU do it without twisting your knees about or falling over?

There is that approach (above)

....OR....

This approach...take you pick :)

Oh me! Oh my! LOOK DEER! (where's my camera?)

2008-05-18T19:42:00.003-04:00

Most people get very excited when they see a deer, "Look!" they scream, "A DEER!" People stop and look, take pictures and comment on how cute they are.

This however is not how it works at our house. Deer are seen as a nuisance, they eat the apples, the flowers, the small bushes and trample what they don't eat...so far no plant that we have gotten is completely "deer proof" as the people at the nursery claim. Our dog actually never would chase the deer, for they were too big (even though Jake was practically the size of a deer)you could hit his tennis ball into the middle of the herd, Jake would trot up amongst them, pick up the ball and walk back down the hill, not even caring that there fat and lazy deer just waiting to be chased.

This spring however, things have changed. Pandemonium breaks out at our house when a deer is sighted. Mom bolts for the door, flinging it open she dashes out into the yard, "GET AWAY FROM MY FLOWERS! SHOO!" and proceeds to chase them up the hill and into the woods.

Since my mom is currently in California, I noticed that the herd was enjoying the freedom of the entire yard (and the flowers too). Grabbing my camera I decided that this would make a rather amusing blog...with that I bolted out the door.

To create a PERFECT project

2008-04-03T14:15:00.006-04:00

People often think that art majors have the easiest major on campus, and generally make fun of us constantly and crack jokes about how we study "Drawing Circles for Dummies" before any of our finals...but this is where they are wrong, our homework and finals are projects. And these projects equal hours and hours of our time along with large amounts of frustration and careful thinking. Art assignments can't just be thrown together with sloppy lines, smudges and a random color or two, it is a careful and tedious process, one which many don't ever master.

With any art project you have to come up with an idea. Something in which to place all your creative energy.

For this particular assignment I chose a shark as my grand idea. Not just any shark mind you, but rather cute blacktip reef shark, like the ones that I would swim with in Pohnpei.

The second step is to plan out your design, sticking one shark in the middle of the picture plan would never do, but perhaps if there were many sharks swimming together...perhaps then....

The picture will come together...currently there are several sharks swimming about on the picture plane...but one can't turn in an assignment on computer paper, the "design" of sorts needs to be transferred to a thicker and more stable piece of paper.

Light tables are a wonderful invention and by using one an artist will save precious time otherwise spent getting a headache while attempting to draw something just so. For this particular project I transferred the sharks over onto watercolor paper.

The time has now come to add color, for this project we were suppose to create a design/picture that showed Analogous Color Schemes (that means 3 colors on the color wheel that sit right next to each other), along with warm and cool colors. Now I didn't want to have to do two separate projects, one for warm colors and the other for cool. So I decided to combine them.

And here they are, happy blacktip reef sharks, who amazingly enough turn colors as soon as they cross the middle of the page. As you can see the warm analogous colors are orange, yellow-orange, and yellow. While the cool analogous colors are blue, blue-green, and green.

This project took roughly 4 hours to complete...but when you are striving to get an "A" on all your projects, it is time well worth it. :)

The Buddy

2008-03-23T21:17:00.006-04:00

Jake came into our family March 31, 2000. I had found him in the local newspaper. He was a 3 month old puppy, with great big feet and adorable black eyes. He loved to chew and stuffed animals were his favorite...bones came next...but tennis balls and gravel were tied for third. Jake loved to help dig holes in the flower bed, you would find him standing in a 4ft by 2ft hole in the ground, panting happily he'd look up at you, as if to say "Is this big enough?" and usually all you could say was "Oh Jake!" as you looked at the uprooted flowers.

He became deer dog in the summer, leaping over the 2 foot high grass in the back yard, all four feet off the ground at once, looking for that tennis ball or that piece of gravel. Excited with tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, always expectant.

When Jake was about 3 years old he suddenly found water to be very entertaining. Whether it was spraying from the hose or in his own personal doggy pool, Jake found great satisfaction in sticking his nose underwater and inhaling deeply, causing him to sneeze and sputter. He loved his rubber ducky and was often found in the pond on hot summer days, swimming amongst the slime and fish; generally refusing to come when called.

During the fall, Jake enjoyed helping rake leaves. He would bark and bark as you worked...just pleading with you to throw his tennis ball. Sometimes he would drop it into the pile of leaves and he would get very puzzled as he looked for the disappearing tennis ball. He just couldn't understand where it went. Silly dog could be amused for hours on end.

In the winter time, Jake loved snow balls, snow was so enjoyable for that dog. Whether it was chasing the sled down the driveway, hunting for his tennis ball in snow drifts or catching snowballs, Jake was ready for action.

Jake wasn't very fond of chasing the deer, he seemed to think that they were too big, usually we found him stretched out on the picnic table sound asleep as the deer walked about the yard, munching on mom's flowers and enjoying their new found freedom.

The cats, on the other hand, weren't too big. Jake loved chasing the cats around the yard. Barking joyfully when he treed one of them and being completely alarmed when one of them scratched his nose. To him it made no sense at all.

Jake loved stuffed animals, most of mine have been chewed or have dog slobber all over them. When Luamy and Lucy came to visit over spring break Jake noticed their stuffed animals and wanted them greatly. Wanting to remember Jake's attachment to stuffed animals I decided to find my camera and document the excitment of "talking" stuffed animals.

Pets never live forever, we have our stories about Jake, but we no longer have Jake. The cancer had spread, causing Jake serious pain and the vet decided that it was time to put him down. My buddy is gone and I will miss him so much, I will greatly miss my running buddy this summer...it always turned out that I was never taking Jake running, he was generally in charge of the speed and sometimes the direction. I was always getting yanked here and there as he suddenly noticed something of great interest of the other side of the road...or decided that he was hot and would like to take a swim in the creek, leaping through the brush and catapulting himself with a splash into the cold water. What a dog.

But who knows in a few months there might be another floppy eared doggy running around the house...digging up the flowers, eating stuffed animals and socks, and generally terrifying Buffy...a whole new personality crashing with a dramatic thud onto the wood floor. Reminding us of our buddy who gave us so much joy and also caused so much trouble. Our socks are safe for now and my stuffed animals are packed in boxes...but this little doggy has been dubbed "baby Jake." Jake liked him too, for there is evidence of dog slobber on his little black coat. And on my desk he sits, reminding me everyday of my "little" awkward doggy that completely stole every one's heart.

"Peace!"

2008-03-20T20:57:00.003-04:00

Wednesday after Spanish tutoring, as I was walking back to my apartment (if you haven’t noticed, I do a lot of walking, although you wouldn't know that if you haven't read the post below this one) The weather was wonderful, it got up to 70 degrees on Wednesday afternoon, really nice. Anyway in the distance I saw an elderly gentleman walking towards me, he was probably in his 70’s and most likely out on a nice walk. As we passed each other, he held up his hand and said “PEACE!” in return I gave him a high-five and giggled as I continued towards Southern Village. I turned around and saw him crossing the road, grinning I thanked God that I got to meet such a nice old man, I mean how many people give you a high-five for absolutely no reason?

Tiny Smiles

2008-03-20T19:44:00.004-04:00

Have you ever noticed how God gets you to smile? Even when you are determined not to smile and NOT admit that you are having a nice day. Well there are times when I think God has your guardian angel step on the back of your pant leg or tug at your shirt causing you to come to an abrupt halt, which sometimes makes you rather grumpy, because you are irritated that God would even think of stopping such a busy person as yourself.
WELL…I was tromping across the lawn of A.W. Spalding when suddenly my guardian angel stepped on the back of my pant leg. Causing me to come to a screeching halt, I was irritated to say the least, what did HE/SHE want anyway? Peering around, I glared at the bright sunshine, then at the trees, and finally my gaze hit the ground.

“OH! FLOWERS!” I screeched happily inside. Peering down at my feet I saw hundreds of little blue flowers with white centers looking back at me. A simple little smile was written on each one of them. As I continued on my way, I couldn’t help but smile. Thankful that God has his ways to get us to stop and smile…I wish that you could have seen those little flowers, they would have made you smile too.

Helper Boy

2008-03-20T07:17:00.002-04:00

I help,
And when I help, I must yelp.
The excitement I can’t contain,
But why does that thing looks at me with distain?
I can’t begin to imagine why it must,
Oh look sawdust!

I will catch it,
That I will and not a portion will get away, nope not a bit.
WHOA! You didn’t have to throw that!
That log almost squished my toes flat!
Hey! You orange and white thing!
Don’t you hear me barking?
Yeah I’m talking to you!
I’m not scared of your teeth, you great big CANOE!

Just between me and you, but what is a canoe?
So…a canoe is not…
OH! OH! Goodness me! Why it’s a jackpot!
Pardon me, if you please, but go I must!
LOOK at ALL that SAWDUST!
BARK!

"Oh Jake, would you like some Cheese?"

2008-03-14T17:38:00.006-04:00

Cheese? Said I.
As I opened one cautious eye.
No dog should ever dismiss the offer of food,
Why that would just be rude.

Rounding the corner I saw the cat,
Why couldn’t she have been something interesting, like a rat?
But then again, rats like cheese…hmm…it had better beware.
For I’m a dog, that I am, and we don’t share.
Whether it be a human, cat, rat or fish
It had better stay away from my dish!

Peering up at the counter, I could see my prize,
Just out of reach, I let out a sigh.
I can never understand why they take so long,
Feed me already, kitchen equals food and by food is where I belong.

I could smell the slices of American cheese, and I tried to be good.
As good as any dog could.
And what did they do?
But offer my food.
To that of the cat,
Who I might add is fat.
And she would have eaten it too
If I hadn’t gotten there first and with that she withdrew.

Greedily I ate,
I was done eating before you could count to eight.
That culprit of a cat,
Who might be a rat.
Nope, she won’t get my food ever again, said I
For that cheese and her cat food are rightfully MINE!

2008-02-25T09:02:00.003-05:00

Thus it is with the sinner who, knowing his unworthiness, has entered the Master's vineyard at the eleventh hour. His time of service seems so short, he feels that he is undeserving of reward; but filled with joy that God has accepted him at all. He works with a humble, trusting spirit, thankful for the privilege of being a co-worker with Christ. This spirit God delights to honor.

Christ's Object Lessons, p. 175

The Whatcha-macall-it

2008-01-11T16:13:00.000-05:00

I Can see you all wondering what exactly a whatcha-macall-it is...well I will tell you, it is a little book, but yet it isn't really a book, There are games and puzzles, you can play I spy, paint a picture, create a turkey, sing Christmas Carols, play a matching game or work on a mad libb with a friend. There are Saturday thoughts and stories to read. And if your feet are really tired, there is a foot soak too. :) Now doesn't that sound fun? Wouldn't you like someone to make a Whatcha-macall-it for you? I created the Whatcha-macall-it for a friend of mine who is currently serving in Iraq. I wanted to make him smile and I knew that my semester was going to be really busy, and didn't want him to think that I had forgotten all about him. Which is where the idea got started...but as you will see...that silly idea might have gotten a little out of control. But I will let you be the judge.

Would anyone like to play "I Spy?" This exercise helps you sharpen your skills at finding small items, I did not make it easy for anyone to find the hidden objects...I had to be sneaky and make it difficult. :)

Oh, I forgot to mention that there are comics too...every Sunday :) Would anyone like to put together a puzzle? Everyone should like a Happy Shark, with red, green, and yellow fish. And a little star fish in the corner to throw everyone off.

And there are word finds too...wouldn't you like to find the hidden words in this colorful word find? I had decided that if I was stuck learning spanish, then other people would have to as well. So I used the colors in spanish to make a word find.

Crafts are also a lot of fun, wouldn't you like to construct a hand turkey? Very first grade, I know, but crafts are fun to do, even if you are 23 and too grown up to do something so silly.

Chirstmas Carols! Singing with friends is always something fun to do :) I seriously doubt that the guys are going to be too happy with the Christmas Carols...cause they have to sing them...and I don't actually know if any of them can sing.

I have my doubts...the foot soak will probably be his LEAST favorite activity. But if your feet were that dirty, wouldn't you want to soak them?

SUDOKU...easy...medium...and HARD. I like SUDOKU, and I think that other people should too, so this is an activity that everyone should become good at. If you want to pass time on a long flight, SUDOKU will keep you very busy...the hours of frustration will fly by.

YEAH! A matching game! :) Who doesn't like matching games? They are fun and you don't have to think while you do them. (Unless of course they are in spanish...then you do)

Paint something AMAZING! You can really paint anything you want and declare it ART!

The Dr. Seuss book guess, how well do you know these stories... Even Kristin had difficulty with these :)

There are 13 book guesses in all...

Did you guess them all correctly?

Questions must be asked concerning the Whatcha-macall-it, I'm still waiting on the answers...

And then it ended...for I ran out of pages. The Whatcha-macall-it is probably around 100 pages long, full of fun activites...like the few that I showed. So do you think that he liked his gift? Do you think that he just might smile? :) :) :)

Pets

2008-01-11T12:18:00.000-05:00

I was walking home from work today and noticed a cat walking down the sidewalk. It was in no hurry, finding a nice section of sidewalk filled with afternoon sun, it sat down. As if becoming jello, the cat rolled over (all four paws waving in the air, showing its silky white stomach). A silly expression crossed its face as it looked up at me, as if to say "Aren't I CUTE? Will you pet me?" It is awfully hard to ignore a cat in a sun beam...so I scratched its chin, patted its head and told it how cute it was. Then I continued down the sidewalk...the cat stared after me for a bit and then turned its attention to those coming down from Hackman and Hickman...

This cat reminded me of my cat, Copper. She would always follow me about when we took short walks down the driveway and would always roll over on her back in a patch of sun when she wanted attention. She was a very sweet tempered cat, unlike her sister Buffy.

Copper was an In and Out cat, she could never decide where she wanted to be more. In this picture she wants OUT, but she wasn't allowed to go outside...not until that cast on her tail was taken off (she had gotten her tail slammed in a door, when the wind shut the door during a big storm)...Oddly enough she liked the cast on her tail, when she would swish her tail, the cast would thump and bump around...perhaps she enjoyed the sound it made. She did not however like it when the cast came off.

Copper knew where to find the best places to sleep, she liked boxes, the hood of your car (if you just got home, Copper would come running and take up residence on your car), the living room rug in late afternoon, and on your bed (sleeping right next to you and trying to take up the entire bed).

I drew this picture of Copper in Drawing II. It actually turned out quite well. Copper was very sick in December of 2005, all she wanted to do was sleep in the basket by the fire. The little kitten that we had rescued that Christmas made her uneasy and she made it known that she didn't like that particular black ball of fluff. Copper died January 2006, she was 10 years old.

After Copper died, Buffy started to be a nice cat. No one really liked her all that much, because she was so mean and sour. But Suddenly she was a nice, pleasant, but demanding cat.

Buffy, also known as flower pot kitten, likes to eat. Maybe I should rephrase that, Buffy LOVES to eat...if we allowed her she would eat until she looked like a bowling ball with a head, 4 legs and a tail sticking out. She will follow you around the house meowing and insisting to be fed, even though you just fed her an hour ago.

Buffy has gotten rather playful over the last 2 years. She enjoys string, doesn't eat it anymore...which is a good thing. And also likes to take long naps under the Christmas tree. She is Queen.

Then we have Jake...I mean look at that face...who could resist throwing the tennis ball when he is looking at you with those great big eyes.

Whenever Jake is left outside for longer then five minutes, he will begin to cry or sing. I will let you be the judge of his singing skills, but when he howls and he is sleeping at the foot of your bed...you jump, rather high...with your heart beating a mile a minute...

Jake also likes to chew on things, socks or bones, but stuffed animals are his favorite...they are so squishy and soft...

Early this January, Jake was diagnosed with Bone Cancer, which did explain why he was limping around so much. Since his leg could easily break at any given moment, Jake isn't allowed to leap or jump around...he also isn't allowed to chase gravel or chase the tennis ball.

