Mudbugs and beer

Zach came over Tuesday night. Seriously, is that not enough for this post? Look at him on Alex's new bike, looking so jolly. You should have seen him coming down the parking garage ramp. That bike has some bounce, I'll tell you what!

Zach left for DC Thursday to start his internship. He came down to hang out with us for the last time this summer (didn't summer just start?) and to pick up Alex's bike. Al, you are gonna love it. You have to send pictures of you dressed for work on it a la this.

Zach, Devin and I rode bikes to Rajun Cajun to have some mud bugs and beer. When we got there, I guess Zach was pretty hungry as he grabbed about 64 packs of saltine crackers to take to the table. The bets were on. Zach and Devin raced to see who could eat 6 crackers in one minute. I, of course, kept time (growing up with boys means that I am not stupid when it comes to these things. I know they had me keep time so I couldn't play with them)...

The Showdown...look how intimidating they are

Mid Race...

I didn't get a shot of the finish as it was pretty boring, but, it was messy. Also, to get back at them for not letting me play, I took big swigs of each of their beer while they went to get the food. TAKE THAT!!!

We'll miss you, Z. Make us proud!!!

The Gnats; an update.

The gnats have declared war as I poured THREE of them out of the coffee pot last night. They've officially hit me where it hurts.
1. That is not cool
2. That is not right
3. There will be justice.
4. It better gnat happen again.

It's gnat a big problem, but it bugs me...

We have gnats. We have swarms of them that live primarily in our kitchen. As soon as we walk in and turn the sink on, they fly everywhere and Devin transforms into Mowgli and jumps around trying to catch or kill them. For one, the bugs are annoying, and for two, it scares me when my husband resembles an ape boy. Wait, was he an ape? I only saw the movie once when I was dating Devin. I guess he was just a boy who acted like an ape.

Anyway, we don't want to have the maintenance guys spray the inside of our apartment because you and I both know that they would spray anything and everything as they rush through it and I don't really want to be eating or sleeping on pesticide. So, I did some research yesterday and found this message board where people were discussing different methods of getting rid of these pesky little critters. Several of them had tried mixing dish soap with cider vinegar. I thought it would end up scoring me MAJOR wife points because the vinegar/soap method really seemed to work for everyone. But, after about 15 hours (so far...don't think I left those gnats in my apartment without bait today), this is my result.

3. Are you kidding me?! 3?! Oh yeah I had one more in another other bowl. So, I caught 4 of the 31 million that Devin tries to fight off during breakfast.

In the end, I got zero wife points, a kitchen that smells like vinegar, some bites of revenge from the gnats while I slept last night, and a hillbilly husband eating with a flyswatter in his hand. Anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of these guys??

...and Then There Were Four

I wonder what made me think that sponsoring one child from India would fulfill my desire to serve the children of poverty. Devin and I discussed our financial situation on Sunday and decided we just weren't giving enough. So, we opted to sponsor 3 more children from India via Compassion International. We are elated to be a part of their lives and cannot wait to hear from them.

Nepal Munda Kishun is a healthy 7 year old boy who has patiently waited for a sponsor since December 2007, if not longer (I'm basing it on when their info was last updated). He lives with his mother and father, who are both farmers when there is work, in Ranchi. His chores include collecting firewood as his community's greatest need is electricity.

Budra Khillo is a healthy boy who just hit the 6 year old milestone on May 17th. He lives with his mother and father and loves to play marbles and other games. His family lives in Bhubaneshwar, which is pretty close to where Lisa and her family live. Budra has been waiting since November of 2007 for a sponsor.

Navina Kothli is our 10 year old girl. She has been waiting since December of 2007 for a sponsor. You should see her draped in such beautiful colors (I promise to get pictures scanned in of all 4 of our cheerun, as the women I work with would say). She loves to play house, naturally, as any 10 year old girl does. I can just imagine her enacting the motherly duties she is already observing in her community. These children take on great responsibility at very young ages. She lives with her mother and father in the same community as Budra! Actually, because they are now sponsored, they will actually hear about Jesus at the same Bible School! I hope they become friends and show our pictures to each other. I really hope that connection is made.

Do You Mooch?

Devin has a lot of bikes, but I also have a lot of books (a great gift for me would be a book shelf...hint hint?). I usually have this really odd attachment to books after I have read them, like if I get rid of them, I will all of the sudden want to recall what the woman said on page 97. I usually say I am trying to start my personal library, but who am I kidding? I don't even own a book shelf (2nd hint)! Anyway, I also have a tendency to buy books I want to read at a much faster rate than I read them, which can be fairly expensive. You may be thinking, "I want the 30 seconds of my life that I've wasted reading this post back", but, hear me out. I found a site to solve all of my book hoarding problems. Book Mooch. You can get rid of books and gain more just as quickly, all you pay is postage to send them, and if you do need to go back and look at page 97, you can always mooch the book back. Done and Done. Now go sign up so I can mooch some of your books and put them on my invisible book shelf (hint 3).

Question: What is your favorite book? Who is your favorite author? I need new books.

*I posted the Very Hungry Caterpillar not because it is my favorite book (I've never read it), but because if I had to guess, I would bet he was a book worm. Kstan, could you confirm my theory?