School Visits

This morning we set out  on a long journey to visit some schools that have children in them that get sponsored by other people around the world.  We were going to go and pay for there school fees and take a couple of pictures to send back to the people who are very generous by giving them the opportunity to learn at school.  We met up with the principal for he was the one we were going to be giving the money to and writing some letters for us.  As the principal was writing away I was sitting there and experienced something I never want to have to experience again.  In the other room I could hear a child crying out for help because they were in pain for the teacher was beating them with a stick.  Each time the teacher would smack the stick across the bottom of the child I could hear the whip of it and it sounded like it was getting harder and harder.  I didn't want to believe what I thought it was so I tried to ask Wilfred what the noise was but the principal just gave Wilfred a weird look and Wilfred just shook his head with no response for that was all I needed to know to realize that what I had thought was happening was.  I was absolutely furious that I wasn't allowed to do anything.  I felt so bad for that child that I just wanted to run right out of my chair and run to comfort him.  I sat there shaking with anger because Wilfred said I wasn't suppose to know what was happening since it wasn't our business.  I don't care what country or culture I'm in beating a child is NEVER ok.  I don't care what the child did that should not be allowed any where!  Later when we got outside Wilfred finally told me that they were beating the child because he made a mistake.  Are you kidding me?!  If we didn't make mistakes in this world we would never be able to learn.  I'm still mad at myself for not getting up and stopping it right when it was happening.  That boys cries for help will always be in my head.  I need to do something to make sure that does not ever happen to another child there.  I don't know what I'm going to do but I need to think of something before I go.  For I know that the children that I play with now at the orphanage will soon be going to that school and if I found out they were beating one of them I would not be a happy camper.  Wilfred later on shared with me that when he went to school he had got beaten with a stick a few times as well. I would think if he had to go through that pain he wouldn't want to let any other child go through it.  We then went to visit some of the children in class who have sponsors to get their pictures taken and check up on them.  I felt like a celebrity walking into every room because the children would all get very excited to see me since I'm white.  They were all very cramped in there classrooms where the students per class is any where from 80 to 115 with only one teacher to teach them all.  This also means not enough space for them to all sit down so a lot of them end up having to stand up in the back for the whole class session.  A lot of the teachers were not present at class because a lot of them are on strike right now until the government increases their pay.  We then were off to another school which ended up being way over on the opposite hill so we had a long walk down one hill and back up the next hill.  Wilfred got to hear a lot of my complaining on this long walk for it was so so hot today haha there was lots of joking go on as well so it made the time go by a bit faster.  I do remember on all the long walks when I was here last time my dad and I would go back and forth the whole way each telling each other about all of the good foods we were craving and about what we would eat when we get home.  I definitely had a lot of time to come up with some good ideas in my head of this walk.  Once we got to the school there was only one child we needed to get a picture of but since here in Kenya they like to do things so slow we ended up sitting there for about 45minutes just to get everything we needed when in reality it should have took less then 10minutes I thought I was going to go crazy.  Thank god we got to take a motorbike home to cut back on the time of walking down which seemed like it would be a mountain.  I just finished my famous peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch now I'm back off to see the little children at the orphanage.  I will make sure to give them extra hugs for everything I have experienced today I hope they don't have to go through that.

Donations-So Thankful*

Not to long ago I was just at the same exact place with my parents and while we were here we learned about lots of things that this orphanage could use to help them out in any way.  With the donations that we collected on our last trip we were able to put in a watering system for the orphanage so that way they wouldn't have to go and fetch water with the donkeys several times a day.  Now that I am back its amazing to see how big of a difference that one thing did to change the lives of the people in the village.  Not only are the people at the orphanage using it but I have also seem many little girls coming to use it to collect water for there house.  It will help to cut back on the long walk they would have had to just get one bucket of water.  This time around I was able to collect school supplies from the many generous people who have donated them to bring to the orphanage.  I was able to bring them up to the orphanage just the other day now and I tell you there faces just light up when they saw all of it!  They were all very thankful for every last little thing!  I brought them notebooks, pencils, pens, folders, erasers, glue sticks, scissors, and pencil sharpeners (during our last trip we saw that they would have to sharpen there pencils with knifes or blades so this will make a HUGE difference).  Some people had also donated money for the orphanage and we now have come to conclusion on what we will be putting that money towards....A PLAYGROUND!  This is be something that will make a big difference for the kids because right now all they have to play with is a soccer ball, three old tires, and some broken jump ropes.  My parents had built the children a swing last time they were here but due to the safety they had to take it down since the tree started to get weaker so it kept breaking.  Now with the playground it will be a structure that I know will be able to last a long time.  It will also attract a lot of other children in the village so that way they all have a safe place to come and play during the day instead of playing in the streets (dirt roads).  The playground will have about three to four swings, a slide, and seesaw.  It will be completed before I leave so I will take lots of pictures of the kids playing on it!  I'm so excited for all that is happening around here to improve the lives of the children.  Thank you everyone for all your donations and helping to make my dreams come true!