Here is a video of Jake this time last year...leaping about in the snow. Jake gets rather excited about walkies and tennis balls, but he finds water spraying from the hose and snow irresistible.

Christmas Day :)

2007-12-31T12:13:00.000-05:00

I was awaken at 9:30a.m. by a jingling above my head. And then something attacked my feet.
"Wake up! Wake up! We can open stockings!"
Snuggling down into my comforter...I tried to ignore the chipper voices. Again my feet were attack and the little jinglebell above my head kept ringing...
"Come on, wake up! Let's open stockings!"

Now for those of you that have younger siblings, this might not sound all that unusual. But I happen to be the youngest in my family...my wake up call came from my parents.
In attempts to sound grumpy, I requested my digital camera, so that I could document this unusual turn of events.
"Isn't it usually the other way around?' I asked my parents. 'I mean shouldn't the kids be the ones to awaken you?" But I suppose times have changed, now I prefer to sleep in, while my parents still get up at the crack of dawn. Which is why THEY had to wake ME up on Christmas morning.

For those of you who have listened to Garrison Keillor, know that he is rather funny. Now I was given a CD with four of our favorite episodes on it. One of them is about the "In and Out Cat," we were listening to it at breakfast and Jake couldn't figure out where the meows were coming from, he was so cute and confused. We decided to replay that particular track, only Jake didn't react as much as he did the first time.

After we got ready for our day, it was time to open presents. Oddly enough most of the presents under the tree were for me. I had asked for art supplies for Christmas...so I got canvases and an easel...I mean only art majors can be excited about gifts like that.. :)

For Christmas, I had made my dad a hat and my mom a scarf. I think that they look quite cute :)

Then I sent my dad on a treasure hunt, shall we see what else he got for Christmas? The video won't load, since it is rather long (15 minutes), but at least you can see a picture of his gift.

We spent Christmas afternoon at my Aunt Carroll's house, I got to meet my cousin Fiona's boyfriend Travis. I was pulled in several different directions as I tried to help out in the kitchen, keep an eye on the little ones, and talk with Fiona and Travis. I was even able to talk to Felicia, so it was a good time had by all. :)

Can you see it now?

2007-12-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

For those of you who do not have perfect eye site, eye appointments can get rather tedious. My mom asked me when I got home if I needed to get my eyes checked, I didn’t think that I did, but figured that is wouldn’t hurt anything if I did.

I have never really enjoyed eye appointment, I hate it when they check the pressure in your eyes by sending a little puff of air into your eye, something that surprises you, but doesn’t hurt. I decided, a week ago Friday, that I really dislike, rather I HATE reading the letters off that stupid chart. My eye site is a lot better than anyone in my family or many of my friends who have glasses or contacts…but I still can’t tell what the forth line says on that dumb chart. So after checking what I could see without my glasses and then what I could see with my glasses…the cheerful tech left and the doctor came in about 30 minutes later.

This is the part that I dislike the most, reason? Well I can never make up my mind on which setting looks clearer. They have you look through this weird looking contraption that has a bunch of lenses on it, knobs, and levers. They change the different settings in hopes to find a lens that makes things so much clearer. The hated conversation goes a bit like this.

Doctor: Now tell me which line you can read.
Me: Well, the 4th line is rather fuzzy, but I can read the 3rd line fine.
Doctor: Now look at the last two letters of the 4th line, which is clearer to read, this one…or…this one?
Me: Ummmm…(pausing long enough to have her switch it back to the first one while wondering what exactly the last two letters in the 4th line really are)

The problem came when she switched to my left eye. It wouldn’t focus on any of the letters…I could tell what the letters were, but they were definitely not clear.
I am pretty sure that we went through every single lens and setting on that contraption, to come up with the realization that I needed new glasses. Most of you are probably wondering why I need glasses, since you don’t ever see me wearing them. I don’t need glasses when working on art projects or doing homework or working about the house. But I can’t read things that are far away…so objects like street signs, speed limit signs, black boards, power point presentations, the people up front in church…yeah all those things are rather fuzzy. I use my glasses for driving and in large lecture classes.

After a good 20 minutes or so I was allowed to go and pick out new frames for my new prescription. Some of you are probably wondering why I don't just get contacts, are you kidding? Sticking my figure that close to my eye in order to place something in my eye? Not happening. I can see just fine...just don't ask me to read a street sign or something like that...cause I won't have a clue as to what it says...Now just ask any of my housemates, I am horrible at deciding. So the process took awhile, I hate frames that are too wide, too skinny, too round. I like them to be somewhat fashionable, but I didn’t want them to be the same pair that I currently have…I mean how I would be able to tell them apart? I didn’t even notice that my prescription had changed!

Becky

2007-12-23T22:49:00.000-05:00

"Grandma," was Becky's nickname. She was 24 and the second oldest out of the student missionaries on Pohnpei. But just because she was older then most of the other SMs, didn't mean that she always acted that way. Becky was also my roommate...

This flattering picture is of Becky, she decided that the time had come to scare all the innocent trick-o-treaters that were coming to the campus. So she and Raz went into hiding, and would jump out randomly to scare unsuspecting children.

Becky was big into surfing, she bought a surf board while in Hawaii on our way over. She went surfing twice in Pohnpei, the first time she met the coral, and I got to clean the cuts out on her feet and knee with bleach. The second time a current sucked her out to sea. She had made a deal with God, if he got her back to the island, she would NEVER surf again. And she kept her word...much to the disappointment of the guys. If she went out in the boat, she was generally WATCHING the guys surf...

Camping trips were always fun, Becky and I shared a "tent" which was usually a tarp covering that stretched across our two hammocks. We would always go exploring on which ever small island we found ourselves on. We always had a great time...we never brought food that had to be cooked, since it ALWAYS rained, we would bring muffins, bread, cookies, crackers, canned fruit, rice cooked the morning of (wrapped in tin foil to keep it warm)...just anything that didn't require cooking, since we knew that it would most likely rain. This picture was taken at our first camping trip to Ant Atoll...or second and LAST camping trip was very exciting.

A strom is coming, and I am explaining to my future viewing audiences that the main island of Pohnpei has disappeared. Becky joins in and tells me of a shocking discovery.

Maybe we had just a little too much time on our hands, either that or we were having too much fun with digital cameras.

Like I said before, Becky and I did a lot of exploring. We are currently on a 6 waterfall hike, which took us 5 hours to complete. We ended up feeling rather lost as we waded through rivers, streams, and a lot of mud. The jungle has a way of confusing people...we had already gotten lost on a different hike a few weeks before...and were very happy to have a guide and Mr. B helping us along. This would have been the first of the six waterfalls.

Now I really really dislike heights, I avoid them when I can...which is why I am standing at the top of this waterfall. Now Becky and I made a deal, if she would video with her camera, I would jump off the waterfall...so with that in mind, here is the video of me jumping off a waterfall simply because it was THERE.

While in Hawaii on our trip back to the states, Becky and I decided that we couldn't leave until we climbed Diamond Head Crater. I mean we could see it from our hotel window...why not climb it? We charged ahead with flip flops on our feet, cruzing by over weight people teenagers who thought that they would run up the crater (I don't think that they got very far). But we made it and at the top had a nice guy take a picture of us.

And since both Becky and I have a wonderful sense of direction, while in Hawaii the 3 of us, Marla (Housemate #3), Becky and I decided to go through the world's largest maze. We did end up getting lost...but had a lot of fun in the process.

Becky is really one of a kind...quite a crazy girl...although I did hear that she is more herself in LA. Pohnpei was rather hard on her, she was ready to leave the moment that she got there...but she stuck it out. I hope that she had some fun, cause we certainly had a lot of fun hanging out with her.

Christmas in Pohnpei

2007-12-23T21:18:00.000-05:00

"Emily you aren't in Pohnpei," I can hear someone say...very true I'm not, but I thought that it would be fun to REMEMBER my Christmas in Pohnpei.

Some people wouldn't think that it would be that hard to get 36 little first graders to stand still and sing a song. If you are one of those people, were you ever a kid? Do you remember how hard it was to stand still for longer then 30 seconds and not swing about or make faces at the people in the crowd? After two months of practicing, this was the final outcome of "We Three Kings."

Christmas Parties are also fun. Small children wired on sugar running about the classroom, excited about food, excited about gifts, just excited in general.

Then came Christmas with the SMs, half of the SMs left for other islands in Micronesia, Hawaii or home. Those of us that were left, tried to have an enjoyable Christmas, one that was liek what we would have in the states. YOU must decorate, make sugar cookies and have fun with friends. We were successful in all these areas.

Christmas Eve in our apartment. Jay (currently hanging christmas balls from the ceiling) and Mitch (Helping Marla bake cookies) were visiting from the island of Kosrae.

Waterfall jumping was the thing to do on Saturday afternoons...sorry that the video is sideways. We took the visitors to Twin Falls, Mr. B sat up on top of the falls and helped those of us who climbed up the slippery rock face. I really don't know how he is so calm about all the stupid stuff that SMs do...he is quite amazing.

SKYPE, the friend and enemy of the SMs in Pohnpei. Sometimes the internet worked and sometimes it didn't...This is how I talked to my parents while I was in Pohnpei, it is also how they were able to interact with me as I opened my Christmas Stocking. :)

And this has been me, thinking about Pohnpei..."sigh" I can't wait to go back.

Slivered Almonds

2007-12-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

“Christmas grocery shopping was a lot different in Pohnpei.” I muttered under my breath as I stood in line at Weis. My mom had sent me to the grocery store, and by the time I got to the check out my patience, the small amount that I had left, were about to snap. I had just spent the last hour and a half going through each isle several times trying to find random things on the list. The cart which handled rather well BEFORE I picked up the 40 pound bag of cat litter, served recklessly, threatening to hit every food display in site. All I had left on my list was slivered almonds, you would think that would be easy to find, but it wasn’t. I called my dad and asked him where he found them the last time, he told me…but they weren’t there. I asked a lady in the produce isle and she showed me to the sliced almonds. I didn’t want sliced almonds, I wanted slivered almonds. Then I asked another lady who looked like she might know more then the first. “Oh she said,” pointing to the sliced almonds. “Those must be it.” By this time I wanted to scream, “No.’ I calmly stated. “Those are not them, I wanted slivered, not sliced.” Shrugging her shoulders, she simply said, “Well then look in isle 8.” I had already been in isle 8 and didn’t see any. I called my dad, yet again and he suggested that I go to the customer service desk and ask someone there. They were bound to know more. At the customer service desk, I found a lady who looked like she didn’t know anything about slivered or sliced almonds, but I took a chance.
“Excuse me,’ I asked, trying to sound un-irritated. ‘Might you know where slivered almonds are?” I have noted in past experiences at Weis’ that most of the people there aren’t that intelligent, or if they are, they hide it extremely well. The lady informed me in a somewhat harsh manner that they were over there in isle 8. Calmly I told her that I didn’t see them, coming out from the counter she rummaged through the other almonds and nuts, only to discover that I was correct and the slivered almonds weren’t there.
After checking out, I headed to Giant Eagle, where I found slivered almonds. I felt victorious. I elbowed my way through the crowded supermarket to the checkout, and once free of the store made a mad dash to the safety of my car.

Granddaddy

2007-12-22T23:52:00.000-05:00

There are some of you who might be very tired of hearing about Pobs (granddaddy). if you are tired of it, then don't trouble yourselves to read about him.

Pobs helped me love art, he was always there coaching from the side lines. And when he died so did my desire to be an art major. I wanted to give it up, never to touch another pencil or painbrush again. But I knew deep down inside that granddaddy would never have wanted me to give up my art simply because he wasn't around to see it or to have "art talk" during our visits.

This semester was very tough, there was change with being back in school, change in the aftermath of my dad's accident, and unbearible change when granddaddy died. Inside part of me died too. Everyday I was constantly reminded of granddaddy, whether it was spanish class or art class, I was remined of him. It got overwhelming, so I just stopped. I didn't touch my drawing assignment for a good 2 weeks, I didn't care about my inclass painting assignment, I stopped painting outside of class...It wasn't until InTents at southern when I finally let myself think about it and most importantly give it to God.

I still cry when I think about him, I still have a hard time when working on some art projects or when I am trying to find a good deal on canvas or paint brushes.. but I am trying hard to do my best in school, trying to become better at all the areas in art that he was so good at (and the areas that he was good at are the ones which drive me crazy, I have never really liked still lifes or farm senes...I always liked the ones he painted, but please don't make me do them!) But when I finally let myself, I did learn a lot in my painting class, everyday when I would walk into my appartment after class, Kristin would want to see what I had done, then she would show it off to anyone and everyone who came into our apartment...she was so cute.

I always loved Granddaddy's cartoons, when he came up with a good idea he would draw on whatever he had on hand, including a napkin. This is one area in which I know that I will never be able to do well in, every cartoon he ever drew was funny, and there are a lot of them...I found

some the other day when I was looking through some things in his study. Of course I started crying, but I was also laughing, with every comic that I found I would say to myself "typical granddaddy." This comic is one of the last ones that he drew, I found it rather funny.

This is a video that Felicia took last year, it was the only recent video that I could find of granddaddy...it does go on for a little bit, with different people coming in and out...but it is the beginning that reminds me so much of granddaddy's character...Felicia in true Ford fashion shoves the camera in granddaddy's face and declared "Say something AMAZING!"

Life Sketch

2007-12-22T23:28:00.000-05:00

The funeral was Tuesday, September 18, 2007.

Like many in his generation, Ted was shaped by the Great Depression and World War II.

The youngest of 4 children, he was born in the winter of 1927 into hard life in the Deep South that was about to get much harder. His parents named him Sanford (after his grandfather Sanford Valentine Ford) and Theodore (after Theodore Roosevelt). Before his second birthday, the stock market crash started the nation into a steep slide into the Great Depression.

The Depression tore families apart – across the country, working class parents and children parted to make their own way – and at the time, no one knew whether it would ever end. One of the advantages of being poor before the Depression was that, while things got worse during the Depression, the changes were not as dramatic.

Ted’s father, Thomas Jefferson Ford, was a teacher with wide interests. He worked hard and steadily to provide for his family, at one point walking 13 miles to and from a teaching job. He was proud and independent – he did not believe in taking “handouts” from the government and avoided the many relief programs under the New Deal. From his father, Ted learned relentless dedication to supporting one’s family and a determination to be self-sufficient.

His father was instrumental in another way – during the Depression, he pointed out to Ted that pharmacists were always in demand and could make a living even in the worst of times. That stuck with him.

Despite the hardship of the Depression, it was, at least, a peaceful time. People adjusted to hardship and life gradually improved. Ted grew up with friends and family – he like to experiment with mechanical gadgets, and to camp out with his friends on the sand bars of the Leaf River. He developed an interest in music, taught himself to play the guitar, and became a talented musician. He began drawing and painting, an interest that he would pursue for the rest of his life. But it was clear to anyone who followed the news (as Ted did) that turmoil in the world was getting worse. Ted remembered hearing the radio broadcast of the attack on Pearl Harbor – he was a month shy of his 15th birthday.

World War II was unlike anything the world had seen before or has seen since – it was global war. The news was filled with battles, and though accounts at the time did not dwell on casualties, the underlying story was of horrific death. Sixteen million Americans served in the military during the war, and over a million were killed or wounded. Ted followed the news of the war and knew it would come for him. He decided to go to it. He attempted to enlist in the Navy but was rejected because he was colorblind.
In January 1945, shortly after his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Army.

The war in Europe was approaching an end, but the war against Japan was continuing and no end appeared in sight. It appeared likely that the Japanese would fight to the death, forcing a bloody invasion of the Japanese islands. Ted trained for combat and likely would have been in that invasion force. But as he was shipping out to the Pacific theater, the American forces dropped the first atomic bomb, and the war soon came to an end. Instead of going to war, Ted was sent to Japan to serve in the occupying forces.

For over a year, Ted served with the Military Police in Tokyo. He did not police the Japanese, but rather the American soldiers who occupied the city. This experience stayed with Ted throughout his life – he often told of his adventures in vivid detail.

