August 10, 2008

Dear Family & Friends,
WOW!!! I've already gotten to see history made in this summer
Olympics' events so far, only three days into it, and what fascinating
moments they've been. My favorites in the summer Olympics are first and
always the gymnastics, then swimming, then beach volleyball (which has
supplanted my other favorite: horsemanship, for third place). Of course,
my attention was caught in the last Summer Olympics by Michael Phelps, of
now worldwide swimming fame, so I'm glad that the gymnastics aren't
taking place at the same time as the swimming events in which Michael is
featured, because it would be difficult to choose. So far, Michael has
won two of the eight gold medals in swimming that he is attempting to
earn, and I've gotten to see both of those races "live", as well as the
medal ceremonies.
The second race he won was the team free style 400m relay, and what
a nail biter it would have been, except that there was barely time to
chew a nail. Our American relay team, of which Michael Phelps was the
lead leg, won that race in major style. They not only broke the current
world record, they smashed it to smithereens by 4 whole seconds!!! In a
world where most races are won by hundredths of a second, to break a
world record by such a margin is truly historical. Amazingly, this race
was so fast that the Swiss team, who came in FIFTH, also beat the world
record! The anchor leg was a superhuman feat of pure heart, because the
French, who were favored to win based purely on each individual team
member's personal times set already in preliminaries and individual
heats, had a good half body lead by the third leg (American Cullen Jones
was lagging badly after the first two legs had managed to keep a very
slight lead on the French). The anchorman, Jason Lezak, not only came
from behind to beat the much-favored French, he beat them by 8/10ths of a
second in a heroically determined effort.
The other "miracle" we've been watching unfold is the presence of
Dara Torres, a 41-year old female swimmer, who has a 2 year old, who is
competing in her fifth Olympics, and is competing alongside/against
teenagers who weren't even born when she competed in her first Olympics
in 1984 and won gold then. Dara has not only already set world records
this week in her events against athlete who are in their teens, but she
has also already won a silver medal in one event in which she was the
anchor for a women's team relay. She is the oldest Olympic swimmer in
history, as well as the only swimmer to win a medal in five Olympics.
Her split in the relay was the second fastest in history, with the
Aussie, Libby Trickett (less than half her age) faster only by 1/10th of
a second. She's the oldest swimmer to qualify for the Olympics, the
first to make five teams, and in 2000 was the oldest member of that
Olympic team. One year after beginning her third comeback in 2006, she
broke her own 50M free record set 7 years earlier at the Sydney Olympics!
What at woman...
Guess you could say I'm quite a fan of the Olympics, and I'm very
much enjoying getting to watch them this time. They make a whole lot
more sense than in years past, because I'm more educated on the
background, rules, athletes, etc, and appreciate their accomplishments so
much because I know how hard it is to excel in your field, whether it's
sports or the Operating Room. I also like seeing America win..no matter
what the arena is, or what the sport is. But for swimming and
gymnastics, we've had some very wonderful times of bringing home the
gold, and gotten it taken away too, so I'm ready to see our athletes win
against other much better funded/supported athletes whose countries
sponsor them fully from childhood, unlike our athletes whose families
sacrifice greatly to see their children's dreams come true.
Well...life isn't all Olympics, and since July 24th, Ethan, Kim
and Seth have been at my parents' home in Greensboro. Kim returned to
Suriname July 25th, so Ethan and Seth have been kinda relying on me for
the basics: meals and cleaning. Since I've been single all my adult
life, and living mostly on the road as a travel nurse, I'm not used to
cooking for two adult men. My first meal for them was a success, having
provided Seth with the first Suriname-like meal he'd had since leaving
Suriname in June. His satisfied "ahhh" was all I needed to know that the
meal met with his approval, and set the stage for other satisfactory
meals. There were a few compliments, "thanks for the good meal" which
helped to make it easier to continue to put a new meal on the table every
day.
As a single, I normally cook about 2-3 times/week, eating warmed
up leftovers the rest of the week; and I don't eat much rice, potatoes or
bread at all anymore, just protein, raw veggie salads and fruits. So, to
have to come up with a good main meal every day, plus light supper meals
every day, was an exercise in the creative cooking process, and a
challenge to make something they both enjoy that was also nutritious. It
was also time-consuming, from prep to cleanup, so my days were very busy,
with very little time for my own business. Then there were a few loads
of clothes to wash, all the errands, helping Ethan with navigating around
Greensboro for his various shopping needs, helping him find the most
accessible vendors for his needs, and helping with picking up stuff he
ordered by phone from local businesses, while he started packing
everything for shipping to Suriname.
I mostly stayed out of the packing, because I have some ideas about
how it should be done, but Ethan and Seth did take one suggestion I made,
to use Seth's computer to create a packing list of each item that went
into the barrels that they are using for shipping, which turned out to be
a timesaving idea. I got to spray-paint numbers on each barrel, to
coordinate with the list of items in each barrel, and monitored their
progress occasionally when refilling their drinks, or bringing out a
timely snack of fruit. Ethan and Seth both love peaches, so since
peaches are very much in season right now, I stocked up at the Farmer's
Market so they'd have plenty of those to enjoy. Blondie bars made a big
hit too, so I hope that the memories of meal-time will be favorable,
considering how much effort went into trying to make that a pleasant
thing for them. Ethan had purchased a new rice cooker for taking to
Suriname, and I was able to use that every day to cook their 2 cups of
rice, and I'm completely sold on rice cookers!!! Wow, what an easy way
to make picture perfect rice every time, and I'll never want to cook rice
the old way again.
Saturday, Seth left for the last time, as he will be starting his
new job at Ambassador Baptist College next week prior to classes
starting. Ethan will be back Monday to wrap up all his packing and
shipping business, hopefully sending off all the barrels to Miami on
Tuesday, then flying out of Greensboro on Wednesday to return to Suriname
and his family. He has burned up the Skype "phone lines" each night to
Kim since her return to Suriname, so they will be glad to not be so far
apart. My parents are doing well in Suriname once more, and while my
father's health challenges give him some bad days, they are settling into
a routine and trusting that stability and consistency will resolve some
of those difficulties.
My job search continues...there are a few possibilities in sight,
two for which I've already interviewed once and will have to interview a
second time before there may be an offer of any type. Again, these are
possibilities, and since I've now gone for 16 months without work, in
spite of many such interviews for potential jobs in that time, I tend not
to get excited about interviews and how they may work out, or not. My
job situation is in God's hands...where it should be...and I am trusting
Him for the provision of the right job at the time of His choosing. I'm
very eager to get back to work, but I realize that God's timing is not my
own, and I must be patient, trusting God to show Himself faithful no
matter how things work out. More when I've got something to relate...


Love,
Debbie