Road Trip for Pizza(:

Today started out very very early for me and if the people in Kenya have learned anything about me they have learned that I don't like having to get out of bed early.  But today was the day that I knew I was finally going to get me some pizza so I just had to force myself out of bed.  I was up by about 5a.m to shower up and get ready for we left around 6ish.  Just my luck though it was still dark outside at 5 in the morning and the power decided not to work this morning so I had to get ready all by my little purple glow stick flashlight haha it sure was a real hoot.  I didn't even give a damn what I looked like by the time I had gotten done with my freezing cold shower.  Threw the old hair in a wad, put the glasses on, and hide under a big sweatshirt.  I was on time for once and waiting by the gate for Wilfred to come and pick me up when I get a phone call from him saying I'm by the gate so just meet me there and I was like are you kidding me I'm by the gate and there is no one around Africans and there timing is never right!  Now I think I will just be waiting at my house for the phone calls instead of wasting time standing by the dumb old gate.  We walked down to the village center and started looking for the guys who would be driving our motorbikes to Bondo (about 30 minutes from the village) to catch the bus and head to Kisumu.  I was on a motorbike by myself and the driver and Wilfred went on a different one with somebody else already on it.  Three people on one bike looked pretty scrunched up.  I was kind of nervous to get on the motorbike because one of my fears before I came to Kenya was having to get on one of these and then the driver not taking me where I'm suppose to be going.  And I knew if this happened I would have no control of it.  Half the time the drivers don't even speak english so I had to put all my trust into my driver.  At first all went well because I knew that Wilfred was always just right behind me but not long into the ride my driver started slowing down which made the bike that Wilfred was on speed up and pass him.  I thought oh maybe my drivers doesn't know where to go so he needs to follow the other driver but oh boy was I wrong big time.  As soon as the other bike was out of site my driver took a fast turn and stopped in another village.  Not going to lie I was instantly terrified because I had no idea if Wilfred would notice that we were not behind him anymore.  Thank god though he did and they turned their bike around to come find us so my driver but our bike back on the right dirt road and we were off again.  It didn't take long for the driver to pull the same thing again on me expect for this time he pulled into someones property and turned off his bike and there were two other guys there.  Thats when I was beyond scared I'm like great of course the one thing that I feared would happen it does.  I could see that Wilfred was trying to call my driver but he very rarely answered it.  The driver told me to stay on the bike and he got off and went into the house and but came back very shortly.  Next thing I know Wilfred is running down the street and found me on this persons property.  I was soooo glad to see him!  Right away Wilfred started to yell at my driver and from then on I wasn't allowed to ride on the bike by myself so I was squished in the middle between the driver and Wilfred.  It made for one long ride but I sure felt A LOT safer so thats all that mattered.  When we arrived in Bondo we bought the bus tickets and had just a short wait for the bus to arrived.  That short wait turned into a nap for me with Wilfred trying to wake me up to get me on the bus for which ended up in another hour and a half nap.  Me and my sleep I love it!  I finally have got use to the terrible roads here so all of the bumps and stopping didn't even bother me.  Once we reached Kisumu we rode in a little vehicle that only had three wheels and had a steering wheel like one on a motorbike would.  That was one of the craziest rides I have ever been on here.  We were on a search for a grocery store to get me some "real" food.  Every time the driver stopped the car thing for Wilfred to get out and ask someone where we could find a grocery store I immediately would jump out of the car to for I was still scared that this driver might take off with me in it.  Poor Wilfred he probably got annoyed that I was attached at his side the rest of the day.  We ended up finally finding a grocery store that sold food that I would eat haha that was the main reason it took us so long to find a grocery store.  Before you enter any building you have to get checked by the security and they normally would always just let me go through without touching me thank goodness because some of the people they didn't seem very nice to.               In the store we were able to find me some brown bread, spaghetti noodles, spaghetti sauce (Ragu which is an american name brand I could recognize), and cheese!  I thought to myself boy am I going to be eating good for awhile haha it will be like 5 stars for me compared to what I have been eating.  At the next grocery store we found some cereal, mac and cheese, and pancake mix boy did I get lucky!  Our next mission was to go and find me some pizza!!  I was just absolutely thrilled about this :D  The only place that sold pizza was a fancy hotel and by the time we got there it was around 10am so they were still serving breakfast.  Luckily they still let us order a pizza to go but we had to wait for about 45 minutes.  I was thinking heck I will sit here all day if I know that I will eventually get this pizza that I have now been looking forward to for two weeks!  Once we got the pizza we were off to the bus station again with our backpacks now full of all the groceries and bought and Wilfred carrying my pizza.  The smell of it was taunting me the whole way.  We made one more stop before we got on the bus and by the time the sun was beating down on use.  The "bus" we ended up using was the same type of vehicle that my parents and I took for our safari.  The thing is since time is such a problem with Africans in the first place they don't have set times that the vehicles leave instead they just leave whenever the seats are all filled up.  We really had no idea how long we would be kept waiting.  It ended up being about an hour and half of baking in the heat of the sun waiting for the van to leave.  I thought I was going to go crazy waiting.  All I wanted to do was get home to eat my pizza and take a long nap.  While we waited lots of people came up to our windows in the van trying to sell us all sorts of stuff.  Wilfred was starting to get really pissed off and eventually said something to the driver who went and yelled at the people.  He sure got the job done because barely anybody would come by our van anymore.  Haha thank goodness because I was getting sick of getting bothered by them.  On the drive home we sat up front by the driver and I was pretty entertained watching him drive stick shift because that is what I was practicing back at home with my dad before I left.  When we arrived back in Bondo there was a huge bus with college students singing on it trying to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS which was pretty cool because there was a huge crowd gathered around.  Lastly we took a motorbike back to the village with the driver having Wilfred's backpack attached to his stomach then me squished in the middle and Wilfred in the back with my backpack and my pizza in his hands.  I was so exhausted by this time that I ended up falling asleep for a bit on the back of the drivers shoulder haha opps :p When we arrived home my pizza (with such a long journey it had) was all mixed up and flipped over but boy I have to tell you that was the best thing that I have eaten in weeks!  I look forward to our next pizza adventure sometime in the near future!! Now I will have to teach the helpers here how to cook some of the foods I bought and I know they will be excited to do that because they have been fascinated by everything else they have made with me.  The one thing that they did try though that was definitely not normal was spaghetti noodles with scrabbled eggs and onions and tomatoes all mixed together (interesting to say the least haha) ! I'm off now to enjoy another very hot Kenya day (:

