Day 40: Wednesday, 6/29

Happy 3-month Birthday to Grace! She's blissfully unaware of her big day but we sure know it. She's getting so big – people are making comments all the time about her buddha belly. Emi jokes that it's just like dad's :) Not sure how much she weighs now but it's got to be at least 14 pounds. She has discovered her fists and frequently tries shoving them all the way in her mouth. There's no awareness of individual fingers yet but grabbing has become a favorite pastime... blankets, shirts, any exposed parental skin, oh, and dad's whiskers... somehow, she gets those too!

We moved a tiny bit out of our regular routine this morning and went to the Tide Table for breakfast. We ran into Melody and her family and sat at the table next to them so we could chat a bit. The fishing trip we discussed taking this morning was a no-go but they'd been told there was a boat available on Friday. Well, Friday is Fisherman's Day – a holiday here in the RMI. We remembered but the folks that offered the boat must not have. They'd received a note last night saying there wouldn't be a boat available after all due to, you guessed it, Fisherman's Day!

We wrapped it up at the Tide Table and went back to the MIR to rest after such a tough day :) Jeff and I spent the rest of the morning typing and reading and Grace slept again - pretty much sums up the morning. It was approaching lunch and housekeeping arrived to see if we needed the room cleaned. We did so we grabbed the baby and baby stuff and headed out the door. Stacy had left a bag of items she'd brought to donate to a local school with me as she didn't get around to dropping it off while she was here. The teacher/artist we met here, Lauren, suggested we drop it at the World Teach office which just happens to be next to the MIR. So, I decided to run it over there on the way down to lunch.

I followed the map Lauren drew me but could not locate a door... it was mostly unused-looking service doors. I didn't see anything that looked like a front door of anything. I stopped a man to ask for directions and he pointed me to the door just across from where I was standing... yup, it looked like a closet door. I went over and turned the knob – yes, I was in the right place and the two people inside were very grateful for the donations. They said they'd get the supplies to a school in need (aren't they all?) and wanted Stacy's contact information to send a thank you note. So, Stacy – email me your address so I can pass it on to them!

I then went to meet Jeff and Grace at the Enra. An “enra”, by the way, is a dish used to serve food. Maddy told us this when she saw a photo of one in the book Stacy and I purchased at the art show. The sushi buffet was still open but I wasn't that hungry. Got the chili-dog instead. I wouldn't recommend it. I really wanted to see if it was recognizable and for the side of potato/macaroni salad... which I didn't even get. I was too tired to complain so I ate some of the dog and my fries.

Headed back up to the room and checked for emails about our visa. Unfortunately, there weren't any. I decided to reply to the email from the Embassy in Manilla and ask for a ship date and the tracking number. It's been a week since the visa was approved so I feel like I'm within the realm of polite asking. If we don't have word that it's arriving this weekend I'm busting out of polite and going right to harassment of both Embassies. If any of you have any political ties that could reach the Embassy in the RMI or Manilla, I beg of you... Please call them and see if they can find out what the heck is going on with our visa.

The rest of the day looks to be a bunch of TV and more organizing/pre-packing. I've now entered all of our receipts from the restaurant downstairs and added it to our room charge as of today... Yikes. I would say (without adding up the cash expenses) that's it's costing us a goo $100 a day to be here. Another reason it'd be nice to head home soon. I'm thinking the stop in Hawaii just isn't going to happen this time. I really want to be back for the 4^th and, if not then, my birthday on the 7^th.

Yesterday we made tentative plans for a visit from Emi on Thursday so I texted Maddy to see if she'll set up a time that works for her too. It's just a lot easier with her there and she did mention having an interest in learning some handicrafts. I think Emi has a high interest in teaching people about them too as she's asked when we're doing handicrafts again and even offered to show the Simmons' birth mom how to do make the jewelry. Not sure either of them will take her up on it but she's a great teacher. I just need to sit in a chair from now on – my old bones don't really like hours on the floor.

I haven't heard from Maddy yet but things could always come together in the morning.

I'll keep y'all posted on any visa news we get but, as I said in the comments to yesterday's post, I would love to hear from any of you on what's going on with you! Either drop a line in the comments or email me at my gmail address :)