water water everywhere

Ok, this rain needs to STOP! At least until my gutters are cleaned out anyway. I'm about to go buy a ladder and get up on the roof myself and dig those bad boys out. They're horrible! I have plants growing in them, just to give you an idea! Anway, we've been getting rained on quite a bit the past few days, and it's taking a toll on my house. I finally bought a dehumidifier on Monday night. I hooked it up that night at about 9:30, and when I checked it out at 6:30 the next morning it was full (25 pints)! It was also full again by the time I got home last night, and then it was almost full this morning. I guarantee it'll be full again when I get home this afternoon. I don't think I knew what I was getting myself into when I bought this house. But, I wouldn't change my mind even if I'd known. I love my neighborhood! The kids bring me such joy when I come home all stressed out or down. Their precious smiles brighten any bad mood!! Well, I must go to work... and then I have an interview after work! Eish! Pray for me!! I am really nervous! God has a plan... I have to keep repeating that to myself. :)

Chow!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Tamales!

I don't have a lot of time to write tonight, but I had to let you all know this... my neighbors across the street (kids are Erica and Omar), brought me over some tamales tonight for dinner as a welcome! Wow! How awesome is that? They're already looking out for me. :) I'd actually never had a real tamale before, and it was really good! Hooray for wonderful neighbors!

Thanks for checking in on me...
Bonnie B.

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Welcome to Durham...

So... someone egged my car. What in the world? Why did someone egg my car? It must have happened when my car was stationary because you can tell that the egg dripped straight down. Is that like a "welcome to the neighborhood" initiation? When my Mom came inside and asked if I knew that someone had egged my car, I was shocked! Then I didn't know whether to be mad, or to just laugh. I mean, being mad does no one any good. So I guess I'll just laugh. Oh, how I love Durham! :)





Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

This old house...

I think that's going to be the new name and theme of this blog! Everytime I go to my house (I'm not living there yet), I discover a new... umm... adventure! Yesterday I went to the house because the alarm guy was coming to put in my alarm system (gotta be safe). After he left, I wandered around the kitchen and noticed wetness... as I looked closer, I noticed LOTS of wetness... as in puddles! Argh! My house is old, and moisture is something I'm going to have to get used to, but puddles of water in my kitchen are not ok. Granted, lots of places flooded yesterday due to rain, so I shouldn't be surprised that my house was one of the many. The bad thing is that there's still water under the cabnets, where I couldn't reach to get the water up. Wet wood is not a good thing! One more thing to add to the "get this fixed or fix it" list. I must keep reminding myself that God has a plan in all of this. One of these days I'm gonna know all about home repairs and dealing with old houses. But it's going to be quite an adventure turning this old house into a home!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

kids - yay! bugs - boo!

Since I was going to Durham tonight for Bible study, I decided to load my car up with as much stuff as I possibly could and went to my house to unload it all. As I drove down Ruskin Ave. (where my house is the last one), I spotted the very typical group of kids on bikes. As soon as Erica (the girl across the street from me) spotted me, she started waving like mad. Wow, talk about making me smile!! The band of bike-riders followed my car until I stopped, and waited for me right outside my door until I got out. I seriously felt like I was back in SA driving into one of the areas where I worked. I met a few new faces tonight, one of whom wanted to come in my house and check out the place (I told her she should ask her parents first... don't want to be the weird neighbor or anything!). I also met the father of the boy from Ghana. (The boy's name is Kofe - sound like coffee with a long 'o') Then as I was chatting with him, the lady from the house across from him said hello and asked if I was their new neighbor. She didn't have much time to talk because she was on her way to her church. So many people were outside of their houses! I'm so excited about all the people I've already met in the neighborhood. But really, the kids just made my day. God has put me in such a great place! I can't wait until I can really get to know them. Hooray for kids!!

About the bugs... oh my goodness... Sunday before I left the house, I set off 4 bug bombs in strategic places. Wow. I literally don't think I've ever seen that many dead bugs (or live bugs either for that matter) in one place. I thank God for teaching me to deal with bugs in SA, because the mass of bugs I saw today would be enough to really freak out most girls! I'm glad they were dead!! Hopefully the bug bombs got them all. And hopefully those that made it out alive got the message and will carry it on to the others in the area. This house is no longer open to bugs!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

confusion!

Oh man… I am one confused chica! I have yet to find a job for this coming school year. Today was my last teacher work day at Childcare Network in Sanford (sad!!), and Friday I begin a summer teaching position in Orange County (right beside Durham). But as for the upcoming year, no decision has been made yet. As far as I still know, Durham Public Schools Pre-K only has one opening this year, and it is going to a lady who just got her teaching licence and has been the assistant until now (fair enough). So, the district manager from Childcare Network told me that the CN in Durham has a More at Four Lead Teacher opening for this coming year. The center is about 4 miles from my house! Thing is, CN doesn’t have benefits. They offer a stipend for insurance, but it doesn’t quite cover what it costs me. Until this afternoon though, I’d decided that I’d go with CN in Durham anyway… it’s such a great place for ministry! The missionary in me is very excited. Well… I got home this afternoon and had an email from the lady who hired me for this summer job, and she was telling me that Orange County Pre-K has one vacancy for next year and that I should talk to someone as soon as I get there. Confusion time! Public school most definitely pays better and has MUCH better benefits!! But I so want to be in Durham. Durham is where God has sent me to; I’m sure of it. Orange county is not far away… so it’s not out of the question, but it’s still not Durham. I just don’t know what to do. Why can’t Durham Public Schools have one more opening and make this a lot easier for me?? I guess God’s not finished teaching me the “wait upon the Lord” lesson. :) I don’t think He ever will be! Please pray for me to make the right decision!

On another note, I was at my house in Durham cleaning yesterday, and I met the little boy next door. He’s from Ghana!! How cool… Mexico across the street, Ghana next door. It’s quite a multicultural neighborhood. I can’t even begin to doubt that God has huge plans for me there. Very exciting!

friends

I've been home for 7 months now. Crazy, isn't it? And you know what? Just in the past couple of weeks I've started making a few new friends. Right now it is almost 4am, and I just retured home from hanging out with a few of them. This has happened about 3 times now. That might not seem like much to most people, but for the past 7 months, "hanging out" with friends was something that just didn't happen for me, and oh how I have missed it! God is so good. I knew coming home that it would take time for new friendships to get started or for old ones to take on a new and current form. So I have tried to be patient, and wait on God to lead me to the right people, just as He did in South Africa. And how He has blessed me! I am so excited to be moving to Durham (as soon as my house is fixed). This hour long drive is killing me, and costing me a fortune in gas money!!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

LUAU!

My kids are the cutest... I can't believe school will be over next week! Here are some pictures of my kids!















Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81