By December 1946 the occupation was well in hand and the Army discharged him early. He could not get back home to Mississippi fast enough. The ocean crossing was rough and the troop trains were slow, standing for hours on sidings as priority freight and passenger trains sped by. When they were delayed again in Dallas, he and several other troops pooled their money and chartered a plane to take them home. It was his first plane ride.

Back home in Mississippi, his brother, Kirk, got him a job at a creamery. It paid well, but he found the work unsatisfying. He dated, hung out with his friends and wondered about his future. He met a girl on a blind date that he particularly liked – she was feisty and opinionated, and he was drawn to that. But her father was a piece of work. Helen had to be home by 10 or else . . . what? No one knew what Wyman Lancaster was capable of and no one wanted to find out.

Ted and Helen’s relationship deepened and in May, 1948, they eloped. Ted’s job at the creamery came to an end that fall, so the young couple decided to take advantage of the GI bill and left for the University of Mississippi at Oxford, where Ted would study pharmacy.

College was tough for Ted. He had been an indifferent student in high school and dropped out to join the service before graduation. He obtained his GED but his math and science skills were lacking. He studied hard to catch up, and he never wavered from his goal. In 1952, he graduated from Ole Miss with a degree in pharmacy, and he and Helen set out into the world.

The next two decades were filled with highs and lows. The lows included the loss of their first child to miscarriage and the loss of both of their fathers. The highs included three healthy children and a promising career. After a dozen years of working for other people, Ted wanted a management role and in 1964 he was named manager and part-owner of the largest drugstore in Hattiesburg.

For five years, he and Helen worked long hours to make the drugstore a success. But the city was changing. People were moving out into bedroom communities and commerce was migrating toward the newly opened interstate on the edge of town. The store steadily lost ground to competitors. Ted and Helen faced financial troubles of their own and sold their house in Petal and moved into a rental home in Hattiesburg. Things seemed to be going backward. By 1969 both Ted and Helen were ready for a change.

It came in the form of Hurricane Camille, a devastating storm that destroyed much of the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August 1969 and created a swath of destruction north through Hattiesburg. In the aftermath of the storm, the economy was in ruins. An Ohio-based drug store chain called SupeRx came to Mississippi recruiting pharmacists for its rapidly growing network. The pay was better and there seemed to be promise in moving north. Ted accepted the position, and the family moved first to Louisville and then to Dayton. Ted and Helen wanted their children to be able to attend a Seventh Day Adventist school, and Spring Valley Academy in Centerville was recommended as one of the best.

Life got much better in Dayton, but Ted still felt unfulfilled. As a retail pharmacist, he spent much of his time minding stores that were becoming five-and-dime establishments. He wanted more. His children were approaching adulthood. The family had become part of the Dayton Adventist community. Helen was working at Kettering Memorial Hospital, and Janet was in nursing school there. Ted and Mark were also working their part-time as they attended school. In 1973, he accepted a position as a staff pharmacist at Kettering Memorial Hospital. He took a cut in salary but here he could concentrate on what he enjoyed –helping people by being the best pharmacist he could be.

Ted formally retired in 1993, and then he came back part-time for another 11 years. He came back because he wanted to and because the Kettering pharmacy kept calling him back. He was liked and loved by those he worked with. He drew cartoons that celebrated individuals he worked with and that occasionally skewered the hospital administration (he got in a trouble a couple of times for this). He almost never missed work. He was accurate and professional. He finally retired the second time, at age 77, when he decided that his waning concentration may pose a risk to patients.

At that point in his life, Ted could look back on a life well-lived. He had made a difference. His children were grown and successful in their careers, and he had five grandchildren who not only loved him but liked to spend time with him. His wife was still the feisty and devoted wife she had been for 50+ years, and she filled him with a continuing sense of purpose (and challenge). He feared he would lose her in 2004 when she had to undergo open heart surgery – he probably could not have survived without her and feared being without her more than anything – but she came through stronger than ever. His own health was declining, however, in ways that could not be repaired surgically. His blood pressure became increasingly unpredictable, and years of chronic hypertension had weakened and damaged his heart. He worked hard to control his diabetes and was largely successful. Both he and Helen felt it was time to make their last move to be closer to their children, and in May 2005, they moved to a perfect house in Westerville.

In his final two years, Ted seemed content but those around him could tell he was contemplating the end of his life. He spent more time thinking about it but not talking about it, except on a few occasions to Helen. He and Helen studied the Bible and talked about what was to come after the Resurrection. As a pharmacist, he knew that he was walking a tightrope. Eventually – sooner rather than later – one of his medical conditions was going to take him. After repeated trips by ambulance to the hospital, he and his family had become used to rushing to the emergency room only to find that he was all right after all – he just needed a different medication or a change of some kind and he was as good as ever. He knew better. The last trip was a shock to all – there would be no recovery. But he was ready.

Ted’s life does not end here. His love and example have shaped his children, grandchildren, and will shape his great grandchildren. They, in turn, will influence others who they know during their lives. Ted was a private and humble man who never sought to build a monument to himself in life, but through his influence on others, he did so.

How he impacted me: Earlier in my life, I thought I was very different from him, and I am. However, like my Dad, I want to help others and use my time on Earth for a purpose. He taught me that by example. He taught me that the most important thing I could do in life is support my family and be respectful of my parents. I never doubted him when I was a kid – when he suffered setbacks in his career, I never feared that he would throw in the towel and abandon his family. We loved each other but rarely said so, and when we did, it was awkward. He was a decent, committed, loving person, and I’ll do my best to live up to his example.

-Ted Ford (son)

The Accident

2007-12-22T22:10:00.000-05:00

This is video shows the bike trail that Dad and Matt went mountain biking on, on Sunday afternoon (June 10). Dad didn't ride his bike back out.

Dad and Matt went mountain biking on Sunday afternoon. While riding across a small bridge that stretched across a dry creek bed, the front tire of the bike slipped off. Causing bike and dad to crash into the ground below. Flying head first, he landed squarely on his head and neck. Later dad told us that it was the worst pain that he had ever experienced. Fearing that his neck was broken, he managed to stand up and walk with Matt for about 1/4 of a mile, with each step his neck muscles tightened causing incredible pain. Unable to go any farther dad stood against a tree he waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Around 7pm, June 10, 2007; my mom received a phone call from my cousin Matt. Daddy had been in a bicycle accident. The ambulance was headed to St. Anne’s Hospital, which was around a 10 minute drive from Grandmommy & Granddaddy’s house. Mom was a basket case and Ted (my dad’s brother) was going to drive us to the hospital. I was a lot calmer then mom, but since I had only been in the states for a 1 ½ weeks, I wasn’t that confident of a driver in busy Columbus traffic. At St. Anne’s we found out that Daddy had been sent to Riverside Methodist Hospital, they were a better trauma hospital.

I wasn’t overly worried until we got to Riverside, in ER room #50, I found my daddy. As a life guard I have seen people strapped to a backboard, but none of them were my daddy. Mom was worried sick, dad was being wheeled out every few minutes for x-rays. It seemed like forever until dad was back and another doctor was checking on him. He was complaining about pain in his side. The doctor thought that something might have happened to his liver, so they whisked him away, yet again, for another x-ray. I thought that it sounded like a broken rib, since he said that it hurt to breath. A short while later a different ER doctor came in. Ignoring the rest of us in the room (probably a good thing, since mom was freaking out about everything) and told dad in a rather cheerful voice that he had broken his C2 vertebrae and crushed his C7 vertebrae; but was incredibly lucky since he was able to move and breath on his own. Dad trying to be cheerful, while staring at the ceiling commented, “So basically I broke my neck.” The doctor agreed and told mom who looked positively green, that the surgeon would be in shortly.

Ted drove me back to Grandmommy and Granddaddy’s house. I hugged Grandmommy who was crying and wanting to know how her little Marky was doing. We had come to Ohio to take care of my grandparents, Grandmommy had just had knee replacement surgery, being stubborn she would wander about the house without her cane or walker…when caught she was duly scolded, she would always promise to keep her walker with her. I said goodnight to Grandmommy and went to the study where I was staying. I wrote a friend a short e-mail and then cried myself to sleep.

The rest of the week was filled with cooking, waiting, answering phone calls, cooking more, waiting, and way too much time spent in a hospital. Felicia drove out on Monday, the nurses were seriously hovering about (Janet –dad’s sister is a nurse; Judy-Ted’s wife is a nurse; and Felicia is a nurse). Daddy was scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday morning, but an emergency came up (more urgent then dad’s) so they rescheduled it for Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning dawned; we were at the hospital at 5:45a.m. The nurses let us see daddy, and then let us go with him when they wheeled him down to the surgical waiting room place (whatever it is called). Only one person could wait with dad there, so it was decided that Felicia would. Mom and I went to the waiting room. Felicia came out almost an hour later, I hate waiting, and waiting for a surgery to get over with isn’t any better.

We got the o.k. from the surgeon hours later. He told us that the surgery went well, everything was in order. The C7 – since it had been completely crushed had to get put together with a bolt and screw and a piece of donor bone. C2 would heal on its own with the help of the Miami J collar.

When we were finally allowed to see daddy, he was Mr. Grumpy Gills. Which most people are when they get done with surgery…he looked rather green too. Mom told Felicia and I to go home and take care of Grandmommy and Granddaddy.

On Thursday dad was discharged. Boy was he ever ready to get out of there…the little old man who wheeled him out of the hospital couldn’t go fast enough for daddy.

Now the real work started, dad is stubborn, and when he was awake (since his pain medicine made him sleepy) we often caught him doing things that he wasn’t suppose to. Such as trying to carry his laptop to the comfortable green chair, while using his cane, and not being able to hold on to anything when trying to sit down. He still wasn’t steady on his feet, you try walking and looking straight ahead and not at your feet, isn’t as easy as you might think. If I caught him in the act of doing something that he wasn’t suppose I would yell out, “DAD!” and rush over and take the computer away. Mom would then hear me and yell out, “MARK!” rushing over she would guide him to his chair, get him comfortable, bring him a soda and a movie to watch while I set up the computer. Really who in their right mind would fight pampering like that? Stubborn people…that’s who…At the same time while keeping an eye on dad, we had to watch out for Grandmommy. She was constantly doing something, like trying to take out the trash, or wanting to water her flowers. When caught one of us would ask, “WHERE”S YOUR CANE?” while the other one would help Grandmommy back to the house and have her sit down and talk to her about letting us do the work.

In the evenings we would take daddy on his “walkies” a short walk around the block or a walk at a near by park. Mom would be on one side of dad and I would be on the other. Things did get more enjoyable as the days and weeks went by.

I left for camp 3 weeks after we got there. One week later dad went home. Every month dad had to go back to Ohio for a check up. He was able to spend time with his parents as well. Which was a blessing in disguise, in September, 5 days after his dad’s death; he went to his last appointment, his surgeon told him that he was no more likely to break his neck now, then he was before the accident. His neck had healed perfectly.

Flight to Hawaii :)

2007-09-15T10:56:00.001-04:00

This is Pohnpei's runway, rather small-don't you think?

Leaving Pohnpei

Really cool looking clouds over the ocean

Kosrae - we picked up our friends Jay & Mitch

The runway at Kosrae's airport

Kwajalein

Majuro-we acutually got to Majuro at night,

these are pictures from our trip to Pohnpei

Majuro - the first island you come to after leaving Hawaii

Looking Back

2007-08-23T23:11:00.000-04:00

It has come to my attention that I have been very bad a blogging the last 3 months. Dear Alex has been so good at pointing out that since I am back in the states I should have the time to keep things up to date. This being said I have started the slow process of remembering all that has happened since my last blog (that being the tour of Pohnpei). There are no pictures at this time however because my laptop is in disrepair and can't be used at the present moment. Things might be slightly out of order...but I am sure that you will indeed survive. :)

I do believe that 7 years is going to be too long. It has been nearly 3 months since I left beautiful Pohnpei; I have had time to reflect about my adventures, tell my stories and laugh about those not so pleasant experiences. I catch myself constantly referring to my students as “my kids” which at times is greeted with a curious eyebrow raise or a cautious comment about my age and who the father of MY KIDS might be.

I miss the island of Pohnpei, given the chance I would talk about Pohnpei all day long, but I know that my friends would certainly tire of it. On the last day of school I told my children that I would be back in 7 years; they would be graduating from 8th grade and I would be their proud 1st grade teacher who would be able to point them out and say “Oh there is Wolfgang, I taught him how to read.” On the other hand my aid wants me to come back when I am married, for she would like to meet my husband. I informed her that it would certainly be a long wait, since when one is single it is very hard to set a year on when you are going to return to a place if you are suppose to be married when you do in fact return. Seven years sounds about right, surely by then even someone as picky as I might actually be married.

The last day of school was filled with laughter, tears, and good-byes. My students came in bearing food and gifts. The gifts I received from my students I will keep forever. Chad got a hold of my camera early on; he enjoyed snapping random pictures that actually turned out rather well…digital is a wonderful thing. We played musical chairs and then I shooed them outside for our group picture. On the stairs sat 15 little 1st graders in little white shirts (I was missing 3 of my kids) decorated in their own fashion and their teacher proudly wearing a shirt with special drawings on the front and 17 little hand prints on the back. Picture taking of course took a little bit of time, as any of you can guess; small kids are very unwilling to sit for long periods of time and usually smiling without making any type of hand signal is totally out of the question. But in the end we did get a somewhat descent picture.

The two 1st grade classrooms joined and while Miss Silva organized a game of Red Rover, little Arianne took my hand and requested that I push her on the swings. Knowing that this was quite possibly the last time I had the privilege to push this little angel on the swings I willingly obliged. Arianne is by far one of the cutest sweetest little girls that I have ever met. Whenever teacher was having a bad day I would find a little paper heart, cut out of note book paper, with a little inscription scrawled in the very best 1st grade handwriting “Miss Ford I love you” at which point in the words of Felicia all I could say was “Oh Buh!”

At the end of our school day I gave each one of my students a kiss, hugged them tight, told them to behave the next year, and handed them a small goody bag. With that they left and I cleaned up our disastrous classroom.

The end

Our last week is Pohnpei was full of preparation, there were goodbyes to be said, an apartment to be cleaned and a very dirty and disorganized classroom cleaned and otherwise organized in every way possible. On Monday we said good-bye to the McGuire’s, I wasn’t particularly sad to see them leave…but I knew that I should at least see them off at the air port.

Tuesday found me in my classroom. I organized my desk, took down all decorations my kids had given me, washed the chalk board, packed away flash cards, books, workbooks, and teachers editions; I bleached all 20 small desks, swept away the cobwebs that had taken up residents in the windows and up on the ceiling. Near the end of the day my aid showed up (she had been working outside), with her help we attacked our very dirty floor with two stiff brooms. Finishing with the cleaning bit, I wrote a note for the next 1st grade teacher and left it in the top drawer of my desk. Then I walked out of my classroom and locked the door. The rest of the week was such a rush that I didn’t stop by to take one last look.

On Wednesday the first wave of SMs left. With 13 gone, the other half of us felt rather incomplete. We said good-bye and cried a good deal, promising each other that we would keep in touch and suddenly they were gone. Back at the apartment we continued to pack, knowing that Friday was coming soon and there was still so much to do.

We found ourselves at the airport on Thursday waving good-bye to Rusty and Alex. I never particularly liked either of them all that much, but after 10 months I suppose their rudeness and lack of communication had grown on me enough to see them off at the airport. Becky was in a mischievous mood and went around hugging everyone who was there to see the boys off and left little smiley stickers on their backs for them to find later. Marla and I joined in on the fun and soon had everyone sticking stickers on everyone else. That night the remaining 11 SMs had a potluck and we had a grand time…that is until we remembered that there was still packing to be done.

