Onward...

Hmmm.

Today was pretty uneventful. Mondays usually are; it's the first day of the week and it seems like the most difficult task I have is getting Jaimie and Sam to refocus their brains on being educated. It's amazing what two days off will do to the brain of a little muffin. We went down to the health club today and excercised and that was nice too. In a city with almost no public space, a membership to a health club is almost a necessity if you want your muscles to survive potential atrophy. The kids swam, and if you are in the Jaimie and Sam fan club, you will be delighted to know that they are both becoming excellent swimmers. Jaimie can now do two lengths of the olympic sized pool before she gets bored. Her older sister can do twice that...then she gets really bored too. That's why there is a kid pool, right?

Today though, because of my ear infection, I let Dad swim and I read in the Reading Room, which is like a library. I miss libraries. I miss the quiet collective conciousness of concentration and the rustling of pages. I used to haunt libraries; then there was no time--and now there are none to haunt. But I read American magazines and caught up on what's going on politically in Germany right now. Have you looked lately? It's rather interesting. If you like weird stuff like that, check it out.

I forced myself to have a cheerful heart today, and it mostly worked. Sometimes life is hard, and the only thing you can do is "keep a stiff upper lip." Thank you, by the way.

"Life's not a level or a smooth road; but it's a blessing to scale the hills and trudge over the stones with a good heart, and I think one sometimes does one's best work on the uphill bits, though one may not know it." --Amy Carmichael

I hope so. I know I'm blessing my mom right now, and I know she needs it. Sometimes it's hard to see exactly how big the work we're doing is helping someone else, especially when it's just tucking in a child or doing the supper dishes. But guess what? My mom can read Thai now.