Update

It has been so long since I have posted. Life has been way too busy. Kyle is now a rookie PO for the city of Newark. Shelby is finishing up her first year in college. Both my dad and my father in law are living with me and Jay. I have been to the Philippines on another Alliance For Smiles mission. And life rolls on.

This morning I woke early and got to see one of the young foxes that live somewhere near my home. He was running around playing in my backyard. I ran, got my camera, and took a few quick shots to try to capture his image. Not great shots but still I got a couple. Then, as I was writing in my prayer journal I hear some "barking" from our lower yard and there was the mother fox calling for her young ones to come. She wasn't quite as thrilled to see me as I was to see her. I am so thankful to have been up early enough to catch glimpses of them. It is a little

gift to me in the morning when I get to see some of the wildlife in our area.

My dad goes for his second cataract surgery tomorrow. I pray that once his vision is clear he will get to see the foxes. He gets up each morning and looks out of the window hoping to see them but usually they are out too early for him to see clearly. Prayers that this surgery will change all of that.

Happy Thankgiving

My life has changed so much over the past few months. No kids live at home and my Dad has come back to live here minus a part of his leg. Jay and I look to adapt to these changes and on this day all I can think of is how thankful I am for the life I have and the man I have married. How blessed am I that I have 2 kids that are out there doing productive things in the world? Conversations with Kyle have changed from what are you designing to how do you like the new handgun you were assigned? Or, So what take-down techniques are you learning this week. He is well on his way to becoming a wonderful police officer and Newark is lucky to have him. And Shelby is growing so quickly in this amazing college she is in. She can speak some Russian now, knows all about African women in Colonial history and can write on positions of philosophers that I have never even heard of. I hope I recognize her when she comes home in December. Dad is 85 years old and has lost the lower half of his left leg and yet he continues to challenge himself to be independent. He will not let anything stop him and while I have had my breath held on a number of occasions as he tries to jump something or do something on his own, I am so proud of him. He is a great role model for any of us that think growing old means becoming less capable. And most of all I cannot say enough on how thankful I am to be married to Jay. He is so kind hearted and right there for me all the time. I love how he is with our children and I fall in love with him more and more each day as I see how he is with my dad.

Tonight all I can say is Thank you God for putting such amazing people in my life.

Announcing.....

My son Kyle, has just been officially accepted by the Newark Police Department to begin training at the academy to become a police officer. He has worked so hard to get into the academy and I am so proud of him. While my "mother heart" is shaking in its boots with concern for his safety I am still so amazed at this kid Jay and I raised. He is so driven by public service having served on our local fire department, ambulance corp, Hackensack hospital EMT, and for the last 4 years as an EMT for Jersey City. Now he begins the task of learning all he can to protect and serve the people of Newark. What a lucky city. I just hope this will get me off of any speeding tickets I might get in the future ; )

Way to go Kyle, way to go!

Landslide

So Sunday morning Jay and I were driving through Minnesota and The song Landslide by Fleetwood Mac came on the radio. Add one more sob fest in for me. You see on Saturday we left Shelby at her new school/home- a 20 hour drive from here in NJ. This parenting thing is not for the weak hearted. I cannot say how difficult it is to help your kids make choices that are great for them but so heart wrenching for you. I am so proud of Shelby- taking off half way across the country to enter a school where she will learn and be challenged. This is a place where she will be a part of an amazing academic community where she will be nurtured and grow. I love the school and I love Northfield, the town where it is but why does it have to be so far from us?

So flash back to the car ride, we had left Shelby at school the day before and I was bringing Jay to the airport. I was sappy and teary eyed and then Jay takes note of the song on the radio and brings it to my attention...

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Well, Ive been afraid of changing
cause Ive built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
Im getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe the landslide will bring it down

Yeah, bring on the tears. That song will never be the same for either of us now, it will always bring us back to that ride as it really hit us that we were leaving Shelby at her school and we were going to return home without her.

