Praise PS.

I forgot to mention yesterday, but the exchange rate has jumped back up to 5 hrievna to the dollar. I don't know how long it will stay this way, but it certainly makes a big difference for us here!

Praises

We just got wored that our landlord at the office here is willing to rent to us for another year. Big blessing, his daughter is always trying to rent the place away from us. And of course for us to find a new place and move and everything is a huge hassle. Besides the fact that I love the convenient location. :)
I did not go away over the weekend, being as I was sick and all, but instead I got together with a friend and got to meet one of her friends/coworkers and we had a great evening together. It was nice to hang out with them and just relax and get out of my world for a bit. So that was a very pleasant result of being sick.
I also looked up my blog from last year to see when I could expect the hot water to be turned on and it probably won't be until the end of October when they turn on the heat. Knowing that I don't need to live in daily hope/expectation of them turning it on has really helped me to adjust and get my attitude straight. Now I'm developing my own little routine for dealing with that all.
And the biggest plus of all! The sun came out over the weekend! It's beautiful. Not very warm, but it is really lovely to have that yellow glow. ;)

Losing my marbles...

I thought yesterday was Friday when I posted. It's been that way pretty much all week. I also had a blonde moment when I turned on my washing machine and my space heater at the same time. Blew my electric. Interestingly my neighbor, who-I-had-to-ask-for-help-because-I-don't-have-a-key-to-unlock-the-electric-box (breath in), was so kind as to hot wire the fuses for me. Even more interesting was that despite the fact that he removed both fuses at the same time, both my computer and my washing machine did not turn off, neither did the bathroom lights. Only the heater and living and hall lights went off, so don't know what the deal is there, but I have some interesting conjectures! :D

On to bigger and better things. Or littler and better things! Just a few more pics of my niece, Vienna, and the family from August.

We went "hiking" one Sunday to these beautiful waterfalls. It was great just to have some time as a family and hang out a little together, besides seeing the pretty nature. ;)

Unfortunately, all the pictures of me that day I was stooped. I hope that I don't do that all the time!
It was Vienna's birthday I think, so she had opened a gift in the morning, a Mini Mouse backpack, that she was keen to bring along and happy to wear the whole time. She did good walking down the big hill and back up. We took turns carrying her too. :D It was just a nice relaxing day.


Just a couple of shots for fun! Never let an Auntie babysit! :D ;)

Quickie

I've been trying to update all week and just haven't gotten there. It's been a bit of a doosie starting off with a migraine and going out with an earache/cold.
I'd appreciate your prayers.
Also for Lilia, who works in our office and is about 6-7 months pregnant, just for general health with cold and flu season on us. She also has low blood pressure and sometimes that bothers her.
And for our rent situation for the office. We have an agreement through December 31, 2008, and we'd like to extend it for another year, but the landlord of course wants a lot more money and is threatening to sell the place. We have to resolve this this week presumabley... (most likely they need money for the granddaughter to go to university or something). Just pray that God will work His good plan.
Thanks.

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

Yes, I'm still stuck on the fact that it is cold and rainy here. I wouldn't mind so much if it was warm and rainy, but the whole cold part really stinks. But I am thankful for space heaters and ovens. And running water. Every time I want to complain that I have no hot water I think about my sister who lived for quite a while with three small kids and no running water at all! The well wasn't even in their yard. Makes me grateful for my cold running water. ;)
I'm really proud of myself. I canned some peppers last night. I really like roasted pepper lentil soup, but basically it is a seasonal thing here or else atrociously expensive. So I bought a ton of peppers a week ago and roasted them and skinned 'em and jarred them. I only did enough for a couple of batches, but I am sure that will be enough to last me through the winter. I've never canned anything other than jam before, so this was a oray into a new area for me which is why I am so proud of myself. I'm also hoping to do up some salsa this next week so that I have that for the winter too. And maybe some pumpkin for pumpkin soup. I would just freeze some of these things, but my freezer is small and already full (blueberries and raspberries, along with frozen vegetables and meat and other regular freezer things of course).
Anyway, that was totally not what I was going to post about today, but we'll see maybe I'll be able to remember to put some more pics of my time in the States up on Monday. Have a good weekend!