Made it to the Orphanage-

I just woke up from a much needed nap and realized that I haven't written on here in about a week!  I have so much to tell to (: I will make sure to do updates more often its just with the other volunteers being here I have been keeping very busy.  Thats good though so I am not alone all day!  So for starters lets see here After all of the crazy things from last night I thought I was never going to fall asleep for I got pretty scared.  But I made it through after I had talked to a friend very long which ended up putting me to sleep and the next thing I knew it was morning.  I sleep like a rock that is for sure.  Jacky had a hard time waking me up and asked if I needed to go back to sleep.  It was a much needed rest!  Jacky showed my how to bath the African way by throwing water on myself with a cup and a bucket full of water she had to boil for there was no running hot water.  A lot more work then just turning the handle on the shower back at home but heck that’s why I love it here so much.  It was a bit difficult not having my mom here to help me wash my hair but I learned quickly.  Today breakfast consisted of a few teddy grahams then I was ready for the day!  I got the few things I had packed back into Jacky’s car then we went off to drop her sister off on the way to the orphanage.  I was so excited as we drove down the streets because I slowly remembered every little turn down the dirt road and the little shops looked more and more familiar.  People were very excited to see Jacky as we drove through the village because she has made such a big difference here.  We were constantly getting stopped so people could say hi.  We even gave one girl a ride down the road so she didn’t have to walk with her things.  That just goes to show how kind hearted Jacky is!  I hope one day I can be as generous as her.  As we made the turn up to the orphanage I saw one face that I knew right away!  It was very exciting to be able to get back in touch with Wilfred I sure missed hearing all of the ridiculous things he also had to say.  He was with two other girls and they were going to help carry my bags to the orphanage but when the trunk opened and they saw how many bags I had I thought for sure their eyes were going to pop out of there head.  I sure am not a light packer :p but heck I'm going to be gone for three months I need to bring things from home to make me feel comfortable in a surrounding like this.  Jacky ended up driving her car up the "road" which really is nothing more then just piles of rocks and I walked with Wilfred and the other ladies at first it was very awkward but we soon became like our old selfs and starting joking around as we made our way up the hill to the orphanage.  I was so distracted from all of the conversation that we got up that hill in no time and was very surprised to be greeted by about thirty of the care takers of the children.  They were all lined up on either side singing and dancing.  I was immediately taken by someones hand as they tried to get me to dance as we walked up to the building.  It was the most amazing greeting I have ever got!  I felt so welcomed back and it was just what I needed.