Enough feeling sorry for me- Shelby's new school is amazing and I am so happy that she has the opportunity to go there. When we went to visit there last year we passed the sign on the road announcing the school. I wanted to take a picture of her there but she said we had to wait until she was accepted. I got to take that picture this weekend.

Shelby's dorm room is not the biggest but it is amazing how well you can arrange things in there. Or I should say how Shelby could arrange things in there. I am sure things will change again and again but It is just totally cool. Her room mate seems really nice and so do so many of the kids we met there.
And how cool! Shelby gets her own mail box, well I think she has to share it with one other person but still I love the mail boxes, I've never had one like that and it just seems so cool to me... I know I am a total dork.

So now the emails, text messages, video chats and cyber stalking begins. I don't want to bother her too much but am dying to know how she is doing... what she is doing... who is she hanging out with. You know, I never knew I was a helicopter parent before this weekend. I guess this is a good thing for the both of us.

Happy Feet

I have been a plain kind of pedicure kind of girl always but today that ends! I was having the grays hidden at my hair salon (Suzanne's house of Hair and Colour in Oradell, NJ) when I noticed something new there. They have something called Minxes which are some kind of wrapping for nails in all kinds of patterns and colors. They are supposed to last for up to 6 weeks and let you have some fun. I was torn between the cheetah print and a floral pattern but figured flowers work for summer. Well, I love my new Happy Minxy Feet. It is so totally unlike me to have something like this but how much fun to go a little wild. The only thing is I think I might be totally addicted to these things ; )

Say it ain't so...

But it is, My little baby girl is now 18 and a full fledged legal adult in the eyes of the law. Yesterday she had a bunch of frinds come over for a toga party. The cake? A replica of the death mobile cake parade float from Animal House (it took 2 sheet cakes and 2 8" round cakes to get the right dimensions for the cake, and 4 things of icing- can you say Sweet?) It was great watching the kids have such a good time and you can see they are starting to realize college is just a few weeks away. They seem to be trying to cram in as much together time as possible before they start to head out. Most of the kids arrived in toga wear (Shelby's had a batman motiff) but before long the togas came off. And somewhere along the way my daughter truly became a supper hero- Is that a bird? Is it a plane? NO... its Super Shelby! I love that kid

Life keeps rolling on....

Well another milestone has been passed. How come they seem to be going by faster and faster these days? I am now the mother of not one but TWO high school graduates. On June 6th Shelby walked (or should I say hobbled?) up to get her diploma. What a beautiful day. What a beautiful experience. Can I just say that I loved her four years at Academy of the Holy Angels? What an amazing place for a young woman to spend her high school years. I think I was not the only mother with tears in her eyes not only from the emotion of seeing our daughters graduate but with the realization that their time at this special school is over. My prayer is that St Olaf College will bring her the same kind of nurturing with growth.

And enough about that, Can I just say how much I love my daughter? I am so amazed at the person she is growing into being. I call her sunshine but I don't think she really realizes how true that name is for her. She brings such light and joy with her, unless her light is covered over by a storm cloud- it happens. I am so proud of her and am so excited to see who she goes on to become. I am going to miss her when she is so far away, not as much now that we can iChat but still will miss her. Way to go Shelby! Way to go!

Its here!

I am not going to apologize for not writing since I was in Kathmandu- it seems I have apologized too much in the past and I will refuse to feel guilty for being too busy to get on my blog, a good friend of mine told me yesterday she gave up feeling guilty for Lent and I am going to join her.  Instead I will jump in with my thought for this week... It really is Spring. I write this and my house is creaking and shuddering from the strong winds blowing out there and some of the April showers still wetting the earth. 

Pongo and Perdita, my yearly visiting ducks have not showed up yet but it is still Spring. I went to the Celery Farm a couple of times this week and I can see evidence that the earth is renewing itself. First, the robins are all over the place. They kind of escorted me through my first walk of the year. Squirrels also visited with me. An little bits of green kept popping up through the dead leaves promising that soon all with be green and the trees will be full again. I am so ready for this. I really do love each and every season  but there is something special about the coming of spring, even on blustery days like this that might feel more like winter than spring.

