My Birthday

Sunday was my birthday! I know it's shocking, but I'm now in my late 20's, whatever that means! Here are some things I'm thankful for:

1. A warm, fuzzy bathrobe
2. A bag full of chocolate covered apple slices
3. A handful of Reese cups!
4. Being sung to by over half the high school students at church on Sunday morning.
5. Being sung to by one of my favorite families in America - one wearing ski goggles. (I think that's a birthday first, by the way.)
6. Eating out at the Greek restaurant.
7. Laura's amazing cake.
8. Sara's somewhat amazing pictures.
9. A birthday party with my calculus class which included a cake that was supposed to be me - my hair was made with sushi rolls dyed pink.
10. Quentin thinking I'm 37!

Making Sushi

I have two students in my AP Calculus class and today they took a test - yuck! Half my class came after school yesterday for a little extra help (ok, just one student). Little did I know that after explaining differentials to Emily I would get my own lesson! That's right, Emily brought the supplies and taught me how to make sushi. I wouldn't get too impressed; I'm not sure I could do it again, but I thought you guys might like a few pictures of the adventure.

1. Emily and I, building sushi.
2. Me with my sushi - impressive, huh!
3. My roommate Sara trying the sushi - she said it was good, I choose to believe her!

Bible Study Party and First Snow!

Last year was one of the warmest winters on record in Central and Eastern Europe. As I recall, it only flurried twice. I have been hoping that we'd see some more of the white stuff this year, but I had no idea it would come this early. As we exited church this morning I could hear excited screams of the kids going through glass doors into what was becoming a winter wonderland. I haven't ventured very far outside this afternoon, but I thought you all deserved a picture! Ok, I admit I took the second one from behind a screened window!

On a completely unrelated note, those of you who have played the animal game with me in the past will appreciate the picture of some 10th grade girls, and another teacher and I acting like moose (Is it meese, or mooses, or just plain moose? I'm not absolutely sure, but I'm going to stick with moose!)

Shoes

This posting is a little late - I should have told this story back at the end of September when it happened, but better late than never.

Each Monday, Mary comes to our house and cleans. (I love Mary!) She comes after we leave for school and is gone by the time we return home. Mary does great things like clean the grill on our stove, change the sheets on our beds, and wash our laundry. She's sort of like a little fairy.

As is the custom here in Europe, we leave all our shoes at the front entrance to our house and wear slippers when inside. About six weeks ago, in late September, the highs were in the 60s or 70s most days. Wonderful fall weather. Mary decided it was time for us to no longer be wearing sandals. Hungarian customs, I think, no sandals once it's not hot! We came home from school to find all our sandals wrapped up in grocery bags, ready to be stored away until summer reappears. Needless to say, we didn't leave them there any longer than was necessary to take this picture! I might decide to put mine away now that the temps are rising to about 45!!