Matt's brother, David, got married this month out in Utah. What with having lots of kids and kids in school, we decided just to send Matt out or the wedding/reception (they were having one here, too, so...)He had a ball playing paintball with brothers, skiing with a brother, staying up late, and totally trashing David's vehicle at the reception. So he was gone four days for that, came hom and worked admin days and shifts one on top of the other and now he's off again to Guatamala for a week on a medical mission completely paid for by the hospital. And he gets to go with one of his brothers. We didn't plan both things so close together, but that is how it just ended up. People keep asking me if I'll be okay and in fact, I'm actually glad he's gone. I mean I totally love the man and all and I miss the man terribly, but there are a few perks to being on your own for a week:
Top Ten Things Emily Enjoys When Matt Is Gone:
10. Usually I get kinda annoyed when Matt dumps his clothes all over the room. When he's gone I for some reason take delight in dumping my own clothes all over our room (I hastily pick them up the day he's due to arrive home).
9. The phone magically rings like ten times less than normal.
8. I make more scrambled eggs and add extra ketchup because there's nobody there telling me that's gross.
7. I don't shovel his half of the driveway.
6. I can get to church on time and more importantly, I exit the building five minutes after the last bell rings. For those of you who don't know Matt, he attracts talkers and we usually sit in the lobby for twenty-five minutes while I herd the kids into a corner and try to keep them from escaping.
5. I read way more books than should be allowed in my schedule.
4. I let dishes sit in the sink overnight every day--unless it's a kids' night for dishes. Then, they have to do them for me.
3. I watch the last scene of North and South (BBC show where almost everyone tragically dies) ten times in a row and go to bed all rosy happy. For those of you who haven't seen it, the four hours of tragedy are worth the build up to the kiss. It's just not the same watching it with a man in the room.
2. I take the kids out to Hello Sushi for ebi tempura--it's become tradition and the owners put us in a corner and don't mind cleaning up all the rice off the floor after we're gone.
1. This might seem silly, but my favorite thing is seeing the bed made every day. We have a last person out of the bed makes it rule at our house and since our schedules are so weird, he's either sleeping in it while I'm awake or he's the last one out and usually forgets to make it. When there's just me it's made every day and it's so pretty--I love jumping on at it at the end of a long day and hurling pillows in every direction and making a big mess of the blankets. And magically the next day it looks nice again after I make it and its the one thing that stays nice in the house all day long because my kids don't really go in there. I love my bed. I say that most nights right after I tell Matt I love him. "Love you, hon. I love you bed." At least I have my priorities straight.
Lest you think my husband is a slob and is always late, I must insert that the guy actually pitches in a lot around here. Dishes, vacuuming, poopy diapers...You name it, he does it. Miss you honey bunny! Hopefully I'll still be sane when he returns.
This is Matt's brother Jon and the Jesus chair they found in Antigua. I'm including this because I think the chair is hilarious. Their bus driver lamented that Antigua used to be 100% catholic and is now only 85%.
After treating patients at one of the scools, the village leader insisted on feeding everyone lunch. Matt was brave enough to eat the food, but not the drink.
Six docs, six interpreters, and the captain of the boat, sailed down Lake Izabo and some river I can't remember, stopping at four remote villages and an orphanage.
Here's Matt and one of his patients. They actually diagnosed this girl with TB and had to find a way to get her to a real clinic a day away for a three day follow up. Hopefully her family will get her there.
The people Matt saw live in these tiny jungle villages in grass and tin huts with dirt floors. They are actually Mayans and don't speak Spanish. Each kid was given a deworming pill, a pack of vitamins, a tooth brush, two colored pencils, and a sticker. Matt said they are a tiny people. Matt would tower over the mom in this picture.
This is their pharmacy station. They mostly treated people for worms, lice, and scabies.
Here's their clinic. They'd set up at the local school using the kids' desks. All the schools had bars on the windows to keep people from stealing the school supplies. They saw about 200 people at each school they stopped at. It would be the village and people would hike in from surrounding villages, too.