dirt roads*

Today started out as a very early morning for me with me not wanting to get out of bed.  I’m pretty sure I sounded like I was one of Jacky’s kids as I mumbled about being tried and wanting to crawl back into bed when she woke me up this morning.  I found out very quickly that that was not going to be happening because Jacky’s daughter came in a couple of minutes later to tell me good morning and that it was time for me to get in the shower (probably the last shower for a long time).  Thank goodness I listened to her because I did not have much time to sit around this morning because we needed to get on the road early for all of the traffic we would have to be dealing with.  We got everything packed up and then sat down to eat a quick breakfast, which for me consisted of a granola bar, which they thought, was crazy.  Heck as long as I was satisfied!  Oh yeah Jacky also made me try some of the tea and there was no telling her no.  It was very interesting to see her cool it down for me because if I wanted to cool something down at home I would just add an ice cube but of course you can’t just do that here.  She took two cups and kept pouring it back and forth in the two cups.  It looked like it took a lot of skill.  I can only imagine what kind of mess it would have made if she made me to it by myself.  I knew after she did all that work to make my tea I had to at least try it and that is about as far as it got.  I had one little sip and that was enough for me.  Jacky looked at me as I had a funny look on my face from the taste and asked me how I liked it.  The only word I could come up with was well you see it um tastes very interesting.  No more tea for me!  After we said our goodbyes to the house girls and Jacky’s youngest we were on our way to go meet up with Albert.  The usual ten-minute drive turned into an hour-long drive due to all of the traffic.  It didn’t seem that long though because Jacky was pointing out all of the crazy things that the drivers were doing and singing along to the music.  Since the traffic was so bad buses and other cars must have got fed up so they quickly started driving around on the sidewalks, medians, and on the opposite side of the street.  What a site to see!  We also passed several buildings all made out of tin I believe which was amazing because they looked like they were up to three stories.  It reminded me of an extreme play fort I could have only dreamed about building when I was little.  There were many different shapes and colors to them.  Once we finally met up with Albert and Jacky’s brother Tom we all piled into the car that is literally filled to the top with all my suitcases and things that are for the orphanage.  It was going to be a very crowded ride but at that point I didn’t mind because I felt like family.  It will be about an eight-hour ride I believe but it won’t seem that bad at all because of all of the little towns we pass on the way.  Most people if they saw the towns I think they would look at them and think that they looked very dirty and run down with all of the trash and stick buildings.  But for some reason when I see them I think wow this is amazing and beautiful.  It takes very hard working people to be able to do things like this and it is just very inspiring.  I’m so glad that I get to be apart of this culture again.  One of the stops we took I went into a bathroom (here it is called a washroom) with Jacky and was very lucky to see that it was not just a hole in the ground.  Jacky looked at me and asked did you bring toilet paper all I could think was oh shoot no haha that is what my mom was for when she was with me last time.  Thankfully she stepped in as my mom role and was already prepared for me.  I’m one lucky girl!  As we started our drive again the roads got curvier with more and more pot holes.  To avoid them it seems like we were driving more of the side then on the actual road.  It was a very good thing for me though because this meant we were getting closer to the village with more dirt roads and red soil approaching.  One of the bumps was so big that it made us almost hit the ceilings with our heads and as we hit it Tom said man these roads are bumpy right as Jacky was trying to take a drink.  It ended up spilling all over her but it just turned into many giggles that I needed to hear!  We made a quick stop at a supermarket which ended up filling the whole cart.  I knew that we were going to have many problems fitting this all in the car.  I had told Jacky that she would have to ride on the roof since she bought so much stuff and she loved it.  Albert, Tom, and a grocery worker spent a good fifteen minutes trying to figure out how they were going to close the car door.  We took a short drive down to Lake Victoria since we had some extra time to have a late picnic lunch.  When we got there everyone was trying to get us to eat at there little restaurant.  They were talking very fast and waving there hands all around it was very overwhelming!  Once they choice a place to eat at about 5 different people circled around us trying to sell us stuff.  It got old very quickly.  While Jacky ordered Tom took me back to the car to go and get what I would be getting for lunch.  A cereal bar and a tooties roll haha heck ya!  I miss my parents cooking back at home thats for sure.  When the food came to the table it was a huge fish laid on one big plate and it looked like it was covered in some kind of green.  This was served with that white fluff stuff.  To my surprise they just dug in with there hands and that is how they ate it picking apart the bones.  Being that I don't get meat it was kind of nasty to watch.  Jacky told me that the best part of the fish is the eyeballs so Albert and her fought over them.  I could hear her suck the eyeball out since she had own the fight. YUCK! After it wasn't along drive to Jacky home in the village so once we got here we prayed then took a tour around.  It is a tradition that they must build right by there parents and they must build three homes.  One for them to start out in which needs to be completed in one day!  The other one is a much more expensive house that you put lots of time into and the last is that you must build one for your oldest kid.  The rest of the night was pretty much mine to do whatever so I have been sitting in my room surrounded by bugs literally covering the floor.  Jacky came in the room to close the window and started smacking the bugs.  She looked crazy!  At the same time the generator stopped working so now I'm  still in the dark with a candle.  Time to learn to not be scared of the dark!  I will be heading to the orphanage tomorrow which I am so excited about.  I can't wait to see all the kids!

