Thinking about suffering

I realize this is rather depressing, but I've been turning something over in my head and thought I'd put it on here. Tell me what you think:
You may remember that we watch birds in our windows rather frequently. Yesterday Lj was down for a nap and I saw what looked like a little little baby bird sitting on the window ledge. I got up to watch it and the longer I watched, the more disturbed I got.

The feathers looked strangely ragged and as I watched it move and scratch or pick at itself, I got more and more disturbed. This poor bird had pulled off every feather on its neck. When his head would pop up, all you'd see is the pink neck, he'd scratched so much at his head that the feathers were all raggedy. As I watched him, he started to get into a pattern that I can only describe as similar to a tic or OCD repetitive action thing. You could see him getting more and more "anxious" (how can a bird get THAT anxious?!) and repeat his scratching pattern faster and faster.
It was so disturbing that I tapped on the glass to get his attention and break his cycle. It just seemed SO sad to me that this little bird was obviously sick somehow. I was glad Lj wasn't awake to see it.
Anyway, I've just been thinking about this little experience and my thoughts are drifting towards suffering. What a topic. I think I've been made with some sort of Extra Sensory Ability to sense Suffering. I know there are others out there. It sucks - It's like I somehow find folks who are suffering or I hear things about situations and it starts to go around in the back of my head. Like that plane crash in Spain or other such disastors. A constant one for me is the child industries in Thailand - that is never that far from my mind.
Anyway - I heard someone say once that if we can't learn how to manage suffering and resolve it with our world belief, we'll eventually have some sort of crisis of faith.
Any thoughts?

Steph's version of Tom's trip

While I wish my dear hubby could have the time and presence of mind to write a cool summary of his trip to Europe, it just isn't in the cards at the moment. He has his hands full with:

• Trying to pull $4800 cash out of the bank to pay for a year's worth of rent in cash (this means many many trips to the ATMs as you can imagine...
• Trying to repair one car and sell two others
• Trying to deal with the fact that my credit card number has been stolen and is being used all over our great nation (which means we can't use it to get out cash...see#1)
• Trying to find his cell phone that was lost (and found, thank you Lord!)

So, here I am telling you second hand what I've heard about his trip.

A few things in brief:

1. Only one guy had worn western clothes before. They went to the fancy malls before leaving and got TOTALLY outfitted in very cool/expensive clothes (= Everything this one guy wore matched.

2. They were really sensitive to anything Tom said to others about the their country. Tom wasn't expecting this

3. They wanted to eat food they knew - they aren't exactly adventurous. (McDonalds and Turkish food)

4. It took a great deal of convincing to get them to take a train instead of renting a car in Europe!

5. Contrary to popular opinion, they did not go "hog wild" so to speak, while away from their country. They still prayed, did not drink or smoke or visit any ladies.

6. They don't like to loan money (they'd rather give it to you) - even just to tide you over until you find the next ATM.

7. Tom's buddy said it was boring after Tom left the group to come home (-; The rest of them went on to Paris.

8. It became clear pretty fast that they were really going to rely on Tom to help them get around. He was happy to oblige since they were paying the majority of his expenses.

9.They got to go handgliding! That was a lifetime goal for time and the guys loved it.

10.They walked on a glacier in Switzerland!

They visited Italy, Switzerland and then Tom came home while they went on to Paris. It sounds like it was a really good time together. You just can't replace the mystery of how road trips bring you closer together to people!

Well, I wish I could say more, but we'll have to call it quits here. I'll upload some more pictures

though.

Around the hotel

Love all these trees around here. So beautiful.

Too hot to slide

On our little anniversary trip, we took each other's kid for the evening and night so the other couple could get some time alone - Vic and Jon found the slide on the hotel grounds and thought it would be fun to take the kids. It was Lj's first time on a slide, but alas, it was too hot and too humid for them to actually slide down it (= I love the manic look on Josiah's face. I don't think I've ever seen it on him before, so I wouldn't say it is typical of his personality! Layla, however, does actually look like that alot (= she is a real observer. She's started to get more interactive and babble most all the time the last week or two. It's fun to hear.

Back home again

We've been to visit our friends Jon and Vic and their little one. We went to have a weekend away together to celebrate both of our anniversaries, their son's first birthday and to say goodbye. It was a full weekend!

We stayed at a hotel that was on the beach which offers major discounts during the summer to entice folks who stay here during the summer. I don't think I would pay full price for the place, but it was nice, nonetheless. They had a walkway that was bordered with real trees and actually had large swaths of GRASS all over the place. One might even forget they were in the desert....

Vic and I were lamenting that we didn't get ONE picture of all of us or of either couple. argh.

This first photo is in the entryway to the hotel, the second is on the beach. We rented a jetski and had some real fun...I'll post a few more.

When it rains, it pours.....inside

It is a lovely thing living in a place with predicable weather. You'd be suprised how much hassle you spend dealing with weather changes from snowy winter to hot summer in the US.

So we had a big rain today and it was LOVELY. The thing is, because it hardly ever rains, roads, homes, windows, etc are not built for rain. So even though it is a lovely thing to see, it actually has a rather disporportionate affect on life here (=

As soon as it rains, folks get in their cars and start driving around an honking and then doing donuts in the sand (= It is quite funny. There are big puddles all over the street since they aren't designed for water runoff and the idea is to make a big splash...of course (=

Anyway, Tom took Layla into the rain for her first experience. It was funny how she instinctively stuck her tongue out!

Sporting the bikini

Couldn't resist this - I didn't even realize I owned this until the other day...she has had so many fun clothes give to her! I never thought I'd put my daughter in a bikini, but here she is. I'm not sure what it is, but I just LOVE having a chubby baby!

We are at the pool with Vic's neighbor and her son. It is the club associated with her work and it was a lovely night to be out. We had such fun going about with Vic and Josiah all week.

flinging

Well, Layla has reached a new stage of development just in the last couple of days. It is so WILD to watch her change before our eyes.
Her lastest phase is now flinging things out of other things: the laundry out of the basket, her toys out of the wagon, the tupperware out of the drawer etc etc.
It is very fun to watch her flinging without even looking at what she's doing and blazing on to the next thing once she's emptied something.

Trying to kiss Josiah!

Josiah and Layla spent a lot of time together this past week. Most of it was taking a toy from the other, while they sort of ignored each other. Josiah is almost one year old! Hard to believe.

Daddy's Back!

I wish I had some cute photos to share from our last week. But alas, my camera was taking a trip with Tom to Europe.

We stayed with our friends Jon and Vic and they took great care of us! Layla saw her first real kitty cat this week and it was precious. She had fun playing with her friends Josiah and Joseph who are just weeks older than her.

Nothing in the house or about the cars broke or wore out while Tom was gone which is a real miracle!

Will say more later now that we are home safe in our dusty little place.