More on Orientation and Life

The problem with such a busy week is that there is so much to share, yet little or no time in which to share it!  I last wrote to you Monday all about Orientation, the current training module we’re doing at MAF HQ.  This week, each day, we’ve gone and be encouraged and given tools on how to deal with normal aspects of life, but in a stressed setting – because to say living in a foreign culture isn’t stressful, would be lying.  And to say that your life can continue on as normal, thus you can coast by, would also by lying.  So, MAF gives us tools and information to help us succeed.  Not just BE in that new culture and setting, but also to know when to ask for help.  We learned about communication, forgiveness, mental health, and other little tidbits – just more tools for the tool box.  On Thursday and Friday, we met off campus at a retreat center for a marriage seminar.  The first day was all about communication with each other (though, those same principles apply to communicating with others).  The second day was about sex (!!!) and parenting.  All awesome stuff and it was great to be in a new setting for a couple of days.

Besides the part of our day for orientation (we leave the house at 7am and return around 5:30pm – so a long part of our day), we’ve been busy with other things.  Levi began his first official swim lessons.  We made such progress with him this summer and his comfort in the water that we wanted the success to continue.  He had a great time on Monday and loved it.  He was happy, participatory and excited.  Thursday’s lesson…disaster.  But, we’ll try again on Monday!

Matthew has been getting back into Judo at the local club near our house.  He loves the exercise and it’s been nice for him to be able to get out in this way.  He hasn’t been able to practice since we left Alaska…but he says it’s going well.  I would say the bruises and scrapes suggest otherwise, but he insists that’s part of the fun.

We’ve also been busy on the house.  There’s a few projects needing to be finished pre-baby, but progress is being made  and we’re excited about it!  We had one little problem crop up (that we have now realized was an old problem that nobody bothered to fix), but it’s passed now and Matthew got to spend two whole nights with Bill, the Roto Rooter guy.  But, yay for Bill coming at 3am and 5am two nights in a row and dissolving  those evil roots in our sewer line.  Easy peasy.

This pregnancy is also nearing the end.  Officially, it’s just about four weeks to go, but, again, so far my babies have been early by a couple of weeks and this one feels like he or she is on the same path.  We’ll see…