Happy Anniversary!

Today Allan and I celebrated 15 years of marriage. We left the kids home and went out for a nice lunch at one of our favorite Filipino restaurants--a little place that serves American food called TGIFridays. We enjoyed one of Allan's favorite American foods- baby back ribs! This seems fitting since we spent our honeymoon in Gatlinburg, TN and ate alot of ribs that week. It was a yummy meal and we enjoyed spending time together. We have gotten to spend more time together in the last year than in any other year of our marriage.



TGIFridays at Sta. Lucia, Philippines







The restaurant we went to today is near the Marikina River. When most people who were born before 1975 think of the Philippines, they remember the tv images of the closet of Imelda Marcos and all those shoes. Marikina is the shoe making district of the Philippines and they pay tribute to Imelda with a shoe museum that contains about 250 pairs of her shoes. In the middle of the Marikina River is a barge with a large high heeled shoe.

Across the Marikina River, near the big shoe is a monument to the of history Marikina. Marikina was one of the largest private haciendas in the Philippines during the Spanish colonization. Its residents were comprised mostly of farmers. These farmers were quite productive allowing each family to own more than two carabaos. During that time, if you possessed several carabaos you would be considered really rich. This herd of 28 stone carabaos follows the old path taken by the carabaos from their owner's homes to the fields as a reminder that Marikina was once abundant farmland. I am not sure why one of them is white.

A Road Trip

There are some advantages to living in the Philippines that we didn't have in the US. One thing we rarely did when we lived in the states was go to the movies. It is just too expensive. Here we can go see a movie for under $2 a person. So it is a nice treat to see a movie. It is also one of the few places you feel cold and might need a sweater because they set the air conditioning so low.
Today after church we went to see the new Disney Pixar movie, Cars. It was like a little slice of America to fill our senses. If you haven't seen it, the movie itself is gorgeous. The animation is almost realistic. The music is fun and it is a great flick to see on the big screen. The message that others are more important than fame and money was a great one for the kids too. Will loved it too! He loved the cars and the fact that "nothing jumps out at you."
Early on in the movie the main character drives from somewhere down south to California on I-40. Allan and I both sighed and enjoyed the sight of cars moving across the American landscape at a decent pace. We just don't see much--well actually any, of the open road. Driving has definately been one of the biggest adjustments for us. For those of you who live in a big city and spend time sitting in traffic, maybe you can relate a little. In the places we have lived in recent years we had to make sure we didn't go too fast, not so here.
It was also neat to hear the Filipino family behind us explain or try to figure out some of of the American idiomatic expressions. At one point, one character states--"I having as much fun as a tornado in a trailer park." It was a comment much puzzled on by the parents behind us. I guess so since the Philippines has neither tornados or trailer parks.
So I highly recommend Cars if you are looking for a little slice of nostalgia. We enjoyed being transported back to the US via the sights along Route 66!

Do you have night sweats?

Back in September I wrote about modifying my list of standard medical questions after a patient said "the ants like my urine". Here's the link to the whole story:
http://thegilmers.blogspot.com/2005/09/self-diagnosing-diabetes-mellitus.html

Since adding this question to my standard list which doctors call the "Review of Systems", I have made a few other cultural adaptations to the question list (translating into Tagalog the most obvious adaptation). One of the questions that I have decided to drop from the regular use is: "Do you have night sweats?" The reason I decided to drop it is because most of our patients live in make-shift housing with cinder block walls and sheet metal roofs. Often they lack electrical power and thus no fan to move the air around either. Now even in our house which was designed to be cooler and has electricity for fans, it can still get pretty hot. Lately when we have been going to bed, it has been in the 87 - 90 degree (F) range. I don't know about you but that is enough to make me have night sweats whether I'm sick or not. So I have to question the usefullness of the information gained from this question...
Or maybe I'll just quit using it because I could never quite pronounce the Tagalog word for night sweats anyway.

More unexpected Visitors

The rains have come to the Philippines giving us a break from the extremely hot weather. While it hasn't cooled down completely, the evenings are once again tolerable. Unfortunately we will now have rain until September or October and things will begin to mildew and mold once more. The beginnings of rainy season brought many creatures into our house. We began to see large black centipedes crawling across the floor. WAGs wasn't even interested in messing with them after the first day so we have been constantly picking them up over the last 2 weeks. They are also not very photogenic. This was the best picture I could take.

We have had an invasion of other creatures too. One night upstairs there were small winged bugs flying everywhere. There must have been 50-100 of them. Allan brought up the bug spray and they began "dropping like flys". We were told the rains bring out the bugs and centipedes. While we have never had as many come inside as we did that night, we have had a few visit us every evening. Tonight though was a different story. A big winged bug that resembled the first ones upstairs began flying around the light. Soon it was 2, then 3, then 4, then....well you get the point. I began to kill the ones who flew down near the floor and soon there were none left. Before long, they began coming again. Allan and I discovered they were all over the screens trying to get in. Soon there were many slipping in through the screen, flying and swarming around. Allan thought they were flying termites and after a google search on the internet, I discovered he was right. We seem to have conquered them for the evening. Thanks to our handy bug killer spray. Ah the joys of learning to live in the tropics! I do hope they fly onto somewhere else tomorrow.

What a flying termite looks like

An unexpected visitor

For the last 2 weeks we have had a guest in our home. No it is not some wonderful family member or friend from the US--although we wish(hint hint). It has been a lttle dog named Scruffy. There are many things I thought I would do on the mission field, but babysitting a dog is not one of them. Being so far from home, the mission community becomes like your family away from home. While the transient nature of mission life makes making friends difficult, the friendships that develop tend to be strong. Will's teacher, Ellen, and her husband, Dan hold a very special place in our hearts--not just because they went to Auburn either. We have enjoyed getting to know them this year and do somethings socially especially during football season.

During the last week of school, Dan's father passed away. It is hard to imagine being far from home during the midst of a family tragedy, and Dan and Ellen made the tough choice to return to the States for a few weeks. Therefore, we are watching their little dog Scruffy. He is a tiny little thing, but he and WAGs have gotten along well. The kids were very excited to have Scruff come visit. It has changed the dynamics of our house a little as we have added a 4th dog to the yard. Every few days Scruffy sends an email and a picture about his life and trials in the Gilmer household. The Brooks have posted some pictures and a few of his letters on their blog if you want to check it out at-- http://www.brookslanding.com/

Isn't it about time for a Clinic update?

