Bits and Bobs

Hi-ya (said in singy-songy tone, with voice rising on the "ya"--a traditional greeting here).
How you gettin' on? (Typical question I am asked every day at work at least once!)
It's been a busy week catching up on bits and bobs (all sorts of things, little bit of everything) after the holidays. I'm sure you have had the same in most of your homes. I've finally got a little food stored away in the freezer for myself, took the tree down, recycled our Christmas cards, returned unused/unneeded Christmas presies (aka, presents), made sweeties (i.e. cookies) for myself with ingredients Mom/Dad brought me special from the States I can't get here. Of course I also worked and we "moved office" (four of us in one room swapped with four others in the room next door. Sounds easy but it was quite chaotic as I began to believe that our department must win the award for the most paperwork in any office on campus!) Also had the repair man and landlord come. Repair man discovered the drain pipes aren't installed properly for our machine and the leak is coming from there, not the new machine. Guess that's good to know. Landlord came to see what he needed to do about it. You get the picture. So, that's me (us) sorted (me in order, all set--one of my absolute favorite sayings here and also said at work a lot!).

On top of all this we gave our 2 month required notice for leaving our flat at the end of our lease. So we are actively looking for a new place. Pray with us that God will provide one for us to be in no later March 13th!

I've also finally decided to do more research about my health issues. While I haven't been having reactions every day or even bad ones, I still continue to have persistent, small "attacks" (or whatever you want to call them) often enough to make me know something "isn't right." So, I have made numerous calls trying to look into alternative treatments. I've also done some more internet research to figure out what could maybe be going on in this crazy body of mine! I might have found a lead today, but still have more investigating to do. I'm on a 4 months waiting list with a gastroenteroligist and hope to have an appointment sometime in March. My doctor told me the specialist has a special interest in food allergies/sensitivities, so I have hope that maybe, just maybe, I'll finally have a listening ear! I hope so! I could really use your continued prayer as I search out for more answers and a willingness to accept whatever answers I receive about what's wrong. It's been nearly 4 years of doctors and questions and some answers, then more doctors, more questions...I'm ready for some more answers!

Mark is plugging away at his thesis (dissertation) and is hoping to hand some work into his supervisor this week. He had me reading a draft of it today. I told him it was like trying to walk through a swamp that was waist deep, it was so thick and hard to comprehend! (Mind you, that was because my brain is muddy, not his writing!) He suggested maybe it was more like hiking through a Scottish bog :) It's a good thing I have had some Greek and a good theological training/background or I would be utterly lost! I'm just glad I won't be quizzed on what I'm trying to read. I look more for the grammatical, over-used words or lack of interesting sentence structure, etc, type of things. Today reminded me again of why I'm so proud of him for even attempting a PhD :)

Mom and Dad are back home in NC also getting back in the groove of life. I think we all sometimes wonder if they were even really here. It's surreal. Just glad I have pictures to prove they were! And today, on Skype (video cam) Dad was sporting his Scottish wool hat he got for his birthday (that we got to celebrate with him on Jan. 1)! Isn't he handsome?!

Well, friends, I better leave for now. C-ya or C-you (I have noticed only I seem to say "bye" at work!)