I'm back!!!

James and I have both been experiencing difficulty attempting to log into our blogs for the last couple of weeks. Lots has happened in the intervening time. You probably ought to be glad I couldn't get to my blog at times. The low point was the death of our neighbor two doors up. And I've had some emotional rollercoaster days as I got ready for Liza's departure on her Hungarian adventure.

We dropped Liza at Dulles airport last Sunday afternoon. We only teased her a little bit about being so excited she couldn't sleep or eat. . .And I paid the $25 overweight charge for her suitcase without any hesitation. (It's up to her to figure out how to get everything back home at the end of her trip!) Other than a little excitement in Amsterdam (I'm sorry, Miss, but there is no such flight. Oh, yes there is, but it was overbooked and you forfeited your seat because you hadn't checked in.), she got there just fine. I'm so proud of her resourcefulness. When the phone card the clerk gave her wouldn't work, Liza ran down to the gate and sent a note to her welcoming committee with some of the other exchange students, then went to the other gate to wait for her later flight.

A phone call on Monday shared that story and her plans for the week-a walking tour of downtown Kecskemet, a Rotary meeting, the welcome party, Hungarian classes, school orientation, and finally school yesterday. An email this morning says she's doing well, even if the language is still beyond her. The other two exchangers are from Japan and Brazil, so Liza would be in great shape learning Hungarian, except they put her in the English track at school, so everyone wants to practice with her! My favorite image is the little sticky notes all over the house, labelling objects in both Hungarian and English. If you didn't get the email, just let me know, and I'll forward it on to you.

Kyle's here for the weekend, and we may have another short weekend or two before Thanksgiving. He's enjoying band, even tho' he's tired all the time. School has been exceptionally easy for the last week and a half. The administration spent all summer labelling and scanning the text inventory, only to have the server crash and the info lost the day before school started. They've postponed distribution of the textbooks in order to recreate the file, and the students haven't minded at all!

Samuel has learned his way around school this week, but the first couple of days were a bit confusing. (Room 206 is at the end of one hall, and room 207 at the end of the next, or something like that.) The only class he and Miriam have together is PE. They have the same teacher for Geometry, but at opposite ends of the day. They both have Earth Science for their semester class (to alternate with US History/Government next semester), but with different teachers. Science has enough extra credit available that both scholars are confident of being able to earn A's there.

James and I are saving our pennies (nickels & dimes, too!), since all three are threatening to "make the grade" and earn straight A's for the year, which will get them each a laptop computer. What'll we use for an incentive next year???

Miriam seems to have adjusted to sharing "her" school with her twin. If anyone wants French lessons, please call! She has homework that requires her to teach three people French, and too many of us speak or have studied the language around here. (Both step-parents took French in school, and Shannon served her mission there.)

Hurricane Ernesto took out our power and phone for most of a day, but he did a great job filling the rain barrels. James has completed all five phases, so we caught about 450 gallons of water there. The pond is finally really full, but back to murky. (The abundant plants had filtered it to almost clear until the run-off muddied things up again.) The best part may be that the mulch and swales captured all the water except the overflow from the rainbarrels. James had taken a cultivating fork (three tines on a long handle) and broken up the matted mulch last week. Even with the watering we've been doing (from rainbarrels & greywater from the shower) the ground was dry enough to hold all four-ish inches of rain we received in the last day and a half.

Next on the project list is preparing the soil in the blueberry patch. Samuel's excited about that prospect! We're hoping we can plant enough bushes that the rest of us get a few berries also.

Since the end of the redesign of the yard is appearing vaguely on the horizon, we decided it's time for a new hobby. . .camping. We're having interesting discussions about what qualifies as camping, ranging from a hotel room without a tv to packing everything in for at least ten miles, and compromising with "family camping" at established sites complete with a parking space for the car. James and I bought the tent (car-portable, a bit bulky for backpacking) on Wednesday. We have our sleeping bags picked out, and James went stove shopping before picking up Kyle this morning. Anyone want to come along? Miriam would be GLAD to give up her space!

Love to all!