Friday I was up well before everyone else. Becky was still unconscious in our room and her stuff was scattered all over the living room. Early on we had decided to leave 2 days later because Becky insisted that she needed more time to pack. But in reality Becky is one of those people who pack the day of and still somehow make it to the airport with time to spare. Marla, Eric and I left around 10:30 for the airport. We needed to get our luggage checked and well we didn’t want to miss our flight and figured that Becky would show up hopefully before the final boarding call. It was first feared that our bags would be overweight, but as it turned out, if the security check dude could lift the bags with one arm…we were in the clear.
Marla and I nervously waited for Becky to arrive. Eric and Joan had returned and we all started to wonder if Becky would indeed make it in time. Suddenly I saw the yellow truck pull up next to the curb; a surf board was protruding out of the back. Becky appeared a short time later and was able to check in with time to spare. I was amazed.
As the time drew near to go through security we began to say good-bye to the remaining SMs and the other staff. Marla was crying and it was all that I could do to not cry. I knew that there was a chance that I would never see these wonderful people again and it just about broke my heart to think that for the next 7 years or so I wouldn’t be able to see any of them. I said good-bye, walked into security and looked back with tears welding up in my eyes. My life as a teacher was ending, sighing I walked into the waiting room and sat down next to an elderly couple. Surprisingly they were missionaries as well, I can’t remember what denomination they were from, but we had a very nice conversation sitting there waiting for our plane to arrive. I introduced my traveling companions to them and we talked for a good 30 minutes.
As we boarded our plane I took one more look at beautiful Pohnpei. I stared at Sokeh’s Rock, realizing how much I was going to miss that large hunk of rock. It was my favorite place on the island, once on top you could see for miles all around. I found my seat near the front of the plane, sitting down I looked out the window for a few minutes. The excitement inside me mounted as the plane raced down the runway 20 minutes later. Peering out the window I watched the outer reef grow smaller and smaller, deep blue ocean lay below us, whitecaps could be seen here and there…within a few minutes my island home of 10 months was gone, leaning back in my seat I thought to myself that perhaps one day I would be back and the first things to greet me from my airplane window would be the outer reef, blue clear water and Sokeh’s Rock.

Pocket guide for dock inhabitation

2007-08-02T16:42:00.000-04:00

Purpose of the Pocket Guide

The purpose of this friendly pocket guide is to make all of your dock trips dry ones. Here at Camp Cherokee the command not to swim in the lake is generally not heeded, especially by what we will from now on refer to as “dock-pushers.” Dock-pushers are those who push or otherwise propel dock visitors (also known as pushees) into Saranac Lake where swimming is prohibited. Please enjoy the reading of this pocket guide and mind the advice given if you wish to keep your temporary dock inhabitation a dry one.

Items to bring

The number one item to carry with you at ALL times is a cell phone even if you don’t actually plan on using it. Just the simple presence of the cell phone deters any potential dock-pushers from carrying out their plans of throwing you in. iPods, or really any electronic devices, serve the same purpose as the aforementioned items. Books are especially advantageous tools. They have multiple uses on dock including, but not limited to, entertainment for your enjoyment, a screen so that you may observe life around you, mere decoration to dissuade dock-pushers, and an emergency tool to beat off dock-pushers who were not dissuaded. Towels also serve multiple purposes such as portable cushion, weapon of attack when dock-pushers spring upon you, and for drying off when the weapon of attack failed. Another helpful hint is to be fully clothed on every approach of the dock. Generally speaking, when you are fully clothed occasionally dock-pushers will have pity on you and not throw you into the water. However, sometimes wearing clothes really just increases the dock-pusher’s urge to push you in.

People to Elude

This section will be a list in order of the most dangerous dock-pushers to the less threatening ones. At the top of our list is Brian Castellanos. This is one fellow you should avoid at all costs. On occasion a sliver of compassion will escape from his heart and he will take pity on the pushee and not throw them in. However, this is a rare occasion.

Our number two dock-pusher whose attack you will wish to deflect is Joel Kurtz. While Brian is the number one threat, Joel is not far behind. His most common form of attack is the lift and heave, which quite possibly makes him more dangerous, though less common, than Brian and his sneak attack from behind.

Ranking third on our most dangerous dock-pusher list is Olivia Watson whose key advantage is her patience. Her technique is quite unique; she generally waits until there is some sort of confusion and then in the midst of the chaos she shoves the befuddled dock visitor or a fellow dock-pusher into the refreshingly cool lake.

The final dock-pusher whom you should elude at all costs is fourth only because of his infrequent visits to the dock. His name is Alex Trecartin, and his method of attack is most often the lightning quick sneak and shove, which he affectionately calls an “encouraging push” or a “helping hand.” Be warned. And beware of these formidable foes.

Plan of Escape

If you do in fact happen to chance across the aforementioned dock-pushers while down at the dock and they attempt to get you into the water using their various methods, the first and most important thing that you must do is latch on to anything within reach, including the dock-pusher. In fact, your best bet is to grab onto the dock-pusher’s arm or leg. This action will discourage them from throwing you in without some caution as they may end up joining you in the lake. The next step in the plan of escape is to get your legs into the upright position as fast as possible. Once this has been done, it is much easier to attempt to run away, drag your feet, or plant your feet firmly to avoid being thrown or pushed. However, if it is not possible to get your feet in contact with the ground, kick legs furiously as this might land a blow on the offending dock-pusher.

When plan fails…

If a counterattack is not effective, plead. Use the dock-pusher’s sympathy, small though it may be, to your advantage and play the cell phone card. If you, the pushee, happen to be female and the dock-pusher a male, this maneuver is more likely to succeed. When hope seems lost, use the previously mentioned tools to beat down your attacker. Books can quite effectively become clubs, towels are best used in whip fashion, and if shoes are available they make good cannonballs. This second approach is generally more successful for the male pushees. If escape is not possible and you know that you are going in, hold on to the pusher for all that you’re worth. If you go down, they go down with you.

Revenge plots

Once in the lake, ask for a helping hand (not Alex the dock-pusher’s kind of helping hand). When they oblige, pull. Hard. This plot works well if force ratio of pushee to dock-pusher is in your favor (Newton’s Second Law of Motion). Use copious amounts of guilt. Pretend to have had your cell phone with you, whether or not you truly did. Say that you’re hydrophobic. Cry. This last suggestion is another technique generally more effectively used by the female gender. Once you have emerged from the cold lake water, give the dock-pusher a large bear hug (most effective when still wet). Attempt to vigorously shake water on them in dog-like fashion. Or use any other means to allow the dock-pusher to share in your wetness.

Tiny Update

2007-07-04T20:25:00.000-04:00

It has been over a month since I left Pohnpei, so much has happened and now I am in New York, up at Camp Cherokee...at some point I will tell you all about what has happened since I left Pohnpei, but it might take some time to write out and time is something that I don't have a lot of. But I will tell you that being a student missionary is a totally awesome experience :) More people should do it, that is for sure :)

Where in the world is....

2007-04-08T01:46:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Pohnpei, I have a question for you...do you really know where Pohnpei is? If I handed you a map of the world, would you be able to pin point the island of Pohnpei?

So let's start out with the basics, here is a map of the federated states of micronesia, can you find pohnpei? Here is a hint, there is a big circle around it :)

Now that all of you have the general idea as to where Pohnpei is located, lets look at a detailed map of Pohnpei and its' surrounding islands. (There is a point to all of this, really there is)

This is Pohnpei, Ant atoll can be seen to the lower left. Which is where we went camping...on our Last camping trip.

Now this next map shows Pohnpei in more detail. The black arrow pointing down is indentifying where the airport is. Believe it or not, it is on a tiny tiny little island, connected to the main island by a lot of coral that has a road and palm trees on top of it.

The second Arrow is showing you the general area of where the Pohnpei SDA School is located. We can walk to Kolonia (that is the town right above the second arrow) and this....

Is the main street heading into Kolonia

Our first stop is...

The gas station, one of many on the island...The gas price here is $3.80 a gallon (oh and most gas stations are owned by the same family)

Our next stop, on our trip through Kolonia is...

The tank, which is rusting right next to the blue shed

As we head on down the road we find...

The FSM Post Office

Next to the Post Office is...

Telecom...the source of all our internet problems...

If you continue down the road you will find...

an entire store full of unsalted baked beans...

Don't they just look yummy? (trust me they aren't!)

And don't forget to get water...

Since Aqua Serv has such great water (Drops of Life is better though!)

And all of this and much more (that is if the ship came in) is found in....

Wall Mart!

This store got its' name from

The spanish wall (far left)

The store is next to a wall...so therefore the name is WALL MART (not to be confused with the wal-mart in the states)

Now if we go to the other side of Kolonia (for the stores that I just skipped I am sorry, but I don't have pictures of them yet) we will find...

Angies Fast Food...don't let the name fool yeah...this is the slowest service I have EVER seen...and the food tastes awful too.

On the other side of the not so fast, fast food...we find

Palm Terrace...the home of the best slippers (flip flops) in the world!

Now on our way home...we pass by the

Track, where SM's and locals a like spend several hours running and walking around...

Doesn't that just sound fun? You get to be a hamster running around in a little wheel! :)

That is all for now, I am missing a few pictures :) I hope that you enjoyed your mini tour around Kolonia! Cya later cool people!

The LAST camping trip

2007-04-05T05:55:00.000-04:00

Mr. B told us that we had to choose weekends, our last camping trip was coming up and we had to decide when we wanted to go. It was decided that we would leave the 23rd (Friday) after school and come back Sunday, with enough time to get ready for school. Friday afternoon found us bumping across the waves as we headed for the outer reef. But 45 minutes into the trip, the big boat had engine failure. Mr. B and Mikey tried to get the boat running again, but instead we had to tow the big boat back to Kolonia, it was decided that we would try to go camping the next weekend.
It was early Friday morning; I awoke to rain pounding the roof. What a perfect time to have rain, I thought as I opened the front door. I thought about how big the waves were going to be out in the ocean, stupid storm I thought…why does it always rain when we go camping?
We were supposed to leave at 8a.m. but then the time was changed to 9a.m but we didn’t actually hit the road until 10a.m. It was annoying to those of us who were ready on time, although when dealing with island time, does it really matter what time you actually get out the door as long as you get to your destination before the program ends or the ocean swells?
Rusty was the boat driver of the small boat; Marla, Carrie, Ashley, Gene and I climbed on board. Rusty wasn’t my first choice for boat driver. But Mr. B was driving a borrowed boat and Mikey was driving the big boat. So that left Rusty, as we motored out, Rusty had to stop next to a big fishing boat to watch yellow fin, a type of fish, get pulled up out of the water. He was so excited about the fish and wanted all of us to see as the net full of fish. None of us really cared all that much, eventually Rusty gunned the engine and we took off after the disappearing boats in the distance. Once we caught up with Mr. B and Mikey we handed things over their boats, Ashley and Alex switched places and with our boat much lighter we bounced off declaring that we were pirates.

Our pirate "ship" (starting at back: Rusty, Alex, Carrie, Marla, Gene, and I am behind Gene)

I am the yellow blob in the boat

Complete with a black flag, we chased after the other two boats. Mikey’s boat threw banana peals at us and Alex threw wax hunks, originally meant for waxing surfboards at them. Suddenly something jumped out of the water ahead of us and then another something leaped out of the water next to us. We were surrounded by a pod of dolphins. They were all leaping out of the water and just having a grand old time, I took video of them as they leaped out of the water. The dolphins here are so small, half the size of the ones in the states. But it was to exciting to watch, they love swimming next to boats. I wish that we could have gone swimming with them, but we weren’t stopping.
Once the excitement of the dolphins were over, I started to wish that we would just get past the protection of the reef, I wanted to get the open ocean…get the big waves over with. The ocean was so calm that it had taken me about 20 minutes to realize that we were already out in the open ocean, I hadn’t even noticed the transition, that and the fact that Rusty was chasing after black sea birds that indicated where large schools of fish were…since the only thing on his mind was fish.

2nd island of Ant, approaching channel

Ant Atoll is a beautiful grouping of islands. I love it there, bright blue water with a hint of dark blue out towards the center. Sandy beaches full of white sand, shells, and hermit crabs. Palm trees and random other tropical plants decorate the islands, just a beautiful paradise to spend a weekend.

By the time we reached the somewhat calm inner waters of the “Lagoon” I suppose I could say, the guys had one thing on their minds…FISHING, while the girls had something else on their minds…PLEASE TAKE US TO THE ISLAND! But around and around we went chasing those stupid birds and bouncing across the waves. With each rock of the boat I was reminded of a common phrase that I hear in my classroom, “Can I go pee?” Being surrounded by water there isn’t much else one can think about when suddenly you discover that you really are in need of a bathroom. No rest stops in the ocean, you just get to wait until you get there.

Our home away from home

Isn't the water beautiful?

When our boat finally came to a stop in front of the island that was going to be our home for the next few days I practically fell out of the boat and was so relieved…as were about six other girls. Stumbling onto the beach we all took a good look around us. The island was small, about half the size of Taylor Circle, with palm trees swaying in the breeze and rotten coconuts littering the ground. There was a small house like hut in the middle of the island. The girls literally flocked to the hut and started to set up camp. Marla, Becky and I were going to rough it. We set out looking for the perfect spot to set up camp, armed with tarps and rope. It took a long time, but soon we had a somewhat nice looking campsite, complete with prickly dead leaves, a mound of gravel under my hammock and guys underwear stuck in a tree (how it came to get stuck there is beyond me).

That is our tarp home, it took like 2 hours to complete

side view, we didn't end up staying an entire night in it

Clear water, with coral :)

As the afternoon wore on, Marla and I decided to go swimming and see what we could see. The water was nice and warm, with shells cluttering the sandy floor. We hunted around for quite awhile looking for the perfect shells. We found some, but I ended up throwing them back into the ocean. We on a tarp and talked while we waited for our clothes to dry out. It was just so peaceful out. Once back to our campsite we decided to build a fire, since it wasn’t raining yet. The guys already had one going, but why would we ask them for help? Girls can build fires too. Becky piled dead palm branches into a pile, while I operated the lighter and tried to start a fire. With no luck I sat back on my heals and promptly lost my balance. “Yow!” I screeched as the lighter landed on my arm. I looked down at my arm and couldn’t even see the mark. Handing the lighter to Marla, insisting that she better hold on to it before I hurt myself, I left to help Becky bring branches. After Marla had the fire blazing I took a look at my arm, I had a perfect outline of the tip of the lighter burned into my arm.

Isn't that just a beautiful burn?

What was left of our fire in the morning

Already little blisters were forming, great I thought, second degree burn. Amazingly the burn didn’t hurt at all. Which was a good thing, since my legs were incredibly sunburned, for all future SM’s that are planning on going to the south pacific, please remember to apply sunscreen even on rainy days.

Supper consisted of rice and beans from a can. It was good, except for that fact that my side was just killing me. Shooting pain shot from the middle of my lower back, across my left side and promptly stopped at my belly button. In agony I lay in my hammock, hoping that the pain would stop. I wandered out to the sand bar (the beach) and joined the rest of the SM’s. The guys were playing with fire (big surprise I know) and the girls sat around and sang songs. Since the pain wouldn’t go away I tried to ignore it. It was working great for about ten minutes, but pain and I just don’t get along. I decided that this would be the worst place to come down with appendicitis. Stuck on an island that is five miles from the main island, whose hospital is basically non-existent, nearest trauma center is found on either Hawaii or Guam.
Feeling very miserable I trotted back to my hammock and got comfortable. I began to think over my day. It suddenly dawned on me that I always get lower back pain when I am dehydrated, that also reminded me that I had only one glass of water that day. Everything was suddenly very clear. So I drank some water, fixed my hammock, talked briefly to Jane (a nurse here on the island) and went to bed.

The Hut, complete with palm tree growing through the roof.

Only to be awaken by Becky and Marla talking. It was raining (what a surprise) and our tarp had dropped down on one corner and was rapidly filling with water, threatening to dump bucketfuls of water on my head. We quickly voted to join the other girls in the hut (not quite a house and too nice to be a hut). Dragging our bedding over we hunted for a dry place to sleep, there were leaks in the tin roof and large openings in the walls. Becky and I found a semi dry corner and collapsed on the very hard concrete floor, while Marla joined Joan in a small room on the side. I wouldn’t say that we slept well, we slept but every 30 minutes or so one of us would wake up and roll over, wishing that the floor wasn’t so hard.