Feeling more like family*

That morning nothing to exciting happened just hung around Jacky's house most of the time and watched them eat breakfast.  They did have honey sitting on the table for the tea and Jacky's little one grabbed the bowl of honey and say yummm honey as scooped spoonfuls of it into here house.  At first no one was looking at her so I thought ok if thats what she wants to eat for breakfast but I soon found out that she probably wasn't suppose to be doing that because by the time it was gone Jacky caught her.  Sneaky little girl I know I would never do anything wrong like that at my house (: We later on went to the office after she sent her oldest son off to boarding school for two months.  It most be very normal for them because no tears were coming down at all.  If that were me I would be freaking out a bit.  I was so happy to be in the office because that meant that I had internet connection. Yahoo!! But not long after we got there I started to not feel so well I just tried to convince myself that I was homesick though and that I would be just fine.  Turns out it wasn't that I was just homesick it was that I was actually sick sick.  Just what I wanted on my first full day in Kenya.  I ran to the bathroom just in time to not make to big of a mess.  Jacky made sure that I was ok then we were off to go and get me a new phone and internet connection cards.  We took some crazy buses on the way that were very packed!  I was so scared that the bus was going to start moving as I tried to get off but luckily Jacky was behind me so she ended up having to jump off the bus while it was still moving.  She looked like such a hoot!  I also gave her the donation money that I had collected before I went over there for the orphanage.  Jacky was so thankful for that.  I must send a big thanks out there to all have helped out with the orphanage either with there money or prays!  It is all very helpful and I'm so honored you guys would do this for the kids that I have fell in love with.  God bless you all!  When we sat down for dinner that night Jacky was telling me different things that they believed in there culture and one was that you are not allowed to leave someones house without at least drinking water.  I got very lucky and had just passed that test in the nick of time because I took a sip of the water as she was talking.  Thank goodness I didn't get stuck in her house.  I was very tired that night and was looking forward to getting to bed!

