Good-bye, good-bye, hello!

I feel like I've lost a year of my life with the recent loss of my computer with all my pictures from 2009 stored on it. (More about that later...) I know I've lost a week of my life in my blog updates! Before I was so rudely interrupted (as Glenn put it) by the break-in last Saturday, I was going to tell you about our last few days with Chris and Kate. (Kari and Jonathan left on Jan. 2 but Chris and Kate stayed until Jan. 4.)




Chris and Kate graciously offered to help us put away the Christmas decorations, which we gratefully accepted, so we spent most of one afternoon neatly boxing everything up. It was kind of sad because we realized we wouldn't be using those Christmas decorations for three more years! Next year at Christmas time we will be in the States for our stateside assignment and the following year we are anticipating going to Senegal to celebrate Christmas with Kari and Jonathan, assuming all goes as planned.

We also went into town for one last walk down Vaci Street to the Grand Market Hall so that Kate could buy some souvenirs for loved ones back home and so that they could eat "local fare" one last time. The Grand Market Hall is the best place we've found for eating what the locals eat that is not so expensive. It's much like a food court "Hungarian-style".

And, we finally got to work on a puzzle. Working on puzzles at Christmas has become kind of a tradition for Glenn and me so we were really glad when Chris suggested that we do one. Glenn and I keep our eyes open for puzzles of Budapest whenever we see puzzles for sale. This one, I think, we bought at the garage sale at the International Christian School of Budapest last summer.



Chris shows off his Seaton Hall book bag

Chris passed all his classes at Seaton Hall University! We're not surprised, of course, but it is always nice to get official notice of it. This first semester was their "weed-out" time so things were pretty intense there for a while. We are really proud of Chris and look forward to hearing many more health-related discussions between him and Jonathan in years to come!



Saying good-bye at Ferihegy Airport

I guess it doesn't matter how many times I have to say good-bye to my kids, I will always cry. Glenn is very patient with me. I usually tear up at the "PASSENGERS ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT" as we hug good-bye, but tears usually are streaming down my face by time we get into the car. Kari checks on me a little later in the day because she knows I have a rough time of it! She called me to make sure I was okay after Chris and Kate left. I'm not okay, but what can I do about it?

The Doyles' bags-packed but not ready

We also said good-bye this week to Mary and Alvin as they went to the U.S. for another stateside assignment of 3 months. Something is wrong with this picture! (Not literally-it's a figure of speech!) This is the Doyles' second stateside assignment since we arrived, and we haven't been on one yet! We will be watering their plants and paying their bills during their absence. They will then do the same for us when we go stateside later this year. We will sure miss them!



Happy Birthday, Dan!

The good news though is that we welcomed Dan and Janet back into town! Janet is my much-missed walking partner. She and I hadn't walked since the first week of November (and my pants are "putting the squeeze on me" to get back to walking, if you know what I mean!) By time Glenn and I returned to Hungary, Dan and Janet had left for Canada to spend Christmas with Dan's family. (Yes, Dan is Canadian but we can't really tell it. He eats peanut butter just like any American.)


Janet and I walked on Saturday and it felt good! Oh, Glenn gave me a pedometer for Christmas so I will be calculating how many miles I walk per week!

In other general news, we got 3-4 inches of snow at the beginning of this week but it is all melted by now. The weather report is calling for more snow this week. In fact, the computer says it is snowing right now. It isn't. At least not here in Budafok! I'm like a kid on Christmas eve when snow is expected! I love it and enjoy watching it fall. I also like how it muffles the sound of cars as they fly down the street in front of our house. I especially like it when it snows enough to make the world slow down.

Recently, Glenn and I have noticed a new style of bread being sold in our area. They are huge disks, about the size of a large watermelon, only round! What we can't figure is, Why? We often see them being sold in thirds or quarters, so why make them so big in the first place? Glenn and I bought a quarter once, ate some of it, and still don't know what the big deal is. The taste is okay; nothing to brag about and very similar to all their other white breads. Maybe it is just the novelty of something so HUGE!

I must be dreaming!

Glenn and I had a meeting up at the Eden House earlier this week and we saw two boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts! No, we didn't think KK had finally opened in Budapest, but we sure wish it would! One of our folks who lives in London had come for the meeting and had picked them up from the Krispy Kreme place in the airport there to share with those of us less fortunate! I can't believe I didn't eat a single one! (My pants are still "snug" after 5 weeks in America and all the goodies we enjoyed over the holidays!)

This was my clue that someone was there before me

And lastly, I want to share a little bit more about the break-in. No, we don't have any more word as to "who done it", nor do we ever expect to hear any more about it from the police. We are taking every precaution now: closing shutters, locking up computers, and setting the alarm each time we leave. It is such a hassle. There is a man coming tomorrow that is a security specialist, at the request and expense of our landlord, to see what can be done to make our house more secure.

I really felt like I handled the break-in well. I didn't freak out or anything like that. However, as the week progressed, little by little things were coming up that made me realize the loss was greater than I'd first realized it would be. Not only have I lost all my pictures of the year 2009 and all my work-related emails, but countless files of important information and records. Each time I would start to work on something, I'd realize I needed something that was on my old computer. It could be something small, like our DVD inventory, but with each realization, it brought on a fresh wave of grief. Wednesday, I hit bottom. However, God is faithful and sent me a friend that day who walked with me through the Valley of Grief and I am doing better now. I have been most surprised by the fact that I am not really "afraid" of someone harming us. As we walked to church this morning, I shared with Glenn that one of the things I've grieved for the most is the pleasure of being able to go for a walk without worrying about whether someone is trying to break into my house again! I do believe it will eventually happen again. The difference, we hope, is that the house will be more secure and we will be wiser.

While our experience was somewhat "traumatic", it is not unique to us as Americans. The pastor mentioned this morning several others in the church whose cars and houses had been broken into in recent weeks. We believe the poor economy here in Hungary is contributing to the desperation of many. Glenn and I are determined not to let Satan and this one disturbing event rob, steal and destroy our joy and pleasure of living here in Budapest.