The Smell of Fresh Baked Cookies

Jenny and I have been working hard to get to bed on time these days. Mostly because we want to get up early and have qt. We've done pretty well lately, but tonight I just can't seem to sleep. Maybe it's the car alarm blaring outside our window, or maybe it's the sugar running through my system from the chocolate chip cookies we ate tonight. I tell you folks, one thing I've missed a lot is chocolate chip cookies.

On a recent trip to Hong Kong, Jenny brought some chocolate chips back. Tonight she decided to put them to use. We had to adjust the ingredients a bit- didn't have much brown sugar, or any baking soda- but I found Jenny an alternative recipe on the web and she whipped them up. A few minutes later our apartment had that wonderful baked cookie smell. If they haven't started selling baked cookie scented candles by now, someone should jump on this. Anyway, we enjoyed our cookies and a new episode of Lost on the computer and had a nice quiet evening.

We've really eaten well this week. Jenny made fajitas the other night, and we even had guacamole. Avocados are expensive here, but well worth it- and it turns out that Gracie loves it too! Man, those fajitas were great. I guess it's hard for people back home to understand how much we think about food here. It's so hard to eat well here. Jenny and I often joke with each other: "Let's go to Johnny Carino's tonight." Things like that. Honestly, I've been missing home a bit this week. Missing people, church, good food, places we like to hang out. Funny, it's been almost 10 months, and only just now have I really spent much time thinking about home. I know it's natural.

The past few days have been good- Grace has slept in the afternoons, which has given us plenty of time to study. We went to class today feeling a bit more equipped than on other days. We went to the People's Park this week and had a good time. Jenny bought some bubbles, and Gracie had a great time chasing them. Of course, all the people were interested in her and often stopped to make comments, stare, and take pictures. It was nice. The weather's been so lovely lately. I even wore shorts this afternoon. Hard to believe that just a week ago we were still running heat in every room, trying to stay warm. How things change.

I bought a new bike this past weekend. I don't think I mentioned that in my earlier posts. It's nice- simple. My last bike got stolen after only about two months. They stole it right out of our apartment building. It's my own fault though, I left it unlocked. It's a cardinal rule in this country never to leave your bike unlocked. Heck, most thieves will steal it even if you do have it locked up! Anyway, it's been great having a bike again. I bought four locks for it. People have been giving me a hard time this week about all my locks but hey- I want to try to hold onto this one for awhile.

I told you last time about our friend's son urinating on the floor in Gracie's room. Well, today Gracie decided to follow his example. That's a new trick for her, and one we weren't thrilled about. Oh well, guess the floor gets mopped an extra time this week. Grace has been so cute lately. She's eating a little better, which makes us very happy. She's learned how to pray before she eats, which is just adorable. When we tell her it's time, she clamps her hands together and looks at me expectantly. She's also sleeping a lot better these days- it's like she's finally figuring things out.

I'm working on the new website now, and it's coming along well. I hope to have it up this weekend some time. The Mac can do so many cool things- I'm excited to put it to work. One really cool thing happened today- at least, something cool to me. For the past year, I've been making webcomics using this video game and a program I bought back home. Well, turns out the company that makes the game, and the company that created the software have teamed up to hold a contest for people to make their own comics. The contest just started this week, and ends on my birthday. I'm really psyched. I feel like I really have a good chance and winning this thing. So, I've been rattling off ideas all night, thinking about what to do for the contest. I'll let you know how it goes.

Okay, well I should probably try to pack it in for the night. It's after 11 now and I know if I don't hit the sack soon I won't want to get up. One last thing though- the Mac has this cool feature called Photo Booth you can use to take fun pictures. Jenny, Grace and I have been playing with it this week, so I want to share a few pics with you.