The long journey back to my second home*

Well just the other day I finally started to make my very very long trip back to Kenya,Africa!  I had to make sure I got on all the right planes by myself.  It sure is a lot easier when my parents are there to just tell me where to go.  I ended up having to go for a run in the Chicago airport because by the time my plane landed my next plane was already boarding to London.  Talk about cutting it close! I didn't have much time to mess around in London either.  The airport is so big there I ended up having to take three different buses just to get to the right building! Once I boarded that plane I got the luck of the draw and was stuck sitting in front of a screaming little toddler ugh. That made for one extremely long flight!  He wouldn't stop kicking my sit either so about every couple of minutes I got a nice big old kick to my back.  Definitely didn't get any sleep on that flight.  I was so thankful when the plane finally landed because I knew I would soon be getting some much needed rest.  It didn't take long for me to find out that I was going to be stuck in the airport for another two hours because the ATM's were all broken and I didn't have enough cash to pay for visa.  So stressful!  I finally just broke down because by that point I was exhausted and just had enough.  Jacky (the lady that started the orphanage) sent a security guard up to where I was with the money to pay for my visa but after about twenty minutes of waiting I thought the guy had took the money and ran.  I was then sent to a complaint center where two ladies helped me out and let me know they were going to get me through.  As we waited in there for the security guard many many phone calls were made but of course I couldn't understand any of it expect for the occasional saying of my name.  Soon enough the security guard showed up with the money and I was finally free from the visa area.  Now I was off to go and find my bags which was a whole adventure in itself.  I went downstairs to find nobody but workers for all of the other passengers didn't have a problem getting stuck up by the visa desk.  There were so many bags laying on the ground and I had no idea where to start.  After trying to explain to the man that my flight came from London he ended up figuring out enough words to point me in the right direction of my bags.  I ended up having to get a cart for all of my bags haha for some reason I just couldn't leave things at home.  I had four suitcases, my ukulele, one huge backpack, a blanket, and a laptop to try to carry/push by myself.  I sure looked like a real nut case.  When I stepped out of the sliding doors I immediately saw Jacky and ran up to her to give her a huge hug.  I was so thrilled to finally see a face I already knew.  As her and Albert (her husband) helped me carry all of my bags to the car Jacky began to explain to me what happened with the security guard.  She said that she had told the him to go up to the visa area and give me the money.  I guess he ended up coming back down pretty quick though because he told her that he did not see me up there.  She then explained to him that I was the only one up there so there was no way he could have missed me.  After awhile he went back up to her and said she is your sister that I was looking for right.  As she told me this I was laughing already as so was she!  She told him no and that I was a white girl not some black skinned older lady.  All that matters is that I was soon driving through the crazy streets of Kenya again.  I completely forgot about the driver being on the opposite side then I am used to.  It was dark as we drove to Jacky's house and it made for an even more crazy and bumpy ride.  Over in Kenya there are no rules on the streets so cars are coming from every which way.  I would get in many car accidents if I tried driving.  Its said that if you can drive in Nairobi then you can drive any where else.  I couldn't disagree with that after being in the cars/buses here.  I could not see much of the house when we pulled up since it was so dark but I knew it was going to be nothing like going back to my home.  Oh well thats just what makes up all of these adventures here since nothing is like back at home.  We were greeted by her two house girls.  I'm not 100% sure what the means yet but I kind of have an idea from seeing all of the things they have to do.  I'm hoping to find out more about that in the near future.  They had to carry all of my bags up the stairs.  I felt so bad to because they were all over fifty pounds and I was told that I was not allowed to help.  Jacky, Albert, and I prayed once we were all settled in.  The things that Jacky said were all very loving and meaningful.  God bless her!  One of the house girls served us dinner when were done but to my surprise it was the same thing that would get served in the village.  Some white fluff stuff, potatoes, and meat.  I had to pass on that one lol I was finally allowed to go upstairs and have a much needed shower after Jacky gave me a quick tour of the house.  Then I was off to bed which ended up turning into a night I thought was never going to end.  First I was very homesick so I couldn't stop crying I tried to read some to help take my mind off of things but that didn't help much.  I grabbed my ipod then and turned off the lights hoping that I would just fall asleep soon after I laid down but of course I didn't. UGH! I lay awake in bed waking the clock go by listening to one very annoying mosquito buzz in my ear. Finally about four hours later I fell asleep but not for long because the house girls started there work very early and Jacky's little girl came to wake me up.  I knew I was about to have one heck of a long day ahead of me.  Well I need to try to find something to do but I will finish up later!