Where in the world am I now?

We got out of Bangladesh safely on Friday. For those of you who have not seen the News, on Wednesday there was a mutiny with in the military and a large number of people were killed. Each day they find more bodies buried in mass grave sites. We were in the hospital when the killing began, less than 5 miles from the event. Security was tightened and we were not sure what was going to happen next. Life for the most part in Dhaka went on and so did we. I think it was all a relief for each of us when we got on a plane out though. 

So where am I now? Sitting on my bed in a the Hotel Yak and Yeti in Kathmandu. This morning we took a flight and got to see Mt Everest... Amazing. Then we took a major tour of the city. I Have seen more temples and heard the names of way too many of their gods- my head is spinning. This city is very old and beautiful. I took a million photos (not too much of an exaggeration,) and am ready to sleep tonight. 

Tomorrow morning we have a flight to Chitwan National Park and will hopefully get to see some tigers.

Bangladesh

What an amazing experience this has already been. For some reason jet lag has not been a big issue but I am warned it will be on the way home. We arrived in Dhaka in the early hours of the morning and then rose early the next day to head for our first day of clinic. There were 67 children waiting to be screened to see if they would receive cleft surgery. I sat at my dental desk and basically checked to see if the kids had teeth and if they did were they old enough to try and have them come to me to get their teeth cleaned. It was amazing seeing all these children and their parents waiting for us. Some of the kids' situations are really complicated and it was so sad to see the red dots on their charts meaning they would not be eligible for surgery. As the last one in the line it sometimes was me telling the parent that their child would not be getting surgery but I could clean their teeth- what a let down for them. 

This morning we rose early and were at the hospital at 7 am. Things got a slow start as equipment needed to be worked on to get it running properly. I didn't get started until after 10 when I was able to round up a translator/guide. My clinic is down two floors and around the hospital. The hand piece is not compatible to what I use and there is no cavitron so I am doing the best I can with what I have there. I have never wished to be a dentist more than I have as I worked on these kids. I saw 6 today (the dental clinic is in an area of the hospital that closes at 2 so that limited how many kids I could see. Tomorrow I plan on working with more. 

Anyway, here are a few photos of what I have seen so far.... 

This little boy is the friendliest kid ever. He just makes us all smile

One of the doctors examining a prospective patient

Waiting anxiously for the clinic to start

And at Fisherman's Wharf

As I was walking around the wharf, waiting for the bus to go over the bridge I wandered into a mechanical museum... what the heck is that I wondered? And then I saw some of the most bizarre machines from ages ago.... those people back then were pretty sick people. After walking through the gallery I felt like I would have had nightmares for weeks if I lived back in a time when this was entertainment.....

Want Grandma to tell your fortune?

And how about dropping in a coin and watch the English executioners behead someone?

Want to check out an opium den anyone?

There were plenty of others, all of the faces were really scary if you ask me... Chucky has nothing on them. And yet, there were families walking around and kids didn't blink an eye at any of it, maybe its just me

And the journey begins....

Yesterday I left NJ bright and early and flew to San Francisco on the first leg of this trip to Bangladesh. I am staying at this great little hotel, the Prescott- Love it's quirkiness and European style. It was rainging here yesterday so after a walk, getting caught in the rain and returning to the hotel like a drowned rat I slept most of the night away. This morning I headed out for a wonderful breakfast at Honey Honey- had a breakfast crepe and fresh fruit. Yum!

Then I headed to Union Square and jumped on a double decker tour bus. As cliche as they are for tourists I think they are the best way to get around a city you don't know. Especially when you are only around for 1 day. I got to go around the whole city and head out over the Golden Gate Bridge. What a cool day (and I do mean cool- I thought this was California. Isn't it supposed to be warm here?)