Good-morning :)

Saturday
I awoke at 6a.m and found that the storm had some what given up. Mr. B was preparing to go back to Pohnpei. There were several people that needed to go back. Jane had to work at the hospital that evening; Nina, Kim, and Jen were flying out to the Philippians; Gene was sick with a fever; Eric, Peter, Carrie, and Ashley were going back for some reason, but I never found out what; and Marla was going back because she hadn’t slept all night and was very grumpy about it. I felt fine, no pain at all and decided to stay.
After they left Becky and I fixed the tarp and tightened a few ropes. Then we both climbed back into our hammocks and got ready to sleep a few more hours. Unfortunately I happen to be a morning person, so I was unable to sleep any longer. Frustrated I climbed out of my hammock and went to see who was still around. According to April there were 12 of us still on the island. Rusty, Alex, and Mark decided to go spear fishing. I had noticed earlier that the guys never talked to us girls unless they wanted something. As I trotted back into the hut, Alex asked if he could borrow my fins. I told him that he was welcome to, except that he needed to have booties, because without them he would attract every shark in the ocean. I handed him the booties and told him, if they fit he could use my fins. Apparently they fit or at least that is what he told me.

Looking over at the next island

I walked down to the beach with Allie; we sat on the white sand and looked out at the ocean. I could see little sharks swimming around in the shallows; I was like “Swim Away! Swim Away before Rusty sees you!” Rusty will spear anything, be it a shark, eel or dolphin (he didn’t actually spear a dolphin, just joked about it)…nothing that swims is safe when he is around. The guys left, armed with spears, fins, and snorkels. I was like, good riddance.
Erin (April’s sister) and I walked around the island snapping pictures; we bumped into Raymond on the beach. We started talking, laughing, and joking about very random stuff, while the wind blew salty water and sand in our faces. Looking out in the ocean we could see the horizon shrinking. Naturally the east always looks darker when you look out at it, but there was far more grey sky then blue ocean. Rain drops started falling and we all scattered. I ran back to Becky, “Becky!” I shouted, “You’ve got to get up, a storm is coming!” With that we started taking down the tarps. The storm hit, drenching both of us as we worked on breaking up camp. By the time we got inside we were soaked, but our stuff was dry. We hung up our hammocks and decided to wait for the storm to pass, I decided to read 1776 but I got very bored and opened my sketch book and drew a few drawings.
As the afternoon wore on the sun came out and dried things out. All the girls except Becky decided to go swimming, while the boys slept…Rusty was still somewhere out in the ocean hunting down his dinner. The current was so strong that we all grabbed life jackets and just floated down to the sand bar. Then we struggled through the shallow, but swift water back to the beach. After resting a bit we clambered back into the water and repeated the process. It was actually a lot of fun.

Mr. Crab, the friend of Crabby Crab

Me and Becky on the beach

Joan and I

Around 3p.m. Alex asked us if we had seen Rusty, none of us had. “I hope that he didn’t drown.” Alex said as he wandered back to his hut. Becky and I sat on the beach with Joan. We played with hermit crabs while Joan tried to read her book. Becky named one hermit crab Crabby Crab and another Mr. Crab. Crabby Crab had a hole in his shell and would constantly stick his eyes through the hole and they would often get stuck as he continued through to the opening of his shell. It was actually very funny to watch. We made hermit crab obstacle courses and collected hermit crabs a long the beach and sent them through each challenge. We were waiting for the sun to set, because we wanted pictures, but it was too cloudy.

The unlucky eel...that met its end

Suddenly I saw Rusty emerge from the crashing surf. He came dragging his catch of fish. He left them on the beach and swam out to the inner reef. When he came back a while later, we all clustered around to see what he had caught. There on the ground next to his fish and still attached to the spear was an eel. A brown and black spotted eel, a good foot or two long, with a spear sticking through its’ head. I was surprised that it was still alive. Apparently it was after Rusty’s fish…a big no no. Rusty also said that he had seen a lot of sharks up close and personal, his underwater camera was tied to the fishing line holding the fish. Those sharks were interested in the fish too, but instead they got their picture taken…wonder what they thought about that.
That evening after dark we all played cards, while everyone else played “Aw Shucks” and a few other card games; Joan, Becky and I played “Rummy” and “Go fish” when they were tired of those games, I taught them how to play “Flip Ten.” When everyone was tired of playing card games we ran out to the sand bar. We played movie charades, Becky and I acted out the Matrix, we also tried to do a scene from Spider Man, but it didn’t work out so well. There was a full moon with a huge ring all the way around it. Sam told us that bad weather was on the way, Alex didn’t believe him. We were all having so much fun, but it started to rain so we all ran back to the hut. Mark made a huge fire and we all sat around telling stories and laughing. How the game worked was that each of us had to think up a story, tell part of it and then at the end we would all vote on which story we wanted to hear the rest of. We changed the rules a bit so that we could hear everyone’s story. Around 12:30 everyone decided that they were tired and headed for bed. Not long after the wind picked up and then rain fell in torrents. The long awaited storm that Sam had predicted had arrived.

The storm begins

The surf gets bigger (was a lot cooler looking in person)

More wave shots

Sunday afternoon fun, watching the waves roll in

Sunday:
The wind was blowing hard when I woke up early Sunday morning. My hammock swung back and forth, Sam and Raymond were asleep on the floor. We were suppose to go home today, but we had no idea if the Saturday group even made it back to Pohnpei. I spent my morning reading out of 1776 and drawing in my sketch book.
When Mr. B arrived around 1p.m. we were informed that we would be staying yet another night. All of us were disappointed, none of us wanted to stay another night. Rusty told us that Mr. B and Mikey nearly died trying to get to us. The wind had thrown the waves into a wild storm, their engine literally fell off the boat, when that happens you are at the mercy of the waves. But amazingly when Mikey and Mr. B heaved the motor back into place it started on the first try. According to Mr. B that never happens, we all were so thankful that Mr. B had made it back.
Mr. B and the boys got to work; they put palm branches against the walls that were missing boards. Mikey, Alex, Rusty, and Mark went around collecting coconuts; just another food source…a lot of people had run out of food. Yet there wasn’t much to do; we were all bored and very tired of being on the island. The wind kept blowing and the waves just got bigger and bigger. Raymond, Allie, and I sat on buckets and watched the waves, as the baby typhoon made its presence known. We commented on the size of the waves, talked about things back home, watched the waves some more and wandered around the island.

Before

After (sand bar going to the left instead of straight ahead)

Before (notice where the green bush starts on the right)

After: oops where did the beach go?

After: No beach and no boat (boat is to the left and out of the picture)

This sand bar is no more, there is now coral where the sand is

Before the wind came (taken Saturday)

After: this is the front of the island, and as you can see...the sand bar now goes off to the left

By 5 that evening the wind and waves had moved the entire sand bar that once stretched straight out into the water. It had moved it exactly 90 degrees to the right. The beach was totally gone. The guys had moved the smaller boat far up on shore earlier that afternoon…which was a good thing since the beach it had been resting on was completely gone. The 15-20 foot breakers pounded the reef; white caps marked the top of the 20-35 foot swells out in the ocean. The tide was coming in, but there were times when there was no more then 5 inches of water as it was all sucked up into the surf preparing to pound the island once more.
Night arrived and no one was tired, no one wanted to do anything. We all went to bed, but weren’t really ready to sleep, yet we all knew that as soon as it was light and the wind died down enough we were going to make a run for it. For some reason I was really tired, I was asleep in about 10 minutes.

We make a run for it

Monday:

At 4a.m. I was suddenly awakened when the wind picked up and there was commotion all around. I heard someone shout, “Mikey, what is happening?” and running feet as Alex, Mark, and Rusty ran out of the darkness. “The wind got stronger.” Mikey called back. He disappeared for awhile and when he came back, Rusty commented, “I can’t believe that the girls are still sleeping.” I had to smile, we weren’t sleeping…just didn’t feel the need to get out of our hammocks. Mr. B or Mikey would wake us if something was wrong, at the moment we had no need to worry. As Jamie said earlier, every time we go camping, we hand Mr. B our lives and ask him to take care of us.
6a.m. I awoke to a strange stillness, I looked around waiting for people to wake up and greet the morning. I dozed in and out until seven. Then I got up and wandered out to the beach, Mr. B was standing in the water looking out at the open ocean. When he waded back in, I asked Raymond if we were going to try and leave. He said to start packing, Mr. B wanted to leave as soon as possible. I awakened Becky and we all started packing. By 8:30 we were all ready and gathered around the two boats. Mr. B put all us girls in his boat, well all but one, Becky joined the boys in the smaller boat and Sam joined the girls and Mr. B. in the bigger boat.

Bye, bye island

As we left the island that had been our home for the past 3 days, I felt a bit of excitement. Who really knew how bad the waves were outside the protection of the reef. Swells picked up our boat and set us down with a plop as we sat in the channel waiting for Rusty’s boat to catch up. In a matter of time both boats were riding the ever growing swells, suddenly a 15 foot wave rose up in front of us. All of the girls screamed and ducked down into the boat as we rode up the wave and bounced down the other side. At that point I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry, I was very nerves as I looked out over the ocean. A dark ban of clouds were closing in and I knew there was no possible way that we would be able to beat the storm. It didn’t take long before we had wind coming from two directions, strong wind from the east and a cross breeze that zipped around Ant and caused the waves to get bigger and splash against themselves. As the storm neared the deep blue water turned a strange bright blue…and then the storm hit. I slid to the bottom of the boat as rain pelted us. There was no visibility as we were tossed from one wave to the next. Erin, April and Jamie located the lifejackets that were at the front of the boat, while I put on the one that my parents sent me, which actually helped me stay warm.
I knew that we were in trouble as soon as the first wave rushed over the front of the boat, drenching us all. Unable to make it up the wave, we went through it. The big boat is about 20 feet long, while the small boat is around 15 feet long. Each boat has an outboard motor that propels it through the water. And sometimes that motor just can’t get the boat over the towering wave. The waves were anywhere from 20-30 feet high, tossing our boat around from wave to wave. After each wave we would disappear into the trough. We began to take on water, grabbing a bucket Sam started bailing water, another wave rushed over us. Causing me to start to panic, the thought of drowning just causes chills to run up and down my spine. Even though I am a life guard and I am certified to teach people how to swim, I can’t stand the thought…suffocating from water, actually being conscious as your lungs fill with water. Not a pleasant thought.
Suddenly Sam started to throw up; he later told us that he was throwing up for everyone…so that we didn’t have to. Mr. B yelled at the girls in the front to find the bailing bucket. Another wave ran over our boat, the girls yelled back that they couldn’t find it. More and more water was building up in the back of the boat. I was clinging to the ice chest that sat in the middle of the boat, silently crying out to God, asking him to protect us. Erin’s face was white with fear; she started dry heaving, since she had nothing in her stomach to throw up. Mr. B started talking to Joan in Ponapean, I hate it when he does it, because it usually means that something is wrong and he doesn’t want the rest of us to know. Joan climbed to the front of the boat and started rummaging through the gear, hunting for the bailing bucket. It didn’t take long for her to find it, she handed it to Jamie who gave it to Allie, who in turn handed it over to Mr. B. With that Allie, Sam and Mr. B were all bailing water, Mr. B had the bailing bucket in one hand and was guiding the boat with the other. Occasionally Sam would lean over the side of the boat and puke. I started to feel slightly queasy, but tried not to think about it.
We couldn’t see anything; the rain stung our eyes, salt water splashed into our faces. The waves grew in size and Mr. B started asking for us to keep an eye on the little boat, every time it disappeared from view, we all held our breathe waiting for it to reappear on the next swell. It felt like we were going in circles, I had no idea which way was East or West, I didn’t know which direction Ant was or which way was Pohnpei, everything looked the same, just one wall of water after another. Mr. B had to change direction constantly, we were zigzagging our way through the ocean, at one point I asked Joan if we were going back to Ant, she said that she didn’t know. Suddenly Joan who never gets motion sick, dry heaved over the side of the boat, she hadn’t eaten breakfast either.
Another wave crashed over our boat, leaving all of us cold and shivering. Our boat bounced up a wave and then skidded down into the tough, just in time to climb up year another wave. It got to the point when I thought that we would never get out of the storm alive, I started thinking about my students, my family, and my friends. What would they do if I didn’t make it back? Pushing those thoughts from my head I prayed that God would stop the rain. I knew that he could do it, but would he. Doubt clouded my heart as I looked out at the raging storm, would he stop it? After a few minutes the wind died down, as did the rain. Through the mist I saw the island of Black Coral, we had made it. It had taken us almost 3 hours to cross the ocean that separated Ant Atoll from the outer reef that protected the island of Pohnpei. We surfed into the channel, just riding one wave all the way in.
Once in open water Mr. B gunned the engine and we took off towards the mainland. I was exhausted, fear really tires you out. I took off my life jacket and placed it on the cooler. Chilled to the bone, I rested my head on my life jacket and curled up, trying to get warm.
Mr. B stopped about 15 minutes later at the drop off point. He climbed out of the boat and walked up the road to call Noli to come and pick us up. We all waited around in the boats, around 30 minutes later the yellow truck rumbled into view. Mr. B was standing on the side of the truck; Mark had taken a flying leap into the back of the truck and almost didn’t make it in. It was agreed that Mikey and Rusty would drive the boats back to Kolonia while Mr. B and the rest of us would hitch a ride with Noli. Sam said that he would stay with the boat; he needed to keep the boys safe. As we drove back Alex spoke up “The thing about Noli is that either you get back fast or you don’t get back at all.” Noli drives like a mad man, if you are not hanging on you will fly out of the truck, you feel like you are on a roller coaster, swinging around corners and skidding down slippery slopes. Allie and I were sitting on top of luggage, near the beginning both of us lost our balance on a turn and almost went flying. Mr. B grabbed one of Allie’s hands and one of mine. Insisting that he would keep us from falling off the truck, it was so funny. With every fast turn Mr. B would cluck his tongue and say, “Noli!” although he would draw out the name, and then smile at Allie and I. Noli swung onto this back rode and we bounced across potholes. With each bounce Mr. B was like, “Noli, slow down!” all of us would bounce into the air. “Noli, watch out there is another one…” he would again get cut off as we would fly into the air as we hit the bump or dip in the road. Mr. B would look over at us and laugh, we were all laughing. Mr. B did not approve of Noli’s driving and we just found that hilarious.
Finally we bounced into campus; we were all wet, tired and hungry. But we were alive and really that is all that mattered to all of us. As soon as Becky, Joan, and I entered our apartment we exchanged stories with Marla who had come back with the Saturday group. Come to find out it had taken them 5 hours to reach the protection of Black Coral. The waves were 30-50 feet high, everyone on both boats were throwing up, Gene was slipping in and out of consciousness throughout the entire ordeal…everyone seriously thought that they were going to die. At one point Mr. B even said, “I’m sorry, I don’t think we are going to make it. I have never seen the ocean this big before.” When they realized that Mr. B was serious they just accepted their fate and said good-bye to each other. When Black Coral came into view everyone started crying, they were so happy to see land.
As I wrote e-mails to my friends that night, I just thought to myself…things could have turned out differently, but they didn’t. I am alive, because we have one amazing God, who said that it wasn’t time yet. Because God is good, all the time…All the time, God is good.

“The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.” Psalm 20:3 NIV

Camping at Nahlop

2007-03-03T20:00:00.000-05:00

Update from Pohnpei, so please sit back and relax, cause you have some reading to do and a few pictures to look at.

Marla and I standing in front of the sign, classic tourist shot. :)

Mrs. Meert (Becky's Mom) and Becky

Becky’s parents came to visit her from the great state of California. They arrived on the 16th and left on the 26th. Mr. B agreed to take them camping, and our ears perked up at the word “camping” because getting off campus for a weekend is a rare thing indeed. Since the big camping trip was the next weekend, only Marla, Jamie, April and I tagged along.

