Drink Tea

I recommend Tazo. My favorite is Refresh. Next are Calm and Awake....you really should try them. The nice thing about hanging around a cold apartment is that drinking tea becomes much more fun...bundling up in a sweatshirt and quilt with a mug full of steaming tea is just so wonderful.

Last night I stayed at the apartment while Jay and Kristen went to small group. I sat on their couch with candles lit and the Christmas tree lights twinkling. It was so cozy. I eventually decided to curl up and watch In America. I had never seen it before... it was really good. It has made my favorites list :)

We made Christmas cookies yesterday. YUM. I will post pictures later. It was lots of fun... they were the cut-out sugar cookies. They're my Christmas favorite. I told mom we have to make some more when I get home.

So...funny story. Not really funny but sort of. If you know my dad then it's funny. Apparently he has had this funny lump on his stomach for a while. He decided to tell my mom two days before he left for Mexico that he thinks its a hernia. He's all casual about it, but won't let mom see the lump (lest she "freak out," I suppose). He told my mom that he wanted the surgery done in the village, so he was going to have the Indian doctor check it out. Sure enough, he's got a hernia. He is scheduled for surgery tomorrow at one, and expects to drive out of mexico (bumpy roads and all) on Monday, caravan style with another missionary family. He's crazy. The funny part is, the price is no different. Insurance covers it, but he doesn't want to have to deal with the hassel of American hospitals, etc. He would rather have it done in rural Mexico. I think it's amazing. He wrote me this really funny email a couple days ago about how this puts a hold on our Grand Canyon backpacking trip. He said "I'm getting my gut sliced open and then stitched back up." It's probably a good thing that the trip is off...although, knowing my dad, he might still try it. Don't worry, I'm putting my foot down (mom already has). No way am I dragging my dad out of the Grand Canyon because his stitched came undone. Yuck.

I love my dad. I love that he had the bump but just didn't tell anyone till now. Oh. He also thinks he knows when he got it....or what might have irritated it. A couple months ago, while at the shop working, he was cutting some boards and a piece flew off and jabbed him in the stomach really hard. He just told mom about that, too. I love how he tells her NOW. So crazy. Anyway, that's my crazy dad story. So, the day after I get home (tuesday morning) my mom and I will probably be driving down to the border crossing to pick him up (he'll spend the night in a motel b/c the border will close before he can get there on monday). But he wants help crossing the border in case they give him trouble or try to have him unload all his furniture. I don't know how he thinks he'll travel so soon after the surgery. His sister (my aunt) had this done a year ago and apparently was flat on her back for close to a week... and had a hard time of it once she had to go back to work (REALLY sore). Hopefully it will heal fast and he can get back to normal... and hopefully he doesn't push it and overdo it. Oh dad. I love him.

(and don't worry, really. The surgeon is supposed to be really good. One of the best down there :))

I think I'll get going. I need to study more CLEP. OH! good news! More of my credits transferred than I thought. Moody is accepting my English AND my latin (on top of the other stuff). Woohoo! After I CLEP sociology, I won't have that many pre-reqs. The ones I will have will be fun--all the theology requirements that I want to take anyway. I'm so excited about this. Thank you, God, for providing. Thank you all for praying. I'll try to get a letter out soon. Bye!