Sick & Tired of being Sick & Tired

 And then it came. Just about the same time that I had congratulated my immune system on a job well done, and thanked it for saving me from the awful clutches of chikungunya.
  It started small and sneaky. In fact, more like, kinda annoying. That pain in my foot that left me thinking I must have pulled a muscle. Yes, the thought crossed my mind that this could be the beginning of the end, but I was still in the denial stage of the illness, and I managed to push the thought from my mind. However, the pain persisted, with it only getting worse as the day wore on, but that's how strained muscles do. Yup! All I need is a good nights sleep and I'll be fit, fine and healthy till morning. Or not. I got out of bed the next morning and was ever so grateful for that wall to hang on to, or I would have collapsed in a painful heap of aching bones on the floor. And yes, it was that bad. I totally understood now what Chris meant when he thought he had broken his foot. That's where it started but that's not where it ended. It consumed all my joints, turning them into painful, stiff works of art.
 The first day, before fever set in, I coaxed my body out to my sewing machine in a last ditched effort to keep my mind preoccupied. As I tried to maneuver those pieces of fabric with stiff, painful fingers, my heart went out to all the old ladies in the land, struggling to get a grip on those knitting needles, in spite of arthritic hands. I so feel for them now. It IS hard to hold something with fingers that feel like they are only semi attached to your hand, and just don't listen to your commands to open and close.
 As fever set in, I gave up my post and surrendered to my bed. And it felt just pretty good. I normally hate laying around and having watched my family the previous week holding up beds, couches or whatever they could find, for a few days straight, I thought, "How boring and unappealing! Why, I don't know if I could stand such drudgery!"
 But as my temperature climbed and my pain increased, till it felt like someone was holding a flaming torch to my joints, I thought, "Oh, my dear bed! How I love you! I don't care how small and ugly you are, I will never leave you or forsake you!" Seriously, it felt THAT good!
Painkillers did help, especially if you take four times the recommended dosage. I didn't bother to read the label, just figuring it's the normal 2 tablets every 4-6 hours. After three days of faithfully drugging myself with 2 tablets every 4 hours, I decided to read the usage directions. "Do Not exceed more than 2 tablets in a 24 hour period." Oops. Oh well, at least it took the edge off enough that I could hobble on my stiff, wooden legs to the bathroom.
 I had fever for a few days, then a painful rash that brought a weird sensation of a thousand bugs crawling all over me. It's not that I was hallucinating and wildly swatting at imaginary creatures, it was just that itchy, prickly sensation. Insomnia hit big time, one of the glorious side effects of the disease. I would lay in bed, unable to sleep and think...."What if I just THINK it's my rash causing this weird sensation, and it IS actually something crawling on me."
  More times than I care to count, I would throw the sheet back and look, just to reassure myself that there really is nothing there. Other times, I would do my utmost best to ignore the feeling of biting bugs, only to look down as a mosquito prepared for takeoff, heavily laden with my delicious blood.
 Sigh. Enough to drive a person crazy after awhile.
  The mosquitoes are determined and relentless! I thought if I'd give in and take the dreaded disease they are offering me, they would be happy and let me alone. But no, they continue to surround me with fangs bared, just drooling and waiting to sneak them into my raw, painful flesh. We have so many right now, lots of the dreaded, disease carrying kind. Our windows are almost impossible to screen in since they swing outward, so they have free range of our house. Occasionally we spray but it's almost a waste of money because it doesn't take more than an hour before there are more to take their place. We just sorta threw up our hands and surrendered to their antagonizing bites. Either that or drive yourself insane trying to kill them all. At night we sleep with a sheet pulled tight around our neck, not for warmth!:)....but to try to keep them off us. We blow a fan on our heads in an attempt to deter the remaining few.
There were some bright spots in this illness though. I have always loved change of season, with fall being my absolute favorite. There is something about cool evenings and falling leaves that I just love. I was feeling slightly nostalgic, reliving the previous fall seasons and all that goes with it. Pumpkin pie, the farewell honks of the geese as they bid us good bye and headed south, sweaters, the smell of burning leaves, the feeling of satisfaction when bringing in the last produce from my weed-free garden, (ok, that was just wistful thinking), beautiful scenery, the chill in the air that makes curling up in a warm fleece blanket feel heavenly....in fact, there was a soft fleece blanket here that I would gaze at longingly, wishing I could just curl up in it, but knowing I would turn into a puddle of sweat if I would. However, with a fever comes chills...AND the delightful opportunity to wrap myself in its softness. And so, with goosebumps on my arms and a blanket to my neck, I browsed Pinterest and  pored over all the autumn goodies and decorations. Safe in my little cocoon, I pretended the temperature was not over 100* outside and surely, if I would look out my window I would see a kaleidoscope of fall colors instead of palm trees and more mosquitoes.

