June 13, 2008 (Friday)

I got to see my kids today! I have dearly missed them – even though it has only been two days since I’ve played with them. I wish I were back to feeling like myself, but I still didn’t feel well so my energy was low. The situation with me being sick and still taking care of kids made me think about mothers. Even when they are sick they still have to take care of things and chase kids around. They never get a break. That’s exactly what happened to me today. I felt terrible, but I still chased Andrei around for the majority of the time outside. He was a ball of energy. He kept going down the slide the wrong way. He went head first on his stomach, head first on his back. He tried to stand and go down the slide, but I definitely wouldn’t let him do that. He is mister monkey/adventure boy. Nothing fazes him. He is always attempting to do things that could easily hurt him. Sometimes he succeeds. Today he probably fell over himself five times today. At one point he fell and scraped his knee. I kissed it better so he was quickly okay. Then he repeated please in sign language several times when he wanted something. I was so proud of him.

After chasing Andrei around for a while I sat on a blanket where the other girls were sitting under a tree and held Maria. She just chilled with us. She would randomly flail her legs and kick the other kids so I’d have to switch the position she was in at times. She’s such a sweetheart though. We had a lot of fun outside. All the BYU girls sat on a blanket and held the children that couldn’t run around. Even though some of the kids couldn’t frolic and play they still loved being outside. There is something about being outside with nature that makes everyone happy and content. Maybe it’s because we are so close to God’s creations.

I saw Sera outside today. Once again awkward. We did manage to say “hi” to one another though. That’s an improvement. Then Florine came outside after everyone went inside and made small talk with me. He asked me about how I was doing and told me his plans for the weekend. Apparently there is a huge “football” (soccer) game he is watching with a bunch of his friends tonight. It’s apparently a big deal. He’s a sweet guy. I can tell he loves the kids, and he is genuinely nice and respectful to everyone around him.

I’m still trying to figure out my Iulia. Iulia is extremely emotional. Every day I will run her around in circles in her wheel chair because she loves it. However, the second I stop she cries and cries. I’m trying to figure out how to handle her…It’s harder for me to figure her out than my other kids.

At the hospital there weren’t as many kids to visit as normal. However, I did see my Claudio. His stomach is still huge and swollen. His diapers even fall off because his stomach is so large. I’m really curious about what he has. I want to ask the nurse, but even if I could figure out how to ask the question I wouldn’t understand the response. When I walked in he got a huge smile on his face. There is nothing better than when their face light up when you walk into the room. It’s some proof that you are improving their life and doing some good. Even if it is only something as simple as a smile. It means the world to me…and to be honest it’s nice to know my efforts aren’t completely in vain.

After Claudio we visited this little five-year-old boy names Sebby. We brought him some Legos to play with. He really enjoyed them. Then Annie and I played the game “Where is Sebby hiding?” It’s amazing how fascinated little kids are with that game. Obviously we knew exactly where he was, but for some reason pretending that we don’t was a complete riot to him. I don’t understand. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been a kid for such a long time…I can’t believe I’m turning 22 soon. I feel so old.

Before we left we went and said hi to Marion and Florine. On our way we saw the Elders. They came to the hospital to give Marius and his aunt a blessing. Even though neither of them are members of our church they were extremely open to being blessed. I spoke with Elder Armstrong later, and he said he said he taught Marius a lesson on God and Christ and how he will have a perfect body when the resurrection comes. This especially appealed to Marius because his entire body and face were burned in a fire. The elder also said that it was amazing because in the blessing he felt inspired to say that Marius would heal quicker than anyone. He said some would say his rate of recovery would be a miracle. I have no doubt in my mind that that won’t happen. I’ve seen the Lords hand in my life too many times. The blessings that have been given to friends and family members by worthy priesthood holders have happened. Elder Armstrong also said that our little Florine wants the elders to bring a Book of Mormon for him to read. I’m amazed that he is interested at such a young age. It’s awesome. The Book of Mormon has truly been a light in a dark tunnel for me in my life. It’s amazing the strength, insight and additional help and guidance I receive by reading it daily and applying the principles to my life.

Annie, Mindy and I had to leave the hospital a few minutes early because we had to meet one of the sisters from church at the piata. We needed to go shopping with her because she is going to show us how to make some traditional Romanian dishes for an activity tomorrow. We had a lot of fun shopping, but boy did we walk a lot. It ended up taking us several hours and the majority of that was spent walking to different stores. Romanians walk almost everywhere they go. It’s crazy. I was excited about one of the stores we went to. It was a special American grocery store that was huge. I felt like I was home. It was amazing. It was air conditioned and everything. It felt so cool, so refreshing after running around all day.

After walking around and being in Romania for over a month I’ve realized that Romanian men love their liquor. At the piata men would be standing behind their food stand holding a bottle of liquor upside down in an effort to get every last drop. I kept thinking how any sales they made from the day probably totaled how much the one bottle of liquor cost. How selfish would that be if the family wasn’t able to have anything to eat because the husband had to maintain his liquor habits? It’s so sad what alcohol can do to people. There are so many drunks around here. It’s ridiculous.

By the time we got home all the other girls had gone out to see a movie. The only movie that was playing was Bratz. I wasn’t real sad I missed it. Then before we went back to our apartment we ran to the G-Market. I decided to get hair dye – my dark blonde roots are growing out. I’m scared to death how the color is going to turn out, but there isn’t a lot I can do out here. I’m going to have to suck it up or have really bad roots. I decided to go with a carmel blonde color. I’m just praying that it won’t turn out horribly ugly. There isn’t a lot I can do to fix it if it does. If it ends up looking bad I’ll just have to fix it when I get back home. I’m probably going to dye it sometime this weekend…yikes! Then Annie, Mindy and I ended up watching Patch Adams at our apartment. I forgot how amazing that movie was. There are a ton of amazing messages. I really liked when they talked about how in order to fix a problem you have to look past the problem and focus on the solution. That’s a really interesting concept. That makes sense when you think about it though. Too many times we waste time worrying about the problem when we should be spending our time on what we can do to fix it. Talk about a bunch of energy wasted.

P.S. Our water was randomly turned off again for the 3rd time since being here. I love it…