A little heads up

Rob's deployment was just extended another 6 weeks. Now he should be getting home on Palm Sunday. Instead of getting angry, I've decided to list reasons that this is a GREAT idea. (this will be a short list, but hey, I'm trying here).
1.) I can definitely finish the bathroom before he gets back
2.) I can use those "date nights" to force myself through the rest of Anna Karenina.
(15 minutes later)
.... I think this list will have to be a work in progress.

The Bathroom Saga...it lives on

So, you might remember back in January when I began the oh, so impressive "gutting the bathroom" story.
It's ongoing.
Still.
However, I must say it's getting better. It now has a tile floor and a shower curtain rod! The toilet currently residing in the shower is on it's way to greener pastures where it can run all day with the other toilets. The new one will be installed this weekend and the sink should follow relatively quickly. One more coat of paint and it's a bathroom! In a perfect world this will be done before Rob gets home (TWO WEEKS!!) Knowing me and my home improvement history though, it's much more likely that our kids will go off to college and there will still be a toilet in the shower.

BEN! What's up, dude?!

Hi Ben!
Okay, folks at home (and those of you guilty of surfing the internet at work) Rob and I would like to introduce you to a Very special friend of ours. Meet Ben! Ben is 8 and lives in Maryland pretty close to us...although we haven't even met him in person YET! Rob and I met him through a prayer email and got WAY more than we bargained for! Ben is a firecracker of a kid who is battling bone cancer like a true superhero. In his spare time Ben tells jokes, dances the robot, and sports do rags. He doesn't have a dog so he watches the video of Scout running up and down our hallway. Currently he and his mom are in a kind of "solitary confinement" to make sure Ben doesn't get any germs that can make him sick. SO, I thought I'd give you guys an opportunity to meet him through the web page. Ben and his mom check our page once in a while (I think we got him hooked when we started putting up pictures of wild animals) so please leave comments here for Ben and say Hi. (Ben, you can leave comments too if you want). Also, they are keeping a "Map of Prayers" so Ben can see where people are who are praying for him. If you want "in" on that, be sure and leave your city/state!
Ben, thanks for sharing your pictures with us! We can't wait to meet you!! Love, Rob and Danielle
P.S. LOVE the "fuzzy hair" picture!

Rob is safe

Okay, quick note to calm all you concerned friends and family who are leaving messages in my voicemail and inbox. Rob was not involved in the recent helicopter collision and he's fine. God has protected Rob through so many deployments and we remain mindful about how blessed we are. However, there were about 10 souls on board the helicopters who died last week. It was tragic and so unexpected and I can't imagine the loss. Their families are in our thoughts and prayers; please keep them in yours. And really, you guys, thanks for all your prayers for Rob, they mean the world to us.

Part Two

Okay, continuing the slide show; This is Rob ordering room service for breakfast (which he did every morning) to help me combat altitude nausea. I didn't realize beforehand how much the altitude really affects you if you're not used to it. You feel nauseous every morning and it can make it hard to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. When he wrote the other day and said I wasn't feeling well... yeah. If you're already not feeling so hot at the current altitude, try taking off in a plane. The 10 hour flight from Ethiopia to London was...eventful.

