sore shoulders

Well...Tuesday was immunization day for me. With the first round of shots done I have only one more appointment in order to protected against the tropical bugs that may be found in Grenada. It's a small step but I must say I was getting excited, sitting in the travel health nurse's office and talking about diseases found in the Caribbean. I guess that may be a little weird but discussing the medical aspects of foreign travel makes the far-off departure date seem a little more real. So I gladly put up with some mildly sore shoulders for a couple days as a reminder that Grenada is not so far away. By the way, Kristy's immunizations may be up to date but we have not confirmed that yet. If anything, she will only need a booster or two.

Currently I am processing my financial aid application for the practicum as well as registering for the course that is the practicum. Sometimes I forget that this is all for my degree and not an extended working vacation but a little homework and paperwork reminds me very quickly.

More later,
Jason

MCC Bike the Interlake

Jason and I just finished the MCC Bike the Interlake this last weekend. On Saturday we rode 100 km and Sunday we rode another 93 km. I was seriously nervous before the ride, and when this picture was taken on the first leg on Saturday I was really wondering if I would be able to do it. Thankfully the first leg was the hardest of the day for me! I realized that I needed to settle into a pace that was comfortable for me, and not try to go too fast. This was my strategy for pretty much the rest of the ride and it worked out really well! I actually had a really good time. I rode with a number of different people, visited lots, and felt great about raising money for a worthy cause. I think in the future I will really step up my fundraising efforts.

On Saturday evening we had a short presentation from MCC's Global Family representative who told us more about the project that we were supporting. It brought back memories from Paraguay, since they are helping a church in Bolivia to set up a day care similar to the one I worked in when I was volunteering in Paraguay. The funds that we raised on this ride (close to 50,000) will be enough to completely support this project for the next three years!

This ride has really made me want to sign up for some other rides. I have been thinking about the MS Biking to the Viking from Stonewall to Gimli and back (over two days). The only problem is that Jason can't commit to doing it because it is in August and he will likely be harvesting. If there is anyone out there who would consider riding it with me, please send me an email, or leave a comment. Really, if you start now you have more than enough time to train, and it's not that hard. I trained for about 4 weeks before the bike-a-thon, and I didn't ride more than three times a week. The ride is at the end of August. Think of it as an opportunity to get fit! I know that I have always been much more motivated to keep active when I have a goal that I am pursuing, plus it's a great cause. Check out their website here for more information.

Kristy

Moving Forward

Everything is slowly moving forward toward Grenada. Our passports should be coming sometime this week, I have submitted a letter officially requesting that my place in the Education program be held for one year, and Jason is working on the forms and research on Grenada that he has to submit to recieve credit and possible financial assistance for the practicum in Grenada. In addition we will be going to see a travel nurse/doctor in the near future so that Jason can get started on his immunizations, and I can check to see if mine are all still up to date. We have been surfing the internet trying to find the best deals on flights. We decided that we will likely fly out of Minneapolis/St.Paul because it is quite a bit cheaper than trying to fly out of Winnipeg or Grand Forks. We will hopefully be able to find something under the 1,000 mark, but that remains to be seen.

Otherwise we are still working hard. I am Nannying part time, and next week I will be starting work at the Mennonite Heritage Museum restaraunt. It's not my ideal job, but I needed more hours, so I guess I have to take what I can get. It means that unfortunately I will be working quite a few weekends. Hopefully with Jason farming we will occasionally be able to take a few days here and there during the week. When I'm not working I'm trying to keep the weeds out of our garden. We are renting a house a mile away from the farm and we took a corner of the field behind the house to plant a garden. The disadvantage is that it is just chock full of weeds. It needs a few years of TLC before it would stay clean. My poor carrots are just about choked off because I couldn't tell at first which ones were weeds and which ones were carrots. They are now big enough that I can see the difference, so I've been weeding surgically, one itty bitty weed at a time. So, it's off to it I go. Have a great week!

Kristy