This says it all

I'm still currently without a computer at home, but we now have air and heat! The floors are just about finished and the carpet goes in thursday. Yeah! Then the furniture and no more camping out...i'll have my washer and dryer and kitchen back together.

Eric and Heather are now in Uganda, since Kenya is not a safe place to visit right now. They did fly through kenya, but never left the airport. Here is an email I received today:

MOMS, This is just a quick email to say that we are doing great (email inthe village is very expensive, we will get to the main city forinternet really soon)!!! We arrived at the jewish village on Friday and have recieved the warmest welcomes. We have met some other volunteers here and are having a great time. Ever since we have arrived in Uganda, our traveling has been GREAT! We can speak the language and the people are sooooo friendly. Shabbat here was great,we even had challah! Yesterday, we started a big project to paint the Synogogue and trying to get a majority done before next Shabbat. We will write more later, we just wanted to say Hi and we are doing great and will keep yall updated! Love,Heather and Eric

Home Sweet Home

We moved into our master bedroom today and will sleep for the first time at the new house. It's still a work in progress, we will have lots of workmen in and out, but at least we are not in the hotel. I see it as luxury camping: no tv, no computer, no carpet, lots of dust, no mirrors, no heat or air condition, however, we do have running water (hot and cold) and a nice new bed.

update

UPDATE:

New Years Eve....Adam started bleeding from his throat. By "2008" he was hemorrhaging. Ileya rushed him to Texas Children's Hospital and they did emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. He lost a considerable amount of blood, however, we were so lucky that he did not need a blood transfusion. So I know you will ask, just as every employee at TCH asked, "Why did she take him to the children's hospital." Ileya volunteers there and she knew where the emergency clinic was. It was late and she didn't want to be driving around the med center looking for the emergency rooms at the other hospitals. I personally think it was a genius idea b/c i happen to love that hospital. It is where i do my volunteer clowning. Anyway, that hospital is so set up to be parent and child friendly. They let us be with him up until the surgery and we were with him immediately after in the recovery room. He stayed overnight and went home the next day.

After 5 days (i think), Heather was released from the african clinic. (yesterday) She was able to keep 3 meals down, which meant the antibiotics started to finally work. Now I understand why they got Salmonella, after reading their blog!!!! True, they are experiencing things that are so very unique, however, they are in the poorest and dirtiest places! Presently, they are in a "bed and breakfast" resting and rebuilding their strength.

So things are definitely picking up.

I'm Back

Sorry i've been out of touch.....i'm without a computer and only have access when visiting family and friends. My entries will continue to be sparse, until we finally move into our new home......which could be awhile.

So we sold our house and had to be out the beginning of December. Since our new house is not quite finished, we figured a week or two in the hotel. What could be so bad....it will be like being on a vacation. The first day, wow, all you can eat breakfast, once a week maid service, double beds (umm both good and bad) with a tv in the bedroom (new experience for us), little kitchen area to heat up leftovers, etc., den area, quiet, comfortable, and convenient. We are close to a train track, i love hearing the trains go by.

Three weeks later, or is it four, i can't even look at their breakfast b/c I've gained so much weight from eating every meal out! The dam trains blow their horns all night long! There is no TV in the den, only the bedroom, so when i can't sleep from the trains, I cannot watch tv b/c it bothers eddie. We also have no computer, nor does the hotel. Once a week maid is definitely not enough in a tiny space. The good news is that I found the laundry room on the 2nd floor, about 10 miles from our room. On another positive note, Buddy has learned to live in the crate when we are not there. He has also learned to walk on the leash. He's getting use to taking long walks up and down the long long halls, which is good practice for our new house. Best of all, Buddy has divorced me. He no longer wants to sleep with me, only Eddie. I'm all by myself in that double bed!!!! Eddie sometimes sleeps over, but then we get too squished up....he's cold, i'm hot, Buddy's trying to wedge in between us, forget it....go back to your own bed!!!

So after being there all this time, i just learned that i have free use of the Ballys gym, next door. Yeah, I'm back to working out. Feels great!!! Helps with all the Godiva, Rocky Mountain Choc. , cookies, nuts, and goodies that we have gotten as gifts. Thanks everyone, I'm going to roll down the aisle when Adam and Ileya get married.

Ok, so we are out of the house, I have limited use of a computer, and I just got over pneumonia. I missed a week of teaching. The first day of vacation, i came down with a bad cold. My son Adam, who has sleep apnea, decided to have his nose and throat fixed, hoping to help the problem. Nasty surgery, very painful. He's finally on the upswing.

And to top off my stress, today my kids in africa called to tell me they have been sick with salmonella typhoid. Heather is presently still in the hospital/clinic for dehydration. Eric's doing better then her. He got sick in the Sahara, and their guide told them that they needed to get out of the country and back to Senegal for proper medical treatment. This took some bribing at the border, but finally they made it back. By then, they were both very sick. Theyv'e only been in Africa for 2 months. I shudder to think of the other things they are up against!

Ok, i feel better venting.

Have a save and happy new year.

happy birthday to me

Since thanksgiving, I've had pneumonia, so i really wasn't' up to blogging. I'm not sure where i caught it from, no telling when you teach. That's the downfall to teaching: I pick up all kinds of colds, coughs, etc.!

My African kids are now traveling west. Being the only white faces in the city, they turned out to be celebrities. The community was so hospitable, they loved their stay in Ghana. Read more at: wwwgetjealous.com/grosman.

And finally, today is my b-day (52 years young). I gave myself a party with my kindergarten class. I'm not sure which made them happier....to see me back at school after missing the whole week or the (soy) ice cream sandwiches.

I'll blog tomorrow, with pictures....

africa continues

As you can see on their faces, Eric and Heather are so very happy. They are presently in Ghana, Africa at the YES School. Each day, they go into the classrooms and teach. Heather has been teaching songs, dances and animal habitats and Eric has been doing magic, math and taking pictures. The students are mesmerized by them....they have never gotten close to a white person before. They can't stop touching them...their hair, skin, etc.....

I want to go to africa.

happy thanksgiving

• Wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! Here is an e-mail that I got and wanted to share because I thought it was appropriate!


• 
  I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, "This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to G-d said in prayer are received." I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world. Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.
  
  The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section.. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.
  
  Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section," my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed. "How is it that? There's no work going on here?" I asked. "So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.
  
  "How does one acknowledge G-d's blessings?" I asked. "Simple," the angel answered. "Just say, "Thank you, G-d." "What blessings should they acknowledge?" I asked.
  
  


• "If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world.
• "If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.




• "And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."
  
  Also .....




• "If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ...... you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day.




• "If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.




• "If you can attend a synagogue meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death ... you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.




• "If your parents are still alive and still married. You are very rare.




• If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you are unique to all those in doubt and despair."
  
  Ok, what now? How can I start?
  
  If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
  
  Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.
  
  Attn: Acknowledge Dept.: Thank You G-d! "Thank you G-d, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people to share it with."