I want to apologize for the lack of blogs about the clinic recently. Ginger has been very faithful to write updates about our family and adaptation to the Filipino culture. There are a couple of reasons for my lack of blogging. During the last part of April and into this week in May, I have had several bad weeks of feeling miserable, running a high fever, unable to eat, unable to get out of bed. I truly felt like death on a Ritz cracker. The first week in May was probably the sickest I have been in many, many years. Fortunately, the memory of those 2 weeks now just blur together into one big, very long, terrible day. I am still not sure what my diagnosis was – it was a fever of unknown source. All my labs were normal except for a high White blood cell count with a high neutrophil percentage. I had a few ideas about the possible causes but lacked the proper lab tests to distinguish any particular cause.

I appreciate those of you who prayed for me. I know Ginger sent an email to some about my sickness and in return, we received many words of encouragement through email and phone calls. If I spoke with you or emailed you during that time, please forgive any incoherent statements or mumblings made.

As for the clinic, we have had some very interesting and some very difficult cases recently. It seems the severity of illness that we are treating is increasing. There have been an increasing number of extra-pulmonary (outside the lung) cases of tuberculosis with some showing signs of being resistant to our current supply of medications. I will discuss this more in one of our future newsletters. Some of our sickest heart and lung problems would certainly be hospitalized in the USA but we struggle to manage them through the clinic since hospitalization would certainly deprive them of many of the resources they need for food, shelter and the necessities of life.

One of our biggest blessings this month was the arrival of our ultrasound. This equipment came from the same hospital closure in Illinois that also provided us with an EKG recently. The ultrasound was so large that it had to be crated and shipped separately from the smaller items. In God’s perfect timing and planning, a non-profit group with world-wide logistics connections offered to ship our ultrasound here free of charge. This hospital quality ultrasound will provide a great benefit to our patients. The various imaging transducers will allow us to perform 2-dimensional echocardiograms (heart images), obstetric measurements (for the moms to be), abdominal and soft tissue imagines (such as liver, gallbladder, kidneys, etc).





Our equipment is first off the shipping container.










The packing crate was so big we had to disassemble it just so we could put the Ultrasound on the truck.













Finally on our truck and ready to head back to the clinic!

Isda anyone?

This morning I was awakened at 6:15 by a man walking down the street shouting "Isda.....Isda.....Iiiiiss-daaa". It is not uncommon for us to have salesmen walking down our street announcing their wares, but this was a little earlier than normal. So what type of things are for sale? you ask. Of course we have the Filipino version of the ice cream man, which is either a young boy carrying a Styrofoam cooler slung across his shoulder filled with ice cream, or a bike type push cart that plays a song as it rolls, but we also have other goodies for sale as well. Anything from Ice cream to balut (a Filipino delicacy consisting of a half formed duck egg), to men carrying foam mattresses to plastic ware and of course isda--which is Tagalog for fish. My thought at 6:15 am was-"Who wants fish at 6:15 in the morning?" Quickly followed by the thought--"Of course- fish is a breakfast food here". I am sure someone took the fish vendor up on his offering of fish and right now they have cleaned and cooked that fish and are sitting down to a nice breakfast of fish, eggs, and of course rice. As for me, I will just stick to my toast. After awaking a few minutes early this morning, I woke up the kids for the last day of school. I then decided to lay back down for "just a minute since I don't have to fix lunches." The next thing I knew the kids ride was here and they weren't ready to go. There was no lunch to fix or backpacks to pack. Yet, for the first time this year, they were not ready when their ride showed up. Will didn't even have a shirt on because he could not find his uniform and Emily had not even begun to de-snarl her hair. I quickly helped them finish up and get out the door. What a way to end the school year.

addition to the above blog: It is now 7:20 and it just dawned on me why the kids were late in getting ready for school and the reason I was awakened by the Fishmonger. We normally wake up at 6:00 not 6:30. No wonder the kids couldn't get ready by 6:45. Ooops! Do you ever have those little mental moments?

Fresh Pineapple!

The weather has cooled off a little since last weekend's typhoon. The rains have come and the clouds have kept it from being quite so hot. This afternoon(Sunday), Will, Emily, WAGs, and I enjoyed being out in the back yard. Will was busy doing his "workout" which consists of swinging, running laps around the yard, 50 pushups, chinups, and climbing up a rock wall. He began having a workout routine in Greenwood, where he also used hand weights. He is so funny when he does this. He says he wants to get big and strong. Emily spent her time visiting with the baby bunnies and swinging. WAGs spent his time chasing Will or the Nelsen's dog. Our yard is on a large slope and so the back yard is terraced. As I was sitting at the top of some stairs leading to a lower level I noticed something growing in what I had thought was just a tropical bush or plant. In the center was a cute little pineapple. How do you grow pineapples? Cindy told me that you cut the green part and about an inch off the top of a fresh pineapple and plant it. It takes 9 months to mature. I guess this pineapple was planted shortly after we arrived. One of the things we like about living here is eating fresh pineapple. I usually buy one each week-- my favorite variety is Dole super gold. It is very sweet and smells really good. There are many varieties, but this is one of the more expensive. It costs only a dollar a piece so we bite the bullet and get our favorite. I think over the next few weeks I will plant some more pineapple tops. I will let you know in 9 months how they turn out.

Emily checking out the pineapple

Will and our pineapple

This young coconut tree was planted when our house was built about 5 years ago.

One day it will provide some shade for Will's swingset

Our boy!

I just thought I would post this picture of Will. A friend took this picture of him at school and sent it to me today. I thought it was really good. He has changed so much since we moved here. The kids are growing up so quickly!

Our first Typhoon!

Well we have survived it--our first typhoon. Early Saturday morning a catagory 1 typhoon passed through. We knew it was coming from the news, but I am not sure I really believed it. We had done a little prep work of filling buckets with water and bringing some chairs in off the balcony. About 3:30 in the morning the winds began to really blow outside so Allan and I got up and shut all the windows in the house. Shortly after, the power went off.

The Philippines averages about 19 typhoons (a pacific hurricane) a year. I guess it is like snowfall in the US. When it snows a little down south, everything shuts down, but in the colder regions, it takes a blizzard. That is how it is here--like the northern US in winter. Emily's class was having a sleepover at school Friday night. No need to cancel that for some rain and wind. 8 am Saturday morning when she returned home, Jeepneys, trikes, and people were out in the rain going about their business. People went on with lives and work like it was just a long summer shower. Power outages are not rare here so even that didn't seem to slow anyone down. The grocery store just fired up their generator and continued business as usual.

