Wonderful music and a busy weekend

It's amazing how much time can be spent in doing now much, but I have to say I'm enjoying the change of pace! Getting a chance to sleep and relax a bit has been such a blessing. This past week I was able to take a quick trip in to Dallas to see my brother and go to a Dallas Symphony performance with him. The music was wonderful, and it was so much fun to spend time with Flynn! This weekend was rather busy; we hosted a Chai Party (a monthly gathering of MK's, international students, and the people who like to hang out with them) and the last Sunday that our two adopted college students will be here. Lots of dishes and not enough sleep later, we had a great weekend!

The next big events in our lives are going to be helping Flynn move to a different apartment next weekend, and a quick trip up to Nashville to attend my future brother in law's graduation and bring my sister home. Then the whirl of wedding plans can begin in earnest!

A much anticipated recital

Last night I headed over to my 'alma mater' and heard my dear friend Jennifer perform her wonderful piano recital. It's been so long since I could enjoy something like that, and I was so thrilled that that timing was right for me to be there! I was also able to surprise my old piano professor and visit a bit with him and my old dean. They have really made some nice changes to ol' Jenna Guest music building, and it was so special to get to enjoy a recital in the dear ol' hall again.

This morning I met Jennifer at Starbucks and we had an all too short visit. What a treat to be able to GO OUT and visit with a friend! What a treat to visit my favorite of the three Longview Starbucks!

Settling in

Well, I've been home for almost a week now and I'm just now getting some time to catch my breath and update. I had a lovely time in England with Jill. We walked a lot, and managed to cram the British Museum, the special exhibit at the British Museum on Pompeii, Evensong and an organ recital at Westminster Abbey, 221 b Baker Street, Tate Britain, and the Globe. I saw lots of wonderful things, and fell in love with mosaics.

I think the best thing in the whole trip was the Pompeii exhibit--worth every penny of the entrance price, and even more enjoyable since I had just finished teaching ancient Rome in history class. The achievements of the Romans were amazing, but you realize that if they had been a God-fearing society they could have done much more!

I've been settling back into home life, and re-learning a lot of things. How odd to throw all your trash in one bin, be able to run out for things you forgot, and to have siblings much older in real life than they are in your head! It was nice and cool when I first arrived, but now it's warming up. Hopefully this coming weekend will be as cool as advertised...

Here's a picture of Jill and I freezing on our first morning in London. Good thing I had lovely hand knit items to combat the chill!

Home Safely!

After many adventures, I am safely home in Texas! I'll write out the story of my trip to London later, but I thought for those who read and pray that I aught to update this. It is good to be home, with my family, and in the South again. I'm looking forward to the next few months!

On my way!

Today I flew out from Sakeji at 11:35, and I won't be returning till sometime in September. I had a good flight despite the lateness of the day, and I didn't get queasy thanks to the patch Beth gave me. Despite the fact that the kids in the plane with me had all eaten cake right before flying, none of them got sick (it's the small bonuses in life!), and it wasn't as bumpy as it could have been. Now I'm trying to stay awake past the early hour of 8, so I can enjoy sleeping in tomorrow. It's Jill's birthday, and we are going out on the town! I'm so excited that my trip is finally in progress--I can hardly believe I'm actually on my way.

How time flies...

It was a pretty low-key Easter out here in the bush, but I did have some fun with a few Easter crafts. I made these for my windows:

I can't believe that I'm flying out of Sakeji on Thursday, and Lusaka on Saturday! How time flies... Now I just have 101 little loose ends to tie off before I can leave! Who knew it was so much work to go on furlough...

I am almost completely restored to health now--thanks for all the prayers! Now if I can just keep well while traveling...