We left at 3:15 Saturday afternoon; we were running a little bit late so Mr. B drove like a mad man, trying to get us to the drop off point on time. By the time we got there I was so car sick I just wanted the world to stop moving so that I could get off. Our pickup ride to the island was running a bit late, so we climbed out of the truck and enjoyed the view. Mr. B had told us that this island was even nicer then Black Coral, I really had to wonder how that was really possible, but soon we were to find out.

Nahlap Beach Resort is certainly one of a kind; it happens to be a very nice little island with sandy beaches and places to swim. The huts have electricity at night and there are actual flushable toilets, which is definitely a new luxury when camping. When we arrived they took our bags and carted them to our hut of choice…all of us were unsure what to do, we were all like “You mean we don’t have to carry our bags? Are you sure?” But the guys kept insisting that they had everything under control, so we just went with the flow.

April and Jamie

Me and Marla

After we got settled in Jamie, April, Marla and I decided to explore the island. Being much bigger then Black Coral we wanted to know what was on the other side. Taking our cameras we marched off into the unknown. Which was actually rather fun, we stumbled upon two fighting/mating lizards that had gills and looked like they should still be in the water and not on land, April and Jamie saw a red parrot, and Marla almost stepped on an injured bird. We all felt sorry for the dying bird, but none of us had enough guts to put it out of its misery. We found a nice secluded beach that would be a great place to go sun bathing; Marla and I kept a mental note as to where it was. We also found another beach that had rope swings and run down little huts. Of course we had to try out the rope swings…and discovered that the mosquitoes were also present and accounted for. Once we got back to our hut it was decided that we were hungry, Marla and I played flip 10 (a very fun card game) and ate a few snacks. Then we brought out the cooked rice we brought and had to decide how we wanted to eat it. Since we forgot soy sauce it was decided that we would pour honey over it and add a few raisins to the mix. Yes it sounds disgusting, yes it looked very disgusting, but it tasted very good.

Supper, doesn't that just look yummy?

That night we joined the Meerts down by the water. Actually we were over the water, sitting in a hut on stilts that sat a little ways off shore. It was very pleasant and we talked about all sorts of things and just enjoyed ourselves.

Sleeping that night wasn’t all that fun, and I will not talk about it much. The hut was very small and having four girls in one little hut was a little much, I don’t think any of us got a lot of sleep.

Early morning

Goodmorning Sun :)

The sunrise was just beautiful; I sat outside and took pictures. Enjoying the stillness and generally wishing that I had gotten more sleep. Marla and I decided to have breakfast out on the water (so to speak, just in another one of those huts on stilts). We got to see all sorts of wild life. Cute little fish swimming around and two sharks…actually it could have been just one shark that we saw twice. But while we ate breakfast we kept trying to figure out what the large ring out in the water was for. Whatever it was the sharks were sure interested in it.

The boat is in the distance, but the setting was just perfect

We packed in a lot Sunday morning. Marla and I went sunbathing, which only lasted 30 minutes because both of us got bored and tired of just being out in the morning sun and not doing anything. Then the Meerts, Marla and I decided to try and get to the boat that was stuck on the coral. Tide was low and it sounded like a great idea. Mrs. Meert decided that she would stay behind on solid ground while the rest of us picked our way through the coral and out to the boat. We saw lots of sea cucumbers and of course coral. Mr. Meert startled a eel, who went into hiding, then Becky decided to try and get a better look at it. That eel shot out from under the hunk of dead coral it was hiding under and ran straight into my foot. Thankfully it was in such a rush it didn’t bother biting me, just changed course and wiggled away from those weird giant things that wanted to eat him.

The boat is far out in the distance, across all that coral

Turtle head coral, it was funny to stumble upon

Pohnpei straight ahead

Pohnpei again, as we look at it from the view point of the outer coral reef

Becky, me, Marla, and the boat

The boat looked so amazingly cool from far away, but as we got closer we started to see that it was really just a hunk of junk sitting out there. The boat was anywhere from 20-30 feet long, the inside was all burned out, with little trees and bushes sprouting out of it and oddly enough it was made out of fiberglass. But it was still pretty cool. We took pictures and walked around the entire boat. Then we started back, since the tide was coming back in and we didn’t particularly feel like swimming back to shore.

Inside of the boat, Mr. Meert investigating

Close up

It is getting bigger

Becky, Marla, and Mr. Meert

Me and the boat, I feel really small at the moment

Pretty view of boat, coral and Pohnpei

The snorkeling really wasn’t the greatest, they spent so much time building up their island and making it look nice that they forgot about the fact that you need to have healthy coral to have anything pretty to look at. We saw a few things, like a crown of thorns – bad idea to step on that, 3 sharks – we weren’t in the water at the time, maybe about 8 different kinds of fish, blue star fish and of course sea cucumbers.

Leaving Nahlop Beach Resort :)

Mr. B and Rusty came to pick us up around 1:30, we headed in the direction of Black Coral to show the Meerts how beautiful it was. Actually at the time it was packed full of people, the high chief was there and a whole bunch of other people, they were having this huge feast, complete with fresh pig meat. How they got those big pigs on the boat is beyond me. Becky, Mr. Meert and I snorkeled around for a little while, but the tide was going out and the current wanted to pick us up and throw us out to sea that I soon called it a day, that and I was getting every burnt. I would like to mention that I did put on sunscreen I just missed a few spots on my back and shoulders.

Mangrove Swamp :)

The ride back was long, probably because I was so tired. But Mr. B took us through the mangrove swamps; apparently it was a short cut. But the other reason was that the wind was kicking up and the water had become choppy. It was so cool, instead of taking the outer route around Sokeh’s we took the inner route, just winding our way through the swamps that happen to surround the entire island of Pohnpei. We had to duck branches and vines, but it was such an adventure, even squeezing under the bridge that connected Sokeh’s to the main island was exciting.

Once back we all crashed, we were so tired. Each of us had to do laundry and all we really wanted to do was sleep. But we all had a great time.

Birthdays and the kidnapping :)

2007-01-31T06:10:00.000-05:00

This is the account of Marla’s Birthday and how her housemates (Becky, Joan, and I) kidnapped her. And now I...ha...get to tell you all about it.

6:45 pm - I walked into the kitchen and blindfolded Marla. Becky was videoing with my camera...Marla was washing dishes.

6:50 p.m - Becky and I guide Marla out the door, down the stairs and out to the gate. There we spin her around 26 times (we were only going to spin her 23 times, but then Becky thought that I should take video of it and so we spun her 3 more times)...

6:52 p.m - Becky and I take Marla outside the gate, walked down road behind our apartment and then turn around and walk out towards the road, then we started walking back to the school...we took her down to the office and up onto the grass and then to the gym (we told her that we were in someone's garage (sp?) and then we told her that we were climbing up to a tree house (which was actually the stairs leading to the 5th grade classrooms)...

7:00 p.m - We started walking toward Gene and Peter's apartment and Peter was playing on the drums, I was afraid that Marla would suddenly know where she was...so we rushed back the other way, telling Marla that someone might see us and know that we had climbed up their tree house. (she believed us too...she was scared) then we walked across the field and I was like "Look a Taxi! He can take us to our destination" Actually the "taxi" was Joan in her dad's car. So we got Marla into the car and then we were off...to drive around town. We tricked Marla into talking about Joan and the Sm's that she should date (Joan couldn't say anything...but she was laughing so hard, that Becky and I had to talk really loud so that Marla wouldn't know)

7:15 p.m - We had Joan dropped us off on the side of the road and then we walked down the gravel drive to the gate. That was when we headed for Mr. B's apartment, I sent Becky ahead to see if they were ready yet...they weren't so I walked Marla down to Miss Groff's classroom...there I talked to her and asked her where she thought that she was...and she was scared by a dog and then Becky snuck up and scared her, Marla screamed so loud and Becky and I talked about all the different things that we "saw" On our next trip around I sent Becky again to see if they were ready...I had to leave Marla on the sidewalk next to the boys apartments several times to shush some girls and to tell other people to be quiet when they walked by.

7:30 p.m - So finally it was time to walk back to Mr. B's apartment, we climbed the stairs and got Marla through the door...then we took off the blind fold and everyone yelled out "Surprise!" and "Happy Birthday!" it was really funny, she had no idea that we have kept her on campus the entire time. So we got to eat really good food and have a nice evening. :)

my class, the good, the bad, and the tattletales

2007-01-31T00:27:00.000-05:00

Seating Chart:
“Teacher, why do you always sit me next to the girls?” Chad looked earnestly up at me Monday morning.
“Did I put you next to a girl?” I asked, and then I looked down at him, “You know I believe it is because you are so good and quiet…and you behave.” With that he shuffled over to his desk, he was in fact sitting next to only one girl…not two or three…just one…and since 98.9% of the time Chad is unconscious in my class…you would think that it wouldn’t really matter where he sat.

Punishment and Listening:
I used to punish my kids by making them write sentences…but that really doesn’t make them not want to do what I told them not to…they know that all they have to do is write ten sentences and then they would be home free…no I had to come up with something to get their energy out…something that would literally make them so tired that they wouldn’t be able to move.
It was actually very simple, laps. I make my kids run laps when they get an “X” on their listening chart (that means that they haven’t been listening)…one “X” equals 5 laps, two = 7 laps, three = 15 minutes in the corner (which they hate), and four = a one way trip to the principals office, plus a call to their parents. We usually only get to warning number three…but oh it is so funny…they are always like “Teacher, we like to run! It isn’t a punishment to us.” I keep telling them that only time will tell…there will be some day in the future when running back and forth on the field will actually be a REAL punishment. Well today since they wouldn’t listen during reading I made them run for 25 minutes…back and forth across the field their chubby little legs took them. They would run back all out of breath and ask me how many more…and I would always tell them… “I haven’t told you to stop; you will run until I say, Stop.” They were very tired by the time we got back to the classroom…they listened very nicely during handwriting, spelling and phonics…but they weren’t so good in the afternoon.

Never leave a Man behind:
To understand how much my kids love to run, you would have to see them during afternoon recess. When I am down on the field with them we have races. Yesterday they were running their punishment laps…which included falling laughing to the ground and gasping for breath. It was so funny to watch them all run off to complete there five laps…even those that didn’t have to run laps were running laps…cause they find it so fun. It was about 1:15 when it started to rain…big fat rain drops hit the ground as my students screamed and ran back to the room. Out on the field I noticed that Danielle, one of my students had fallen and wasn’t getting up…you have to understand that Danielle craves attention…so usually she isn’t really hurt…she just wants me to carry her back to the room. I ran out onto the field and as I neared her I called out “I never leave a man behind!” and scooped her up and headed back to the classroom. I paused to yell at T.M, who had pinned Kota to the ground. Another wail erupted next to me…Veronica had stepped on something sharp, she clung to my right arm, while Danielle clung to my neck and I held her up with my left arm. Tears poured down Veronica’s face, but she was happy once I put a band-aid on her foot and “kissed it” to make it all better. Danielle was fine…all she needed was some more attention.

Telling:
Like most small children, my students must tell. They must tell me all that happens in our classroom…I am beginning to think that they believe that I don’t have eyes or ears and can’t hear or see the things that happen in our classroom. Rest time is the hardest time for my students. You would think that it would be very easy for them to put their heads down and just rest. But no they must move their desks back and forth on the cement, or draw in their notebooks, or talk to those next to them…there are a number of things that my students would rather do during at this time. I am reading to my class from The Chronicles of Narnia, we just finished the first book (The Magician’s Nephew) and are actually on the second chapter of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Anyway as I am reading I can hear all that is happening in the classroom, I can hear every slight noise…some movement I ignore…but there are times when I will just snap out and firmly say “Kota, stop and put your head down.” The movement will stop and I don’t even have to look up from my reading. But there are times when someone isn’t doing what Teacher has asked them to do and they see someone else not doing it either and will come up to me and interrupt my reading. One of my students that does this all the time is Trumaine…he must tell Teacher at all costs what his fellow classmates are doing…nothing will stop him from telling…except teacher.
I will be reading along when I can sense that there is someone standing next to me. I look up and there is Trumaine. “Teacher, look…Wolfgang isn’t doing what you asked. See he is drawing.” He will always say this in an important manner…blinking a lot and looking at me. I will end up thanking him for the information, but then I remind him that in order for him to see that Wolfgang wasn’t following my instructions he would have to be disobeying me as well. I will look back at the book and continue reading…then I hear a chair scooting back…before Trumaine is half way to the front of the room, I pause and then firmly, but nonchalantly state “I do not want to know.” And then continue on reading. I hear the chair scoot back into proper position and the room is quiet for all of 2 minutes. There are times when I tell my students “If you are not seriously hurt, or the person that you are telling on in no way can or has hurt you, I do not want to know. If they are disobeying teacher there is a good chance that I will catch them doing it and then I will punish them.” But they usually don’t remember that I said that and will come running to me with the urgent voice and say “Teacher, look at….”

To those it may concern....

2007-01-20T23:07:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have been bugging me for the past few weeks...you may now knock yourself out and read all 12 pages worth of writings....which describe in great detail what happened during my Christmas break.
This is how it works...I started out with Christmas Eve and worked my way down the days until New Year's Day. :)

Yes I know that all of this happened in December, but we are in the middle of January...and this is where you get to finish reading about my christmas break. Sorry that it took so long to complete, but I've been busy with other things lately...like teaching (which has been going well)

So get comfortable, make sure you have lots of free time and enjoy reading (Because like I said before it is really really long)

See ya in a few months cool people!

Christmas Eve

2007-01-20T23:03:00.000-05:00

making sugar cookies and decorating our apartment :) I know not the best picture

Sunday:

The locals like to sing and dance, they will have competitions on whose group can sing better or dance better. So their Christmas Eve consisted of eating, singing and dancing. We sat around the inside of the gym and watched what was going on. I have to admit that I didn’t stick around long, I knew that I had to at least show up, but Marla and I had planned other activities for that evening, and the last thing we wanted to do was sit and listen to songs sung in a language other then English.
Marla made sugar cookies while Jay and I hung Christmas ornaments from the ceiling. We were almost finished when Mitch came back, he had stuck around a little longer then the rest of us…He gave his creative opinion as to where the last few decorations should go, giving me a hard time as I balanced on a stool and tried to hang a red Christmas ball from the ceiling…
We were all in good spirits that night, laughing and playing card games and just having a good time. We played a game called “Kings, Queens, and Poppers” it was a hilarious game and I spent a lot of my time laughing…Basically you wanted to be King…if you can’t be King, then you want to be Queen…if you can’t be Queen then you want to be free man, if not that position, then the un named position (you aren’t a popper and you aren’t a free man I have no idea what you are…but that usually doesn’t matter), then there is the Popper…which you don’t want to be, you are the lowest of the low (I spent many a game in that position)…The Popper always had to clear the pile, if anyone else touched the pile then they became the Popper and you got to switch places with them. Mitch was king a lot of the time…I was his Queen I think about twice… (I was queen more times then that…but I can’t recall who was my King) anyway the King got to come up with decrees and those just made us all laugh…you kinda had to be there to understand how and why this game is absolutely hilarious to play and watch.
We were up quite late…after the card game we decorated cookies and then watched a movie… “The Polar Express” which I have seen many times and actually almost put me to sleep, but it was still fun we all crowded onto the bed/couch in our living room and enjoyed the movie…at least I think that we did.