This was one of the restaurants we went to. These dancers are amazing. SO different from what you would see here at a dinner theatre! The cool thing was that this wasn't a tourist spot. We were the only "Foringee's" (foriegners) in the joint. But I guess the only REAL tourist was me. Rob fits right in with these people. I was amazed and impressed watching him casually speaking Amharic with everyone...then there was me...."What's up guys?"
The Ethiopian Palace. HUGE honor to even be allowed inside the gates. I still don't know how we pulled this one off but they gave us a personal tour of the palace. This was one of the rooms we were allowed to take pictures in- And yes, that is a stuffed lion on top of a piano in their ballroom. (The lioness was on the other side of the room. No, seriously.) Apparently taxodermy is a BIG thing there.
The coffee ceremony is also a big deal. It's a very time consuming part of the day that is done only between close friends. That's me roasting coffee beans. The next step is to pulverize them BY HAND. Rob's buddies that are locals got a real kick out of showing me all the things women are expected to do in their culture. I'm smiling because I know there's an electric coffee bean grinder and a "Mr. Coffee" auto-drip waiting for me at home.
This last one is from the mercado. Supposedly its the biggest open air market in Africa. It's also the place where you are most likely to be robbed. It's SUPER stressful because you're trying to hang on to whatever you were crazy enough to think you could make it through the other side with while everyone is shouting at you to buy their stuff. (In Ethiopia a white person isn't fooling anyone. You're a tourist.) Anyway, this store owner and his son were great. Because of the language barrier, they would model each product so we'd know the use. Some of their stuff (i.e. Necklaces, pictures) are obvious. I got a kick out of watching them use head wraps, scarves, handbags, etc. so that we'd know what they were. We were all laughing about that. It was one of those moments where everyone forgets you're from different cultures on opposite sides of the world. That was probably one of my favorite moments. Okay guys, that's going to wrap it up. Obviously we have like 500 more pictures, but I think you get the main idea. :-) hope you enjoyed it, I know we did. See you in three weeks, honey!

Picture Day!

Okay, so as promised I am posting pictures today. I have TONS so I'll try and keep it to a dull roar. (I said I'll try.) I can't tell you guys enough how amazing it was to see Rob. I think I would have met him in a dark alley if I had to- but Ethiopia was BEAUTIFUL. We had two local guys take us everywhere- which turned out to be a huge blessing. The first lesson I learned about driving in a third world country...the road signs are merely a suggestion. So, more info to follow- let the annoying "Our Trip To Ethiopia" slide show begin! Can someone get the lights?
Okay, I'll start with the cheetahs since I know they are the big favorite. Wow have they gotten big! For size comparison, the picture with Rob holding both of them is from before the rescue. The other one is me holding Scout this week. She's as big as OUR Scout now! They are a hilarious pair of cats, very friendly and playful. The government thanked Rob again for all his work in getting them. They have a great home- which we were invited to inspect, and are well fed, with plenty of room for exercise. It was so cool to actually meet them!




This would be Scout Oh, SO Shyly crawling around on Rob's lap while Patch attacks my pants. It was an experience I'll never forget. They invited us to come see them anytime. (You know, because tickets to Ethiopia are sooo cheap!) I hope we can go back when they're fully grown though. Wow.

This is the view from the balcony of our hotel. Gorgeous huh? The sky there is amazing at night. I was in a constant state of awe. The other picture is Rob and I trying desperately to appreciate all aspects of Ethiopian life. I can't remember the name of this beverage, but I can tell you it ain't Orange Juice folks. The alcoholic content was so high that neither of us could stomach more than one sip. The natives thought that was pretty funny. Okay, I'm not sure how many more pictures this will allow me, so let's call this the first installment. Hope you guys have enjoyed it so far!

Quick Note to the famous coward

I'm back in London on my way home! I'll post tons of pictures. We had a blast! To sir/madame "no name". awww go cry in your tax dollar corner. You didn't pay for ONE CENT of our trip. By they way, I know exactly who you are. You can wish our marriage was on the rocks all you want. I can only imagine you don't recognize because you've never known. So allow me to educate you: This is what Love looks like.
Cheers everyone!

The Long Journey Home

Ok everybody...Rob here! A much longer entry is sure to follow (our "second honeymoon in Africa" was amazing)...but at the moment I'm just going to ask you all to pray for Danielle's safe return home. I recieved a short message from her while she was at Heathrow airport in London on her return trip...apparently my wife's not feeling too well and could use some kind thoughts thrown her way. So....everybody pray on three...One, Two, Three!!!!

Smashing, Brilliant, and other British words insterted here...

