Narnia

Yes, we are a little behind, but we actually got to see this in a movie theater, with popcorn in our hands, and loved it!!!!! I can't wait until Judah is older so he can see it, too. All I can say, is "That was totally wicked!"

The girls

These are 'the girls', the ladies we see every week day of the year, except during August. The ladies who make us smile and grit our teeth. They make us cry, laugh, and want to tear our hair out. They have become our friends, sisters, and family. We love them dearly. And, this is one of the only picture we have of them really smiling. I love this picture and thought I should share it.

HOME

I have been taking some time this afternoon to pour over the magazine that arrived in my mail (POSTA!!!!) on Monday. Never mind that it was mailed two-n-a-half months ago. Never mind that it was supposed to get here closer to Christmas. Never mind that all of the articles, pictures, and recipes are for Christmas. I am so close to happy tears it is ridiculous. Isn't Mikayla beautiful? I think that about most all of Mary Engelbreit's 'friends'. And, this afternoon pouring over a "Home Companion" mag, with a warm cup of joe was so close to home!!! The final article was about the thing(s) that made the author feel like home. Hers was dishes, Blue Willow dishes - mine is Mary Engelbreit shtuff. I think maybe it is because it is what my mom liked (likes), or maybe because the fun, eclectic, artsy, kitschy, beautiful ways that ME works is the way that my mom, sisters, and me all work, too. Who knows, but it's like home. I open one of these magazines and everything else stops. I get a little short of breath when I look through the pages, as though a surprise waits on every page I turn. I pour through it and look through the pictures, and then I pour through it again and read every word (even the advertisements), and then I pour through it again! I feel inspired to make my home beautiful, to be industrious, to make gifts and special little treats for every person I know. I get excited about being a mommy and a wife. But, whatever it is that draws me, whatever it is that holds me, I think of home when I see ME shtuff. It's almost as good as walking into my mom's house. Or better yet, her hug (okay, flat out crying now!)!

Do you have something that makes you feel 'home'? What is it? Go get inspired by it right now!

Lately

1. Judah has ditched the 'two-nap day'. Boy, do I miss it!!!!
2. I'm obviously not pregnant this month, and I don't like the proof
3. I am teaching choir to kids who couldn't hit a note if their life depended on it, seriously!
4. I have been able to get one load away from catching up on laundry. I think it will be finished tomorrow.
5. I am truly thinking about not waiting until 18 months, and starting to potty train Judah now. I am tired of him getting mad at me cuz I need to change his diaper
6. It started raining today, and we got stuck in a mud hole tonight.
7. We got pulled out of the mud hole by a back hoe!
8. I had Turkish coffee at 7:30 PM at night! Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb!

Narrow is the road

we thought that is started getting skinny here.... but, we had no idea what was ahead...this wasn't supposed to be a ski trip...
or, maybe it was?!?!?!
To sum it all up, the normal border crossing was closed so we decided to take this other road, which was beautiful, if a little worrisome! We made it there, and made it back with a whole lot of adventure, talks, hand-holding, laughing, and fun, in between.

so excited

Danny and I are going to Skopje for the night tomorrow. He surprised me by having a friend take Judah for the night!!!!! First time in 16 mos and 24 days!!!!

Late Night Conversations

Dan: That would be awesome if I could klep a class at Ohio State, but I don't think that have any test during December. That's when we'd probably go to visit my family.

Amber: nope, it's Christmas at my family's this year, and we'll be in big trouble if not mumbling: well, not really, but kinda, yeah

Dan: I thought we were at your family's last year!

Amber: no, remember, this year we were here, and the year before we were at your family's. Judah was two months old, and Ken and the kids came...?

Dan wanders off...

Amber: yeah, I'm sure of it. I remember my family circled all around Judah at Thanksgiving.

Dan: so we were at your family's both times?

Amber: (quizically) Am I saying something wrong?

Dan: (chuckling at his mistake) no

Bigfoot

excuse the messy room in the background...

Leftovers

Cleaned out my regrigerator the other day...won't even guess what some of the stuff was...I know one thing was leftover from Thanksgiving...had started to wonder where all of my plastic containers had disappeared to...stinky business...need to learn to cook for TWO, only...we've had leftovers three days in a row, where did all of this come from?

Lost in Translation

This morning, while I was leading worship, and playing piano, I had to end with a prayer, in SHQIP !!! So, here is what they got:

"...[Dear God], You are bread when I am thirsty, You are water when I'm hungry..."

