Sorry Dad.

Happy Birthday Dad. Sorry, no new granddaughter today. I did send a card though. :) Today only has eight more hours so I think you (and me) are out of luck.

Life goes on though. The girls started Volleyball today and it was a bit traumatic. There was some crying, yelling, and pouting... but in the end it was okay... I guess. The teachers weren't too "outgoing" with their English assistance and even I was a bit confused at times. That mixed with the girls' shyness, their lack of volleyball skills, and the mostly boy class made for a fairly painful two hours.

One of the other moms was really, really nice though. She went out and translated for them a bit and that was good because we all know they wouldn't have listened to me. They got the hang of it eventually and I even caught them smiling a few times. I'm a terrible mother - I'm sending them back tomorrow. I think the worst is over though. We'll see... I can't just let them quit; it's a matter of principal now. I'm proud of them for trying to make the best of it.

It's been raining all day and I'm really happy about that because it's cooled things off. I was getting tired of the heat and the open windows.

...Open windows. None of the houses, stores, offices, malls, buses; have air conditioning here. So you have to open windows and hope for a breeze which is usually sufficient... BUT there are no screens! The windows all look very trendy and "Danish-y/European" and all have fun, unique tricks to open them - they go in and out, swing up and down, and open and glide every other whichway... but their "cool" design prevents screens from being used. I've made some sad little screens involving clothespins, magnets, and "screen material" for a few windows; but they are hardly bug-proof. The little bugs that come in die quickly, but I'm vacuuming bugs up every day and needless to say the girls are not impressed. It could be worse I guess, the bugs are just annoying - we haven't seen any mosquitoes! If I had to find a positive side it's sometimes fun when it feels like we are camping with all the fresh air and foresty backyard. : )

Okay, I'm off to make dinner. Pancakes and Eggs. I haven't been too excited about making dinner lately. Although I did make Roastbeef Tenderloin last night... only slightly overdone. :) I also made a tuna casserole big enough to feed our neighborhood the other day too. I think I prefer Tuna Helper with the cute little glove man. (What's his name?) I was impressed that I made my very own cream of mushroom soup with REAL mushrooms! I think it tasted quite good, but I can't say I've honestly tried Campbell's cream of mushroom soup on its own either. It took forever though... and mushrooms even feel gross.

What I want is a cream cheese pie to get me though these final, miserable days of being an awkward and uncomfortable shape.

tara