A "Typical" Saturday

Today was a typical Saturday.

Tutoring in the morning.

Counseling in the afternoon.

Partying in the evening.

In between I had time for a short run and  to run a few errands...

I was hoping for a longer run as it was my favorite kind of weather for a long run -- sprinkling and cool and with a slight breeze! 

Isaiah had a mini tournament and he lost. Alan went to watch and thought he should have won, if it wasn't for the fact that the game kept being interrupted by the rain.

Abby went to her math cram school and then stayed home in the afternoon to prepare for the Children's Service tomorrow. So, she skipped her youth group as they were going to visit another church and be there until 9p.m. tonight. We had wanted her to join us for the party!

The party was fantastic as it was the annual 'event' at Jason and Sheree's house. Jason works at Ming Chuan, so the group of people are all my ex-co-workers. Now that I'm not teaching there, it's a great chance to see them and to catch up on what's happening in their lives. How I pray that they would come to know Jesus!

Jean, Jason & I

 The Group Picture

 

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Class Ranking Posted

The kids found out their class ranking based on this past set of exams. (Drum rolls please... )

Isaiah not only got his elusive 100 in English but ranked Number ONE in his class!

Abby, who was so discourged with her scores, ranked Number Eight! She was delighted! And SHOCKED!  So, even though she failed the test on three subjects, her overall average was 'above average' and she had the best score on her math test.

Both kids felt 'relieved'. I hope that Abby will do better in the three subjects that she 'bombed' on in this set of tests and that Isaiah can continue to maintain the Number One ranking in his class. (Your prayers will be much appreciated!)

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Traditional Markets

One thing I love about Taiwan is the traditional markets. These are the 'wet markets' where they sell meat and fruit and veggie, like the European Open Air Market. But here in Taiwan, there are stalls that sell a lot of other stuff -- towels, shoes, stationary goods, hardware... you name it, you can find it! But the problem is -- the vendors don't always come each week. There is some kind of schedule. So, you have to go every day to find what might be out.

Abby wanted these coloring books that are to relieve stress. At the traditional markets, you can find them for half the price of the local bookstores. Yesterday, I was 10 minutes too late and one lady had grabbed all 20 of these coloring books. For 1400, she bought the whole stack. The vendor told me to come again today. She had two for me to look at and she had the larger ones. I plopped down 150NT$ and got one for Abby.

Isaiah wanted me to look for stuff with Stitch and this other character. Wow... it was like a treasure hunt. I found a few items, but didn't buy anything as I needed to ask Isaiah exactly what he wanted.

So, tomorrow, I'm going again... yes, that would be three days in a row. I wonder what I'll find tomorrow??!?!?!

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Congratulations, Abby!

Abby did not do well on her first set of tests, so she has set a study schedule. Just when she was feeling discouraged, she got news today that she made it as one of 15 finalists for a national speech contest.

The topic was United States of America as Viewed from Taiwan. I worked on her script. Alan worked on filming it as we had to send a video recording of her doing her speech. They hung a sheet across the door of the study and Abby stood in front of it. Using the camera on the desk top, they recorded it and sent it off by October 8th.

The final contest will be on Friday November 6th down in Kaohsuing. Please remember her in your prayers. She is hoping to place in the top three -- first prize gets 6,000NT$!

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Go-Go-Go Tuesday

Abby has "traffic duty" this week, so it makes for an early start to the day as she has to be at school by 7:05. 

After the kids were dropped off, then it was the usual -- tidying up the house, calling my mom, checking emails. Today I also had a few other errands, including going to Costco.  I picked Ray and Gay up as they also needed a few things. I was glad to go there early as it was not that crowded. Still we couldn't find parking on B1.

Last time at Costco, they had turkey meat on sale. When I say on sale, I mean at least HALF OFF. That's when I'd buy. Today they had smoked salmon MORE THAN HALF OFF. So, I bought two packets. I love that stuff on bagels and for sandwiches. 

I unpacked all the groceries and went to OK Convenience Store for another stash of breakfast breads that the kids love. I still had more coupons to use up. NICE!

Ariel came over for a visit. After she left, the empty box arrived, so I spent the rest of the afternoon packing up the box that will be shipped to the Philippines. We wanted to bless others with our homeschooling materials. At 4p.m. I headed off for a run as I knew Abby would need to be picked up at around 5:30.

She came home and we had dinner together. I baked cranberry pumpkin oatmeal bars. So delicious. Great for breakfast and afternoon tea.

I thought I'd be writing tests this week, but the articles won't be ready until Friday. I'm glad as I am working on plans for a HOP group couples date night the first Saturday in November which is going to take quite a bit of planning.

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A Typical Monday

This was a wonderfully typical Monday.

First, I had time to catch up on housework, mopping the floor, scrubbing the tub and toilet, finishing the laundry, and cooking.

Then I went and caught up with my emails. From 84 down to 30!

I also ran errands, like going to the library, depositing money, and buying groceries.

I even had time to take a nap and go for a run!

The weather was fabulous -- overcast with a nice breeze.

It's so nice to have typical Mondays like today!

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