I need to go downstairs and finish dinner, so this will just be a quick update on what's going on in my world.
The snow is almost gone, which is great. I was getting very tired of snow, slush, and ice, especially when I was trying to drive. Looks like even with all the ice my pansies made it through. Yay!
Tomorrow the high is 56. THAT's more normal for a January day here.
Saturday will be an exciting day. We have invited a number of my Hasty cousins in the area to come over for a potluck luncheon. My cousin Jan has located Norm Hasty, who is a double cousin - his great grandparents connect to me twice, as his great granny was the sister of my great grandmother, Ginny McMillan.I used to have a great interest in genealogy. Not so much now, but it's still interesting to me, somewhat.
Below are Papa's parents. You can see a strong resemblance between Papa and his dad, but they were very different in temperament. Papa was a very gentle man, more like Ginny, his mother. He always said I look like her.
We are all having to get used to a new routine in the morning. I get up earlier [6:45] and wake Alesia. I try to leave the house at 7:30 so I can ferry her to school. I don't want her waiting on a city bus in the dark. That means Michael has to get up and get in the shower at 7:30 - no lollygagging. This is hard for him. He is The King of Lollygaggers. [One of my all-time favorite movie scenes is the lollygag speech from Bull Durham]
Alesia is pretty morose these days. Huge changes in her life. She is having to get used to college classes. She did two days worth of homework last night, not thinking about the fact she wouldn't have English again for two days.
Alesia is also having to navigate the bus system in Atlanta. I make her ride the city bus in the afternoon. I am trying to get work done every day, from home, so I can't be taking her all over town.
We are hoping to find Alesia a part-time job soon so she can start saving money for a car.
I finally got my soaps from Goat Milk Stuff. I bought a Tea Tree bar for Mike to try on his face, and I got a moisturizing bar. Cannot wait to try them. They smell wonderful.
I wish I could raise goats. They are so cute. We could save a fortune in lawn mowing too, I bet. Mother won't go for it. Won't let me have chickens either. When the kids grow up I may just get me a double wide out in the country somewhere....
I bet I could get over my fear of chickens if I had some in the back yard. Then there is the tempting prospect of farm-fresh eggs - YUM. (I fear pretty much all farm animals, and kangaroos. I'll write about my weird fears sometime.)
Michael made terrific grades last semester - all A's and B's. His lowest grade was an 80. His highest grade was in English. He also got the results of his Iowa testing. ALL his Iowa scores are in the average or high percentiles. No low scores.
His highest score was in reading comprehension. Two years ago I was scared he would never improve in that area, but since we started reading every night he's doing great.
The fact that Michael makes good grades and does well in standardized testing is remarkable when you consider that he has only been here in America since May 2007!!
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My friend Cindy LaJoy expressed so beautifully on her blog all the emotions one experiences when raising a child that you adopted as an older child. I so admire her way with words.
If you haven't checked it out already, please take a look at 10 in 2010, my friend Stephanie's blog, and order a cool towel.
Gotta go finish dinner...
