Bah Humbug already!

Today is Thanksgiving but I walked into the teacher room at school with a dark cloud circling above my head. I have plenty of reasons why.
Ahem.
I didn't wake up with my family close by, no plans to have a Thanksgiving feast or family games, no plans to go see a fun movie or play with my nephew. My apartment building had it's power turned off due to construction but forgot to turn mine back on yesterday so I woke up without power, my poor electronic devices running on fumes, the food in my fridge melting and going bad (I opened the window to the negative temps to help keep my food cool but it only let in tons of smoky, polluted air), couldn't see to put on my make-up, spilled coffee on my off-white CASHMERE scarf and my SUEDE skirt (which is fortunately brown) and on top of all that, I saw a dead dog and another limping with one of it's hind feet missing. Totally breaks my heart.

I actually feed strays treats/dog food when they'll let me. Yes, I'm THAT person.

It's definitely one of those mornings when I ask myself, "Wait, why am i here again?" But when I walked into the teacher room, I was greeted with "Happy Thanksgiving!" from my fellow Mongolian teachers. This wasn't expected because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here. Then one of my students stopped me and said, "Happy Thanksgiving, Teacher! Thank you for being such a great teacher!" and melted my heart again.

Undeserved Grace. That's what I'm living in and who am I to not revel in it day to day.

My friend, Andrea, took this of me (I'm in the middle)
just being quiet and enjoying His beauty. Wish we could live this way!!!

SO, here is a list of things that have happened to me over the past 24 hours:

• I woke up in Mongolia - here for a purpose that is far greater than I will ever know.
• I spent last night drinking a semi cold Dr. Pepper, in a bubble bath, candle light, in total silence, not worrying about emails/social media/etc.
• Nothing in my fridge is irreplaceable
• Neither is my scarf or skirt
• I've been here for 21 months and this week was the first time I saw a dead dog - pretty incredible actually!!
• I rarely have problems with power, internet, water or heat - AWESOME!!!!!
• I'm surrounded by friends and family who wished me a Happy Thanksgiving
• I just got word that my power has been turned back on

Team Mongolia
A.K.A. My  family in Mongolia
A.K.A. A bunch of nerds living in Mongolia...