Cold and Cockroaches

As is usual, they have not yet turned on the heating in my apartment. This wouldn't be so bad, but the nights are dropping close to freezing and it makes it terribly cold in my apartment. I have developed a tendency to leave the oven on and open, besides using a space heater, wheat pack and, of course, blankets, socks and sweatshirts. But it is still cold. Thankfully the office is warm. Since it is in a house we have control of the heat here which makes it a lot more pleasant to come to the office. This morning I could see my breath as I walked to work and I was hard put not to wear gloves--but by the time I got here I was warm enough that I didn't mind.
On top of the no heat, which I anticipated since last year they didn't turn it on till one of the last days in October, there is no hot water. In summer I don't mind this so much, esp. if they don't turn the hot water taps off completely. The water that comes out of the hot water taps is then cold, but not bitterly cold like out of the cold water taps, but now in addition to it being cold in the apartment I have absolutely no water in the hot water taps which leaves me with just the bitterly cold water from the cold water taps. It makes me think of the pioneers. I'm so grateful that I don't have to go out to a well to get my water. I have to heat it up to bathe and wash dishes and in general washing my face and hands is not something I particularly enjoy during this period of cold, but the rest isn't too bad. I still have a toilet that flushes. I can still do laundry.
I also have been coming upon more and more cockroaches in my apartment. Sigh. I would prefer the cold. I had no cockroaches last year because the apartment had sat empty for so long that they had abandoned it in favor of better feeding grounds. Unfortunately, they are discovering that I am back. I am hoping to stave them off for the next year or so until I end up moving again. Killing cockroaches is one of the things that I hate most about being single. In general I enjoy my single life, but I do miss having a male family member to screech at when I don't feel like doing the dirty deed myself. :D
Just a note about the cold, the reason it bothers me so much is that I have significantly more pain in both my legs and hands when it is cold and I had hoped, naturally, to have at least another month of sun to help make things bearable. With the gloomy, rainy weather now I have definitely had a decrease in energy, which makes life a little frustrating. On the other hand, at least my cockroaches aren't of Indian proportions! These little suckers are but babies compared to the "small rodent" sized ones over there!
There's always an "up" side! :D

Apartment Update

So, after returning to Ukraine, I discussed my living situation with my parents again and they had decided that they would like to keep their place as is for the time being. They were willing to let me live there or help me move someplace else or whatever I decided, but they were keen to keep their home.
Naturally, I wanted to stay in my apartment. This because I like the location, the parket floors, and the green paint that I added. So I arranged a meeting with my landlord who had already called me to see if I was giving it up because they had already put an add in at a rental agency. :| His first thought was that I should pay more rent than we had just decided on two months ago. I refused and put up a good fight. I'm quite proud of myself. In the end I am still paying a little more than I would like to, but I have an agreement for the next year which makes me happy as I know that by then the rental prices will have gone up again somewhere between 30-50% most likely.
That means that yes, I am staying in my apartment for another year. It is a relief to me not to be moving again, although the one-year itch had me for a while there. And I'm thankful to God that I have a decent deal on my rent again.

Auntie's Bragging Rights

Here's a few fun photos of my brothers and nieces from this summer. It was so nice to be there when Ziva was so tiny. She was only ten days old when I arrived and it was fun to se eher develop and change even in the few weeks that I was there.Despite appearances Ziva does really love her Uncle Matthew and he loves her too. He's just teaching her early to make weird faces for the camera.
Her father helps by demonstrating.
Ziva is definitely a cuddler and my arms feel the emptier for having held her so much. I probably spoiled her to death by holding her so much! :D I love being an Auntie!
Uncle Matthew making sure that Uncle Craig doesn't usurp his position of favorite uncle for Vienna. She definitely loves her Uncle Matthew (although Uncle Craig is right up there too!).
The hat model. Vienna is a little go getter. She's so smart and talks so much and so well! It was fun to teach her new words and to hear the things that she would come up with. Occasionally, her pronunciation made for some interesting situations :D, but overall she's definitely a niece worth bragging about! And not only is she smart, she's cute too!