One Word Project- Day One

I love an online group called Shutter Sisters. There blog and Flickr group provide a place for women photographers to share ideas, inspiration and photographs. The women offer encouragement and tips in a very positive environment. Today was the beginning of a challenge called the One Word Project. The premiss is for each photographer to choose one word, just one, and to submit a photograph each day for the month of February that helps to define that word for you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to choose just one word? I have spent days lamenting over which word I should choose. My first thought was to choose something simple like sunshine, I mean how hard is it to take 28 pictures of sunshine. But this is supposed to be something that challenges you. I finally decided on the word, HEALING, as February looks to be a month of healing for me. I won't go into it too much as I will spoil some of the ideas I have but healing it is. So without any further ado let me introduce you to my first submission for One Word....

This is a shot of my Bible and prayer journal this morning. as I sat down for my quiet time with God this morning it hit me, this is the most healing place and time in the world for me. When I sit down to talk with God I feel at peace and whole... does it get any better than that? 

Now let me just figure out what I will do for tomorrow....

And the people say, "Amen!"

I sit here with tears in my eyes having just watched the official swearing in of a president voted in this past November. I am overwhelmed. I do not think I ever watched an inauguration before. I will always remember this. Today was a day that proved anything can happen in this country. Anyone can dream and reach any goal they might have. I did not choose Barack Obama because he is a black man- I could not care less about that. I chose him because I felt he was the man for the job. That said, I am excited that he is a black man because it shows how far we, as Americans have come. Who would have ever thought that in my life time, an age where I grew up in a society where there was segregation and accepted prejudice, that we would get to a point where people can see beyond color, beyond race, beyond differences and look to the character of an individual and vote him in as president.  I am hopeful for our future. I am hopeful for change. And this hope does not rest just on the shoulders of Barack Obama but on the people of a nation that would vote him in. And the people say, "Amen!."

Happy Birthday MLK

Today many people had the day off. And many kids had no school. Why? To celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King. Our town does not give the kids off of school, all day the kids have Civil Rights education. I have to say I love this. I think that it honors him far more than a day of sleeping in and then hanging out watching tv. I was reading James Preller's blog (he is a children author who's blog I somehow came across and now love to read) and he wrote a bit about MLK. Here are some of the quotes he had and they just blew me away

Here’s a few relevant quotes from Dr. King:

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.”

Amen Dr King, May we all learn from these words. 

Playing in the snow

On the weekend following Christmas Jay and I had a houseful of guests. For our southern nieces and nephew the opportunity to play in the snow provided too much of a temptation and out they went. My sisters got their hand in with the design of the snow woman and so she ended up with a mohawk,  pierced belly button, earrings and a set of the most lop-sided breasts before the thaw. While they were grooming the snow the kids were having a snow fight. Katie got Shelby good and after a while the two of them headed to make some snow angels. I just loved seeing all the kids have so much fun together in the snow.

Christophers of Nyack

Every year for Christmas my siblings and I buy just one gift for another sibling. We draw names out of a hat and this year Jay and I got Janet. She wanted a gift certificate to her favorite store, Christophers of Nyack an amazing shop that has something like 500 floors (I think it really is only 5) filled with beautiful antiques and decorative things for your home. It really is a magical place and I happened to have my camera with me when I went to pick up her certificate, which by the way is the best gift certificate ever, a poster sized drawing of the store, all outlines ready for coloring. Here are a few of the things I saw as I walked through that day...

Happy New Year!

Christmas is over, we even managed to get a tree (just 2 days before Christmas.) Then we had an ice dam and had to rip up the ceiling behind the tree... kind of gave it a real rustic look. Christmas is different with my kids being older now. No rush to wake up and look through the stockings and rip into the presents. Instead it was a sedate opening of a few gifts before a family breakfast and then off to church. More presents opened after church and then more when Kyle arrived from his apartment. Highlights? Kyle's box of bottle caps (an inside joke of a gift from me to him) and a kit to make root beer for Shelby. And also a noisy rubber chicken for our friend Karl. Then, the onslaught of visitors and a big dinner of prime riband macaroni and cheese. Then clean up, set up and ready ourselves for a visit from my sister and her daughters, big family meals, a Ferreira/Rebelo family party on Saturday and rest. I love being with family, my brother is out from California for a couple of weeks and having two of my sisters around along with a lot of Jay's family is a highlight of the holiday for me. Then a minor car accident (my poor little Prius needs a whole new passenger side) and a few crazy days at work and I was ready to ring in the new year (or actually sleep through it.) 