It's the heart that counts right?!

My new cuss word

HA! Almost, but no really. Not sure how, or why, but 'fashnizzel' has been my latest euphemism of choice (I think that Snoop Dogg uses it, but I'm pretty sure that I say it wrong). Just for pointers, I used it tonight when I got tomatoe sauce on the cuff of one of my favorite hoodies while making chili (fashnizzel!), and then when Judah took the salt shaker from the table and started running through the kitchen shaking it upside down (fashnizzel!!!!!), and then when he turned around and grabbed the pepper shaker while I was trying to put the salt shaker out of reach (Fashnizzel!?!?!?!?), and then when the computer turned off on me twice while I was trying to type my blog entry (FASHNIZZEL!!!).

Anyhow, don't have any idea where I got it from, and don't have any idea if it means anything. If it does please let me know, as I have a record of making really big mistakes with words!

Indian Fry Bread

It is delicious, super unhealthy, and oh-so-good! But, also politically IN-correct, as Susie would tell me. I giggled all night long last night as I made my Indain fry bread, and then later, ate it and enjoyed it, thinking about how Susie would have to probably make up a new name for this delight before she was able to eat it. It made me think of the first time that we went out to dinner with her and Andy, the first week that we ever met her. It was at a wonderful restaurant in Helena, MT, and I immediately knew that I liked Susie. But, I wasn't so sure that she liked me. Because I wasn't politically correct. I don't even remember what I said, but it turned into a lengthy, albeit funny, conversation about racial titles. A Indian fry bread is definitely not PC!!! But, every place I have ever seen it calls it that even on Indian reservations, being sold by Indians, or Native Americans. So, I had to giggle thinking about Susie and that first experience with her, and then I had to marvel that God convinced her to call me, a politically incorrect girl from Montana, her friend!!!
Oh, sorry, and Bohemian, Irish, Native American MUTT!

Who does he look like?

I have to think that the answer to that changes with his mood, clothes, and diaper! I'll just give you an idea of what I mean:
*his smile is like Papa Hugh's
*his mouth is big like Uncle Rob's (and I'm sure if you taught him to, he could fit his whole fist in like UR, too!)
*sometimes when he grins big, really big, he looks like cousin Andrew
*he sits on his feet like Grandma Nina
*he walks like his Daddy, and gets his strongheadedness from him, too
*he sucks his tongue like his Auntie Christel (don't ask me to explain that one!)
*he laughs like his mommy (a retarded half-silent, half-loud noise that resembles a laugh - I say that after watching him copy me!)
*depending on faces he makes, for a few short nanoseconds, he looks so much like Grandma Colleen, Grandpa Wayne, Auntie Elisha, and Auntie Missy that it is scary.
*he likes dinosaurs like my cousin Tyrell.
*And, in one picture he even looked like my Uncle Lance!!!

This of course doesn't even sum it up. He has unlimited facets to his growing personality, and they come out in such amazing ways. The ones that are really fun, the ones that amaze me, are the ones that are completely, uniquely, Judah Wayne Litzinger!!!!

Dark Chocolate

"... a local common culture that is vibrant, colourful and tolerant of the eccentric - bit still able to hold on to important elements of traditions - has grown up after centuries of mixing and merging."

This past week I was given a gift of chocolate
and not just any chocolate, but dark chocolate. Now, I am not really a chocolate fan (yes, I'm sure I'm female), but this is not your ordinary Hershey's bar. Far from it! Allow me a few minutes to indulge. It is made by a company called J.D. Gross and is titled "Trinidad". Eating a square of this 76% pure chocolate - yes, bittersweet - inspired me to look up the island it is named after. And, it walks you through your mouthful. As soon as you put it in your mouth, you think dark skin that has been warmed by an island sun, dark, lush, vibrant. As it begins to melt you can almost experience the mixture of people around you at Carnival, and sense the centuries of tradition and culture mixing together in the tastes. And, the bittersweet kick makes you want to swing your hips and exude sexuality (I said let me indulge!!!!)
Yes, all this in a bite of chocolate. At least, I think so. Anyone wanna vacation in Trinidad?

snow things

Shock Collar

I wish there was a shock collar that connected into my cerebral pulses to tell when I was going to open my mouth to say something stupid. Not just something stupid, but things that I have thought, 'oh, should I say this?' or 'should I bring this up?'. And, with that small thought comes a bone-jarring shock that reminds me, 'NO! I should not say that.' and "NO! I should not bring that up!' Somebody wants to draw up the plans, I'll help with marketing, and I am sure that we could make a million bucks quick like.