Back again...2 weeks later...no, I'm not languishing in bed anymore...as much anyway. Unfortunately, I am still not back to "normal." Whatever that is anymore. I almost forget. I am almost used to limping around, having my muscles painfully tighten without a moment's notice and sitting down often, while the world spins crazily around.
 I will forever be more understanding of those dear old folks I used to help get out of bed in the morning at the retirement home where I worked. Oh, they would take sooo long untangling all their arthritic limbs. I would glance anxiously at the clock, ever mindful of my tight schedule and wonder...
 "Do you really need to move THIS slow?"
 Oh my. I totally get them now! And if I ever have the chance to help them again, I will cater to them and let them take till lunch time to get out to the table for breakfast!
 Yes, I move very slowly and painfully in the mornings.

Back AGAIN...most of my posts are written here a little, there alittle, so by the time I get one finished, the beginning is outdated:) But at least this gives me time to add a little update. We are for the most part, recuperated. At least, I think as good as we'll be for awhile anyway. From what I read, arthritic pain can continue for a long time yet...a few months, up to 2 years. With pain meds, it is manageable. Chris still deals with achy joints and sore feet. As he said yesterday," I just feel like this aged me." I would second that. There's something about stiff achy joints that makes you feel 50 years older than you really are. As the saying goes...this too shall pass. Who knows when though. I'll plan on feeling this way till I'm 99, that way if I feel better till I'm 88, I'll be pleasantly surprised.:)
 It has been a great learning experience for me. Other than occasional headaches and common colds, I have not been really sick for over ten years. I tried to not take my health for granted, but I'm afraid, far too often, I did. Through this, I hope I can be be more compassionate and understanding to those that deal with illnesses, especially for some with chronic illnesses and don't know what is causing it. That would be so frustrating!
 Being sick is depressing! There is something about not feeling well that turns me into a self-pitying, me-centered baby. I had to make a conscious effort to count my blessings instead of my aching bones, but far too many times I failed miserably!

And a few pics....

God send this dog to us at a perfect time! The Sunday everyone was sick and laying around, except for me, this puppy followed one of the teachers here and made himself right at home! That's right, HIMself! When God gives gifts, He does it right!:) We had no idea where it came from but it snuggled right up to Christi and just laid with her. It almost seemed like he knew she wasn't feeling well. After asking around and not being able to locate the owner, we named him and welcomed him to our household. About a week later, a neighbor lady, who was never home when we had went searching for the owner, came over. She heard a puppy howling at night, because we put him out overnight, and she thought maybe it was their missing puppy. It was, but she saw how the children loved him and insisted we keep him! So now we have a MALE puppy, one we didn't need to go searching the ends of the island for, but one that God brought right to our door, right when we needed cheering up the most!

I think the mutt saw one too many sick people laying around like this, and thought this is just how it's done around here!

Yea, we just sleep however, wherever...

Hard to believe, but schools in session again! Seems strange only sending three off to
 school. Once again we are so thankful for an amazing group of teachers!

I am thankful he loves God and hates Satan, but we better work on that high self esteem....

