Ya gotta love the beach in December
Snow, snow and more snow. It continues to fall thickly and it looks like we’ll have 15cm before too long. Our beach with it’s umbrellas and fancy colored changing “thingy’s” which are anything but private, was not surprisingly deserted. With the wind blowing, it’s pretty chilly. Jesse, my toughest child, commented today in the car that it sure looked nice, but he’d decided to change his favorite season to summer. (Earlier this morning, we’d worked outside in minus temps moving a large heap of thick logs off our pavers to make a way for the van to get into the garage. Our fingers became swollen, painful stumps that shot streams of pain up our arms every time we bumped them. I completely understand the reason for the change.) We’ve seen a lot of cars off the road on their sides or crumpled against a tree the last few days. Winter… wonderful time of the year! :)
I just got back from dropping the guys and a heap of stuff off at one of the tech colleges. Broderic Crowe made the comment on the way that this van was the “Jesus van”. It was like Jesus in that it had served so many people in so many ways for such a long time and bore the marks. I went to the mechanics straight after the drop-off and convinced him to have a gander Friday morning to see if he could get the petrol pump going again. (You never know… he may have success!) Anyway, Shane and Jem have organized a special Christmas meal for the students and teachers of the “28th Technicum”. I’m going to be involved somehow, but I’m not sure how yet. Ah! That’s right! Slicing chickens up as the students come by and load up. Should be a tasty job.
Pris “enjoyed” America… as did Angie. The time with family was special, as well as the time with Nathan and Rachel and their family. She got to see Sarah, Sam and Matty at her Dad’s 70th which was real sweet for her. And she and Angel shopped. :) It doesn’t sound like much fun to me, but hey! They said they enjoyed it.
Saturday, we headed off to Kaharlyk, the town in which we lived for 4 years before moving to Rzhyshchiv 10 years ago. Svetlana and her two little twins moved out of her home she shared with her husband Altug about six months ago and sadly, he was glad to see her go. Anyway, about 12 of us got together and spent the day working on a house next door to her grandmother’s. It still needs a lot of work, but at least has the heat turned on. Bruce and I plan to go out next week with a couple of students and do some more. I was thrilled that Ura, one of the students we’ve been spending more time with lately chose to go along and help last time. Tops!
I’ve included a couple of photos from our third floor. Jesse has been great with the kids. He is 16 and so now is roughly the same age as a number of the students who come to study in Rzhyshchiv. Sunday afternoons he has been hanging out with the 12-14 aged kids who come over and this last week, I popped up to snap the picture of them playing Blokus.
