Today I will knit.
That's not what I'm writing about though. That was more of a reminder to myself that I really should keep on knitting if I'm ever going to finish this little blanket. Did I ever show you which one I'm making?
What you can't tell from the image is that each color uses a different stitch, so it's a good practice blanket for someone learning to knit without getting bored. I'm not using the pastel colors so mine will look quite different, but not.
I ironed yesterday. Whee. Ian is set for another week at least.
The main floor is still decent from our party on Sunday night. We hosted a small gathering of Wardens, which sounds rather ominous but has nothing to do with the local jail population. Wardens to the Consular section are connections we have out in the community, who receive messages directly from the Embassy and impart them to the Americans in their area. Warden messages are often dispatched in times of trouble. But Wardens also send information back in to the Embassy. In essence, they are our eyes and ears within the city and across the country generally relating news about protests or unusual activity. They are an invaluable resource and one the Consular section wanted to thank.
I also want to thank my friend Jen Dinoia of the The Dinoia Family website. Jen is a breast cancer survivor, and she doesn't support the Komen Foundation. It may seem an odd thing, but Jen has explained very well over the past couple years since her diagnosis and through her surgery about why she doesn't view the Komen Foundation as a worthwhile group. She has opened quite a few eyes to her experience with them and to the foundation overall. So thank you Jen for reminding us that helping individuals is far more important than lining the pockets of a cause that sells "pink ribbon pasta." Is breast cancer awareness really a pasta bowl ideal?
A little background on Jen... she's doing the single mother thing to her 3 kids while her husband in on an unaccompanied tour. She was diagnosed early early into his first attempt at doing an unaccompanied tour, so he dropped everything and came home within days to take care of her and get the family through the next year or surgeries and treatments. They are a remarkable family.
Speaking of remarkable family, the gloss has worn off a bit from ACS. It was bound to happen of course. Homework, even the minimal the boys get, is not really fun. Some days are better than other (Computers and PE on one day surely beat out Math and English on another). But overall the kids are doing well. Rebecca is enjoying swim team quite a bit. She's a leader in the pool and coach has her dubbed a captain. She is regretting a bit not going out for volleyball and it's taking her a while to remember that international schools are different. With 40 kids in the freshman class, she can go out for anything she wants just for the fun of it: for the teams here it's not a matter of only picking athletes who already are fully talented, but of developing those abilities. Rebecca is struggling a bit in school, if only for the fact that she's still attached to Virginia and is fighting full assimilation into the ACS culture. She'll get there, I have no doubt. Nicholas is happy to be here and he's doing well in his classes. He's big on organization so keeping up with his classes isn't too difficult, though he's finding the new processes take a bit of getting used to. Since the school has a 1:1 laptop program he keeps sticky notes up on the screen to jot down his assignments. It seems to be working for him. Jonathon's personality "flaws" make it more difficult for him than it should be, he's so, so headstrong. His grades are excellent, but his social challenges continue. Katherine is doing well in most of her classes. She too is getting used to the new workload and the different caliber of teachers and classmates.
ACS had a Back to School picnic recently, last week we had Back to School nights for middle school on one evening and high school another evening. The freshmen had an additional Back to School Orientation last night. I think we're all quite saturated with Back to School activities five weeks into the school year.
But that's how it is. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Life is an adventure whether we're seeing a wonder of the world or keeping the cats from clawing the furniture. Life has its twists and turns, as parents, as students, as spouses. We just try to keep one step ahead and make the best judgment calls we can with the information we have.
And now, on to knitting.
That's not what I'm writing about though. That was more of a reminder to myself that I really should keep on knitting if I'm ever going to finish this little blanket. Did I ever show you which one I'm making?
What you can't tell from the image is that each color uses a different stitch, so it's a good practice blanket for someone learning to knit without getting bored. I'm not using the pastel colors so mine will look quite different, but not.
I ironed yesterday. Whee. Ian is set for another week at least.
The main floor is still decent from our party on Sunday night. We hosted a small gathering of Wardens, which sounds rather ominous but has nothing to do with the local jail population. Wardens to the Consular section are connections we have out in the community, who receive messages directly from the Embassy and impart them to the Americans in their area. Warden messages are often dispatched in times of trouble. But Wardens also send information back in to the Embassy. In essence, they are our eyes and ears within the city and across the country generally relating news about protests or unusual activity. They are an invaluable resource and one the Consular section wanted to thank.
I also want to thank my friend Jen Dinoia of the The Dinoia Family website. Jen is a breast cancer survivor, and she doesn't support the Komen Foundation. It may seem an odd thing, but Jen has explained very well over the past couple years since her diagnosis and through her surgery about why she doesn't view the Komen Foundation as a worthwhile group. She has opened quite a few eyes to her experience with them and to the foundation overall. So thank you Jen for reminding us that helping individuals is far more important than lining the pockets of a cause that sells "pink ribbon pasta." Is breast cancer awareness really a pasta bowl ideal?
A little background on Jen... she's doing the single mother thing to her 3 kids while her husband in on an unaccompanied tour. She was diagnosed early early into his first attempt at doing an unaccompanied tour, so he dropped everything and came home within days to take care of her and get the family through the next year or surgeries and treatments. They are a remarkable family.
Speaking of remarkable family, the gloss has worn off a bit from ACS. It was bound to happen of course. Homework, even the minimal the boys get, is not really fun. Some days are better than other (Computers and PE on one day surely beat out Math and English on another). But overall the kids are doing well. Rebecca is enjoying swim team quite a bit. She's a leader in the pool and coach has her dubbed a captain. She is regretting a bit not going out for volleyball and it's taking her a while to remember that international schools are different. With 40 kids in the freshman class, she can go out for anything she wants just for the fun of it: for the teams here it's not a matter of only picking athletes who already are fully talented, but of developing those abilities. Rebecca is struggling a bit in school, if only for the fact that she's still attached to Virginia and is fighting full assimilation into the ACS culture. She'll get there, I have no doubt. Nicholas is happy to be here and he's doing well in his classes. He's big on organization so keeping up with his classes isn't too difficult, though he's finding the new processes take a bit of getting used to. Since the school has a 1:1 laptop program he keeps sticky notes up on the screen to jot down his assignments. It seems to be working for him. Jonathon's personality "flaws" make it more difficult for him than it should be, he's so, so headstrong. His grades are excellent, but his social challenges continue. Katherine is doing well in most of her classes. She too is getting used to the new workload and the different caliber of teachers and classmates.
ACS had a Back to School picnic recently, last week we had Back to School nights for middle school on one evening and high school another evening. The freshmen had an additional Back to School Orientation last night. I think we're all quite saturated with Back to School activities five weeks into the school year.
But that's how it is. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Life is an adventure whether we're seeing a wonder of the world or keeping the cats from clawing the furniture. Life has its twists and turns, as parents, as students, as spouses. We just try to keep one step ahead and make the best judgment calls we can with the information we have.
And now, on to knitting.
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