As for the Gilmer clan, we stayed home and enjoyed the cool breezes that blew. It was a great day for me to curl up on the screen porch with WAGs and a book. Allan did do a little work on our generator and finally got it going in the afternoon. It ran for about 4 hours so we could didn't lose the food in the fridge. We also had one light for a couple hours in the evening. It turned out to be a nice relaxing day. By Sunday morning power was restored and it was off to church for Mother's Day! We went out to eat with another family afterwards and it was like nothing had happened. We are still having really cool weather. I hope it last, but know it won't so I will enjoy it now!

More Slumber Party Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from Friday night's big event!

Eating Pizza!

Hanging out on our roof!

We have a flat roof with a metal spiral staircase leading up to it. The kids love to play up there. Emily and Will often ride scooters there. I avoid it usually because I hate climbing down the spiral staircase.

The girls brought baby powder to make their faces white and "scare" the boys

Will's class

Last night our house was full. Will's class of 13 came to our house for a sleepover. He has an exceptionally sweet group of kids in his class and so his teacher wanted to do something really special as they wind down the school year. It began as soon as school was out with a couple hours of swimming at Faith. After that, everyone piled into our van and Mrs Brooks car and headed over to our house. The kids organized themselves into a game of capture the flag while we waited for pizza to be delivered. After dinner, we watched the original Little House on the Prairie movie from the tv series. The class has just finished reading "Little House in the Big Woods" and studying the American pioneer era. They were sufficiently worn out by this time to fall asleep just after 10. Boys stayed down stairs and the girls stayed in Emily's room.

It was great fun and the kids were all so well behaved. One of the nicest moments of the day came just before bed. He Min (aka Joy), a little girl from Korea, closed our day in prayer. This year, Mrs. Brooks has really encouraged the kids to pray in the language they feel most comfortable using when talking to God. It is good for those who do not speak English as a first language to feel free to pray in class in their "heart language". So Joy ended our day by praying first in Korean and then in English. It was very sweet. I wouldn't normally have 13 kids over to spend the night, but we have loved this class this year. It has been such a good class for Will to be in. He has made some great friends.

more WAGs Tails

A funny thing happened tonight. WAGs went into the closet in the office. There is an old mirror in there and it really freaked him out. His hair stood up on his back and he began barking at himself. Allan and I had a little fun with him. Al pulled the mirror out and WAGs kept circling it looking for the other dog behind the mirror. It was really cute. I am not sure he ever got it. Al and I are such exciting people that we can be so easily entertained by a dog. It reminds me of the days when Emily was a baby and we spent all our time watching her do exciting things like bat a toy hanging above her head- not that she in anyway reminds me of a dog.

Who's that in the mirror?

"Where did he go?"

Happy Birthday to me!

Today was my first birthday spent in a foreign country and it was declared a national holiday. The kids were off from school and we went for a swim in the afternoon. Later we had a cookout with the Nelsen's and another family. It was a lot of fun and good fellowship! It was nice that a holiday was declared in my honor. They called it Labor day, but I really know the truth! (Funny how in the US people have a hard time remembering if Labor day is in May or Sept)

For my birthday, Emily baked her first cake. She got the recipe out of an old American Girl magazine that belonged to Anna, who lived here before us and is now around 20. It was really easy and the taste wasn't too bad, but it wouldn't win any contests. I think Em was proud of herself, but a little disappointed in the taste. I explained to her that the recipe has a lot to do with how good something is and a cake recipe that lacks eggs, lacks a lot. I was so proud of how good she did with no help. We had a great laugh when I told her about the first time I made a macaroni cassarole for Allan's dinner as a young newlywed. I didn't know you were supposed to cook the macaroni first. Oops! It was a little crunchy. I think she was glad my cooking skills have come a long way. Anyway I am now....well I am not going to announce my age on the internet. Those of you who love me know how young I am.

Emily's cake with a beautiful flower candle!

Another Way to Beat the Heat!

Have I told you we are in love? Will's new dog has stolen our hearts. He is so fun and cute! He is a little obsessive compulsive though. He really loves his ball. He has 2 of them-one inside and one outside. He almost constantly has one of them in his mouth. He really loves for you to throw it so he can retrieve it for you. Will loves this since the Nelsen's dog, Bonnie and his Nana's dog never really seemed to get the concept of fetch. Will would throw the ball and they would run away with it. WAGs on the other hand brings it back and places the slobbery thing in your hand to throw again. He can play this game for hours and after 2 months has yet to lose one of his balls. If only the kids were so careful with their toys!

Chasing a ball all day tends to make WAGs a little hot, so what does he do to cool off? Well...We have a fountain in our front yard--or what used to be a fountain, but until recently has just used by the dogs as a large water bowl. Last week, WAGs started sticking his head under the water. He has always loved a bath and the cool feeling he gets afterwards so I guess he decided to get that feeling more than once a week at bathtime. Soon this wasn't good enough though. If sticking your head under water makes you feel cool, surely getting your whole body wet would be better. So WAGs now takes time each day to sit in his "little pool". He loves it. The kids like throwing rocks the size of their fists in the water and watching him search and rescue the rock. He is so cute blowing bubbles. WAGs has certainly taken to water and probably wished we had a lake he could take a dip in each day. There are days I would gladly join him in his "little pool" if only it were bigger!

Go fetch WAGs!

Hot season #2

April and May are not only the hottest months here in the Philippines, but also the driest. The lack of rain causes things to be even dustier and dirtier than usual. Things begin to turn brown and leaves fall off the trees. A common practice here is to burn debris that falls onto yards and streets or even whole sections of grasses, not just in hot season, but all year long. Often the smell of something burning hangs in the air. All of this burning combined with the high levels of pollution causes a high percentage of people to suffer from asthma and breathing related illnesses.This is a common problem among many of our patients. One of the things I have had to learn to use at the clinic is the nebulyser. Inhalers are also a common treatment. I always love hearing Allan and Scott explain in Tagalog how to use the inhaler. The word for puff in Tagalog is boomba. I wonder if people find English words funny sounding when they are learning our language?

In another couple of months, the rains will come, and for a brief moment the air will feel cleaner. Unfortunately, it will rain and rain and rain then everything will begin to grow mold. We've lived through that season though so maybe we will begin to get used to the seasons of the Philippines.

"How's the weather?"

