A milestone

Today we defrosted the freezer for the first time ever! Yup, we got our refrigerator/freezer when we moved in here two years ago, and haven't ever defrosted it before! So today was the day. And man, we found quite a few goodies hidden in that little freezer! I didn't realize I had such a stash of Milka chocolate! I guess we'd better eat up! It felt like such a "normal" thing to do today - defrosting the freezer. I guess I really am "at home" in Jb!

I also spent quite a lot of time just running around and taking care of things today. The guesthouse manager is away for her holiday, but we have a bit workshop starting tomorrow. I hope to be able to sit and listen in on some of the sessions for the workshop, as it's on Scripture Use - a topic I don't know too much about, but obviously overlaps a bit with translation and literacy work!

I've stepped into the role of "interim" guesthouse manager, though, and it's a bit of a thing. For instance, two extra people who weren't on the list showed up needing a place to stay. So I packed them into the guesthouse, and hopefully no more extras will show up! I also had to quickly do some laundry this morning, because there weren't enough clean sheets and towels for everyone who was meant to stay in the guesthouse.

I also did an airport run this morning - dropping a few folks off and bringing back a few folks. It was one of the easiest, least chaotic airport runs I've ever done, I think! The main road that we use is even open at the moment, so it wasn't too crazy of a drive.

Annamarie and I also went on a trip to the tailor - we haven't been in several weeks! Annamarie has a really cute little dress which I've wanted to get copied for a while now. It's kind of a 60's type dress - fitted bodice with a cute flirty sort of flare skirt. We watched "The Secret Life of Bees" on Friday night, and I was so inspired by all the cute little dresses that they all wore back then. And this dress of Annamaries just fits that style... but in a nice summer dress sort of way. So yesterday in the market, I got some fun material, and today I took it to the tailor. It's going to take longer than usual because the tailor needs to get a new part for his sewing machine from Kampala... but hopefully that will come soon. I was quite impressed because I was carrying on quite the conversation in Arabic with our deaf tailor :)

I'm also getting him to make me a sort of a house-coat/robe. It's only a matter of time before the towel that I usually run around in falls off... so I thought it would probably be good to get a robe made before that happens! At one of the courses I facilitated a few months ago, I got a gift of some fabric, so I'll use that. It's quite a nice fabric, but is a yellow background... and I usually look a bit dead in pale yellow. So I think a housecoat will be a great use of that piece of material. Probably there will be enough left to make a skirt, as well. Have I mentioned how much I love fabric and going to the tailor? My stylists will be happy to know that I'm wearing my mumus less and less and even am growing out of wearing a t-shirt every day. I'm almost starting to look "smart" on normal office days! I still don't do matching shoes with all the outfits... but maybe that's still to come?!

There have been a few other bloggable quotes today, as we have a few visitors from elsewhere here this weekend. It's really quite a lot of fun to see people's reactions to this place sometimes. It helps me see things that have become so 'normal' through different eyes again, so I realize that certain things around here really aren't that 'normal'. I was talking to a new friend tonight who has been here for only a couple of weeks. She asked me how long I've been here, and when I told her that I've been here for 2 1/2 years, she said, "That explains why you seem so comfortable here". And that little comment made me realize that, yeah, I guess I DO feel pretty comfortable here. It is home. For all it's quirks and idiosyncrasies and frustrations and challenges... it is home. And I do feel comfortable here. And it kind of surprised me that the realization of that surprised me.