And this is Kaylah's classroom. She absolutely loves homeschooling...I guess it helps too if you can have a dog at your feet:) She is doing the Abeka video series and I would highly recommend them. She enjoys the peace and quiet of being the only child at home...she said,"Now I know why you like it so much when we're all in school! It's so quiet and peaceful!" Oops...did I say that out loud? I do enjoy having her around more and having one on one time with her.

Jack of all trades:) The one morning my leg and foot hurt so bad I couldn't walk on it. I told
Chris if only I had crutches I could still get around. A little while later he came in with this
 homemade crutch. I just had to laugh but it worked and I was very thankful for it!

Jared's parents send this down for Chris. This verse was written in Jared's journal. The more I learn
about him, the more I am amazed at what an outstanding young man of God he was!

Our church went to sing at this nursing home one Sunday afternoon

                                                        Singing out on the veranda

         The view from the nursing home...don't be surprised if I spend my golden years in Grenada!:)

                             Another home we sang at...the staff is always so friendly here
                                   and do a super job keeping the place neat and clean!

                      On the way back from singing at the homes, we stopped at Concord Falls

                                           Just a random shot of Christi at Concord Falls

Breathtaking beauty at Concord Falls

                        An Aedes mosquito, the kind that carries dengue fever and chikungunya.
                            They have black and white striped legs and are found in abundance
                                  around here. They love us...the feeling is NOT mutual!!!

 Houston, we have a problem. A dear friend from church gave us a puppy that she had promised us a few weeks ago, before we adopted our male puppy. Now we have two puppies. A male and a female. Why do I forsee trouble in the future? Something called...High's Puppy Farm?? Then again, at our rate, they might not last too long....

                     Euran, a young fellow from Limes, planned a Rook tournament. He took it
                  very seriously and had it all organized, complete with gifts for the winning team:)

                     And the winning team waaaaas....Mr. Christopher High and Logan Weaver,
                    Jim and Joyce's boy...they were awarded with a candle and a coffee mug:)

 September 5, 16 years ago, I was a rosy cheeked young bride. Sixteen years later, I was still rosy cheeked, but this time it was from a rash, thanks to chikungunya. So thankful, he promised in sickness and in health!:) We didn't do all whole lot to celebrate on this day, other than look at each other with bleary eyes and say, "Better days ahead...."

                                                     16 years later...we are so blessed!

                          Photo credits go to Jewel Good...taken when they were down in July

 This pic really has nothing to do with Grenada, except that the news was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary week....Chris's brother and his wife had identical twin boys, which was a real surprise, but what made it even more interesting was the fact they only found out they are having twins about an hour before they were born, BUT what makes it even MORE interesting is that she had a few ultrasounds and they never picked it up! She was even in the week before to try to turn the baby since it was breach. So, to all you pregnant ladies out there, you neeeever know!......:)

So concludes another blog post...not a lot of pictures because we have been extremely housebound these last few weeks. It has been over a month since we started dealing with chikungunya and it seemed to pretty much consume alot of our time and energy. Chris was feeling better but this evening his joints started stiffening up again and feeling painful. It can come and go like this for awhile so I guess we'll just enjoy the good days when they come. Thank you so much for your prayers...they kept us going through a very low time this past month. We want to count our blessings because we really do have so much to be thankful for!

Carnival Camp, Canine Calamities and Chickungunya

 I'm not even sure where to begin this post. After I published my last post I thought, "Well, there's nothing exciting coming up so it will probably be awhile till I write something again." (Actually, I think that every time I publish another one.) As usual, I was wrong.

  I guess I'll start at the beginning, which is Carnival Camp. I mentioned the Carnival holidays in a previous post. Hundreds of tourists and people from other islands come for the festivities, which includes lots of partying, drinking, nakedness, dirty dancing in the streets, calypso and other musical competitions, parades and much more. It is time when just about ANYTHING goes, things you would get arrested for if you did it any other time of the year. There are people who smear themselves up with motor oil and try to stop your vehicle if you are out driving and demand money. We try to stay close to home during these holidays, which begin Sunday and go till Tuesday. In an effort to keep our youth away from the party atmosphere, our church hosts what we call Carnival Camp. The men and boys leave Sunday afternoon to go camping. They usually come back Tuesday evening. The girls came to our house for Sunday evening and Monday. The older ladies came just for Sunday evening. We had a wonderful time hanging out and getting to know each other better.

