Peanut Butter

Chris eats peanut butter like it is going out of style!!! Peanut butter apples, a scoop of peanut butter here and there, a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, whenever he feels the need. The store had peanut butter the first day we were here, but then we have not seen it for two weeks. So when it finally came in, I grabbed TEN jars. I was feeling a bit bad, and yes there was some left on the shelf, but a friend of mine said not to feel bad, because the next person would come along and do the same thing. This was my first hoarding experience! This is what $44.oo or Rp. 440,000 (Rupiah) of peanut butter looks like....

And believe me, these are no Sam's Club size jars of PB! They are 500g. You do the math...

Going broke over peanut butter!
Robin

Tale of the Squat Pot??????

There are some things in life that you are very thankful for. With a family of six, you can imagine what the mornings are like when everyone has to use the toilet and you only have ONE! There's a lot of groans and shouting "Hurry up!!!" So when we moved into the hut I was preparing myself for many of those mornings. We had one regular toilet, aka a western toilet, and a squat pot.

The squat pots are installed in what they call the "Maid's quarters". It's a small bedroom with a very small bathroom, and pretty much all the Indonesians, men and women, use these. It is even rumored that they stand on the rim of a western toilet and squat. To each his own, I guess... So anyway, we knew when we got here, I would not be able to enjoy the benefits of a full time maid because we needed to use that room as an extra bedroom and bathroom. In order for anything to get changed in the house, you have to put in a request with Facilities Management and they then have the choice to accept or decline the request. It took a new friend of mine six months to get hers changed out. So when we put in our request, we were not expecting anything to happen for awhile. We were just going to bug them with a request once a week until it was done. But as it happens, the next day someone was here checking out our "problem" and by the day after that, they had a schedule for them to start the work! YIPPEE!!!!! So I have been sitting around the house for the last week waiting for all the workers to show up. Some days they did, and some they didn't. But we now have a second "real" toilet, and Mersades will get her own bedroom....lucky for her! :-) Here is the finished project...

So yes, I have given up my maid for a toilet. Life is sooooooo unfair. :-(

I wish I had taken pictures of all the work. The guys had to take out all the tile, take out the squat pot, dig a hole, put in all new pipes, and paint the walls. It was quite the process. And yes, I am very THANKFUL! Hope you all enjoyed the tale....

Happy sitting, standing, squatting, or which ever way you do it best!

Robin

Teddy's Catechism Assignment

Our pastor back in Spearfish, SD is giving Mersades and Teddy Catechism lessions via Skype. So far, it is working out.... that is as long as I remember and have both kids at home Saturday mornings at 8:30. I let Mersades go to a sleep over at a friends house Friday after school, so Teddy was the only one doing Catechism with pastor this week. Because the lesson was Creation, his assignment was to take pictures of plants and animals that God created for this side of the world. It is amazing what you find when you look up as you are waliking! Here are the animals/insects...

Here are the plants...

Enjoy the world around you!

Robin

A Rare Sunset.

This is the first sunset we have seen in Tembagapura. Usually it is raining at this time of day, so I don't think we will see many of them. In the picture, the light from the sun is just above the mountain top. It was very neat to see. And yes, the picture does not do it justice!

Enjoy,

Robin

I may have figured it out!

Well, guess what? It is 9:00 in the morning and I just uploaded these pictures on to the blog! I must say I am pretty impressed with myself. I really don't know much about computers and blogs and how to upload, download, and whatever else needs to be done. But I figured this out. On my camera you can change the size of your picture to be able to upload it to your blog without it taking forever! Many of you may already know this, but I am learning slowly but surly! On to the pictures...

This first picture is of the view out our front door. It is an awesomely bright Friday morning!
This next picture is "Home Sweet Home!" It may not be for much longer this morning, as I just found toilet paper floating in the yard!!! Where is Roto Rooter when you need them?????

This last picture is of our living room. It really is the only room put together in the house. We are still waiting on dressers for the kids rooms, so most of their stuff is still in a suitcase.

This is kind of short and sweet. But now that I know that it won't take all day to upload pictures, I will start taking more to post. And maybe go read the owners manual on my camera...
Happy Blogging Day!

Robin

Some Thoughts...

Our internet here is really slooooooow. I think I will have to be up at 3 in the morning, when no one is online, just to post photos. So I thought I would post some thoughts on our first week and a half in Indonesia.

1) You get fried in Bali even when the sun isn't out! I think I forgot that one because I was soooo happy to be warm without 5 layers of clothes on. I am still pealing :-(

2) There really is time travel! If you don't believe me, come here for a visit. We are living 30 years back in time.

