Yesterday was a balmy 53 degrees...it was beautiful...and now it's gone. On my way to work, it was 31 degrees. By the time I left at 1:00 it was 11 degrees (it was an early out today due to a blizzard warning). This is a most perfect day for lait chaud.

I have been asked by "anonymous" to post my recipe for lait chaud...since I don't know who anonymous is or if he/she has a teapot from Senegal, I'll try to take that into consideration as I write up the recipe as it was given to me.

1. Boil 1/4 of a pot of water, this is for a small pot like the one pictured. If you have the bigger teapot, fill it to about the bottom/middle of the holes where water pours out of the spout. Otherwise, it is a little less than 2/3 cup of water. (Take a piece of paper and twist it and stick it in the spout so it doesn't come out when it boils.)
   
2. Add 17 of the blue mints (if you lived in Senegal - you know which ones I mean - the menthe fraiche ones). I haven't found a US substitute yet because I have a supply from Senegal, but they are simply blue mints that you can suck on when you have a sore throat or just want your breath to smell pretty ("fresh mints").
   
3. Boil the mints until they are all dissolved. (About 5 minutes.)
4. Add evaporated milk until it is almost to the top of the small teapot. (In Senegal, we used UNsweetened condensed milk - which doesn't exist in the States.) It ends up being a little more than 2/3 cup.
5. Add 1-2 packets of vanilla sugar (about 1 Tbsp). I'm not positive this is necessary, sometimes I add more or less, depending on my sweet tooth. :) I don't think vanilla sugar is common in the States -but here is a website where you can buy some: Silver Cloud Estates.
6. Let it get hot and as soon as it boils, take it off the heat.
7. Serve and enjoy!
   

If you have questions or input, please feel free to leave a comment. Enjoy!!

I love perfect spring days in the dead of winter. 53 degrees today.

Tomorrow will be cold again.

So it looks like I have posted a brown box.
I like brown, but click on it.

Tonight I was avoiding preparing for my lesson tomorrow when I got sidetracked by Google Earth and found my home in Senegal...can we say a bit homesick?

I need to make some lait chaud or ataya.
And go to the beach.

I just checked the weather: "-1, feels like -19." I have always wondered why they don't just say, "It is -19." The the difference between -1 and -19 doesn't feel much different anyhow.

So picture this. Earlier tonight I was sitting in front of the TV working on a project for my toddlers with Cheza (my cat) in my lap and the space heater all of 12 inches from us.

Later, I had to venture out to Walmart and when I came home, I found Cheza in my bed under all the covers and I resumed my position in front of my space heater.

I'm becoming accustomed to not being able to feel my fingers. Some days, I wonder why I came back here. I could use a good random beach day right now.

Here I sit...my little space heater spewing out hot air about two feet from me as I watch the snow fall outside as it has all day...drinking my Coke with a lime bringing back any number of memories from my beloved Senegal while the scent of the cheesy potato soup I have in the crockpot entices my stomach. Being sick for the weekend has its advantages...such as catching up on a ton of emails that I haven't been able to respond to and listening to a sermon from my church in SC which I dearly miss. I started listening to it yesterday and finished it just a few minutes ago...and it got me thinking...

...don't freak out. That was the title of the message. My pastor there is hilarious, but hits home with just about every sermon - I guess you might say - he makes learning fun! So in his walk through the whole Bible (when I was still there he decided to start in Genesis and "just keep going..." - and he has!) he finally got to Joseph who was a righteous man who was wrongly sold, imprisoned, and basically just had awful things happen to him over and over, but God kept bringing him to places of leadership even within those times. And finally he became second in command over Egypt and ended up saving millions of lives, including those of his family. Pastor Jeff was talking about how when all these things happened to Joseph, he DIDN'T freak out...as we do in the smaller things of life.

The reason he didn't freak out? He had a deep faith in God that allowed him to trust that God was working for His good reasons. Lesson learned? Currently, things in my life are not as I would wish them to be...in a number of areas...but this is not a reason to freak out. God can use these times just as He can any other time to prepare me for what is ahead. He's worthy of my trust...I mean, if you look back since the beginning of time, He's got a good track record.

