WAR EAGLE!

I think this picture says it all...

Auburn- 20 Florida- 17

At this moment

Last week I posted a blog about the weather widget on my computer's desktop. Tonight as Allan and I were shutting down the computer and headed to bed, the temp in Pine Mountain, GA; Greenwood, SC; and Manila was exactly the same- a cool 79 degrees. It was really neat. Al doesn't see the excitement in it, but it was like at that moment we were at the same place as friends and family back home. Of course this is probably our low for the day and their high and most likely the humidity isn't 92% there, but it was cool to me. It's amazing the little things that thrill me. Well, I'm taking my wierd self off to bed.

By the way, be on the lookout for a gorgeous full moon tonight. We were driving home tonight about 6:30 and the moon was that great autumn harvest moon. Truly beautiful!

Pancakes anyone?

As a family, we really like pancakes. Often on Sunday nights, we will make pancakes for dinner. Usually, we are quite boring and have just plain pancakes, but I have been known to throw in a banana or a blueberry or two. One Sunday night a couple of weeks ago, Cindy brought us some pancakes topped with mangos, a coconut syrup she had make, and whipped cream. It was not your everyday pancakes and they were truly delicious. Filipinos also like pancakes. You can buy regular pancake mix in the store and then you can get adventurous pancake mix. How about some Pandan or Ube pancakes? Ube is a purple root crop similar to sweet potatoes. If you can get past eating something bright purple, they are actually quite nice. We have had Ube cake, Ube ice cream and Ube in the Philippine national desert-halo halo. So it isn't too far a stretch to have Ube pancakes I guess. Pandan on the other hand is a type of grass. The Nelsens used to make pandan tea. It was OK, but I would rather have some good ole Southern Louisianne. We brought some candy made with pandan back to the states this summer to share with some of our friends and family. Allan's remark was always--"Some things are meant to be experienced not necessarily enjoyed." Needless to say we won't be likely to try Pandan pancakes nor do I feel the need to eat Ube pancakes either. But who knows, maybe one day in the grocery store I will feel adventuresome and buy the Ube ones. I'll keep you posted. By the way the cost for this small box of mix is 28.50 pesos which is about 65 cents.

Another Change

General consensus has been that most people liked the old blog style better. Thanks for being honest and all the great input. I can't seem to get it back the way it was. Al set it up the first time so he may have to monkey with it, but until then, this is as close as I can come. Be honest....How do you like this one?

Tropics vs. electronics

This past summer has wreaked havoc on our electronic equipment in the clinic. Certainly, this is nothing new. As I have described before, our computer has suffered the vengeance of heat and humidity. Almost every component in our desktop computer with the exception of the Intel processor, the sound card, and the metal case has been replaced during the last 2 years.

While we were in the US, the clinic's HP ultrasound began to overheat and is no longer in use until we can modify it to allow cooler operation. Our brand new machine for doing "Complete Blood Counts" has also succumbed to some unknown error. We are now waiting on replacement parts to see if it can be made operational again. Not to be left out, the EKG would not turn on at all during a recent clinic.

These electronic gizmos are not a necessity in our clinic but they sure make life as a doctor a little easier (and cheaper for our patients). Pray for our electronic sidekicks that they would survive well ... and pray for our patience while we deal with these problems.

Fall is in the air

While we were home this summer, I got a new computer. I really like it and at the side of my screen sits a cool little gadget sidebar. You can have all kinds of neat widgets on it. I have a calendar, a little slide show of pictures we took in the states this summer and 3 rectangles that tell me the current temp with a cartoon picture of conditions in Manila, Greenwood, and Pine Mountain. I have really enjoyed this feature until yesterday. Here I sit at 4:45 PM in an outfit I have worn month after month for over 2 years. It gets worn week after week, month after month because we are in perpetual summer. It is cooler here today than it has been in recent days, but my computer tells me that at 4:45 am in Greenwood the temp is currently 58 degrees. Oh fall is coming to the upstate and we left just before its arrival. In another month the leaves will be in a full array of reds, yellows and oranges, and I won't see them. How sad! I guess I will have to take the kids to the pool one afternoon this week to make myself feel better. I love to swim so it's a good thing we can do that year round, but I do miss fall. I guess I better quit torturing myself and remove the US weather from my desktop before the weather really turns cool there.