  Night time was somewhat of a challenge, with a certain girl deciding she's not going to sleep, even if everyone else is trying to! After awhile the rest of the bunch got tired of her antics and locked themselves in another room so they could try to get some sleep. That brought this certain someone to my door in tears. I found it hard to drum up any pity and told her she needs to deal with the consequences of her actions...which is, sleeping by herself. That lead up to her knocking on  my door numerous times at about 15 minute intervals, coincidentally each time when I had just dozed off. After I told her she is not allowed to knock on my door one more time, she dissolved in a puddle of snot and tears outside my door. Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. Added to that, was a major thunder storm which is a rare occasion down here. It lasted almost all night. I lay in bed alternating between gratefulness to God for showing His power to the many nightly party goers and pitying the menfolk camping and trying to stay dry. 

 The next day Ginger and I tried to keep the girls entertained with our "lack-of-sleep induced" foggy brains. We did have a good day.

                          Hanging out Sunday evening with the ladies and girls from church

                                                  We made pizza for supper Sunday evening

                            Keeping the crew entertained the next day. We baked cookies,
                             painted T-shirts, played gamed and did some craft projects

                                                      Decorating cut out cookies

                         Some of the strange characters that walked past our house on Monday...
                         (thankful for my zoom lens:)

             This guy was pulling an empty kettle...I guess he liked the clinkety-clankety noise:)

 Now for the men...They had a good time hiking, playing games and hanging out with the boys...until...

 Monday afternoon, some people showed up at the area where they were camping and proceeded to set up light towers, a tent and mobile bar. They assured our men that the party wouldn't start till the next afternoon. Unfortunately, that was not quite accurate and the next morning the people started rolling in along with a truck pulling a trailer with huge speakers on. They quickly started taking down the tents and packing up. The music was pounding so loudly it vibrated their insides and they had to shout to each other to be heard. After they finally had their stuff packed up, they hopped in the truck to leave....which, unfortunately, had a dead battery and didn't start. They borrowed a battery charger from the party goers and finally got it started and were on their way. 

Some pics of their camp site...

                                                            Hanging out with the boys

                                                                   Their camp site

                                                                    Playing games

            They attached a tarp between this old building and the truck for a make shift camp site

And then the ride home...something I wish with all my heart I could erase from my young boys minds. 

 Unfortunately, (I know I'm using this word alot but it just fits) they had to drive through numerous areas where there were Carnival parties on the streets. Masses of painted, oily people thronging around the truck, climbing on the truck, brushing their oily bodies against the boys on the back of the truck, beer flowing, music pounding, men and ladies grinding against each other, ladies with everything "hanging out,"....everything we were trying to shield them from, now being thrust right before their eyes. They had no option but to keep going. Chris could hardly drive because of the masses on the streets. He would go a few inches, then stop, then go a few more inches. He came home exhausted hoping to recuperate in his quiet house. Unfortunately, (this will be the last time I use this word:) our neighbors were having a party and blasting music from 8' high speakers. I was so glad when these days were over!

            Some pictures from the online Grenadian news...I edited out  the worst parts...this is what     the men and boys had to drive through. I pray those images will be erased from their minds

                                Pounding drums, oily bodies and horned hats...the evil spirit could be felt

      Partying hard with anything they could find. The one man had a toilet seat ring around his head as he danced. They danced with wheelchairs, shopping carts and other odd things. 

Love thy neighbor...