Christmas Day :)

2007-01-20T22:55:00.000-05:00

The boys and I (right to left: Mitch, me and Jay)

All four of us: Mitch, me, Jay, and Marla

Monday:

When it comes to Christmas I am such a kid, it really isn’t the presents, it is all the family memories and the great traditions that we have…depending on who we are spending Christmas with…Anyway one of the traditions that I have had to fight for every single year is having a stocking. It is like the one thing that still makes me feel like a little kid…yeah I know, might be a silly thing to fight for…but it always so much fun to acquire more junk…So this year I didn’t think that I would get a stocking, ‘cause hello I am 9,000 miles from home…and why would my parents send me my stocking in the mail? So packages from my parents arrived and what do you know, my mom sent me a stocking…a new one actually (my old one is falling apart, has a hole in the toe and well needs to be thrown out…but I won’t let them…I’ve had that one since I was like five) anyway I got to sit and talk to my mom on skype and open my stocking Christmas morning, it was so much fun.
Cooking, another famous past time during the Holiday season, people like to eat…you make food, you eat the food, you open presents, and then you eat more food. So the women folk always end up in the kitchen as the men are in the living room talking about politics or something like that and the kids, well they have left the house…trying to keep from being forced into service. Well this Christmas there was no extended family, we had invited Mitch and Jay over for Christmas dinner, and when they came over I was just starting to make the Christmas stuffing that is like one of the main dishes in my family. It is so good, and my sweet mommy sent me almost all the ingredients. So when they walked in I had my hands full, Mitch was smart and left before he was pressed into service, we got Jay to peel carrots and do other random things like that…Mitch was back in time to help eat the food.
And dinner was so good; we had stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, bread and veggies with gravy. And lots of everything, I was so full by the end, I am not sure if we filled the boys, but I am sure that we came pretty close to. We talked about our family traditions and just had a fun time laughing and joking around and of course eating.
Then we sat on the couch for a while and then decided to open presents, the boys liked their gifts (at least they said they did) and we liked what they gave us. I must say that the chicken timer that the guys got me has totally come in handy…my kids also find it so fascinating, there is still an on going argument on whether or not it is a chicken or a rooster. After we opened gifts, we had to take pictures as well…I’m not sure how all of the pictures turned out, but I still don’t think Mitch and I were paying attention all that much, we kept laughing…one of the pictures makes me look fat, yeah I know hard to believe.
Then we played card games (big surprise I know) and I haven’t a clue which ones we actually ended up playing, we laughed and joked around quite a lot, it was a wonderful Christmas. But yes I did miss all of my crazy relatives.

The day after Christmas

2007-01-20T22:54:00.000-05:00

Tuesday:

Actually Tuesday was one of those rather boring days, the day after Christmas is often like that, either you are still full to move or totally exhausted from the day before and are content to just lay in bed and enjoy a day of doing nothing. By Tuesday I was sick of being in the apartment. I didn’t leave the apartment all day Monday and I had only gone outside once on Sunday (to go to the Christmas Eve program) Marla and I weren’t expecting to see the boys again; we had invited them to come over whenever they wanted, but I decided to go with Joan to some Christmas program because I just wanted to get out of the apartment. The program went alright, the kids were cute, but it wasn’t worth going to again. When I got back to the school I found Jay, Mitch and Ben (John’s cousin) all in our apartment. Ben was looking for Joan, Jay was just standing in the kitchen, and Mitch had already made himself at home on the couch, eating fudge and chuckling as he read my Zits book. I plopped down next to him and read over his shoulder, I had pretty much read the entire comic book the night before…but comics are always fun to read, no matter how many times you read them. I am just going to guess that we played cards that night, since it was by then a tradition of ours.

Camping at Black Coral

2007-01-20T22:47:00.000-05:00

The view from my tree perch

Looking out towards Ant Atol

The hut that I stayed in complete with large rain water barrel

The hut that Jay, Mitch and Zack stayed in

Just looking out at the open ocean

Mr. Too Cool to look at the camera

Anyone feel like snorkeling?

Wednesday:

On Wednesday morning I got up somewhat early, took a shower, ate breakfast and went down to the office to talk to Kat. I wanted to make sure that she had gotten my grades on Friday since I really didn’t want to have to do them again. We had a nice chat and then she asked me if I knew that Mr. B wanted to take the visitors (and anyone who wanted to go) to black coral. Of course I didn’t, but I was sure that they boys would want to go along. She told me that I should and talk to Mr. B about the trip and see when he was planning to leave. That sent me to the principal’s office, and there I found Mr. B who was busy in his very messy office. A few minutes later I stepped out of his office, I was on a mission to find out who would want to go to black coral. First I found Rusty and asked him, next I walked over to Gene and Peter’s apartment and talked to Gene for a few minutes, next I walked to apartment 6 and asked there, then I trotted back to my apartment and asked Marla if she would want to go, and since she had been sick, she couldn’t, so I walked back down to Mr. B’s office and on the way saw the girls from apartment 5 and asked them if they would want to go to black coral. Then I walked back to Mr. B’s office and told him that about 11 people wanted to go, and he told me that we would be leaving at 4pm and to spread the word. So I went back to all of the apartments and told everyone, then I had to go and call the pastor and ask the boys if they wanted to go. It was all a very complicated process, certainly took some time to accomplish. It was actually a rather funny experience, calling the pastor. First I talked to Danny (his son) and then to the Pastor…and when I asked if the boys were around, he perked up and was like “Oh would you like to talk to one of them?” The answer from me was yes, and the next thing I knew I was talking to Jay. It took a rather long time to explain to them where we were going, what we were going to do, how much it was going to cost, what to bring, and so on. The reason it took a long time to explain was because Jay had to stop talking to me to tell Mitch what I was saying, and then he’d ask a question and then Jay would ask me and really it was a very tiring conversation. But in the end they said that they would go.
The boys came to our apartment at around 3:30 that afternoon, for some reason they didn’t pack food, I have no idea why they didn’t pack food for a camping trip…but they didn’t. I never eat much when camping, so I had only packed granola. The boys had left some ramen, a can of tomatoes, and a loaf of bread at our apartment a few days before, so they took that. Although knowing how much guys eat in general, I knew that food wasn’t going to last them long.
Anyway we didn’t leave until close to 5:00, typical island time, and it poured down rain too…so all of us in the truck got very wet…except for the girls who were in the truck, I was riding in the back of the truck with the guys. So all of us we pretty much wet to the skin by the time we got to the pick up point. As luck would have it Mr. B wasn’t there yet, so all of us piled out of the truck and tried to dry off a little bit and explore the waters around us. It was getting dark when Mr. B motored up. We all threw our bags aboard and scrabbled on. Our next stop would be Black Coral itself.
Black Coral is my favorite island for a number of reasons. First off we get to stay in little huts, second there are lost of places to snorkel, third I get to see sharks…I know that shouldn’t be one of my reasons, but sharks are cool…and forth there are outhouses (which isn’t seen on any of the other outer islands).
Once we got our huts in order, hanging up hammocks can actually take a lot of skill and time, especially when you have to hang five hammocks in a very fascinating design…we headed on over to the big hut, where people were making supper. When I found the guys, Mr. B was offering them some cooked rice, which they accepted…and when offered I decided that some rice would be nice. Jay produced the bread and the can of tomatoes, I watched as they poured canned tomatoes on their rice and started eating, this was when I started to feel sick, since they were eating with their hands, everything was messy, and soon they started adding bread to their mixture of tomatoes and rice. By then a mental picture of what my kids look like when they eat came to mind, and I felt rather queasy. And for some reason Mitch is a rather slow eater, I don’t know how that is possible, since most guys I know, including Jay, down their food in a matter of minutes, but this was a drawn out process. Eat some tomatoes and bread, then add some rice…slowly chew as if thinking about something…repeat the process. It seemed painful to me, I eat fast in general…coming from always having back to back classes during lunch, where I have 15 minutes to stand in line, eat, run to my room and switch books and then race to class (since we are not allowed to eat in art class). So it is really hard for me to slow down and actually enjoy my food…I’m glad that the boys enjoyed their food, no matter how disgusting it was for me to watch them eat it.
As they finished eating they started discussing what to do. It was suddenly decided that we should go snorkeling at night. I was thinking WE? What We? I haven’t agreed to this crazy idea. Jay was like “Emily you want to go?” Inside I was screaming “No, I will not go, there is no way that anyone will ever get me to go into that water in the dark!” But I had to say something, so I muttered… “I don’t know, I have never gone snorkeling at night.” Jay was persistent…“If you want we will swim on either side of you, we have diving knives, we’ll protect you.” I don’t know really why this was something comforting to hear, cause when I think back on it I start laughing…the thought that they would protect me, is rather hysterical…probably because most of my guy friends at school have never said that to me… But really the thing was, that I had always wanted to go exploring/snorkeling at night, it was just that I didn’t really like dark water all that much, I know exactly what swims in it in the day light, and I had a pretty good idea what would be lurking in the shadows.
We actually didn’t see anything, except for some sea slugs and a few small little fish. The current was so strong; it kinda freaked me out a little bit. I don’t like being in water that has a tendency to grab you and chuck you out into the deep blue ocean. We put on our fins and had to walk backwards, against the current in order to get to the other side of the island, where the current wasn’t pulling quite so hard. Mitch let me hold one of the lights, which was an o.k. idea except I am not sure if he was actually ever able to see anything…I would randomly shine the light out to the side, half blind him…then move it to the other side and chase after the beam of Jay’s flashlight…soon we all decided that there was nothing to see…and headed back to the island. Once out of the water I was like “Cold, cold…cold…oh my goodness I am freezing!” I stood shivering for a bit, until Jay told me to go change…I was like “Be back in a bit.” And headed to my hut to…guys are lucky, they don’t have to wear a gazillion layers of clothing in order to go swimming…when they get out of the water, they can just walk around in their swim shorts as if nothing is wrong. Girls on the other hand have to go and change out of at least four layers of swim wear and into dry cloths…we can’t just walk around in our swim suits.

One shark, two shark...red fish, blue fish :)

2007-01-20T22:38:00.000-05:00

Random hut on Black Coral

Mitch and Jay making little pin wheels

Close up of a pin wheel being made

The island on across the channel

Thursday:

I awoke early Thursday morning. I untangled myself from my hammock and crawled out the door of our hut (there was a hammock right in front of our door). Once outside I walked across the small island and suddenly heard a boat motor…I looked out and saw all the boys with Mr. B heading out to sea. Half of me was like, I would have liked to have gone and the other half of me was like…they are probably going fishing…which is the last thing that I would seriously want to spend my morning doing. I wandered down to the other end of the island and plopped down on an odd slab of cement that sat out in the dead coral. I spent my morning walking around on the coral looking for crabs and fish, and also keeping an eye out for the tide, which was rising at an amazing speed.
Finally I wandered back to where the main hut was and bumped into Amanda who was looking for Zack, her boyfriend. I told her that I thought Zack went with the other guys on the boat. She was fuming and went off muttering how it would have been nice if he had come and told her that he was leaving. It didn’t take long for the girls and Seth (the one guy left behind) to decide to go out and snorkel. We swam around looking at fish and generally trying to enjoy ourselves, Amanda was still annoyed at Zack, and I was just annoyed for really no reason at all.
Soon I heard the boat motor, and saw the guys all in the boat, most likely brimming with stories to tell those that were left behind. Amanda climbed out of the water and stomped off, I felt rather sorry for Zack, who in a few minutes was going to get a talking to and since everyone else was getting out of the water, I followed…being careful on the coral…since I was barefoot. As soon as Jay got off the boat, he wanted to know if I would be getting back in the water, I told him that I suppose that I would…so he went off to get his fins and snorkel. And of course there were stories to be told and things to talk about. Jay and I stood on the coral and waited for Mitch. Suddenly I noticed a familiar looking shape in the water, just cruising up to the coral that we stood on. Excitedly I pointed out the black tip reef shark to Jay, at which point Jay told me that they saw a whale shark, not fair thought I, but as I have said before sharks are often cooler when watching them out of the water, it is a much different experience when swimming with them.
Once in the water we paddled out to the channel, which I had been scared to enter, cause it is so deep…I dislike deep water. But there was plenty to see…lots of pretty fish, pretty coral, a few random sharks here and there (that we kept missing). We swam around quite a lot, looking at the pretty coral and fish. The guys would dive under to get a better look and I would content myself with staying close to the surface. Jay and I went exploring across the channel to where there was more pretty coral, we didn’t stay on that side long, because the water was a little on the shallow side. As we started entering the channel again, I started to tread water, Jay wanted to know if I was alright, I told him that I was fine, just hated deep water…Once on the other side, we swam out to where Mitch was, actually we weren’t quite sure if it was him, all we could see of him was his fins…but we treaded water and talked about what we had seen so far…and I got a warning again from them not to shove my mask up on my forehead, cause that is a sign that I am in distress…after a bit Jay and I swam over the coral next to the channel, that is when I was like “Shark!” but it is awfully hard to tell someone that there is a shark right there when they are looking the other direction and are out of arms reach. So Jay missed seeing his first shark. When we reached Mitch, I asked him if he had seen the Shark, he told me that he had seen it heading our direction, but wasn’t able to get our attention…I still can’t believe that Jay didn’t see the shark…it was right there.
Mitch wanted to know what it was like on the other side of the channel, Jay and I weren’t all that helpful…we told him that it was shallow over there, but nice. He suggested that we swim over to the other island and take a look around. So we headed back out across the channel, and I was reminded again about how much I disliked deeper water. Once on the other side we glided across the coral into water that was very shallow…you would swim over coral and feel the need to suck in your stomach to keep it from touching. Finally we decided to walk the rest of the way, I took off my fins and caught my breathe, my fins are made to be worn with boots, I don’t have boots…for when I left, my sister didn’t tell me that I needed the boots…and even if I had known, I wouldn’t have known where in our house to look for them. So my feet were very torn up and were starting to ooze...and of course salt water feels wonderful on open cuts. Once on the island I flung my fins, mask, and snorkel on a log and headed down the beach. Jay and I had fun picking up hermit crabs and admiring their shells. Then we all sat on the large log and I watch the guys sharpen their aim, by throwing first rocks then their diving knives at targets. Considering their aim (no offense guys) I am glad that they aren’t suppose to throw their knives under water…it would be most disastrous.
The guys started to get hungry, I wasn’t really all that hungry, I just knew that I wasn’t going to be able to swim much longer, I told Jay that if I stayed in the water any longer, that he would see lots of sharks, cause of the cuts on my feet. Well it was decided that we should head back. This was when I envied the guys; boots must be wonderful…especially when there is coral. Carefully I started picking my way through the dead, but still painful coral. Mitch asked if I needed a hand…at first I said I was alright, because I am naturally stubborn, but too seconds later I slipped on the coral and almost got to meet it face to face. That is when I decided that maybe holding on to someone’s hand might actually be a splendid idea. When the water was a little past our knees and there was no coral around, we decided to put on our fins. I let go of Mitch’s hand and promptly fell into the water. Jay was already sitting and thrusting his feet into his fins…we started laughing and not too long after Mitch fell in…apparently he lost his balance too…
I wanted to be safely on the other side of the channel, so I started out and glided into the deeper water. As we were swimming in the middle of the channel, I noticed something rather large cruising along the bottom of the channel…I got really excited…For most of that day I had mistaken really big fish for sharks (my eyesight isn’t the greatest, I can’t exactly see things far away)…so I had to take a good look at what we were approaching…I looked over at Mitch, but I couldn’t tell if he had seen it yet…as we swam closer I was able to clearly see a black tip reef shark just cruising along. Finally Mitch got my attention and pointed at his eyes and then in the direction of the shark…I nodded and we swam a little faster after it…both of us wanted to follow it, but in the end thought better of it. We didn’t want the shark to feel threatened. When we were quite close to shore I surfaced and looked over at Mitch, pulling my mask down around my neck I exclaimed how cool it was, and asked Jay if he had seen the shark…he hadn’t even though he was swimming right next to us. Poor boy, all the sharks he saw that day were from shore.
Back on the island the boys made some Ramen and started eating, I opted for granola, and munched on it while I watched Zack and Amanda teach Mitch a game called “Ah Shucks” it didn’t take long before Jay joined them, I just decided to watch, I was tired and decided that sitting and watching would be more fun.
After a few very entertaining games of “Ah Shucks” Rusty came and told us that Mr. B was going to be back soon, and so we should pack up. With that everyone left, the girls in my hut all started taking down our hammocks and packing up our snorkel gear, we were all talking and laughing and tripping over our backpacks. About 30 minutes later we emerged and learned that Mr. B and Rusty had gone fishing again, so the girls went to find their boyfriends and I went off to find Mitch and Jay, who were somewhere on that little island. I found Mitch talking to Gene, I sat down on the coral in front of them and looked at all the interesting shapes…I picked up one piece and stood it on end, it looked like a Christmas tree. The guys decided to see who could knock the little hunk of coral over; I told them that I would personally hurt them if they hit me instead of the hunk of coral. By then Jay was there…so pieces of coral and rock whizzed past me at an alarming rate…but I guess their aim had improved…because they were knocking over the target quite a lot…After about 20 minutes I got bored and climbed up a near by tree…only to get hit with tiny pieces of coral. So the battle continued for a few minutes, Jay handed me small pieces of rocks/coral and I threw them at Mitch…who continued to throw them back at me…As time dragged on I finally climbed down the tree and went to get my camera, when I got back I climbed back up the tree and took some pictures of the island. The guys were busy with something, Jay was making a simple little pin wheel thing out of a large leaf…and not to be outdone Mitch was making one too. They told me that the kids in Kosrae taught them how to make them, a simple toy that can keep one entertained for hours.
Finally Mr. B’s boat came into site, we all left to get our gear, all of us had to pile into the small boat, it isn’t unusual to have that many people on that boat, but it does make it uncomfortable when you have all of your gear, plus 15 people. It was certainly a slow ride back to the truck. And once in the truck with all the gear piled around us…it was a very bumpy ride back to the school. As we rode along I told Jay that we should climb Sokeh’s Rock, since they were leaving on Monday we would have to do it on Friday. He said that sounded like a plan.

