so it's obviously been way too long! so please don't hate me because today i am returning with bullet points. but it's the best way to jump start my writing again. i can give an update/round up on life these days without completely overwhelming both you, and myself. so, in a nutshell...here is life lately:
February was...
* a lovely birthday evening celebrated with a home-cooked Mexican feast by my thoughtful husband. quesadillas, chips and salsa, guacamole...yum! he also got me a pair of wooly slippers i have always commented on whenever we've been in IKEA, and a plant of my very own. (right now our prayer plant is mostly his baby) he had planned to get me an orchid plant (orchids are my favorite!), but they're really up-keep intensive, so i now have my own dwarf umbrella plant.
* eric has introduced me to a new cafe, where we have started having our Saturday lessons. i love it for several reasons - the location: right next to the metro, which means i can leave my house a little later on Saturday mornings. the veiw - the HUGE glass windows on the second floor overlooking one of SPB's famous cathedrals. the honey latte - i'm sure that's self-explainatory, but well, it's very good. and last but not least - ITS A NON-SMOKING CAFE! the only one i have been to so far in SPB. and a very nice respite.
* i started teaching a new class - an Upper Intermediate group - which i enjoy because the upper levels are a lot of fun since they have pretty good speaking ability and therefore can carry on great conversation and it makes the classes interesting.
* unfortunately, the same week i began the new class, i also lost 2 individual students (that's 8 teaching hours a week), and also one student who took a break for the New Year's holiday and was going to begin lessons again in February never did. so, i am being reminded that our lives are in God's hands, not mine. and that's a good thing.
* my blog hacked by either Amberpants or her extremely computer-literate dog, Hallie...depending on who you believe.
* a new hair color for me, slightly.
* the days are becoming longer and LONGER, which is making me LONG for summer! but i think that is still a LONG way off!
* experimenting and creating at home - new recipes, making home made yogurt, bread, granola, granola bars, hair conditioner, etc. and i can now make a mean stir fry with home made teriyaki sauce.
* LOST is back, and i for one am so grateful! and i'm glued to every minute.
* trying to figure out a logical schedule to incorporate lessons and planning and still do my cycling more than only once a week, like this week! oops. (one plus of losing students is the added free time, so maybe i have this one covered for now)
* Sam finally back in classes after the mother of all holiday breaks - 6 weeks! he's now knee-deep in Dermatology and completely paranoid about every mark or irregularity. THAT is what medical school does to you, it's makes you a very smart hypochondriac.
* a truly great conversation last Saturday with Eric filled with all the things that matter: life, love, and Jesus.
* Valentine's Day flowers from my love
* last night's dinner for the guys of the fellowship group in celebration of today's public holiday: "Defenders of the Fatherland Day" (aka Red Army Day in Soviet times) or more commonly referred to now as "Men's Day"
* weekly Madlibs with my 11 year old student, Maxime. such fun! i feel like a fourth grader again.
* learning a lot, and thankful for our new church as we study through Hebrews.
* missing friends and family, missing warm African places, missing flip flops and dusty roads, but looking forward to friends selling scooters in order to visit us in Mother Russia. looking forward to flights to Namibia and Angola with summer practical work at hospital for Sam, and looking forward to how God will arrange the finances to make it happen, and trusting, trusting, trusting.
and that, my friends, is February.