For us, the answer to that question is almost always "hot", just the degree of hotness varies. For the Filipino, it actually feels cold at times. Back in January, Filipinos and kids at Faith who have grown up here, were wearing sweat shirts while the Gilmers still wore sleevless shirts and shorts. It is now officially hot season though! April and May are the hottest months of the year here in the Philippines. This afternoon about 4, I checked the weather channel online, it said the temp in Manila was 95, but it "feels like 102". I will agree with that. While the temps rarely get above 96, the humidity, the proximity to the equator, and lack of central air make it feel just plain hot. So, how do people here deal with the heat? Well, as we drive through the squatter areas near our home, we see naked little kids running around and bathing in plastic tubs to cool off. Any sourse of water becomes a pool or sprinkler. Around the house, men and boys are without shirts, women wear loose house dresses or shorts and sleeveless shirts. (Although, when out in public, a Filipina always wants to look her best--this means pants or jeans for women regardless of temps.) Even though there is not a rain cloud in sight people carry umbrellas to provide relief from the sun.

For us, we tend to have our fans running all day. We also tend to take 2 showers, one in the morning and another just before bed. These days we rarely even try to get hot water to come out of the tap. The cold has a nice warm feel, especially in the evening. The other afternoon when Allan washed his hands at clinic the water was actually hot! The water at the clinic comes from a storage tank. Most Filipinos (including some missionaries and weathier Filipinos) get their water from a water truck that pumps it into storage tanks usually placed on the roof. We are fortunate to have a a deep well pump here in the neighborhood that usually brings water into our house. The clinic is too high in the neighborhood to get much water from the pump, which is why we rely on the tanks there. Since we have moved here, we have often had sporatic periods of low or no water. There seems to be little rhyme or reason to this, nor any warning. Sometimes the lower we go in our house (it's 3 stories) the more water we can get, so we can take our shower on the first floor. We also have water storage tanks on the roof in case we get desperate and choose not to wait for the water to come back on or don't want a bucket bath. We can flip a lever and the water from the tanks will flow out of the water taps in the house. We haven't used it yet, but I am sure sometime after a typhoon we will have to.

So, we are now at about the halfway point of "summer" or hot season and so far it hasn't been too bad. Those years in middle Georgia and Augusta have prepared us well! The good news is while you are sweating this summer we will actually be a little cooler than most places in the South. Of course winter never comes so I'm not sure it is an actual win.

3...2...1... BLAST OFF!

Emily's teacher enjoys building rockets each year with his class. Even though he is the Social Studies teacher and not the Science teacher for the 5th grade, his class gets extra science and math as they learn about rockets. Last Saturday we got up bright and early to drive to a big field in Makati and shoot off some great rockets the kids had built. One rocket had a camera in the nose. We haven't seen that picture yet, but the kids can hardly wait for it to be developed. We drew a crowd of Filipino workers at the nearby construction site and the street cleaning crew. It was a BLAST!

We have lift off!
Emily is in the hot pink shorts

Mr. Kuiken and some of the class rockets

Field Day

This week was a short week for the kids due to Easter, so Wednesday, the last day of school for the week, was Field Day. The kids enjoyed the track and field events. Will continues to pick up some speed as he gets taller. He did well in the running events. Emily surprised me by being really good at the hurdles. She first ran individually over a set of lower hurdles. The next race was against 4 girls and they used higher hurdles (you can see them at the edge of the picture of Will running). Em's form was great and she took the hurdles with ease not knocking over one. At the last hurdle, she was in first place. Unfortunately that is where trouble arose and she caught a foot in the hurdle and took a tumble. The kids had fun, but it was HOT! I understand why they have field day in April and May in the US. It is a little hard to run bundled up in a winter coat, but here it is the hottest time of the year. We could have had this in January and still worn shorts. We did go to the Faith pool after school and enjoyed cooling off with the other kids and moms. It was a popular place.


Emily and Will take off on the long jump

Preparing for the shot put

50 years of Faith!

Faith Academy

located just outside Metro Manila

This year Faith Academy celebrates 50 years of educating the children of missionaries. This boarding school has played an important part in the spread of the gospel not just in the Philippines, but Southeast Asia as parents are able to provide a quality education for their kids. Today marked a special day in the life of the school that has become an important place in the life of our kids (who are day students). After many years of prayer, the school broke ground today on a new Auditorium/classroom complex. Until recently this event loomed far on the horizon, but thanks to a donation from a Korean Church in California, it is now becoming a reality. It will hopefully be completed in time for the 2007 graduation. Those of you who have ever sat crammed in a hot unairconditioned gym in July will be able to aprreciate that the school will finally have airconditioning not only for graduation, but school plays, band concerts, etc. Emily was thrilled that one of her classmates was chosen to represent the elementary school by swinging a sledge hammer in the demolition of a small maintenance building. The picture below shows her class on a back hoe at the ground breaking.

How old?

I always love the little ones who come to the clinic. The preschoolers are my favorite. They usually speak no English and therefore I am forced to speak Tagalog to them. Unfortunately sometimes my attempts at language with kids are met with a blank stare. In case your worried that my Tagalog is that bad, well it probably is, but Scott who is darn near fluent often gets the same blank stares. The babies on the other hand do not care what language you speak to them. They smile and coo at me in the way only babies can (except for the ones who scream as I try to take their temp). Last Friday, Allan had a sweet little baby boy come in for a re-check. He was one who really didn't want me messing with him. After all, I did rudely awaken him from a nap to weigh him and then pinned his arm to his side to take his temp. I tried hard to get his pulse-ox (oxygen level), but Allan said the measurement wasn't correct because the value would have meant he was close to death.
By the time the baby was seen by Allan he was awake and alert and gave me such sweet smiles and giggles. After his initial exam, I went with Allan to the "pharmacy" to help him fill meds. Most of the time Allan and Scott know exactly what medicine(s) they need and the filling of the prescription is easy, but sometimes they stand looking at the meds trying to decide what should be the course of action. This was such a case. Questioning Al about what was wrong with the baby, he replied "he probably has congestive heart failure." What I thought was a 5-6 month old baby turns out to be an 18 month old toddler. His condition, most likely combined with poor nutrition, has delayed his growth and development. It also explained the blue-grey color of his skin especially his hands and feet. It is a condition that probably could have been corrected through surgery in the US, but lack of health insurance and cash make even diagnosing his condition tough.

Go Dawgs!

I bet you are wondering why the title of the post seems to be a cheer for our college rival. This actually started out to be an email to 2 of our dear friends and ardent University of Georgia fans, but I thought others might also like to see a picture I took at clinic last Friday.

