Never in my life…

For the first time in my life, I ordered an artificial Christmas tree. This is tough, coming from a man who lived in Oregon where they grow Christmas trees and every year, send the Mother of all Christmas trees to be displayed on the White House lawn. But a decorated palm tree doesn’t cut it for me. So I spent the extra money for a delux one to look as natural as possible (Colorado noble fir with a foldable metal stand). It just arrived yesterday in a box. Made in China. I’ll let you know.

I must say that in general, our lives have been made much easier here by the invention of the internet. I’ve been buying groceries, clothes, and appliances. Granted, we don’t have internet at home (yet!), but when we do, watch out baby!

One of the women here at work, came in this morning feeling run down and I was the first to know that she is pregnant! The line turned blue! This is her first pregnancy and for some reason, I got teary eyed when I told her. She called her husband over and they are very happy. I was trying to be informative but instead, used up an entire box of Kleenex with them. I think I was crying more than they were. I scheduled her exam and screening for another day. I’m all choked up and can hardly see strait! A Chordas gene I inherited from my uncle. Good thing I’m not an obstetrician! I keep saying to myself, "Never in my life did I think I would be doing this!"

Last Friday, we went to the Peace Corps swearing in hosted by the Ambassador. The Peace Corps volunteers just finished their training and are about to embark on their 2 year assignments to tiny villiages deep within the interior of Niger. One gave a very touching speech in French about trying to answer a little boys’ question about why he would want to give up McDonalds hamburgers and fries to join the Peace Corps and go out there and do such a thing. He told the boy that it was to do just that; sacrifice McDonalds so that he would know exactly what that meant. I find that it’s more than that. Being able to say; "Never in my life did I think I would…" makes me realize that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing: giving meaning and purpose to my life. So I’ll continue to stay up late at night thinking about the guy I’m treating with parasites and cry when I find out you’re pregnant.