Hello my friends. bet you didn't think you'd be hearing from me so soon. It's 10am or something here in London (like 5am for you guys) and wow. what a ride so far. Nothing crazy in BWI, but I get to London and the drama begins. My credit card is protecting me from myself. It doesn't work. My INTERNATIONAL calling card only works in the states, and I can't buy another one because of my afore mentioned problem with the credit card. I have exactly three American dollars on me...which over here equals like 15 cents. And every exchange costs about six dollars to do. So basically I'd be handing them my three dollars, and I'd still owe them three in order to get nothing back. That was a fun surprise. I spent $10 this morning on breakfast...a stale bagel and coffee. Crazy. (Obviously this was before the discovery of my big cash problem.) BUT I am only about 14 hours away from seeing my husband!!
Thanks again, Jessica and Adam for saving my butt yesterday- you guys...there are no words. Okay, that's it for now. Rob, I know I'm supposed to call and tell you we're good to go, but obviously I can't... I've emailed everyone who's addresses I can remember and asked THEM to call, and I'm hoping you have the sense to know what a mess your wife is and check the blog. :-) Love Words, Baby! See you TODAY!

Ahhhhhhhhh FREAK OUT!

Oh. Holy. Smokes.

THIS is what I woke up to this morning. Oh, in addition, I came to the startling realization last night that I HAVE NO SUITCASE. (duh). Rob has them. Please do not take this obvious opportunity to leave me some smart comment about the importance of planning ahead. You will disappear and it will look like an accident. Oh, I know people. Yeah. And Scout is supposed to magically show up at my sister's house (30 snow-filled, accident proned miles away), crate and all, so she can watch him this weekend. Right. I'm so sure all of this will happen before 6 pm. No pressure, Danielle.
....Oh, THIS JUST IN.
Adam and Jessica, there has got to be some special corner in heaven for people who drive all over Maryland with no notice to help out a spastic friend. You guys are like the "Make a Wish" foundation for Type A people. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

keu and sam-ment bo-hal-la e-meul-leu-sal-lo

In Amharic that means "I'm returning in one week" (....hopefully).

Okay, so I'm leaving tomorrow. CAN YOU STAND IT?! Actually, I'm sure you've had about all you can stand by now. My plane leaves in exactly 24 hours. Here's the best part...I haven't packed yet. For some reason I can't pack until the day I'm leaving. It's an OC thing I guess. I'll have to lay everything out and look at it. I'll pack way too many shirts but manage to forget something important.... like my contact case, or malaria pills. Okay, I guess the malaria pills would be trump. Still.
In other news, it's SNOWING outside. Great. The girl that's terrified of flying gets to take off in a snow-ridden runway. I love how we've had a winter that probably rivaled Hawaaii's yet now that it's almost spring and I'm going to travel, we've managed about 4 inches in the last 6 hours. Can we do nothing without drama? So. Please pray for us this week that we stay safe, flights all land smoothly where they are supposed to, AND (thanks to my not-so-useful visit to the doc) that I don't get exposed to yellow fever for at least the next 10 days.

THREE MORE DAYS!

Okay. So check out me and my sweet T-shirt. (Thanks Laura!) I am getting all kinds of geared up for my trip. I'd like to thank the military for doing their part in getting my shots taken care of 3 days before I leave. (Shots take 2 weeks to become effective. Enter Irony). Just so you know; I was all geared up to write a very sarcastic email about the 4 hours of my life I'll never get back that I spent dealing with ignorant hospital personnel. But those stupid shots have made me so drowsy. No, like SO drowsy. ...drowsy is really a funny word when you think about it. I can't think of anything it rhymes with... or who made up that word. I tried to make up a word once. No one else picked up on it, but I still use it anyway. Me and this guy Matt from college who I used to eat cereal with. Who decided drowsy would mean drowsy? At this point, drowsy has lost all meaning to me. I wish I was famous because then I could name our first son Drowsy and it would be cool because he'd be in day care with kids like Gweneth Paltrow and Courtney Cox's kids, Apple and Cocoa (respectively). Drowsy Townley would be the man. I think there should be a test people have to pass before they're allowed to stick needles in other people. Just to mkae sure they're smart enough.

