For everything else, there's MasterCard

4 shovels- 6.00

sacks and work gloves- 25.00

finding out you're married to a potato farmer-priceless!

My Abi-girl

The other day Abi came to me in the kitchen as I was making french fries and asked for "bubble kisser". I told her I didn't know what that was and we stood there for about 15 seconds looking at each other with blank expressions on our faces. Then her face lit up and she said, "It's like ketchup". I still couldn't figure out what she was talking about so I told her to ask Nate. Without a word he got up, went to the fridge, took out the barbeque sauce and handed it to me. Abi's "bubble kisser".

You know you're in Mongolia when...

Abi in front of our apartment building

So, I've been living in this country 8 and a half years. While I've adapted to the Mongolian culture in most areas, I still see things that make me shake my head and say, "Only in Mongolia!". These are the types of things that just couldn't be described any other way. You almost have to have experienced it to understand exactly what I'm talking about. Amanda, this one's for you!

You know you're in Mongolia when...

...you walk down the street and the litle kids playing on the corner fireball all of their English vocabulary at you in one breath. You don't understand a word.

...you take your kids out for a late afternoon walk on a lovely Summer evening and are blinded by the glare of the sun reflecting off the crushed glass covering the ground.

...the doorman (jijuur) at the local culture center holds almost as much power as the president and he's drunk with it.

...the lady at the post office rings to tell you there's a package but when you go to pick it up you find out they made a boo boo and confused your name with someone else whose name is nothing like yours!

...you go to pay your light bill and there's not a computer in the place--just file box upon file box packed with thousands of little scraps of paper with people's names and addresses and the amount they have to pay written on them.

...you leave your house in search of Russian ice cream and are prepared to pay an arm and a leg for it. (But you justify it because you can buy a kilo of root vegetables for about 25 cents this time of year. )

...an elder smells you (elder as in 'old person', not the mormons! There are lots of mormons here. In fact Hetee and I play a game--spot an odd number of mormons--1,3,5... and win!)

...grown men prance around in their underwear in front of a crowd and slap each other on the bottom. They call it traditional wrestling.

...you walk out of your apartment and you see a full-size pool table set up on the side of the street and nobody thinks it's odd but you.

But you absolutely know without a doubt you're in Mongolia when you can go to a restaurant and order pizza with pickles, peas, boiled eggs and well, pretty much anything you can't find on a pizza in America. Then you get up to go and pay and see the sign that they accept MasterCard so you get your card out and pass it to the clerk only to have him tell you that he doesn't know how to hook the machine up so your husband (being the nerd he is) offers to help out and then swipes his card only to find out that the network is down so you dig into your pocket and pull out your mutton-smelling cash and pay. But then I guess that could happen anywhere, right?

Termi-NATE-or

I used to think all kids were basically the same. Then I met Nate.

When he was a year old he climbed into the oven and pulled the stove down on himself. It wasn't hot but then again he was too smart to go near a hot oven. Then when he was 2 he pulled an electric radiator down on his foot. Again, it wasn't hot but it did cut his foot wide open. I butterfly stitched it and it healed but I was beginning to think God had picked the wrong person to raise this lightning-fast, super-active toddler. From the very beginning, Nate saw it as his duty to question and challenge his daddy's and my authority. It's hard to put into words exactly how exhausting and exasperating it was to have every "no" from us met with a tantrum. Hetee and I half joked that if we could survive Nate, we could get through anything.

When Nate wasn't getting into trouble he was giving things away. He still does. Just recently, at church, we talked to a little boy whose shirt was torn. I pointed the fact out to Nate and reminded him that we had so much to be thankful for. Nate said, "I wish I could give him one of my shirts". I remembered that I had an extra one in my backpack but that it was his favorite Dr. Seuss shirt. I told him and he asked me to give it to the boy. Nate then took some shorts out and gave them to the boy as well. It didn't matter to him that the children sitting nearby were gawking and making fun of him. He was strong-willed enough to do what he felt was right.

At that moment I saw, through the tears welling up in my eyes, that my son was turning into the little man I so wanted him to be, in spite of my fears that I was inadequate as a parent. I thanked God that Nate was a strong child and once again, right there on the church steps I asked for wisdom and strength to raise him to be a man of God. Some months ago a friend told me that God knew what He was doing when He gave Nate to me. Now I was beginning to understand.

Nate still has his moments. The other day he slipped away from Hetee as he was standing in line to pay the phone bill. Rather than risking losing his place in line, Hetee asked a lady from our church who happened to be nearby to go and check on Nate. After about 15 minutes with no news from either of them, Hetee paid the bill and made his way outside. There, standing next to our car was the lady (with a mortified expression on her face) and standing on the roof of the car yelling-- was, you guessed it, Nate! Apparently Nate was playing outside the building and when the lady, whom he didn't recognize, tried to take him back inside, he went to our car--the only thing that was familiar and climbed on top. No doubt a plan that made perfect sense to a 4-year-old.

These past few weeks we've noticed that Nate has been more willing to listen to reason and obey than ever before. It's such a relief to see a shimmer of light at the end of our long, dark "toddler tunnel". We know that God is working and that He is in control. We've also learned not to criticize our son or blame ourselves for the way he is. He's a strong boy, an awesome kid and he's our gift from God!

Before and After

Someone mentioned the other day that they were amazed at how I had changed so much in the 4 years since becoming a mother. That comment really got me to thinking about how my life (habits, priorities, etc.) has changed since becoming mommy to my 4-year-old, 2-year-old and 2-month-old children. Mentally I began to compare my life now to what it was like back in my baby-less days. I just had to smile.

When choosing clothes:
Before kids--Knee-length, black leather jacket or 2-piece swimsuit
After kids:--a shirt that's not too tight that my breast pad circles show through. (A "favorite" lately is my "Don't be a chicken, donate blood" T-shirt in XXL. )

Book of choice:
Before kids--any kind of fiction thriller
After kids--Myrtle the Turtle

Make-up:
Before kids-- Wake up and make-up
After kids--I don't want to wake up. Where is my make-up?

Favorite passtime:
Before kids--cooking and baking
After kids--finding ways to get out of cooking and baking

Re-energizing:
Before kids--A looooong soak in a bubble bath with a mug of coffee, my Bible and candles everywhere.
After kids--A quick glass of apple juice and spirulina. I still do the bubble bath from time to time but it's not as long as before for 2 reasons: I get so sleepy that I have to get out or risk dying an embarassing death. Or it's just not as good as it used to be due to the little people pounding on the door because they "have to tell me something".

In my purse:
Before kids--make-up, money
After kids--diapers, less money

Now, I'm sure you've figured out by now that I've approached this "before and after" comparison of my life in a tongue-in-cheek manner. My children bring me exceptional joy in spite of the many... er, adjustments I have had to make in order to make all our lives a little smoother. One important lesson I have learned is, "If you can't lick 'em, join 'em". I can't count the times I've set out to have a nice, quiet bubble bath only to have Nate and Abi join me. (They helped me rediscover the wonder of bubble beards.) And Myrtle the Turtle has become one of my favorite stories (hey, there is a lesson to be learned there). I have a feeling these "baby days" will be over before I know it and I'll once again be able to don my leather jacket--without fear of getting peanut butter smudges on it.