today was a blur! one of those, it-flew-by-and-i-know-i-was-busy-but-i-don't-think-i-accomplished-anything-productive kind of blurs. i got up at 7:50 (my morning to sleep in!) and jumped into some clothes and out of the house in my usual less-than-five-minute, not-a-morning-person stupor to head to school to make some copies and get set for the day. class today was rough; as are all thursdays it seems. in the states, fridays seem to be the day that the kids go biszerk at the looming weekend. but not in haiti. fridays are fun. the kids are typically on their A-game then. thursdays, however, are hell. prior to restroom/snack/recess at 9:45, we had only accomplished prayer and memory verse; not even the bible story or calendar time!

the afternoon was a mess. well, it wasn't all chalked up to loss. daryl and jadelle (surprisingly!) were wonderful, and jadelle really exhibited a lot of responsibility and respect today; praise the Lord for that, because i was starting to wonder if it was a lost cause! we've been doing a lot of character education with the kids this week (respect, responsibility, care, fairness) through animal stories and crafts, and i've at least noticed they've been more motivated to respond when i question them. not to say they are right, but the fact they are at least taking the steps in trying to form a response make me jump for joy! roland and jarelle (jadelle's younger sister) were absolutely disasters today; so praying for a better day with those two tomorrow.

on a good note, they are all totally getting their phonics, which is such an encouragement, because without curriculum, there is no guide on what to teach and when.

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after school, i finally completed the two-day process of laundry, and got all my stuff put away. line-drying really isn't all that bad, i just don't like that it takes two days to get the laundry completed! farron and i took a moto-taxi down to deli mart where we were blessed to find BONELESS CHICKEN BREAST! if you've ever done any shopping in haiti, you'd come to find fresh is not a word used often. bread, vegetables, meats; they hardly exist, at least by our standards or tummy tolerance. but i was so overjoyed to find it, that i paid $5 for less than a pound, and have high-hopes of making a cold chicken-pasta salad with it this weekend.

while we were at deli, we (naturally) ate a late lunch at epi d'or (it was eggs for lunch today and i had dismissal anyway, so i skipped). because it was like, 3 p.m. once i ate, i also skipped dinner and just ate the other half of my delectable crepe-sale (there's an accent on that e, but i don't know how to do all that fancy stuff), a fresh-made crepe with ham, cheese, onions and peppers, mustard, ketchup, and a spicy sauce. it seriously is the best thing on the menu, and at 80 gourdes (about $2USD), it's a good deal too.

after lunch, i came back to work on my classroom a bit: re-organize the book case, move some tables around, put up student's work. lost amidst the dust, mosquitos, and plethora of books spread strategically across the floor, i heard someone outside say, "oh, that meeting was only for staff." and it dawned on me: it's thursday! staff meeting! i ran outside and asked what time it was, and with 8 colored fish bowls in hand, literally RAN to the breezeway to stealthily sneak in 20 minutes late.

the meeting was actually a real blessing (not the usual, same mumbo-jumbo that never changes week-to-week). wayne and keturah announced that they are expecting! audrey announced that she is now the legal guardian of precious 15-month-old jasmineder! AND there was a plethora of can goods for our taking (i scored black-eyed peas, pintos, kidney beans, and a can of chicken and corn chowder!).

leaving the meeting, dinner had already started, so i decided to skip it and get to work back in my classroom. finally getting the shelfs organized, i tried to lower the new table's height, and decided a butter knife would not do the trick. whoops, that will have to be a weekend task.

we had women's group tonight, which was also a major blessing because we got swiss dark chocolate, homemade cinnamon rolls, and beautiful, decorative soap and sarongs from hawaii! anne-ruth shared her testimony, and just hearing about her faith was such a blessing to my heart. i did however, fall asleep towards the end, and planned on coming home (2 hours ago now) and going directly to bed. but either my extrovert self, or my introvert self, always takes over my exhausted self and i either spend time with people, or make time to catch up journaling. one of these days, i declare the exhaustion in me will win over, but unfortunately, that wasn't tonight.