If We Make It Through December...

...We'll Be Fine.

So goes the song.

Considering we've made it TO December, making it THROUGH December now seems quite feasible. :) Especially with the way time is FLYING!! Yikes!
The first couple of months over here were rough. I can't say they weren't, although hindsight is 20/20... I never realize how difficult a situation is until I'm out of it. That's probably a very good thing!
Nevertheless, the last four weeks (i.e. since my arrival at the Smiths' on the sixth) have gone much, much better. It's not always easy. It can't be said to be "fun" - at least, not much of the time. It's far from perfect. But it's very satisfying and I really like it. The kids are growing on me... and I can foresee it be really hard to say goodbye when my stint here is over.

The big news of today, however, is that I got a package from Joegi and Linds this morning!!! It was sooo thoughtful of them!!! I loved it! And savored every minute of opening it. :)
I'm absolutely spoiled. :D I got a little packet from Mom earlier this week and received a care package from Mom (complete with banana bread and some really good candy! :D) early last week. Those things certainly do help me keep going over here. It's so nice to know I've got support from home. That means far more than the candy and letters - but I love those because that's how the support is shown.
And I can't express how much I appreciate Dad's encouragement and support (both monetary and otherwise :)).
And, of course, I'm so glad for those friends who have been consistent about keeping in touch with me over here. It's nice to know that I haven't been entirely forgotten. ;)
SO MUCH for which to be thankful!!!!!!!!!

As other news goes, Rose visited last weekend and we had a good couple of days together. We were both happy to see "familial faces" again and share stories and experiences. On Friday evening, we didn't do anything special. Ate dinner and let Rose get settled in a bit. And talked to the family for a short bit. Saturday, we spent the afternoon and evening in St. Germain, shopping, eating, and exploring. Very tiring, but fun! (We also discovered that there is no such thing as eating an early dinner out. Only ONE restaurant opened at 6 pm. The rest opened at 7 or later. So much for our plan to have dinner about 5 or 5:30!! We ended up eating at 7:15 at a yummy Italian place. :)) On Sunday, we went to the "Grande Messe" at St. Nicolas and stuck around Paris afterwards. We spent a couple of hours in an awesome bookshop called "Shakespeare and Company," visited Notre Dame de Paris, and ate traditional French cuisine at a café nearby... snails, rumpsteak, and crème brulée. Mm-MM! :D ...Rose reluctantly headed back 'à l'école' on Monday morning, via the train to Caen.

This week itself has gone very quickly (what's new?) and I will be spending this weekend doing two basic things: babysitting and touring a museum. :) I'll be babysitting six French children from 2 pm tomorrow until... well, basically until Sunday morning. I'm spending the night at their house, since their parents are going to a wedding and won't be back until LATE!
Hopefully, I'll be able to make it to the Louvre on Sunday. That's the plan. I might even be able to go with a recently-made friend of mine... a British girl I met a couple weeks ago.

I know this has been a pretty random post. Sorry about that! What can I say? ...it's nearly midnight and I'm not entirely coherent. ;)
So, without further ado, I'm going to hit the "publish post" button and bid you "bonne nuit!"