Do you ever wonder what happens to all those clothes donated to Goodwill and the Salvation Army? Wonder no more- some of them obviously make it to foreign shores. Often, we see our patients and others out in the community wearing clothes that seem out of place. Friday one of our patients had on a Myrtle Beach t-shirt. I am not sure he even knows where Myrtle Beach is; let alone has been there. We have a picture that Larry Holmes took out in the tribe of a man wearing an Atlanta Braves t-shirt. I can honestly say this guy was probably not pulling for the Braves to win the World Series. I actually enjoy seeing little bits of home here and there on Filipinos and it usually makes me smile. Such was the case on Friday. After seeing the Myrtle Beach shirt, I took the vital signs and did a urinalysis for Casimira. It was a few minutes before I realized there was a UGA Bulldog on his faded red baseball cap. It immediately made me think about our friends Steven and Kathryn--well really Steven who loves UGA so much that his whole wardrobe is black and red. I was wishing he could see it. I was so thankful the Nelsen's camera was at the clinic and I could snap a couple of pictures to send him.

As is often the case, what began as a fun or happy moment at the clinic, did not end that way. You see Casimira is sick and can't afford the treatment he needs at a local hospital. Being the sole supporter for a wife and 7 kids, he doesn't feel he can even afford the blood tests that would enable us to treat him for a related health problem- tests that run about $5. Can you imagine not being able to afford a $5 blood test? People respond to the bad news we sometimes have to share in different ways. Some act like what they have been told was nothing more than having a cold, while others break down. It always breaks my heart when they cry. This was the case for Casimira. Caught in a situation that looks like a dead end, he sobbed. It is at times like this that I understand why Allan and Scott don't try to see 45 patients each during clinic. The clinic is about more than passing out medicine and bandaging wounds, it is about ministering to the emotional and spiritual needs of the soul. Casimira puts a face on our ministry here. Please pray for him as he struggles with tough decisions in the coming weeks. Also pray for us that we would remember that our clinic is about more than medicine.

Happy 11th Birthday Emily!

There were familiar sounds in our house Saturday night-- Sounds of girls giggling instead of sleeping. Emily had 2 friends over to spend the night for her birthday. 3 girls who come from3 very different backgrounds--Jaina is an MK(missionary kid) who is the child of an MK and has spent most of her life living overseas in Paupa New Guinea and the Philippines. Keisha is the daughter of a Filipino businessman who has grown up in the PI and is a new student at Faith this year. Emily of course is a small town southern girl new to the Philippines. It is amazing that 3 girls from such diverse backgrounds can be such good friends. They have bonded well at school this year. It hasn't hurt that 2 of them were new to Faith.

On Sunday morning we got up early, attended church and then went ice skating. Emily has been looking forward to this since we moved here. She says she is the only girl in her class who has never been. She was supposed to go skating for Jaina's birthday in February, but that was the weekend of the big coup attempt and State of Emergency so they stayed closer to home, much to Emily's dismay. So what was Emily's first birthday in the tropics?? Ice Skating! Who would have guessed?

Emily wearing a sweatshirt and jeans for the first time in almost a year!

Taking the scenic route

Here is a picture of a truck we saw on our way home from church Sunday. Some time while we were at church, it got stuck under an overpass walkway. As of Tuesday afternoon when I went to pick up the kids from school, it was still there blocking two lanes of traffic on one of the most heavily congested roads in our area.

On a different note- summer has arrived! The temps inside the house are hitting about 91 everyday. It will be interesting to see if they get even higher towards the end of April. Enjoy those last winter days and the coming of Spring while we endure the dog days of summer! I think we are going to cool off in the new Faith pool this evening after dinner. Aaahh what a treat!

Star Gazing----again

One of the things I like to do here at night, is to step out on the balcony and look at the small twinkling lights of the city of Albang across Laguna de Bay and the star above. If I have alot of energy, I will even take the winding staicase up to the roof and see the whole expanse of the sky. Being so close to a mega metropolis we shouldn't be able to see many stars, but if you remember from my post about Orion, there is a hill that blocks the city of Manila from view so on a clear night, the stars fill the sky. (Ok it probably isn't like being on the prairie in Kansas, but it is as good as Greenwood, SC.) As I stepped out on the balcony last night, the sky was beautiful. I looked up trying to find my friend Orion. He wasn't there. I don't know if he is gone for a while or is just coming out at a different time. It was as I turned SW toward Alabang that I saw it for the first time---the Southern Cross. Thanks to the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song from my childhood. It is the only constellation I know that is in the S. hemisphere and can't be seen from the US. After the Orion post, our good friend Rob emailed us and asked if we could see the Southern Cross. Of course this meant I had to go online and research if we even had a possibility of seeing it. The answer was yes--it is visible anywhere below a latitude of 20. Since we are at about 13 degrees that includes us. So there it was--a cross in the sky. It was beautiful and bright sitting just above the trees. The main line from that song kept running through my mind-- "When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way." It was such a good reminder to me that we are to be like that cross shining forth in the night sky; a beacon in the darkness of the Philippines to lead others to Christ. Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in the frustration of learning Tagalog, the visible physical problems of our patients, and the dailyness of life that I forget our main goal and purpose in all of these things is Christ. While the medical work we do here is valid and fills a big need, it is only a temporary bandaid. Christ can heal those we come in contact with from the disease of sin that eats at the soul. So I guess I have a new friend in the sky, a visible reminder of why we have come this way. It would be so much easier to pack up and head "home", but Christ has called us to shine in the darkness, to guide those on the seas of life toward His port of salvation.















Here are some images I got off the internet of the Southern Cross

Spring Break!