Finally. After living here for over half a year, we finally met our neighbors. Now before you chalk us up as horrible missionaries, let me assure you, we tried! I frequently encouraged (I like that word better than nagging) my husband to go with me to see them. Usually I was met with a noncommittal grunt, as he stared at the computer screen with glazed eyes, and continued his attempt to unravel the mystery of the unbalancing budget.
 Oh, I had my assumptions about them alright. They were a noisy family, that's for sure! (I'm sure they could have said the same about us.) I perceived them to be rather rude. Anti-sociable. I like to think we did our part in attempting to meet them. We did try, but if they saw us coming they would head the other direction. I am guessing they were as much annoyed at this noisy family moving into the neighborhood as we were with their noisy family.
 They were the type of neighbors that liked to party during the night into the wee hours of the morning. Daytime hours were not used to work, but as a way to catch up on sleep for more nightly shindigs.
  We probably would have gave up ever meeting them at this point, if they would have not continued to get bolder and bolder. Sorry to say, but they were not very respectful of our property and many times I ended up cleaning up their garbage and other debris they would let lay around. Added to that, was the whole sound issue. Who does like being kept awake at night by loud, annoying noise, all the while wondering if they would ever get so bold as to force their way in while we are home.
 We tried ignoring them. Bribing them. Tolerating them. Nothing worked...and they only continued to get bolder. Then came the morning I was rudely jerked awake after a loud thump, coming from atop our roof. Yes, it was them. Something had to be done.
  Here is where our pooch went from household hound to hailed hero. Early one morning, in the predawn darkness, Dusty kept incessantly barking. On and on she barked. Chris put his cup of coffee on hold and went outside to investigate. Sure enough! There they were, up in a tree behind our house. The nerve! As soon as they saw Chris, they made a frantic effort to escape. Out of sheer shock one of them lost his grip on the branch and landed with a sickening thud on the pavement below. After regaining his senses, he and his partner in crime took off into the bush as fast as their hairy legs could take them. But not before Chris got a good look at them.
 So now we knew for sure it was them. Those unexplained nightly noises. Those dark bodies disappearing into the bush as quick as a wink when they saw us. Those annoying thumps on the roof as they looked for a way in.
 The dirt and debris falling from the ceiling onto the counter-tops was proof that they had already gained partial access to our abode.
  Those black eyes staring back at us from the murky darkness, when we unexpectedly rounded the corner behind our house. Big eyes, just watching. Waiting. For that perfect moment...
 And then came the day that  Dusty rose a notch higher in our already adoring eyes. Just when we thought she couldn't get any better, she pulled off a feat that left our mouths agape and our eyes as big as coconuts. Pulling in the drive after an afternoon out, we spied the would-have-been villain lying prostrate on our lawn.
 With unseeing eyes staring up at the midday sun, his entrails left a bloody trail behind him. The assassin hurried out with tail a-wagging so hard her whole body shook. She was so proud. We were so happy. And that rat? He was so dead.

                     "Yes, I take my responsibility very seriously to protect the High family..."

                                   Here I lie in sweet repose, toward the sun I turn my nose,
                                                  No more to steal, plod and plunder,
                                       Now the inhabitants will have peaceful slumber....

               Ok, in case you're beginning to think I have nothing better to do than make
                up long winded stories about rats, here is a glimpse of what we've been up to....

I have been taking care of this gentleman, once a week, for the last few weeks.

Unfortunately, his health has continued to deteriorate, leading to the decision to put him in a nursing home. This was the last day I was there. They are such a sweet couple!

 

He went to the nursing home the very week our church was planning to sing there on Sunday. Was nice to visit with him again!

                             The home we sang at. Nothing modern, but clean and well kept.

                                                   Greeting the residents after singing

School is over and the hot days of summer have begun. I made clay for them one day, which they made in to all kinds of objects to be dried and then painted.

                                                                 Drying in the sun

Mission accomplished...formed, dried, painted & now a nice "large car" hangs from the boys ceiling:)

We are excited to have Marv & Jen Lapp and their 5 children join us down here!
 They brought along Debbie, a family friend to help with the settling in process.

                                Birthdays are alot of fun when you turn a big 8 years old!
Carter gets so hungry for peaches. Almost every time we would pass the aisle with canned fruit in the grocery store, he would beg for some. Canned fruit is expensive, so we rarely buy it. I couldn't resist getting him a can for his birthday though. You would have thought we gave him $100!!

