Not always roses

Most recently, I've heard that our blogs make it sound like EVERYTHING is wonderful. In fact, many people have thought that we are enjoying life so much down here that they doubt we will want to come home. So this is a blog dedicated to complaining. It is a little dose of reality.

The photo is of our dog after she was attacked by some sort of insect. We don't know what got at her, but she became very swollen...to the point where she could barely open her eyes. Insect season is upon us. I thought that I was tougher now than when we first got here, but as the HOT season is rapidly approaching, the insects are choosing to come indoors. their first choice is the kitchen table or counter. The newest addition is the flying worms. They fly in, lose their wings and then crawl all over the ceiling and walls. Very cool... if you were actually into flying worms. Very recently, Ethan killed the cockroach that has been living in the innards of my crockpot. I never saw the critter, but I knew he was there because of the droppings he left me. His exoskeleton was burned, and he was naked and nearly transparent. Didn't slow him down though...he gave Ethan a run for his money!!
We also have bees that have chosen to build their hives all along the side of our house. These bees have got to be the dumbest bees we have every seen. Bob swears we could train them to be pets. They are very docile, they don't mind us hanging around, and don't seem to be in any hurry to relocate.

How am I doing? Sounding miserable yet?

Here's more. We own three vehicles here in the DR. A concho (scooter- most reliable and easiest vehicle to use on the streets here), we have a truck (Isuzu Trooper- old, reliable and has a propane conversion kit that allows us to travel on both propane and gasoline. The propane tank is in the vehicle!! It often provides additional seating should we need to shove the kids in the back) and Bob has an extremely loud old 2 stroke dirtbike for "mountain climbing". Bob's bike needed repair and he brought it into the shop (in November!!!!!) and we wait for the manana's (I need a ~ over the first 'n') to end. So, that means it's been in the shop for SIX months! Maybe tomorrow?!?
The truck is in the shop- needing a new radiator....we'll see when we get it back. The concho was the last standing vehicle....and I got a flat with it yesterday. It was the straw that broke the camels back. Bob fixed it quickly... but I complained nonetheless.

Sounding crabby I bet!

Last complaint. We have had a significant amount of rain over the last while. So much so, that the city had turned the water off in our area of town. We have a cistern that holds a large quantity of water that will last for quite a while, but eventually it gets to the point where we are using the sludge at the bottom. In order to conserve water, we watched the amount of flushing we did, washed clothes as little as possible and had the fastest showers in recorded history. Last Wednesday, they finally turned the water on! It was very exciting. I started the washing machine immediately! In less than an hour after the city turned the water was turned on, the city turned the power off. No power means no water! That's ok... our attitude was still good. We decided, that we didn't have to worry, by the next night, we would have it all! The next day, with full power and full water I started making supper. Within moments I realized that our propane tank was empty, and the stove would not work. By Friday we had it all pulled together!

Brodie wants to add to the post as well. He's sick. We are not sure at this point if he has little critters running around in him (parasites) or if he has the flu. Time will tell. But the fever, headache, upset tummy and fatigue indicate that we may be looking at more than the average flu. Tomorrow his class is going spelunking- this is not something he wants to miss. We will see what he looks like in the morning.

I had a great meeting today with a parent of an 15 year old boy with autism. There were tears, smiles, laughter and wonderful moments of understanding despite the language barrier. However, I cannot tell you about that right now, because that would defeat the purpose of this blog. :)

Did we mention that that heat is crazy hot!! Picture a sweaty family of 5!

I think that's good. If I need to post a complaining blog again in future, I'm willing, just let me know whatcha need!!