Oh, and if you want to hear this message for yourself...or any others, feel free. Just click here. :)

This is one of those times when I wish I had cable...the Africa Cup of Nations 2008 begins today with a match between Guinea and Ghana. If you are interested in seeing what the upcoming matches are or the outcomes...then click here.

For those of you interested - it looks like Cote d'Ivoire plays tomorrow and Senegal plays on the 23rd. :) Enjoy!

1. Last night, I had a really vivid and somewhat bizarre dream. I don't like the kind of dreams that mess with your head.
2. This evening, I drove by a light that shut off when I was under it. It reminded me of my Senegal days and the infamous light that always shut off when Cori and I walked under it!
3. I started seriously working on my downstairs bathroom today. Filled in the two huge holes the girl who lived here before me left. I love this kind of stuff.
4. It is really cold here. I never thought I'd say it - but today was a rare day when I asked myself why I ever moved back here from SC.
   
5. Last year after working with kids for a semester I ended up with walking pneumonia and pleurisy...I have been sick for the last week and am just praying that pleurisy is not in my near future.
6. Today I looked up information about the Grand Canyon. A first step in reaching my dream of going there before Feb. 10, 2009.
   
7. NyQuil is good stuff. One of those drugs that I am very thankful for.
8. It has been 6 months since I have been to a beach. That is far too long. I miss the ocean so very much.
9. Even though my job is not one that I want to continue with for long, it is nice to be greeted in the morning with children running at me and hugging my legs (they are only 2 and 3...so very short - even compared to me!).
10. Sometimes I call my friends across the US for no reason but to hear a friendly voice and to let them know I love them. This isn't the Iowa I left 4.5 years ago.
    

I don't have much to say
I just feel like it's time for a post
Life marches forward
I am coming down with a cold
I have an infected toenail
My cat needs to go to the vet
And it's bitter cold outside

But regardless of that
I find myself content this evening
Smiling even...for the first time in months
Simply because I serve a God who is bigger than my circumstances
And whose love never lets go of me
And if there is nothing else, I can be thankful for that

I have a postcard hanging on my wall from a dear friend of mine. It is a black and white photo of children, arms-outstretched and with huge smiles, catching enormous snowflakes in what appears to be the first snow of the year. This picture always makes me smile because of the utter delight of the children.

It has been a long week in Iowa for me. However, today when I left work, there were these mammoth snowflakes falling gracefully from the sky. As I walked to my car, I simply looked up and let them land softly on my face where they melted on my cheeks and got caught in my eye lashes. And as the stress from the day faded away for just an instant, I praised God for the strength He gave me to get through it. For without Him, I couldn't have done it.

(I just remembered I have a scanner so you could see it, too!)

If you know me in the least, you know that my heart is in Africa. So it only fits that I would choose an African name for my kitten. After receiving a significant amount of pressure about deciding on a name for her, I have finally settled on one.

Anacheza.

Pronounced: anna- CHAY-zah.

What on earth was I thinking, you ask? Well, I was talking with my best friend, Brina, the other night...she was convinced that we were going to find a name right then. I had some great suggestions - from Sahara to Lait Chaud (I agree, Marcy, it should be immortalized in some way) - but none of them "just fit" her. So Brina was looking for French words, most of which neither of us could pronounce, as I was looking for Swahili words...a language that I am deeply in love with.

In our searching, Brina looked for something that meant "playful" or "mischevious" when I happened upon the Swahili equivalent...Anacheza means "she plays". Very fitting for my little kitty. So I call her "Cheza" for short...and she seems to be taking to it. So now I have a little bit of my Africa in each day. :)

I'm feeling the pressure to decide on a name for my cat.
I need your help!
If you have an idea, please share it.

She is mostly grey (with some white on her underside).
And has goldish colored eyes.
She loves to play.
But she likes to cuddle, too.
Thanks for your help!

For those of you who didn't see this, please read THIS and keep this country in prayer. It is so easy for us in the States to see these sorts of things and go on about our day because we are so far removed from it all...but we forget that these are people...people with families who care about them, people with hopes and dreams. I don't understand all the reasons why this is happening, but I do trust that God sees it and He loves these people...please just pray for peace to be restored and for wisdom for the new government. Thanks.