 I say it every birthday, with every child, so I better not break my tradition..."where does time goooo? Was it really over 8 years ago that I gasped in shock over that positive pregnant test? Bug eyed, I called my dear husband to come see if I was seeing correctly. Eying the indeed positive pregnancy test, he wrapped me in his arms and said, "Oh honey! That's so exciting and wonderful!".....Well, actually not. Not right away, anyway. The first words out of his mouth were, "And how are we gonna afford this?!" It took a few minutes for it to sink in and then we DID get very excited. Ironically, due to an injury, we were told we may never be able to have children.
  My dear mother, with the thought of precious cute grand babies to cuddle, stoutly announced, "Well, I'm gonna pray hard God blesses you with children."
  Finding out I was pregnant again, with our oldest child only 3 years old and the twins not even a year old, I wailed in the phone to my mom...Pleeeeeease! You can quit praying now!!!!".......and that was our last child:) lol.....Seriously, I don't know what we'd do without this boy! As a baby we nick named him "Sunshine" because he was always so happy....and he still is....usually..:)

                                                                     Oh, the bliss.....

We had John & Rachel Brubaker and Conhi & Andrea over for Carter's birthday party. Excuse the upside down cake, but you probably couldn't even read what it says if it was the right way:)

And then the Limes Church dilemma...probably couldn't have happened at a worse time. We knew it would be a busy summer with the teachers and some families leaving for home, and having to get houses cleaned out and ready for the next people. What we didn't anticipate was the tiles popping up and getting loose on the church floor. They used a jackhammer to get the broken ones out and clean off all the old concrete so they could lay fresh ones. Hard, dusty work! (Or so he told me, I wasn't helping:))

                                           The children play while the adults work.....

                             Finally the floor project at Limes was completed and now the ladies
                                       did have work to do....it was VERY dusty and dirty!

                                 Marv & Jen Lapp didn't have a whole lot of time to get settled in
                                   because the very next day we tore into the cleaning the church

                                       Debbie and Kaylah wiping the benches for the church

                          Kaylah and Nicki stop their work long enough to pose for a picture

Working at cleaning the floor. This took many buckets of water and many moppings

                                                                        A beautiful sunset

Thaddeus surprised us one morning by showing up and doing our outside work! It looked like a different place till he was done! He wanted to do something to repay all the help he received...he couldn't have picked anything better to do! I didn't realize how bad it looked till he had it all cleaned up:)

My new favorite dish...everything we have in abundance here right now. I couldn't believe when I came across this recipe...1 mango, 1 avocado. sliced red onion and juice from 2 limes...delish! Sweet and tangy!

Celina...or Anne of Green Gables, as I like to call her because of her spunky, inquisitive personality! There will only be one like her!

                        We took the children out to the beach to fish one evening. We didn't
                                  catch any fish but had fun and saw a lovely sunset!

        Oh, the fights we moms don't settle!
        Kaylah: "Mom!! Make Christi take off the dumb helmet!"
        Christi: "But, Mom, the sun is shining in too bright and I can't see right without it..."

We took the church people to some different spots around the island on Emancipation Day. That is the day set aside to celebrate their freedom from slavery. This is a mineral springs, and the mud and water is good for whatever ails you....even if it does just look like a pig's slop hole.

                                          Carter sucking a mango the Grenadian way

               The lady at the springs demonstrating the healing power of "mud" on Kaylah's arm

Kaylah!! Take this sign down now!!!....posted on our wall along the road

                       And Kaylah's been tapping into her artistic side...Bill Coutain gave
                   her a DVD to watch on painting tips and now she's having fun experimenting.

                        Only one life, will soon be past...only what's done for Christ will last.

Again, thank you SO much for your prayers! We are in the middle of the Carnival holidays right now...I'll blog more on that next time. I'm sitting here in my quiet house...the men are camping with the church boys and music is pounding outside. My girls are in bed after hardly getting any sleep last night, thanks to a severe thunderstorm which lasted almost all night and a sleepover here for the girls from church. It's time I head to bed too, because, yes, I hardly got any sleep either!:) Good bye till next time!