Slowly, but surely.

I came down with a cold when I got back to Rivne. It was nasty. But amazingly it lasted only 8 days! This may not seem miraculous to you, but I am used to colds lasting a minimum of 2 weeks, so 8 days is wonderful. I've noticed a couple of times this year that my colds have been shorter than usual. It is a huge blessing. For a long time I didn't know that colds could be any shorter than 2 weeks, and it's been a great discovery.
I feel that it is a sign of my overall health. A very positive sign.
Basically at this point, I have virtually no pain from the disk that I herniated almost five years ago. My allergies are about the same as they ever have been, but in the last couple of years I've been trying some nutritional supplements and those seem to be making a difference, just giving my body the boost that it needs to function above the minimum/survival line. I still have a lot of pain and struggle with fatigue at different times, but over the last couple of years I've also realized that I do better pain-wise and therefore energy-wise in warmer weather. Unfortunately, I live in Rivne where the sun frequently is not visible, so lots of pain and tiredness while I'm here, but there is hope that next summer I'll again feel more alive.
And just learning these things helps me develop coping strategies which will help in the future as well.
Overall, I do feel that my health is on the upswing and I feel blessed because of that.

Blink of an eye!

Wow. I think this week went by way to fast. I feel like it should only be Tuesday or Wednesday even though I am glad it is Friday.
Below is the quilt I made for Sam and Melissa. I'm pretty happy with the overall effect. At least on the front. :P It was great to try something new and I'm already planning for my next quilt. I definitely learned some things from doing this quilt and discovered some things that I need to learn (like how to lay out the layers of a quilt properly so that the back doesn't get all bunched up when you sew it--unfortunately I think that I have to do more pinning to help with that, but...). It was an interesting foray into applique and free-motion quilting.

Updates

I had so much to write about a few minutes ago. Now my mind is blank. I think that sums up the last few days for me.
I arrived back in Ukraine and stayed with my sister's family for a few days, which is always busy and stimulating. Then I came back to Rivne a few days before work began so I would have time to unpack and sort myself out here, but immediately came down with a nasty sinus cold. Probably caught it on the flight over. So I spent Friday and Saturday laying on the couch, which bummed me out since I had so wanted to be productive during those few free days!
I did manage to unpack while I was sick, but barely in time for work to begin on Monday. I decided that I want to take advantage of my improved health and energy levels by getting up early enough in the morning to do some exercises before I go off to work. So far I have the getting up early part down, the exercises may take me a little more time. My apartment is cold all the time now, even though it is still warm outside, so if often takes me a little while to warm up in the morning. I'm trying to figure out a routine to make it all work. Hopefully that will come together by early next week.
I feel like a tornado struck the office. I moved into a new room, so that I can be by myself and run my air purifier and fun stuff like that. I think it'll be good for me personally, but it does leave me feeling a little cut off from the rest of the office so I'll have to work out how I am going to deal with that and make sure things don't get out of hand without anyone there to monitor them. But I'm sure it will all work out. Dad is in between trips as well, so he is here, which has its plusses and minuses. It means more busyness and insanity, but it also means that he is taking care of some of things that need to be taken care of around the office (like fixing the steps and the doors and boosting morale). Overall I would say the plusses outweigh the minuses on that.

In other breaking news, it looks like I'll be staying in my apartment after all. Mum and dad decided that they would still feel more comfortable keeping their house for themselves for another year or so until they figure out exactly what their needs are going to be in a year or two and if they can renew the lease on it again in the fall. So, while I still find the rent at my place a trifle high, if I can lock them in for a year or so I'm okay with that, esp. when I weigh it against the hassle of having to find a new place and the expense of moving. Plus I do like my apartment a lot. But I still have to talk to the landlords again on the 17th of this month, so please do pray that they will be favorable and will give me a good deal.