A new Look

I thought after 2 years of blogging that our site needed a new look to keep things fresh. What do you think? Were you tired of the old one? Do you like the change?

The Best things...by Will

My mom wants me to write a blog about the best things I did this summer and what I like about being back in the Philippines.

The best things about being in the states: 1. playing with my cousins Laura and Beth (including on the computer-Webkinz) 2.visiting old friends and playing with them. 3. cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, cheeseburgers, Zaxbys, cheeseburgers, Chick-fil-a, and did I mention cheeseburgers! 4. being spoiled and loved by grandparents, 5. going out boating at Mimi's lake.

Good things about being back in the Philippines: 1. Seeing my friends (which I have yet to do) 2. seeing Maggie again 3. Having my own toys 4. more cheeseburgers at Wendy's 5. Homemade tortillas and tacos 6. having a huge yard and playing in it with Emily and Maggie. I guess that's it.

We're back

I know some of you must wonder if we really made it back to the PI or if we are stuck somewhere in Hong Kong. We did arrive back at 11:45 pm on Wednesday September 5. The rest of our trip to Manila was uneventful. We landed early, breezed through immigration, picked up our 8 bags and headed through customs. Emily was in the lead and led us to an empty line with a tired looking woman who just waved us on through, no questions asked. Lesson learned: I think we will always let Em be in the front. Filipinos seem to really love her. As we went out to meet our friend Raul, the sky opened up and so we had to load the car amidst a heavy downpour. It has been relatively dry and hot of late so the rain was much needed. We arrived home to working power, water, and gas, but typical--no phone or internet. It was unseasonably hot and humid the first week back, but heavy rains the last few days have begun to cool things off.

We have now been home just over a week. It has been a crazy time as I have begun homeschooling the children again. For many different reasons, we made the decision last spring to bring the kids home again. The kids are settling back in to a routine that was once familiar. Emily has seen a few friends and evevn been to a sleep over, but Will and I have developed bad colds and had to cancel a play date with his friends Sam and Lawrence. On Mondays we go to piano lessons and then we will go to the Faith library. Will has asked if he can eat lunch with his friends that day. So hopefully he will catch up with some guys on Monday.

I have many pictures I want to share, but they are all still on my camera up 2 flights of stairs and I just can't seem to remember to bring it down. Maybe tomorrow.

Nearing the Journey's End

The last 2 weeks or so have just flown by with last minute visits with friends and family. We are currently in the process of traveling between 2 worlds. This morning (actually yesterday morning I guess) I woke the kids up saying, "It's time to go home." Where is home? I'm not sure I can answer that question any more. In June we "came home" to the US and now we are returning "home" to the Philippines. Some friends in the PI have a picture in their house that says; "Home is wherever Christ leads me." That statement becomes truer the longer we travel down this path that God has led us on.


We really enjoyed our 10 weeks in the US. It passed way too fast. We got to visit with so many of our friends and family. It was great to see everyone. I will probably continue to post a few of those pics in the coming weeks.


We are about to start the final leg of a journey that began at 5:30 Tuesday morning. It has involved a drive to Atlanta; a flight to Newark, NJ; and a second 16 hour flight up over the N. Pole to Hong Kong. We are currently sitting in the Hong Kong airport waiting for our long day to end.

Here's a picture of how Will kills time waiting in Newark.

He is riding the people mover in a big circle-down one side and up the other. In this shot he is actually walking the wrong way so he doesn't move. It's like a big treadmill. He can entertain himself for hours this way. If it's not crowded, I'm all for letting him expend a little energy. Here in Hong Kong, he is playing his Nintendo DS while Emily is sleeping on across 2 seats. Not much energy left. Next stop--Manila