Agosto 1-6, 2011

Pues, I shudda wrote when it was fresh, this last week, that is. But a few things still stand out, such as my bday celebration at the Lily, which began, as do most good Guatemalan festivities, with firecrackers at 0600! OK, in this case, 0610, but they were right outside our bedroom window & scared the bejeebers outta me! And when I looked out, low & behold, there were almost all the kids & Rosa, dressed & ready for school ALREADY, singing & holding a cake with lighted candles! Cake for me...for desayuno! Yes!
...and later that day, we drove "down" to Antigua, and went to Hector's for a bday cena. Makes getting older worth it, si??!!!









NOTE TO GRANDCHILDREN: HERE IS A VERY EARLY GIFT IDEA FOR YOUSE: Pinky Lupita destroyed my delightful door hangar, and all because she couldn't go with us into the kids part of the Lily!! But she didn't stop there; she decided to taste-test Anita's cake and ate a corner of it BEFORE she was discovered! Thankfully, there was enough to serve for Anita's fiesta! Dickens


This used to be a handsome door hangar!




And this WAS a whole strawberry cake!




Even though we already gave a report for the 3rd,
lots of other stuff happened, like Luis and Elsa
on his 1st full day back with his mamita getting
into their routine here at the Lily. Here
is a foto of them doing their laundry chores...
standing on the table to get to the top o' the
blanket piles. We're told we'll need all of these
come the end o' the year when it gets quite chilly
here in San Lucas.



Both new employees, Alba,the taller one, and Dorcas, in the tipico ropa, wanted fotos, so of course, we had lots o' volunteers who gladly got in the act w/them, including bad girl Pink! Interestingly, shortly after the foto shoot, Alba left for her days off, and didn't return. So once again, Rosa is without a ninera. Bother!


Thursday, Patsy came to the Lily to give her sewing lesson. Then she and we took off for a city shopping adventure: Novex, Cemaco, Pricesmart, Wallyworld, Eskala, and a new place for me, Casa y Estilo, an amazingly wondermus fabric store where we found material for kitchen curtains. Poco a poco.....didn't get Patsy back to Antigua til almost 7pm!

Friday, Agosto 5th,Rosa cancelled Anita's audience; it was in Coban, and they would have had to leave at 0400 to make it ontime, but her car isn't up to the 4 hr drive. So Anita is still with us! I took the chicken bus to Antigua to have a haircut and to go to Hope Haven to do my monthly report. Guillermo sanded 4 wood sewing tables AND mowed the lawn. Then he ran out of steam, so edging will have to wait!





Saturday, a pastor came with his family and a few other teens to enjoy the beautimus morning here at the Lily. He gave a short message for the kids out on the cancha and they all sang some worship songs, then they played some really fun games. I hope you can see the way wide smile on Elsa's face as she helps Luis in one of the games!

But we also had a "near-miss";remember that Rosa is w/out a ninera, so she was in the house alone with 16 kids(most of the oldest girls go to Saturday school). The newest girl, 13 yr old Flori, was working in the kitchen. I just "happened" to look out our window to see someone walking on the grass side of the driveway...very unusual...& slip out of sight toward the gate. I was compelled to go out right away & see who it was, & sure enough, it was Flori, looking for a way to leave! I got Rosa, & she went right after her & brought her back to the house. PLEASE KEEP HER IN PRAYER; SHE HAS NO IDEA HOW DANGEROUS IT IS ON THE STREETS! NOT SURE WHERE SHE WAS EVEN THINKING SHE COULD GO. And this has caused some rather drastic measures to be put in place which affect all the kids...and the grown-ups as Irene will tell you!!...so it isn't so easy right now.