I'm back online!!!!!

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I haven't posted lately. My Internet has been down for the last two weeks! It was so frustrating. I was hung up on six times and redirected three times, but it's up and I am happy. There are somethings you take for granted in America; being able to pick up the phone and ask someone to fix your Internet is one I had never thought of until now. I tried so hard with my French to get them to understand and half of them hung up on my poor effort and the others just told me it wasn't their department and gave me the other one's (that I had just tried) phone number. Internet is truly one of our windows to the outside world and I'm ok with the occasional few days here and there when it goes out, but this time was really hard. Speaking of things you take for granted though....I thought I'd share our humorous "potty"efforts.

Ok, so the toilette situation here is hardly up to par. There are VERY few in public places (usually none) and the ones that are well...let me describe them:
You walk into a stall where most of the time the door doesn't latch and there is never any toilet paper. Instead there is a small hose connected to a spicket. So you can imagine that everything is wet (including the seat) and the floor is usually a puddle. And those of you who know me know I can't do germs and this totally gives me the shakes! Needless to say, I always try to make Ash go before we leave the house and if she does have to pee I try have her hold it. Also, at this point I should interject that Bri seems to think she should be potty training. I'm telling you...that poor girl is not potty training here until she has a bladder of steel and can hold a gallon 'cause I'm too traumatized from trying to do things with Ash. Well, back to my story. We were at a park the other day that just happened to have shoddy plumbing connected to a makeshift outhouse and guess who just can't hold it, Ash. Believe me I tried to reason with her, but this time I was afraid for my carseat. So, as it was just me, I picked up Bri and we trudged off to the crescent moon. I get there and put Bri down in the puddle of sludge (with strict instructions not to touch anything!) and pull down Ash's pants enough so things are exposed. Then I put my butt against the door to keep it closed and placed her feet on my thighs (to keep her pants out of the water) and held her chest so her bum was dangling above the wet seat but not touching it. At this point Bri decides to start stomping the puddle all over us (She wasn't touching anything:)) and Ash declares she "just can't do it". So as I start to put Ash down her shoe slips off along with her pant leg and she steps on the bum of her pants with her sock and soaks everything clean through. Let me just say that the hose thing worked, but the small sink on the outside did not. There was not enough hand sanitizer or wet wipes that day. Both girls went home without any clothes on their bottom half and everything was lysol'd and washed before the end of the afternoon. I still feel traumatized. God bless the USA, I can't get there soon enough!

Hope everyone is doing well. I'll post some pics soon. We let Bri play with the camera and somehow it's reading the memory card again!