I'm not going crazy (though my family might say that is debatable). BUT, since I didn't post yesterday, and I won't post tomorrow, and probably not Wednesday, then I hereby declare it okay for me to write THREE posts today.
Post #1: Election Day
When I was 18, I showed up for my first election, only to be told that my name was not on the books and I was not registered. I argued with the lady, telling her that I was registered, and that my classmate who registered the same time as me (in the same classroom at the High School and turned his application in directly behind me) had just voted. She told me she couldn't help me, and I needed to go to the county courthouse where the Board of Elections Office was located, and register again. So I did. Next election: same thing. But this time I had a little card stating my name, address, political affiliation, precinct, and polling location. And being the over-emotional person that I was/am, I showed her my card, and then started crying. I told her this was the second time I had registered, and that I didn't understand why I was repetitively told I couldn't vote. Once they saw my voter registration card, they allowed me to vote and filed a complaint in my behalf. The following year, I filled out the paperwork for an absentee ballot so I could vote in my first ever presidential election, paid the fee to have my ballot overnighted to Bible College in TN, and then - my ballot never came. 18 other students at FWBBC had the same thing happen to them. So when I voted for the first time in NC and saw a request for poll workers, I signed up. I don't ever want another voter to experience the incompetence and rudeness I encountered the first three times I was eligible to vote. And then the night before an election rolls around, and I think about set-up and the 6am-8:30pm day ahead of me, and I wonder if I haven't absolutely lost my mind to do this. But voting is a process I believe in, and I must say I am thoroughly impressed with Wake County's Board of Elections. While the training is often redundant, I would much rather be bored than be uninformed and unprepared to deal with the many dilemmas that come up on election day. Anyway, tomorrow, make sure you go vote!
Post #2: headed in the right direction
For everyone who keeps asking how Bobby's hand is doing - it's healing. Some days I think the thumb area will heal first, and then the next morning when we clean and reapply the burn salve, I think the surface of the hand is healing faster. Either way, every day I can see a big change and new skin and tissue growth, so it's certainly coming along. We've downsized to two small bandages instead of 1.5 big ones, and it now only requires 1/2 a roll of gauze. Yeah for small steps of progress!
Bobby says that after I've posted this, no one will ever want to read my blog again. And he may be right! But our on-going discussion to help us get through the morning hand ritual has been a discussion of what the blister to the right looks the most like. Up until this morning (these pics were taken Sat morning), I thought this blister resembled the continent of Africa. But the top and left side has filled in with more tissue, so I'm not sure what it looks like now. And just in case any family is looking at this and about to panic - the nurse told us all the red/pink spots is new tissue, the yellow is pus, and the green is the actual blister. But as you can see from the whole pink area and the streaks below the open wound, the size of this thing is now half of what it used to be.
Post #3:uncertainties
Political relations between Belarus and America are very uncertain at the moment. About 400 of the 600 visas for the ABRO program had been issued before our US Embassy ceased operations. At this point none of the chaperones or children over 14 have their visas. This past week, Belarus kicked out 11 US Embassy staff personnel (leaving 4). The US is threatening to close the Belarussian embassies in NY and Washington DC in retaliation. This morning Belarus is accusing the exiled US embassy workers and our ambassador of hiring locals to spy for the FBI. They have arrested ten citizens who took pictures of airports and cars and office buildings for America. The US response: laughter, and a reminder that repercussions are coming. Meanwhile Belarus has invited Iran to come and participate in some economic meetings, and are also requiring 1/4 of this year's college graduates to go and live in the radioactive areas of Belarus to prepare them for reopening. There is still a possibility that the chaperones and older ABRO children will be able to travel to our embassies in Moscow, Russia or Kiev, Ukraine to obtain visas for the summer, but no one knows what the cost or feasibility of that will be. Being a plan A, plan B, and plan C kind of person, all this ambiguity is about to drive me crazy. I just wish someone would simply say either A) your kids are coming or B) the kids are not coming. I'm tired of all this political waffle.
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