Exhaustion and Resulting Laughter

So, Mattie said I needed to blog before I come home...not that I wouldn't have before now, but I've been trekking up and down treacherous ice coated hills for the better part of this past week, and the think they don't tell you about all that Christmas calendar weather is that it's downright exhausting...especially when you've spent your entire previous life in East Texas and you have muscles the size of split peas. Whew. Life takes work.

However, I prayed that God would give me ways to get stronger, and He's answering:) Of course, after the holidays I'll be back to wimpiness sqare one. I keep telling Masha I'm going to get stronger, and she assures me that I will.

Masha's been great. We've been having a lot of laughs, partially because we're so tired. She looked out the kitchen window at me shuffling my slippery way to the outhouse like a penguin the other night and just burst out laughing, which sent me into spasms too. I love her laughter, because it reminds me to laugh too, even if I'm sometimes not sure what's so funny till she tells me :) She's made me feel really at home.

I'm really liking my new home. The hardest part is the icy hike back and forth, although Bruce or Deb often take me home if they're going that way or when the weather is bad. We're warm and cozy and it's just nice to be growing roots of friendship.

Last night Sveta was the only other one who came to prayer meeting at the house, and we just kept laughing so hard over almost nothing.

This week I was craving beans after four months with out that southern staple, so I bought some at the market and made them like Mom does. I was planning to cook them with pork bones for flavor, and Masha said I could get the bones at the meat stall in the market. I planned to do that, but when I got there, I just bought the first things I saw: sausages. So later that night while I was brushing my teeth, I just had the sudden thought that I "chickened out" at the meat market...and my own pathetic humor overcame me to the point that I was choking with laughter in the bathroom and Masha came in and asked I was ok. Of course I had a hard time assuring her that it wasn't actually that funny...

A few nights ago, I accidentally got locked out of the house, and it was snowing when I came home, and...it's a very interesting story actually, which I haven't had time to tell properly, but would like to type up and relate to you...Masha wants to take pictures of me acting it out to give the full effect. It involved a gigantic lock, a treacherous climb, a very tiny window, and lots of adrenaline and chocolate.

But for now, I'm going to check my flight times on the internet, because I'm leaving early Monday morning for East Texas to spend a month with my family. I'm dreaming of a not-white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know...