A new experience and a forgotten one revisited

I have never, ever been to a funeral, or wake until Friday morning. And, here everything is a little different than it is in America. So, I was not exactly sure what to expect as Dan and I marched up the road dressed in black (I knew that much was normal, and very much expected here!) But, I didn't expect to see the dead lady laying on a low table in the middle of the room!!! It's a little different that having a dead body set up in a coffin in the front of the room. All of her female family and friends sat packed in around her with barely enough room in between their knees and her 'bed' for us to wiggle through. And, of course, you much do the wiggle through in order to greet everyone in the room. How stressful is that? As if I weren't already weirded out enough by the dead lady laying in such a position that I am about to sit on her at the wrong movement, but I also have to try to think about how to greet these mourning women. Obviously, the typical greeting of 'Good day' wouldn't work, and I know that there has got to be something that they say traditionally, but dumb me, didn't ask the workers before she left. So, I really want to let these people know that I am sorry for them, but in between trying to keep my balance, have good manners, and kicking myself for stupidity, it is a little difficult. And, then, the clincher!!! A woman started to sing. Not a wail, not a crying song, but a very beautiful, slow, haunting song. After the first note, there wasn't a way that I was going to avoid crying, but (please, I sincerely do not mean this rudely!) luckily, I had already started concentrating on balance and manners for leaving.
~~~~~~~~~
Turkish toilets, or the more fondly termed 'squattie potties', are something that used to be very normal for Kosova until some very smart people introduced the 'western toilet'. Squatties are holes in the ground, literally. Some are dressed up with a little ceramic. I normally don't have to go potty outside of my own home, but if I do, we have learned the places that have western toilets, so I haven't had to use one in a while. But, the other day, we were in a time crunch to get the director of our organization fed and to the airport, so we ended up at a less than desirable restaurant. I wasn't feeling that well to begin with and the food smells that greeted me started to turn my tummy and I suddenly had to go potty, too. So, I was stuck. As, I walked in, I looked for TP...none! Another interesting fact, in times before, women stayed at home so men were the only ones using the squatties, and I guess they didn't feel the need for TP. Anyhow. I turned around and got a napkin, then marched back in. But, first you have to go through the steps: Roll up your pantlegs - they drag in the "water" on the floor, then pull your pants down and squat. Don't forget - - face the back wall otherwise you will tinkle all over the "floor"(as if the last five visitors didn't already). This time had a new humiliation, though. As I relieved myself, a dog kept barking outside the open window at my head. Finally, I looked up to see what was going on, and realized that the dog was actually barking at me! The stupid thing was up on a higher floor of an unfinished building watching me going potty and telling the neighbors about it!!! How rude!

My fingers

I remember when I was in high school, how much I hated the way that my fingers looked (I know, in the whole scope of things, what was I thinking?!?!) But, really, some of my friends had manicured long fingernails, and mine never seemed to grow long, plus, as a piano player, you're not supposed to have long fingernails. My fingers just didn't look 'pretty' with short fingernails, or so I thought. But, since I have grown up, a little, I realize that hands are for a whole lot more than looking pretty. Right now, the tips of the fingers on my right hand are dry and cracking, I can't seem to get them to heal up even though I put tons and tons of heavy, gross lotion on. The finger tips of my left hand are all numb because I started to practice guitar again, and they are telling me that they aren't so happy with that decision. But, the pain I am feeling isn't the entire story. My fingers are cracked and dry because I wash the dishes, and the floor, and the bathrooms, and my son's face. I clean our living space and faces so that we shine. So that we bless guests with a peaceful atmosphere. So my life is peaceful and I can enjoy the beautiful things that surround me, because I can see them. My other fingers hurt because I was worshipping. I didn't have any electricity and really wanted to take those free moments to worship God. My heart was ready to spill and I remembered that long put-aside wish to start practicing guitar again. So, me, my protesting fingers, bad strumming, and willing heart worshipped God. And there are so many other things that my fingers can do. They love to cook (my mouth likes to help out)scrumptious foods that other people, and us, can enjoy. They like to make things beautiful. They like to comfort and cherish little rosy cheeks that sometimes don't get soft touches. They like to dance while I talk! They like to blog!! They like to take pictures, and they like to make those pictures 'cool' on Adobe. So, really, my hands are beautiful because of what they do and what they represent. And, since they are an extension of me, maybe I am, too!!!