Like most kids in the US, many of the kids at Faith Academy long to go to the beach for Spring Break. Fortunately, we are surrounded by beaches here in the Philippines. We have been on Spring Break for the last week (In actual fact it is summer from now until the end of May) and we took our first trip to a Filipino beach. We decided on Puerto Galera on the Island of Mindoro. This is a popular place with a lot of the missionaries who live near us because it is 1.somewhat close and easy to get to and 2.relatively inexpensive. We left home at 5 am last Tuesday to drive to Batangas. In Batangas we caught a banka(boat) to Talipanan Beach in Puerto Galera. Talipanan Beach is quiet cove with a few "hotels" and 3 restaurants. These are not high rises or condos, but each has 10 or so rooms. We stayed at the Bamboo House. A very tropical looking place. We enjoyed eating on the porch and swinging in the hammock. Our room was nothing spectacular. Definitely not a 4 star place- I'm not sure it was even 1 star. Probably not the accommodations we would take our parents to. We had 2 small beds and a bathroom with cold water. The shower was a shower head that wet the whole bathroom and with the sink next to it, it was the water source for both shower and sink. Since we didn't spend much time in our room I guess this was OK especially since the price was only $10 a night.
Outside was a gorgeous beach filled with smooth rocks and blue green waters similar to the beaches off Destin, FL. Behind us the land was lush and green and became mountainous. With just a few hotels, we felt very isolated in our own little paradise. This meant we had to eat all our meals at the 3 restaurants and we were tired of their fare by weeks end, but we did enjoy pizza at the authentic Italian place run by an real Italian--Luka.
The ocean water was clear and not too rough so the kids enjoyed frolicking in the surf. This is the South China Sea and surprisingly a little nippy. Just off shore, there were a couple of rocks home to some tropical fish. We made our first ventures into snorkeling there. On Wednesday, we went with another family by small banka to snorkel on a large coral reef. It was like swimming with the cast of "Finding Nemo". We saw clown fish, blue tangs, striped angel fish, Moorish idol fish, butterfly fish, and many others that we don't know the names of, plus anemones and coral. Some of the highlights were: a baby octopus, an eel, a snake, a couple of different starfish including a blue starfish. We decided we love snorkeling. I knew Em would like it, but the snorkeling award goes to Will who took to snorkeling like a duck takes to water. He caught on to breathing through the snorkel quickly and we had to watch him like a hawk as he showed no fear in following wherever the fish led--even out to the deep sea.
There were many other families from Faith there so the kids enjoyed having friends to swim and play with. Emily's teacher was also there and Em enjoyed talking and swimming with him outside of school. We returned home Saturday very tired and not too pink. We learned the first day that our regular plan for sun protection would have to be stepped up a notch. At 13 degrees above the equator, the sun is much more brutal than in Georgia. We learned quickly to reapply sunscreen often to our pasty white bodies. Still everyone has a patch of burn in strange places that were overlooked or rubbed off on day 1. After the first day we also took to staying inside or in the shade from 11:00 until 2:00 or 3:00. All in all it was a great trip. If you would like to see more pictures, you can check them out on our website at http://www.philippinemission.com/SpringBreak2006.html
Ginger

The crisis has passed!

I know you have all been concerned about us in light of our recent post. You will be comforted in knowing that the terrible situation in which we have found ourselves for the last 6 weeks has been rectified. I am not referring to the current political mess, which is still simmering just below the surface, but the current milk crisis I refered to in my recent post about shopping. This crisis now seems to be passed. Yesterday, at the Santa Lucia grocery store, after at least a 6 week deficiency, there was a whole section of Harvey Fresh skim milk. The kids were so thrilled! I bought 10 - 1 litre boxes just in case a shortage should arise again any time soon. You can do that with milk that just sits on a shelf and has an expiration date somewhere in the next decade. In case you are wondering Harvey Fresh is imported from Australia where they also process and sell fresh milk. No milk cows here means no fresh milk in the PI. While this is not tragic for me, Allan and the kids long for a glass of "real" milk. This milk is ok in cereal and baking, but no one in our family just fixes themself a glass to go with their chocolate chip cookies or cake.

Will's new friend

Will is an animal lover. His 3 favorite animals have always been elephants, donkeys, and dogs. I remember as a little guy he used to tell us when he grew up he wanted to be a farmer and raise elephants. For as long as I can remember, he has been asking for one of these animals for a pet. Since we knew we would eventually be moving overseas, we have promised for years that he could get a dog when we got there. (notice we didn't just say pet because I really don't want a donkey and who can afford to feed an elephant) Well we have now been in the Philippines for 7 months, so it was time to make good on this promise. The Nelsen's dog Bonnie was pregnant and since Will loved her he had decided he would love to have one of her babies. Unfortunately, she did not carry them to term. So this weekend Will made a new friend that I hope will remain for the next 15 years or so. After waiting patiently for 9 long years, he is now the proud owner of a puppy! It is a 3 month old male that he has named....... WAG's Buddy. That stands for William Allan Gilmer's Buddy. We just call him WAGs. So far he seems to be a great dog and we are all in love. Will is beyond ecstatic!

WAGs

Will and WAGs romping in the yard!

More about shopping!

Ok I know I promised to tell you more about shopping, but instead of talking about it, I have been doing it. Last Friday I had to go on a mission for my Mom. Em's birthday is coming up and she wants my Mom to send her Bubble bath--"good bubble bath" Since bubble bath doesn't really fit well into a Global Priority Mail Envelope, I took up the task of seeing what I could find. This was easier said than done. After shopping at many places I finally found a small bottle at a store similar to Bath and Body works. The cost for 5 oz. bottle of rasberry scented bubbles--$12. OK so maybe not. The next place, where I found some, was a strange little store. It was about the size of your bathroom--OK so maybe not your Master bath, but the one in the hall that the kids use. There were shelves down each side with an asile only big enough for one. The outside wall of shelves had glass on one side so you could stand in the mall and browse. This store seemed to carry toiletry items imported from the US. But they only had one or 2 of each item like maybe they had bought some sort of odd lot. In the window of this store I saw 1 bottle of Mr. Incredible Bubble Bath--from the Disney movie a few years ago called The Incredibles. My guess is in the US they are currently selling Chicken Little or Narnia Bubble Bath. The price for this collectors item--$10. At least the price was going down and the bottle bigger. This bottle was probably about 24 oz. Finally at a store called Watson's I found what I was looking for-- 36 oz of Bubble bath for less than $2. Of course it may not be what Em calls "good bubble bath", but it will have to do. By the way, she thinks Mr. Bubbles produces the largest volume of bubbles; so if you ever come to visit and want to make her day just bring her a bottle or two of Mr. Bubbles bubble bath.

Sometimes we find the oddest things from the US in the stores. Last week at the Supermarket, I saw these beautiful hand painted bowls in the picture at the left. I really liked the bowls on display, but what really drew me was the box they came in said "Southern Living at Home". For those of you who aren't familiar with this, it is a home shopping party like Tupperware or Pampered Chef. They were so cute and less than a dollar for 2 bowls. The color was close enough to go in my kitchen that I couldn't resist. They also had a platter and serving bowl in the same pattern for less than $2. I knew if I left these there my sister-in-law would be appalled so I bought them too. We have beautiful cabinets in the kitchen with glass doors so my knew purchases look nice on display. I wonder why these few chosen items were on sale here. They said made in China so I am not thinking they were seconds. They are for sale in the current catalog so they aren't discontinued. I will probably never know why.