3) We aren't starving...well at least not that bad :-) Our choices in meat are chicken, chicken, and more chicken, with a little beef thrown in. You can almost forget fresh veggies and fruit. By the time they reach our grocery store, most are browned and mushy. Thank goodness for Sunday brunch at the Lupe (our restaurant). That is where we will stock up on the veggies and fruit for the week. I am not sure why they have such a greater and fresher selection than the store, but I guess I will have time to figure that one out.

4) If you want something done.... make sure you have days to wait at home. We are having the squat pot changed out to a western toilet in the maids bathroom. It will take five or more days. Why? Because you have the plumbing crew, the carpenters, the tile guys, the painters, and whom ever else that they see fit to work on the job. You don't get just one or two guys to do the work, it takes a whole village! Just wanting to let every one know that I am not complaining, just explaining how things work. I am really very excited that this is getting done, because neighbors of ours had to wait SIX months to get theirs changed! So really I am very thankful!!! There has been a number of day's when more than three little Zimmer's have had to use the toilet at the same time!!!

5) I go to the grocery store EVERY day! First reason - I can only walk, not drive here. So I only have so many hands to carry everything. Second reason - You never know what may show up on the shelves that day. Like peanut butter... haven't seen that since our first or second day here. Third - It's one of the ways you socialize... Yep, never thought I would say that. Back in Wyoming, Chris would always ask me if I had fun after a day of grocery shopping. I would look at him and roll my eyes...

6) You take the umbrellas with you every time you step foot outside the house... even if it is sunny! We get something like 300 inches of rain here a year. Sunny in the morning and rainy in the afternoon. I think for about the first five days we got drenched coming home from the grocery store... then we learned...yep dad, it only took five!

7) And finally, you learn patients! Everything is so laid back here and things are done in what they call Indonesia time...whenever they feel like it... which is why I am still waiting for the carpenters to show up today (local time 11:11 am). Looking at the positive side, I am stuck at home and can write all this for my "fans" :-) AKA all my friends and family :-)

I guess I better go do some laundry. Some day a maid will show up... Then I can really live the Ibu life style!
Hope you all have a wonderful day!
God's Blessings,
Robin

Tembagapura...Our new Home

Well, we have made it to our new home. I don't have any pictures of it yet, but will post a few of the pictures I have from along the way.
Our flights started off in Bismarck, ND, to Minneapolis, to LA, to Hong Kong, to Bali, to Timika, and finally to Tembagapura. We missed our connecting flight in Minneapolis by five minutes because of a broken toilet and the weather. So we were going to either be rerouted through SanFrancisco and Toyko, or take a chance on hitting other connecting flights in LA and Hong Kong. Well, I chose the LA Hong Kong connections because I have made them before, and traveling by myself with the kids, I didn't want to try something new. So because of a broken toilet, we lost our business class seats....... at least Gabrielle, Gavin, and I did. The other two got lucky and got their seats and had a very comfortable 15 hour flight. Economy really wasn't that bad, and when you wake up to this view out our window, all aches and pains go away. It was a beautiful sight. It isn't that great of a picture, but it was the sun rise about two hours from Hong Kong.

So once we made Hong Kong, we made our connecting flight to Bali. Yeah, I got my business class seat back! That means I could lie down and get some sleep!!! So before we got on the plane I told Mersades and Teddy that they were in charge of Gavin and Gabrielle and that if Gavin and Gabrielle needed anything Mersades and Teddy were to help them. They had orders to NOT WAKE ME UP!!! I ended up sleeping the whole four hours. I felt sooooooo much better. Because of connection flights, we have to spend 12 hours in Bali. But because of the weekend, Chris was going to fly over and meet us at the hotel for an extra day. Well he flew over, but because of clouds and rain, he could not get down the mountain on Saturday. He did make it on Sunday for the 10 hours we had left in Bali.
This is one of the few pictures I took of the kids at the pool.

The next picture is after we land in Timika and wait for our "limo" to take us up the mountain.

Our "limo"...

There are so many things to write about our new life, but we are due to catch a bus in 1/2 hour and we need to walk up to the bus stop. So for now I will sign off and write more later.

Have a great day!

Robin

We Made It...

...to Bali, that is. I don't have any pictures to post, but wanted to let all of you know that we are here.
We left Bismarck, ND and the temperature was -36 degrees with the wind chill. We landed in Bali with a temperature of 75 degrees. It sure is nice to be warm. Oh, and no more snow to shovel...for now :-)
The kids are really tired. It is only around 5 pm here. I am trying to keep them awake so they can eat. I think it will be the earliest they have ever gone to bed.......I guess they will be up around two in the morning.
That's all for now.
Blessings,
Robin

Another Wedding Cake!

This is my last wedding cake that I needed to make before the move. It is for my cousin and his wife. Happy Marriage! I will post more pictures of the wedding when I can.

Winter Wedding Wishes,
Robin