Zeq

That's how we feel! Zeq is a word used by our local friends to describe almost any and all emotion (sad, lonely, bored, depressed, etc.) Austin has translated it to be "emotionally ambiguous."

We sure had a great time with Babu and Gogo. Time and internet allowing, I plan to share pictures and stories. But now that they are gone and we're back home from the capitol we are officially ZEQ.

They are here!!!

Two weeks ago Ethan and I made a paper chain to countdown the days until Gogo and Babu arrived to visit us. Everyday Ethan and Elli would take turns tearing off a link.

And they have arrived. So Thursday morning Ethan tore the last link off with Babu and Gogo. We've made it over the mountains and are at home in our valley. We are excited for the memories that will fill these days. I'm sure there will be pictures to share once they leave.

Spring Cleaning

We've completed a slight overhaul on our front entry hallway. The coal heater is out!!! The plastic is off the windows and we've scrubbed it from the top down. And I assure you it feels SO much better. I don't know if I can say the same for my pregnant body!

Some pictures of what spring cleaning looks like in Aobistan:


I think I've told you that our coal heater "burned dirty." Thus the great overwhelming smell triggered nausea that plagued my first trimester.

This is what I mean by dirty. This was a soot iceicle during some of the colder days in February.

So then this is the fine film of black shoot that covered every surface; window sills; walls; clothes; pantry; etc. Before we re-hung our curtains (I'm so glad I took them down so they weren't blackened all winter) I wiped down every surface. To explain the picture - out the window you see our home insulated water pipe, bringing water into our house, and then the coat rack by our front door is down below. With my current lack of balance and a rickety ladder, I probably shouldn't have been as high as I was for as long as I was. But can you really stop a pregnant mama from cleaning, when she sets her mind to it?

So the soot also clung to our carpet, turning the soles of socked feet black. So Friday we took our carpet over to T's house to utilize her large paved patio. And Mary and I scrubbed our hearts out. We laughed that we were getting good exercise, as we squatted and scrubbed for close to 3 hours non-stop. It wasn't long after the carpet was clean, that I stopped laughing. My body hurt!!!

But the clean carpet was so worth it. Austin spent all weekend painting the walls a fresh coat of white. Now that the space is all back in order, I'm so glad we did the work. It feels so much cleaner. Who knew spring cleaning could be so very intensive.