We often seem to have some strange items here. About the only salad dressing we can find is Kraft fat free. I know this is not because Filipinos are trying to cut back on fat in dressings. I am not sure the average Filipino even eats much salad. My guess is they weren't selling well in the US and they had a few too many. For a while, we also had Carb-well peanut butter on the shelf. The Atkins craze has not hit here, after all you would have to give up rice, so I am not sure why it is for sale here. During November, some stores started carrying a Sam's size box of a popular baking mix. Without naming names, it comes in a yellow box and youi use it to make bisqui... I mean biscuits. I of course purchased a box of this. After all I used it often at home for pancakes, waffles, and being a good southerner-biscuits. Obviously there was areason for the supply here. Someone must have accidently dropped the whole container of salt into the mix. I have tried a couple of different times to make something with it, but the taste is always too salty and terrible. I guess I my mom always says--I will just have to chalk that one up to experience.
So if you are ever wondering what becomes of today's hot new item that disappears from the selves a few months down the line--wonder no further. The extra stock has been shipped somewhere else so that 3rd wourld countries can enjoy it as well.

"Walang stock, Ma'am"

If there is one thing we have learned to count on here, it is not to count on stores having what you are looking for. Just because you bought vegetable shortening at a store before, doesn't mean they will have it today--even if you just bought it last week. That was one of my first experiences with this phenomenon. It took me months to find shortening after running out the first time. I think sometimes this occurs if it is an item which is imported and not commonly used by Filipinos. Many Filipinos do not have ovens or bake so why would they need shortening. Other times there must be a problem in production. There was a time when we could not find Coke Light (Diet) at any store. Those who know me well know of my addiction to diet coke. I had to switch to Pepsi Diet during this crisis. It wasn't too tragic as they both taste different from American Diet Coke. We finally discovered Pepsi Max as our favorite. Unfortunately it is now--"Walang stock"--out of stock.
In the 7 months we have lived here, I have developed some items of brand loyalty. I still buy Heintz ketchup which tastes the same as US heintz(this wasn't so in Kenya). I also always buy Best Foods Mayo. We like Hellmans in the US which is made by Best Foods and this is very similar in taste. I just have to make sure I pick up the "Real Mayonnaise" as opposed to the "Mayo Magic". The jars and coloring are exactly the same except the words. Believe me the taste is not the same.
We have taken to certain brands that are new to us. We like the Knorr seasoning--it is similar to say sauce, and any sauce by Lee Kum Kee. There are many items that I have not established a certain brand that I buy everytime. A lot of times this is because I either #1. didn't purchase this product in the US or #2. none of them taste like what we are used to. Milk falls into this #2 category. The milk we buy is all UHT or shelf milk imported from Australia. It can sit on a shelf in our pantry until opened. None of it is great. The kids like Harvey Fresh though so we have been buying that until...... you guessed it--"Walang stock Ma'am". We found 9 boxes about 3 weeks ago and bought them all. They are all gone now and still none to be seen at any of the stores where we shop. Last week I bought 3 different brands for everyone to try and give their opinion of. Cowshead was the new milk of choice. Yesterday when I went to the Supermarket, guess how many they had?--One! You just have to laugh about these things and accept it as just the way it is. I wanted to tell you more about shopping here, but I have gone on long enough. I want to tell you about products imported fromt the US. I guess I will tell you about that tomorrow.
Happy Shopping!

the winds of change

Allan and I recently discussed how we think the family is adjusting to living here in the Philippines. Everyone appears to be happy, but if during the current political uprising they were to throw us out, I am not sure there would be many tears. So I was a little surprised yesterday with a comment made by Will. I was trying to catch a few headlines on Fox News. The Fox News channel is a live feed from the US and often there are strange things on during our day (the US night). This was definitely true on Saturday afternoon. The guest of this news interview was the head of a group that would like to form a Christian nation in South Carolina. The words at the bottom of the screen read--"All Christians to move to South Carolina". I know that if Em had been here, she probably would have headed off to pack her suitcase. Thank goodness she was off swimming at a birthday party. During this story though, Will came into the room to chat and after a few minutes noticed these words on the TV. His response--"Awww, do we have to move back to South Carolina? I haven't spent enough time with Lawrence and my new friends yet." I was so surprised that I couldn't even answer him. This wasn't Idaho or Nebraska--places he's never been, but his former home state that he loves. I guess that tells us more than anything else that Will is adjusting to life here. I felt a little torn-- of course I was very happy that he is happy and content a world away from "home", but also a little sad that one day that will no longer be his "home". He will return to the US and long for a place that currently seems to us a little strange and different. I just didn't think it would begin to happen so soon.

Top 10 things to do during a State of Emergency or coup attempt

10. Brush up on your small arms identification skills
9. Drive through roadblocks with a wave and a smile to the guards
8. Learn new Tagalog words for political instability
7. Review your favorite verses in the Bible about God being in control of everything
6. Setup your email to auto-respond with “Yes, we are OK”
5. Write a blog about fun things to do during a coup attempt
4. Make sure you have enough coffee in the house to outlast a coup attempt
3. Pray for your country because real lives and livelihoods are at stake
2. Minister to the poor of metro Manila as always

and the number one thing to do during a State of Emergency or coup attempt . . .
1. Send your kids off to their friends and enjoy a date with your wife

Why can't Tagalog be more like English?

Why can't Tagalog be more like English ? ! . . . Adapting as a missionary means, among other things, learning a new language. For the past few months, this has been our struggle. Learning, trying, misunderstanding, mis-speaking, and often provoking laughter at our expense. This is my first experience learning a new language. What I am learning is that language involves much more than the direct interpretation of the words said - - in my mind, I knew this to be true. I certainly have been told this in our preparation for missionary service. But now . . . now it is more than "in my mind". It is a daily part of life, trying to understand more than what words are being spoken but also what is meant by those words. In the few months of language study, I have gained some grammer skills, a moderate amount of vocabulary, and even some cultural viewpoints. Now, with a basic sentence, I can generally "reverse-engineer" the sentence into an English sentence. Whether that English sentence means the same as the Tagalog sentence is a completely different thing.

Scott tells the story of a fellow missionary who was studying Tagalog at the same time as him. This missionary's favorite quote was "Why can't Tagalog be more like English"? I am learning the answer: Because it simply is not English and sometimes you just can't state the same thought in English terms.
posted by Allan

Are the stars out tonight?