What am I looking forward to this year? Finding more ways to be of service to people, getting to Bangladesh and seeing Mt Everest and maybe even a tiger in the wild. Getting healthier- lose weight, move more, eat better (Maybe this is the year I will actually accomplish this.)I want to spend more time with family, less time with drama. I am looking forward to helping get Shelby ready for her new adventure of going to Saint Olaf College and seeing what being empty nesters will bring to Jay and me. I am hoping to build my Uppercase Living business up and find more ways of sharing this fun product with others. Reading more, playing less on Pogo, cooking more, eating out less and making peace on earth : )

Um Ya Ya

Its official, Shelby is accepted to be part of the graduating class of 2013 at St Olaf College! I cannot explain the joy and excitement we are all feeling at this news. My mail man is thrilled too, if only because this means I won't be accosting him along the streets of our town looking for some news in the mail. 

I am so thrilled that my daughter is going to be able to be a part of that incredible school. I look forward to seeing the challenges they give her, the possibilities they will open up for her. I am a bot envious to be studying at a place that so clearly values learning. Oh to be 17 and headed off to such a magical place. 

That said I am also already weeping inside at the thought of being so far from her. I know that many mothers and their 17 year old daughters don't love being together but I truly love being with her and I am going to miss her terribly. I know I will become a cyber stalker with their Hi mom cam, watching just to see if I can catch a glimpse of her walking through the commons. She has already told me I will need to sign on for unlimited text messaging so that we can talk when we need to. I am already practicing so that I will have Cheetah thumbs and text quickly. 

Now we begin the prayers for snow every day so that we can afford the tuition!

Well done Shelby, I am so glad St Olaf's recognized a gem in you.

Update

I already mentioned that I was heading to Bangladesh this February and here is the update on my schedule. I leave for San Francisco on February 11th. The team will leave form there on the 13th but I was nervous about snow in February and wanted to make sure I was there and ready to go so I will have a couple of days to explore the city. I have never been there before so I am excited. I downloaded a National Geographic podcast on a walking tour of the city and hope to try it. I figure the part of the walk that is all uphill will be good training for what comes later. I also plan on visiting at the Alliance for Smiles head office to meet the people there and learn a little more about the organization- good thing huh? I mean I am traveling with them on mission. 

From San Francisco we head to Hong Kong and then to Bangladesh. We have 9 long days (Or maybe it is 8) of surgeries and dental treatment for people in the area. before the team finishes up. 

Now here is the new part.... from there I am heading out to Kathmandu! What a trip. One member of the team, a veteran AFS member, posed an invitation to anyone else going to join him for a few days in Nepal. We will arrive in Kathmandu and have the rest of that first day free. The next morning we rise early and jump on a plane to do an air tour of Mt Everest (How cool is that?) After that we go back to our hotel for breakfast and then have a tour of the city for the day. We will even get to the "monkey" temple, a Buddhist temple that is inhabited by monkeys. The next morning it is an early rise again and another flight, this time to a National Park where we will get to ride on elephants as we travel through the jungle and then I get to take a bird watching hike- Love it! The next day we drive back to the city and make our way to the airport for the long trip home. 

I do not know why God has blessed me with such a wonderful husband who supports me on these adventures. With all his concerns about the economy and having 2 kids in college he stills sighs and says, "You're right, this is too great of an opportunity to pass up." I am so thankful for him. May I be a blessing on the patients I treat and the people I meet on this next adventure in the world.

Peace