Pictures from Rob's last road trip in Africa.

Hi Everyone! So Danielle, being the amazing wife she is, posted some photos from my last trip into the bush out here...what a ride! We went about 1000km across the savannah to get to this one really isolated area where there's a bad famine going on...the people there were SO nice. Well, that and they'd never seen a white guy before, so us American boys were kind of a novelty. Anyhow, the first photo is just an overview of what things look like out there...the decided lack of roads makes for really fun driving. I think we're all going to sign up for a rally race team when we get home. I somehow managed to blow all four shocks, one strut, the alternator, four pistons and two tires on my truck, and we ripped off the antenna, some of the bumper, the turning signal and the brushguard. Yeah...the government wasn't too happy with me about that, but it was fun!
Can you guys say your office looks like this?!? Seriously though...if anyone has a cubicle or a real office they want a break from, I'll trade you in a heartbeat. Can't wait to come home.
So...here's a photo that was taken when we got lost like 300 miles from anywhere...that's my partner Nate and I trying to figure out where exactly we made a wrong turn (Must have been back there at that camel. Yeah, that was it. Only now the camel's gone. Argh!) And no, I'm not shooting at anyone...in this case I just had to use the scope on my rifle to see what was about since there were lions around and we generally try to avoid becoming an appetizer.
Speaking of lions...Meet Barre the lion! He's kept in a little thatched hut in a village we went through. The villagers had him since he was little, and now they really don't know what to do with him since he's a "little" 320lbs. He's not a very nice lion...though neither would I be if I ate one goat a day for the last 4 years. Poor guy gets one little billy goat each morning and sits around for the rest of the day. Anyhow, I got within about 6 feet of him (for which I was severely chastised by my wife later..."You did WHAT?? Robin Hamilton Townley! No playing with wild animals!!") Mufasa, Mufasa! Oooh...say it again!

Rob would be proud

This would be our little brainiac dog, Scout and his beloved flashlight...ahh, bet you wish YOUR dog was this spastic. :-) Scout, I got nothing but love for you, big guy. So, courtesy of Adam, I give you Scout.com!

I'm Smart. S-M-R-T

I don't think I would have posted this if I had failed... I'd like to see your "report card" on my comments page... don't think I won't check.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

My sister, My friend....My date?

I apologize for not blogging sooner. (Thanks for the guilt trip comment!) I actually tried a few times yesterday but my blog was down. JUST my blog. I noticed everyone else's was working.
You know what that is, don't you? That's The Man trying to keep me down.
Anyway, so last night I went to my sister's Company Gala. I'm sure that more than a few people are re-thinking her sexuality given that she showed up with a girl and we danced all night (okay, not the slow songs). Eh, sometimes coworkers need something to discuss around the water cooler. I'm just happy we could make that dream come true for them. Actually, if you look at us and can't tell we're sisters...you're an idiot.

While I'm on this topic, let's expand shall we? Ever notice how no one would ever tell a person "hey, um, by the by, YOU can't dance" but they have no problem telling EVERYONE ELSE how awful you are? Makes me wonder if there's something the world needs to tell me and my signature "white girl" move of "snap, touch, snap touch".... Whatever. When I dance in front of the mirror, I'm soooo hot. (and now you're laughing at me).
Shaddup.

AMHARIC PHRASE OF THE DAY! (you thought I forgot, huh?) I can tell you guys don't like this part of my blog because no one comments...notice that has no effect on me. It's still here!

wu-sha neu-keu-seuny!

Translation: I've been bitten by a dog!
Ahh see there? We all learned a little something. Knowledge is Power!