Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Floods of Feelings

I concur that currently my emotions are a bit haywire...but I am overcome with a sadness pending some news we got this week. A couple we are close with are divorcing. We have shared many things, joy, pain, Holidays together. All that will be lost with the family now torn apart.

Mainly I grieve for the loss. Loss of security, loss of belonging, loss of communication and friendship for this family. It brings a flood of emotions and feelings that I can't quite shake. Memories of my parent's divorce and the aftermath of destruction. Even as an adult the pain of divorce is vivid.

With little Olivia on the way my mind is consumed with the environment I want to bring her up in. Mainly there are two key ingredients for me. God and Love. I want her to know what a real relationship with God is and I want her to see His love evident in how Emmanuel and I treat each other.

I pray this day for a special blessing over my marriage- for the journey I am committed too and the family I want to build.
I also pray this day for our friends...that they would recommit their relationship and family to God.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Theory on frozen water


For the most part Emmanuel and I have managed to blend our lives together in such a way that I rarely notice any cultural differences between us. It seems natural at this point to eat African food, or hear countless phone conversations in a mixture of French/Ewe. Talking with my Mother-in-Law is the same sentence of " Hello, I love you" repeated over and over..

You know- normal stuff like that.

But every once in a while I am thrown for a curve. Like yesterday. I was enjoying a nice glass of green tea with ice. Before I got pregnant I really didn't use ice in my drinks- but now I love it. Emmanuel has been making comments about the ice, but I thought he was linking it to my burping problem and I didn't pay him any attention.

Yesterday the truth came out when he had another Togolese to back him up. He made a comment about the ice and turned to our friend. Our friend gave him a look and said "I am not going to say it, I would get in trouble."

What is going on I asked?

Emmanuel came out with the truth. In Togo- they believe that ice makes you fat.

Insert loud laugh here!! I thought it was hilarious! Frozen water turning into fat? Bloated maybe? Cold, yes- but fat is made up of too many calories accumulating in your body and turning into storage cells called fat. Last time I checked, water was void of calories.

So unless I see some proof- I am discounting this as a lie his mother told him. Along the same lines of "If you cross your eyes they will stick that way" or "If you swallow your gum it will stick in your stomach". Theory's like that our parents tell us just to scare us. :)

Monday, July 13, 2009

And my name is "Bermuda"?

Weird vivid dream! Emmanuel and I were in a castle, getting ready for a banquet thrown by my rich Grandmother. Eman is all decked out in a tuxedo, I have on the most gorgeous dress I have ever seen.

We walk into the ballroom and they announce our names. Trumpet sounding....

Emmanuel and Bermuda.

Bermuda? I think even in my dream I was puzzled, let alone what facial expression registered in my sleep!

Haha... Crazy funny dream. Kind of a catchy alias though don't you think?

Saturday, July 11, 2009

I got an "arm" from the biker!

Maybe I am the only one on the face of this planet who doesn't know this, but why did the biker give me his whole arm? I thought if you were mad at someone it was a certain finger? Hmmmm

No just teasing.... I was sheltered but not that sheltered. Well okay I was that sheltered. I have no idea what his arm was trying to tell me. I got behind him, he must have gotten nervous. He sticks out his arm, then he bends it, then I get nervous because I don't know what the crap he is trying to tell me.

Am I the only one who didn't learn the universal bike arm signals?

Monday, July 6, 2009

German Shepherd of Women

We always had German Shepherd's or some version of a GS mix growing up and without exception they were the most loyal dogs! One of their downfalls though was when it came time to leave them- whether for a couple hours or a couple days. We always would arrive home to find the food bowls overflowing and the dogs moping around waiting for our return. They refused to eat, sleep, drink or live while their family was away.

This was pretty much my weekend. Well maybe that is a slight exaggeration. I did eat. :) But I was so MOPEY with Eman gone. I really really wanted him to go- I am so glad he went and had a great boy's weekend, but man did I miss him!!! I could not fill my hours up enough to stop thinking of missing him so I just gave up and moped around the house not doing anything.

So whether that is loyalty or just selfishness I am not sure. What I can say is how much my life intertwines with his and when he is gone- I unravel a little bit. He gets home tonight and I am SO happy!