2 weeks. 14 days. Holy cow.

As I type those words, everything in my mind starts spinning. I've told a few people lately that I have good days and bad days...days where I feel confident that I will get everything done, and days where I feel like NOTHING was accomplished. Accomplished might not be the best word, but I feel like it wasn't as productive as it could be. And that is truly my American mindset kicking in. That is one of the things I am most looking forward to in another country...being able to sit down, let the day happen, and not worry if I'm late to something or don't get everything checked off my to do list. On all of my trips to Mexico, a term was created at some point to explain the laid back, siesta kind of days in the country that I call my second home. It's called "Mexico time." If you say you're leaving the house at 8 am, it will really be 9 am when you finally get out the door (especially if you are a Juner and living with the Chacon family. That's just how things work in a family with 4 women and 1 man! Poor Jorge...). So when we would plan something (an event, a get-together, etc.), we always had to clarify if it was Mexico time or American time. Speaking of Mexico...

This is the first spring break trip in 10 years that I will not be a part of. Although the group is working in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, it is still a spring break trip. And it's the first one for me to miss in my time in Oklahoma. I was placed on one of the teams, not knowing if I would get to go and be a part of the mission trip...but as it turns out, I simply have too much to accomplish before I leave on March 20. There were too many other variables as well...what if I got sick? What if I broke my ankle? What if, what if, what if?! So, on Tuesday night of the past week, I finally said the words that I would not be going. It was INCREDIBLY hard for me to give that up, and anybody who knows me knows that I do not A) miss an opportunity to travel, B) miss an opportunity for a mission trip, and C) miss an opportunity to get to spend time with my kids at church. But I cannot dwell on the fact that I'm not going. My group will do an amazing job on whatever task is placed before them. And I hope that they form so many inside jokes and great memories that their van rides are never silent, but always filled with laughter. I'm going to go ahead and change subjects because I don't want to start crying again...

On a brighter, happier note, I am the EXTREMELY PROUD AND BLESSED OWNER OF A BRAND NEW KINDLE!!!!!!!!!!! I keep pinching myself wondering if I really own one. But I do. I will tell you the story quickly, and then go pass out in my bed.

My mom called Saturday morning around 10 am, telling me that she was kind of worrying about how all of my stuff was going to fit in my old bedroom at my parents house. This was a ploy to get me over to their house. I said I'd come over...how about later that night? Well...I'd really like to get it over with so maybe you could come before the basketball game today? Will do. So, I head across town and we start investigating where my (10 years of) dance costumes can go in my parents closet. While in the closet, the doorbell rings, and my mom and I are completely enveloped, unable to hear it. With my dad yelling at us, the dog going crazy, and a slew of other things happening, I had no clue of any of the commotion at the front door. We walked out a few minutes later with my dad holding an Amazon box for me. I get rather excited and explain that this is my gift from my Interior Design friend, Kristen. She had told me a few days prior that she wanted to order my SLR camera case off my wish list. How sweet! I figured it was about time that it be arriving and I wasn't expecting anything else. As I head to the kitchen to dig in (getting presents in the mail is like Christmas to me. I turn into a little kid, especially knowing it's something PC related!), my mom says to hold on a sec...she wants to record me opening it. Ummm...okay? I explained that I knew what the present was and that she didn't need to capture me opening it. However, she was dead set on doing so. Little did I know, she was actually calling one of my best friends, Mitchell Crow (pay attention to his last name, it will be important in a minute). Now we need to take a side step and get a little background info...

Apparently, for the past month, Mitchell had been facebooking with my mom about wanting to get me a Kindle. My mom, knowing me oh so well, said that she didn't think I would want one. I like REAL books, that I can hold in my hands. She highly discouraged him to find something else to get me as a going away present. And Mitchell was b.u.m.m.e.d. He thought it was SO smart of him and that he knew me (oh so well) that I would really end up using it. All of a sudden, on this past Tuesday, it was made aware to me that a Kindle has wireless internet abroad. DING DING DING. I had never really even looked at getting a Kindle, but if I could check my email without having to be connected to wifi while in Ukraine? Shoot yeah, I'm in. Mitchell called me Tuesday, and I explained to him of everything I had just learned about the Kindle. After he hung up with me, he called my mom and was probably very emphatic when telling her that I now wanted a Kindle. Long story short, Mitchell and my parents had to keep me from purchasing this new toy for the next few days while Mitchell ordered it. This shouldn't have been that hard because I don't make split second decisions, especially on something that costs $200. However, I am now down to crunch time with purchases on the internet before I leave because I refuse to pay overnight shipping. Also important is how many people were involved with this process.

1) When I was in Dallas a few weekends ago, Mitchell had Kevin ask me if I was going to get an e-reader of some kind. I, of course, said no...that I thought it really wasn't for me.

2) I wanted to hold a Kindle in my hand before I bought one. This is when my dad's best friend, Jim, enters the picture. Jim has a Kindle...and lives half a mile from my parents. I knew I would be able to borrow his...but my parents beat me to it. They informed him of what was happening and that he needed to lie and say I couldn't borrow it for a few days. The conversation went a little like this:

"Hi Jim, it's Lydia. I was wondering if I could borrow your Kindle for a little bit and play with it?"

"Oh, sure. That would be fine."

"Okay, great. Can I come get it today?"

"Well, I don't have it right now. I loaned it to somebody."

"Oh! To Janna (his neice)?"

{This is the part where I thought something was right...I caught Jim off guard by asking WHO had his Kindle. Ha :) he wasn't prepared for that question!}

His response was a simple and no-more-questions-please tone: No.

3) Mitchell contacted Jill (another friend who got in on this crazy circle!) and told her that she needed to tell me not to buy a Kindle. That it wasn't worth it. This was moments after she wrote on my facebook status that she had researched all the e-readers out there and that the Kindle was the way to go.

I'm sure there are other instances, but overall, this was quite the endeavor to keep as a secret. Now we can go back to the story...we were at the part where my mom is secretly calling Mitchell. What my mom didn't realize was that on the iPhone, you cannot be ON the phone and take a video at the same time. You can only take snapshots. This was INCREDIBLY frustrating to her and she demanded my phone to video this moment. I literally was thinking, all of this to open a present? I had no clue.

I open the box...and inside is a gift wrapped package with a little note on the outside. It read:

"I hear it gets cold where you're going...Gotta keep your gadgets warm and protected too!!"

I thought, "Oh, how cute and clever!" Just what I needed for my SLR camera. And what do I pull out of the box? A neoprene sleeve for a Kindle. I was so confused by this...thinking that they had to get the boxes mixed up or something. I hadn't realized that there was another package underneath the first. Upon discovering it, I see a note on the outside of it that says:

"Hmmm...So when you're flying as high as a Crow you can have something to read." There's the important last name part I was talking about. At this point I flipped out and knew what was going on...my mom hands me the phone with Mitchell on it (who is at work on a Saturday...) who has been listening to the ENTIRE conversation unfold. You pulled one over on me Mitchy. :) That takes a lot to do! Thank you to the whole Crow family for my wonderful gift and the great story that accompanies it. If only I could tell it in Ukrainian... :) maybe someday!

Oh, and later that day, my handy dandy camera case arrived!! I am so excited to be able to slip my camera in it and not have to lug a giant camera bag. Thank you Kristen :)

Seeing as to how it's past 1 am, I am going to submit this and sign off. I have a full day tomorrow and really for the rest of the week as well. I did NOT proof read this blog, so if there are mistakes you'll have to forgive me. I needed to write though before I went to sleep. Toodles :)