This time last year, the kids and I were studying astonomy during school; in particular stars and constellations. One thing I miss about homeschooling is teaching the Science and Social Studies. I think I always learned more than the kids. Before our space xploration, I could find the little and big dipper, but that was about it.
One cold night in February, we took a family outing to the planetarium at USC in Columbia. While the planetarium show was great, afterwards they opened up the obsevation tower and telescope. It was a clear cold South Carolina night and so we saw all kinds of planets and stars through the telescope. The professor then took us out on the observation deck and showed us how to find different constellations. It was then that I was introduced to a new friend--Orion. There he was in the sky, the mightly hunter. I enjoyed seeing him throughout the spring. Unfortunately, seasons change and Orion moved to his summer home while we moved to the Philippines.
The stars shine in the Philippines too, but with pollution and lights, the stars aren't very visible in Metro Manial. Thankfully we are outside of the city and we have a hill blocking most of the city lights from our house. Often the sky is deep and dark and the stars are bright and beautiful here. Some evenings I enjoy going out onto the balcony or the roof and looking at the stars. It was in late December that I saw my friend again. There in the night sky, bow raised in the hunt was Orion. Being in the northern hemisphere, I shouldn't have been surprised to see him, but I was. I was more than surprised, I was overcome. It made me feel closer to home to think that the same stars lighting up the sky here tonight will soon shine above my parents house in Pine Mountain, GA. So if you find yourself outside on one of these cold winter nights, look up. There is a friend of mine up there. When you see him, pray for us and remember we aren't too far away from you.
Ginger

Mudslides in the Philippines

The Philippines is plagued with natural disasters in many forms from typhoons to volcanoes to earthquakes, but none seem to be quite as tragic and deadly as the mudslides. Unfortunately in many ways they are a by-product of the other disasters. Yesterday a whole town slid down a mountain into a pile of mud, sludge, and rubble below. Almost all of a town of 2,000 is presumed dead, including all the young children at the local elementary school.

It seems in recent years the world has gone from one natural disaster to another. How many times can we watch destruction in a land far from our own and not become numb to those images? Unfortunately those images in the last 24 hours have been from a land far from the US, but one that has become our home. The faces of women and men being pulled from the mud look like the faces of our neighbors and friends. Although many islands South East of us, it could have just as easily been down the street. As the news moves from the town of Guinsaugon on Leyte island to other parts of the world, please remember to pray for the families who have lost loved ones.

In an aside from the above tragedy, the island of Leyte played a famous role in American history. In 1944, the waters off Leyte island were the scene of the biggest naval battle in history. General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his promise "I shall return" and defeated Japanese forces occupying the Philippines. You can see more about this at http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Leyte/

A whole new language--part 2

Scott reminded me last night that I left off the most obvious addition to our new expressions. I hate to tell you this, but we no longer use the bathroom. Here in the Philippines we go to the CR. In case you are wondering, that stands for comfort room. In a few years, we are going to have to go through some serious adjustments upon re-entry to the US. Can you imagine the looks I would get if I asked the local Greenwood Walmart stockboy where the CR is? Oh well hopefully the American terms will again flow from my mouth. As for now--"When in Rome...."

A whole new language

I find that we have a whole new language here in the Philippines. I am not referring to the obvious Tagalog, but the new English words and expressions we have picked up. Things that sounded strange and a little silly are beginning to come out of my mouth. I heard myself ask Emily this afternoon where my tsinellas were. Tsinellas (pronounced "chi" nillas) is the word for rubber flip flops. It is the shoe of choice for most Filipinos. It was also a word I thought I would never remember when we moved here. The kids and I keep a pair just inside each outside door. Being an Asia country, we almost always remove our shoes when we walk in the door so we keep a pair handy for those quick trips out into the yard or to the Nelsen's. Until recently I would have asked Em where my shoes or flip flops were. She is known to grab mine when hers are missing and she wants to run out--when did her feet get almost as big as mine??? Ok, so I freely admit I have also borrowed hers a time or too.

Besides tsinellas I also find my self referring to air conditioning as "the aircon". As in-- the "aircon" in our car really needs to be fixed before hot season arrives in full force. Hopefully that will be done next week.

The phrase that I have picked up that drives Allan crazy is calling the refrigerator "the ref". I really don't want to call it the ref, but I hear it so often that it just flys out of my mouth with out me having any say so over the matter. I am sure there are other things we have also picked up. There are a few mid-western phrases the Nelsen's use that I am sure to be saying before too long. Of course they may be "fixin' " to pick up a few of our southern-isms as well. Our accents seem to provide much entertainment and comments--not among the Filipinos, but among other missionaries.

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day. One of the great things about living in the Philippines is that I get to spend a good portion of each day with Allan. After the last 3 years of residency, this is one of the biggest changes in our lives. In was not uncommon during residency to only see Allan for 30-40 minutes during dinner on the days he was on call. But, the very nature of that environment breeds close relationships among the other wives of residents. I still miss all of our friends at Self Regional, alot of whom are now scattered across the US. Most nights we eat dinner with just the 4 of us instead of eating at the hospital with the other families. There are times during the last 3 1/2 years that I thought residency would never end, but that life seems a lot longer ago than the 6 months we've been here.
Most days, I get to spend most of it with Allan. I enjoy helping him in the clinic and eating lunch together. While we dislike the work involved in studying Tagalog, it has bonded us together and created many inside jokes and sayings. So yesterday, we enjoyed a nice lunch with Scott and Cindy for Valentine's Day. It was great to get out and have a fun date at the authentic Filipino restaurant---TGIFridays. Ok so maybe it isn't exactly Filipino, but it was Yummy!
In case your interested in an update on our weather, it seems our "winter" is coming to an end. While the US has been experiencing record snow falls in parts of the Northeast, the temps have returned back to the high 80s with very little breeze. I guess it's time to dig back out the hanky I carry to the clinic to mop the sweat off my face. I have to say, it was hard for me to wrap my mind around summer all year and so I brought a few long sleeved items just in case. While the kids have worn theirs, I have only worn my 3/4 length lightweight cotton shirt once and no long sleeves. As I stuck my favorite pair of sweat pants in a shipping box last year, Allan said that he wanted to see the day I wore them. I guess that day will not be this year. Maybe my blood will thin and by next January I will freeze just a little. I do miss wearing sweats and my twin sweater sets. I still feel like it is August.