Sokeh's Ridge

2007-01-20T22:21:00.000-05:00

Sokeh's Rock (Picture taken from Sokeh's Ridge)

The airport and shipyard

Looking over the edge...

That is me standing right at the edge of the rock...just enjoying the view

And me again....

Mitch on the top of the light tower thing

Fishing boats...with the reef in the background

Mitch

Looking back towards Sokeh's Ridge

I had to put this picture in...I really like it...he is just looking out at the island and the ocean

Friday:

I was up rather early Friday morning; I haven’t really got a clue what exactly I was doing. I wasn’t sure if they guys were seriously going to want to climb Sokeh’s Rock, I mean it is a hard climb up there…and we would have to walk to the island, which actually takes a long time. So I went down to the office to see what the Pastor’s number was and then I went back up to the apartment, I was trying to decide if I should call them when I heard a commotion outside. I looked out and there were the boys. I left the door open and went to get some Neosporin so that I could clean up the cuts on my feet. When the guys came through the door they looked like they were still asleep. In reality what really happened was that for breakfast they had consumed about 3 bowls of pure sugar cereal each. That type of cereal makes small children hyper, but that much sugar just drains the energy from adults. So they just sat on the couch and groaned. They said that they would have to wait a little bit before they climbed Sokeh’s rock, and asked if we could watch the movie they brought (how they got that movie is actually a relatively long story, one that I will not tell). The movie was mission impossible III…it was a pretty good movie I guess. And after it was over they decided that they were somewhat more in the mood to go hike up a rock. So I had to go and get ready…I have learned from past hiking trips that it is better to be prepared, so in my camelbak I had a headlamp, a small first aid kit, a bag of peanuts, a granola bar, water, my camera and keys. I put on some sun block and told the guys that they should too…
Finally we were off, now the walk to Sokeh’s rock takes a really long time. Sokeh’s is actually an island, that has been connected to the main island by a bridge. For some reason I had forgotten about how long of a walk it actually was…we walked along the side of the road for a really long time…we crossed the bridge and headed through the small little village that is nestled at the bottom of Sokeh’s Ride/Rock. Up ahead we saw some Jehovah witnesses coming out of a house…Mitch wanted to talk to them so we stopped for a bit. The guys were really nice and they thought that all three of us were from Kosrae, I didn’t bother correcting them, cause I figured that they didn’t really need to know. I was amazed to find out that they actually knew the language, the guy’s house that they were just at camp out and asked where we were going, we told them that we were heading to Sokeh’s Rock, they told us to hop in and they’d drive us there…since they were going that way. I wasn’t quite sure about this arrangement…but I figured that Jay looked like he could tear them in half in a matter of seconds if they tried anything…so I didn’t worry about. It was actually nice to have a ride, we got to the trail head in a matter of minutes instead of having to walk for 45 extra minutes. The guys who gave us a ride wanted to know if we knew our way, I assured them that I had been there before and that we would be alright.
The hike up was to tell the truth not bad, rather slippery in flip flops, but not bad. I was a little out of shape, but we had a lot of fun following the trail. It took about 30-45 minutes to climb to where the actual rock started. At which point I took off my flip flops and told the guys that they had to at all times be holding on to something. I led the way up the first section that is a mass of vines, roots, and trees. You had to climb up on section, squeeze between the rock and a tree and then climb up a slippery rock by sticking your fingers into small openings in the rock. If you fell from that position you wouldn’t stop for a good 40ft. Hence why you are always holding on to something at all times. Once at the top of that I waited for Jay to climb up and we rested while Mitch climbed up. The next challenge awaited us…it was actually a very windy day…and as the wind rushed around the rock it created a type of wind tunnel…but about 10 feet up, the wind died down a bit and the climb was easier. Jay was such a trooper; he tried to climb up, but decided better of it because of his broken toe. Mitch was already almost to the top, once past the beginning the climb is relatively easy, you have the rock to hold on to with one hand and a pipe bolted into the side of the rock to grab a hold of if there are no good hand holds around. At the top I tromped over to where Mitch was and handed him my camera, I told him that if he wanted pictures he had better start taking them. We walked around through the small little trees and through the pineapple plants to the front part of the rock. There the ocean stretched out before us, and once again I was awed by the site. I love it up there; I could stay up at the top of that rock for a really long time, just enjoying the breeze and the view. It is actually my favorite spot on the island, you can see everything up there and you are able to just able to sit and relax and look at the beauty around you.
After taking lots of pictures and climbing the small light tower up there…Mitch and I decided that we should head back down to where Jay was. I decided to eat a snack first, I knew how tired you get from the climb, and the last thing you want to be is light headed on the way down…I offered Mitch some peanuts and then we headed back. Mitch wanted me to go first and I told him that going down was actually easier then going up, I could tell by his face that he didn’t believe me. For those that have never climbed Sokeh’s rock you will just have to take my word for it, the climb down is very easy. I got down in probably 10 minutes or so…I talked with Jay as we waited for Mitch to get down, I climbed down really fast, I didn’t pause much…so he was still far up there.
I took video of Mitch climbing down the rock, I found it rather hysterical that he didn’t like being videoed. I suppose that I don’t think much about it, I’m used to cameras…I talked to Jay while we waited for Mitch to make it down in one piece. I asked him how his toe was doing and gave him more tape, so that he could tape his toe again. When Mitch stepped foot on the ground, we climbed up to where Jay was sitting and talked for a while, just looking out at the view and just having a nice time. But soon it was time to head back down, unless we wanted to get caught in the dark, which none of us wanted all that much.
The climb down wasn’t that hard either, you had to watch your step and make sure that the next rock you stepped on was sturdy, but other then that everything was fine…Mitch’s empty water bottle swung back and forth from my camelbak, but I told him that I didn’t mind, after all it was empty. Once we got down to the road we had to walk fast, for it was almost sunset. There were plenty of things to see and random people to talk to. We talked to a guy who had graduated from Pohnpei SDA School and we talked to some little kids. But we always kept walking.
We made it back to the school in time to see all the SM’s leave for vespers, none of us were in the shape to go anywhere…I asked if the guys were hungry, I already knew the answer to that one, but I thought that I should at least ask. I decided that we would have spaghetti, so I went to work, while the guys sat on the couch and talked to Marla. She had been sick all week long; we had missed her on all of our expeditions into the wilds of Pohnpei. I dropped a spoon, which then made Mitch want to know if he could help, I told him that I wouldn’t mind the help. He helped me finish making the spaghetti sauce, while I put the veggies on to cook. It didn’t take too awfully long before the pasta sauce was done, and then the pasta and veggies were done. It is easy to be really hungry after being in the outdoors all day long. Jay and Marla did dishes after supper, at least some of them.
I don’t recall what we did the rest of the evening, we probably just talked about different things.

Saturday

2007-01-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

Peering over the edge of Twin Falls

Mitch being somewhat silly, emerging from underneath the rockface.

The Last Saturday of Break:

Break was coming to an end, and the guys would be leaving soon. But Saturday was a nice day. We went to church and I got talked into doing Sabbath school the next week. Then it was time for church, Mitch drew in my sketch book and I drew crazy designs on a piece of notebook paper. Jay and Marla were working on sumdoku, which is like sudoku, but different cause there are sums in each block and you have to make it match. Yep we were totally paying attention to the sermon.
We were invited over to the Pastor’s house for lunch with a few of the other SM’s. Mitch and Zack found the guitars and started playing praise songs, the rest of us joined in when we knew the song. After we ate lunch (which was delicious by the way) Zack told us that Mr. B was planning on taking those who wanted to go to Twin Falls. Of course the guys wanted to go and Raz offered us a ride back to the school. We crammed into the back seat of the rental car, I had to sit on Marla’s lap, Jay was in the middle and Mitch was on the far side…Raz made sure he hit all the speed bumps in the school parking lot, I felt bad for Marla. I have a very bony butt and I the fact that I was sitting right on her stomach…didn’t help things much. We were all laughing quite a lot when we piled out of the car.
Twin Falls is like the place to go cliff jumping, if you don’t feel like throwing yourself off a 30 - 40 foot cliff. The drop at Twin Falls is maybe 15 feet…I wanted to go to be with the guys, but I hate cliff jumping with a passion. Takes me forever to jump off, even though I have done it before…and I know I am not going to hit anything. When we got there, all of us just stood at the top of the falls and looked down…we started asking each other who was going to jump first…I felt like a bunch of penguins looking into the ocean… “no you go first, oh no I couldn’t do that…I insist you go first…” Finally Kim jumped off and then Jen and then everyone else, but Jay and I. Jay said he wanted a life guard down there when he jumped off. And I wasn’t reading to jump off yet…actually everyone jumped off twice before I got around to jumping off the first time. After I climbed back up to the top I decided that I wanted to jump off one more time so that I could climb up the face of the rock…I had to have Mitch count down for me…cause I chickened out about 10 times already…once I hit the water I swam quickly to the side and waited for Mitch. He showed my where to step on the rocks and where the hand holds were, Mr. B got down on one of the over hanging rocks to make sure that we made it. Like you have to put your foot just so, put both hands on the same hold and then swing your left foot across this large gap and then bring your right foot over…then you have to pull yourself through this perfect circle in the rock, I found it a little bit hard, cause I have like no upper body strength and you have to push yourself up with your arms, I had to use my knee and my feet to keep myself from falling and once I was out of the hole I had to turn around and carefully climb up the slippery rock. I did accept a hand from Mitch…but really that climb was easier then the so called “easy route” at least with this one if you slip and fall you will land in the water a few feet down…on the easy route if you fall you will continue down the second waterfall…which didn’t look like it would end all that nicely.
When we got back, of course the boys were hungry, guys are always hungry. We ordered pizza and sat around talking and playing “Ah Shucks” the favorite of the guys by that time. I won that game, had like a hundred and some points…After we ate, it was decided that we should watch a movie…but the guys wanted to watch “Lady in the Water” Marla and I were not about to watch that movie, we told them to try again. We finally ended up watching Cars (which is a very good movie, kinda slow in parts…but the animation is great) After the movie Mitch fell asleep on the couch and Jay tried to load something on my computer…I was fading fast, I was still sore from the day before. We traded e-mail address and talked for a bit about random things…I was sitting on the bed couch and it didn’t take long before I fell asleep. Mitch said that he heard everything that we were talking about…I can guarantee that I was out like a light…I didn’t notice anything until the guys left. I did have to go outside and calm the dogs down who were about to devour the guys. Toosca (sp?) was giving Mitch the look of “If you take one more step I am going to bite you.” So I had to go out there and sweet talk the dog until the guys were able to step out…Ten minutes after they left…it down poured…I felt really bad for them walking back to the Pastors in the rain, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

Sunday: New Year's Eve

2007-01-20T22:07:00.000-05:00

It was New Year’s Eve, and of course the guys came over in the afternoon…I had been working on a little video for the guys of the things that had happened during Christmas break, so I wasn’t able to entertain the guys and Marla was doing something on her computer and so she wasn’t able to entertain them either…so they played two man “Ah Shucks” and generally amused themselves. Soon Marla joined them and I continued to work on, I knew that I should have gotten up earlier, but as usual underestimated how long this would actually take. While the video/mini movie was rendering/saving I joined in with their game. I didn’t do so well on this game…but that was alright. When the video was done rendering, I had them watch it…I guess that they enjoyed it, I mean I didn’t really ask…but Mitch wanted me to burn him a copy of it. And I told him that I would at some point and send it to him.
The guys suggested that we walked back with them to the Pastors house for supper…we agreed that it would be fun. So we started out and what do you know it started to rain…what a shocker. We got to walk in the rain…Marla was soaked before we were even into town. We stopped at the Movie Rental store so that the guys could pick up a funny movie for the Pastor. Then we continued on…Mitch wanted to beat Jay and Marla to the house, but I reminded him that I would not be running in flip flops in the rain…that is like an accident waiting to happen. He said that we would just walk faster…it didn’t really work, we only past them when I gave Jay a huge guilt trip for leaving Marla behind…(Mitch tried to run past Jay and Jay raced him)…When we got the house no one was home…Mitch climbed up to the second story to see if their bedroom window was open, but it wasn’t…so he climbed back down and we waited for the Pastor and his family to come back…Jay went to the church to see if he could get the house key from the Pastor…come to find out the hide-a-key was in the flower pot.
After we ate, we had to walk back to the school to be back in time for the New Year’s Eve concert thing that the youth were putting on. We caught a ride with John and Kat. Once at the gym we sat down near the front and waited for the thing to start. While we waited Mitch showed me some of the pictures he had so far taken…I find it fun to look at other people’s pictures…it is a nice change from looking at my own.
The program was nice, I only had a problem with one song…the youth sang Feliz Navidad, which is a Spanish song wishing you a Merry Christmas, well they changed the English part to say “I wish you a Happy New Year” which really didn’t make sense at all. We laughed about it for quite some time…But I was very happy when the program was over…I was so tired of sitting.
Marla had left earlier in the program…when it was over Jay and I walked back to the apartment. Jay and Marla wanted to play card games, but Mitch and I were being “boring” cause we were reading. Mitch was reading my Zits comic book and I was reading 1776 (a very good book by the way) and I was getting moody, cause I knew that the guys were leaving in the morning and I didn’t want them to go. I don’t know why Mitch was quite, he just was. So midnight came and went…and we didn’t do anything special to welcome it in.
As the boys were leaving early that morning, we told them that we would see them off at the airport the next day…with that they left.

Good-bye

2007-01-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

This is us at the airport, from left to right: Marla, Mitch, Jay, and me

And here are the boys with Pastor and his wife

Monday Morning:

I am not big into good-byes, I don’t exactly like saying good-bye…cause usually I don’t want the people I am saying bye to, to well leave. There was a group going to the airport to see people off and to greet returning SM’s…Becky was coming home on the plane that was going to take Mitch and Jay back to their island. We talked to the guys for awhile and took pictures and talked some more…and then it was time for them to go through security and I really didn’t want them to go…because once they left break would be over…and teaching would begin again…but that wasn’t the real reason.
We hugged them goodbye and watched them leave…Marla and I were sad that they were leaving, but we were happy that Becky was coming home. When Becky walked through the doors we were there to greet her. She had tons of things to tell us and things to show us back at the apartment. That afternoon dragged by, we watched movies and sat in our apartment…wondering how school could possibility be starting on Wednesday.

The break went wonderfully well, as I am sure you have seen…we still keep in contact with the guys on Kosrae…and to be perfectly honest…It was a wonderful Christmas break…even if it was only ten days long.

2006-11-25T17:45:00.000-05:00

O.k. this blog is for what happens after Christmas, so if it isn't January...then nothing will be written here. :) Hence why it says "The Last 5 months"