The Littlest Hebert

Here is my baby! I thought I was 10 weeks and about 5 days, but according to this picture I'm 9 weeks and 2 days. I found out about this little parasite (and believe me, I feel like I have a parasite!) about two days after we bought our tickets to Niger. It amazes me that something so little can take so much out of you. It's now about an inch long, but even when it was just a bunch of undifferentiated cells I felt exhausted and was needing to sleep 12 hours a night!

Guppies, Anyone?

I think we just had like our third litter of guppies today. The first batch I counted approximately 14. I'm not sure how many survived, but they're starting to look like adolescents. Now there are too many to count.































In the top picture, the tiny little shiny flecks in the middle are the babies, on the bottom is a close up...objects in this picture appear larger than they actually are.

Suprise!

Donnie went out shopping yesterday, and to post our visa applications. It seemed like it was taking him an awful long time in Eureka, but maybe it was just the time change that made it seem longer as it was starting to get dark. So I called him just to check in. As it turns out he was just down the road, on his way home. "I brought you a suprise," he said. I love suprises! So he came home and I saw him walk in the door with a big bunch of flowers. Well, he wanted me to think that was the suprise, but tricky boy that he is, it wasn't.

He'd gone to BB&B to get a pressure cooker, which, according to Steve, is the only kitchen item missing in Abalak. But I noticed that there was more than just a pressure cooker in that bag. And then, with a big grin on his face, he pulls out The Magic Bullet.

I'd seen the infomercial on TV, so I was quite suprised that my husband had brought home that very item as he always scoffs at those infomercials...and my desire to purchase their products. And yeah, it's cool and all, and I wanted one, but why, I wondered, did he choose this time, when we are trying to get rid of stuff and pack up all that we own, to bring home The Magic Bullet?


BECAUSE HE GOT IT FOR $6.99!!!


That's right, folks, $6.99. Someone had inadvertently labled that particular box with that price tag, and Donnie picked it up, and thought it was just some piece of crap that might grate cheese once or twice and then die on us, having no idea that they're really going for $49.99. He goes to the cash register, and his total comes to $70.00, and that's when he finds out the true price. So the manager comes over, and says he'll split the difference, he can have it for $24.99. Prior to coming up to the cash register Donnie had already opened up the box, and saw all the cool things it could do, and was quite sold on it. He almost took the offer, but held out. In the end, the guy agreed to give it to him for the mistakenly labeled price. Beat that!

The List Is Getting Shorter...

Crossed off a few more things off of our Niger "to do" list this week:

• Bought tickets to Niger--Totally awesome, I was in the middle of composing an email when all of a sudden I was taken over by a moment of ADD and thought, "Why don't I do look for tickets?" Maybe it was more of a God thing than an ADD thing because I found tickets out of Arcata, with Air France, for just under $1,900! By far the best deal out there...and trust me, we've looked. I felt like God was smiling down on me after the hardships we'd endured over the weekend.
• Bought tickets for our January trip to the South--Cortnee, we're coming your way! Flying out from San Jose Jan 6, returning Jan 30. Another sweet deal on that ticket, and of course the Panza's being ever hospitable are taking us to the airport! We'll also get to see Hama as we were away on a "camping trip" when he last visited Humboldt.
• Sent away for our visas

Chloe

This is Chloe, my precious kitty whom I love.I adopted her from the shelter about three years ago. Chloe needs a new home as I can't take her to Niger with me. She is a very good kitty. She is about 8 years old. She is an indoor/outdoor kitty and will sometimes bring you home a mouse or a bird. Even though she doesn't always like to cuddle, she loves to be petted. Sometimes she will stretch out like Superman so you can rub her belly.
This picture makes her look a little fat, but she's not, she's just fluffy. She does need to be brushed sometimes to keep her mats and hairballs under control. Once, I shaved her, and she looked really funny; sadly, I don't have any pictures of that. She is also allergic to fleas so she needs to be treated. She likes Salsa Verde Dorritos, Oreos, and cantaloupe...and kitty treats, of course. She doesn't get along super well with other cats (or dogs) so she really would prefer to be an only child.
Can anyone give her a home?

My secret is out...

I really can cook.
Stevie P. stayed with us for a few nights last week. I made eggplant parmigiana. Donnie said it was good, but I noticed he didn't eat any leftovers, which was fine by me--it made a nice lunch for my work week. After dinner Steve pulled out some apples he'd picked that day during his nomadic wanderings and suggested that we make some apple pie. The boys mixed up the apples and I made the pie crust. We all agreed that it was one of the best pie crusts ever.

One Step Closer

You can imagine my dismay when I realized that not only was I due for my tetanus shot, but also Yellow Fever, and meningitis, and typhoid, AND polio. I hate shots. I don't mind giving them, in fact, I'm quite good at it, but God forbid someone should come after me with one! Luckily, though, I found out that I can take the typhoid orally, and my polio shot was good for life, so that saved me two sticks. So, between the two of us--5oo bucks and seven shots..."We really better be going to Niger now," says Donnie.

Here We Are!

Welcome to our blog! I must say, I really had no intention of ever starting one of these as I don't like to write, and I don't fancy myself a great communicator. But after much cajoling from April and Tracy, I thought, well, maybe I'll give it a try. But of course I didn't. It wasn't until just a few weeks ago when we decided that we were going to head back to Niger that I thought, well, it might be a great way to keep in touch with people...and I guess it wouldn't hurt to start working on those communication skills! So look out bloggers, here I come!
~Allison