As 'Promised'....

Greetings! So as I shared in last post, I commissioned Tim to catch his daughter smiling...and it should be noted she was smiling AT ME! So here's our Lady Bird at almost 3 months old!

Promise turns three months on Monday! To celebrate I am going to eat a piece of chocolate. Tim and I really know how to PARTAY!

In other news, Cathy, my continuity, has not delivered, yet, though her contractions are getting a bit more painful.

I finished that 80-page assignment and with some font changes, picture shrinkage and extended margins, I actually got it down to 59 pages to save paper and ink! I dunno if it can be read, but it's DONE! Praise God. And I have one whole day to spare before it's due!

I nearly got a job this week! Of course, I can't "work" for money here in the Phils because I am not Filipino, but the thought of working was actually pretty refreshing! You see, a patient of mine from way back in November of 2007 delivered a baby girl named Angel. Angel and her mama, Christine, have visited me in the clinic several times since then and last week, Angel turned the most celebrated age in the Phils....the BIG 1. Yes, the first Birthday is the biggest, most expensive Birthday of them all....in fact, instead of baby showers, they have a crazy bash for the first anniversary of the baby's birth! Apparently we westerners have it so backwards.

Anyway, she texted me saying she wasn't going to have a party because she didn't have any money. I told her that she didn't need money for a party, just someone brings a cake and another brings some pancit (the Filipino Birthday meal...like spaghetti only thicker noodles and with veggies instead of sauce...umm, maybe not like spaghetti at all...). I told her if she would cook pancit, I would bake her a cake! She was ecstatic and she asked if I could bake her a chocolate cake....a MINT chocolate cake...oky doky.

So I baked a two-layer MINT chocolate cake with MINT chocolate fudge frosting and topped it with a Happy Birthday sign. She met me at the clinic to pick it up. I didn't hear anything for a few days, so I had hoped I hadn't poisoned her or offended her with my western cake-making skills...or lack thereof.

Then I got a strange text..."How much you charge for cake for Christmas?...My neighbors want many orders." Ha ha ha, I had to laugh. What a compliment! And a great idea for a ministry! Alas, I have a TINY oven that only cooks one round cake pan at a time and I am sure I would find trouble baking copious amounts of cake between assignments, clinic duty, breastfeeding and cooking for the fam! But hey, I thought it was fun. Christine was serious and somewhat disappointed when I answered with, "I will give you the recipe...tell your neighbors to bake their own!" Of course with a smile. So that's my silly little story for today....I am feeling a bit giddy and higher than a kite after completing this insane assignment, so please forgive me. :)

Tim says the water project has now delivered over 800 filters and with two new molds being built, the weekly filter manufacturing will increase from 36 to 48 filters! That's 2 more filters being made per day and Tim is feeling giddy at the thought of reaching their goal of 1,000 filters delivered in 2008. He is working with Toti on some ideas on how to get the project to be self-sustaining by next year. Exciting.

This week, Tim wrote up a great proposal aimed to reach full sustainability by February. With just $30,000. Canadian, the water project would no longer be relying on donations from the West. In fact, it will likely be profitable in 2009....all profits will be reinvested to grow the project further to other places on Mindanao. If you know of any benefactors or business men who would be interested in helping to reach this goal, you can download the proposal here. Small donations are welcome, too...every little bit helps!

So that's the news here...tomorrow I have prenatals and will be checking in on my dear continuities. Then I have an exam on maternal complications! Keep us in your prayers! Thanks for all the comments and encouragements. Be blessed.