Back to School

Monday, August 20, was our first day of school.  I had all the lessons prepared and a schedule planned so that we would get all our work finished between 8:30 and 12:00.  Well, our first day of school was no different than the first day of school back home.  Part of our problem was having to set up the math lessons on the computer and then figure out using the history lesson on the computer.  We did manage to get most of the work done by noon with E and M having to take a few things home for homework.  Tuesday was a little better but I quickly discovered that we needed a little more time to get all our subjects in as well as do the fun lessons (music/art/games/Bible drill) at the end.  I played around with the schedule and added thirty more minutes to our school day on Tuesday afternoon.  We used the new schedule on Wednesday and it went much more smoothly.  E and M seemed to enjoy their first week of school.  I filled a prize box with lots of goodies from my trip home this summer.  If they finish all their work each day they will get to pick a prize from the prize box at the end of the day on Friday.  They are writing in a journal each morning.  If they get at least 30 points in their journal they get to pick another prize from the box.  E & M were so excited that they were able to pick two prizes from the box at the end of the day on Friday.  They are already planning on what they will choose next Friday when they get to pick more prizes from the box.  I really enjoyed getting back into the routine of school but I must admit that I was pretty tired at the end of each day. 
(My computer is on the blink so I'm not able to post pictures at this time.)

     This has been a week!  It started off pretty good.  I was feeling much better on Monday after having started taking an antibiotic.   I found out on Tuesday that Amber would be going into the hospital on Thursday to have her baby.  (Amber is like a daughter to me.  She and my daughter were best friends since 7th grade and I feel like I helped raise her.)  I could hardly sleep on Wednesday night in anticipation of the birth of my "grandson."  She entered the hospital on Thursday morning at 5:00 EST (9:00 am my time).  Needless to say, I was on pens and needles all day waiting for word.  Word finally came shortly after 10:00 pm my time that Harrison Brent Carpenter had made his arrival.  Mother and child are doing fine and I was finally able to relax.

     With all that excitement, things were bound to change.  (I'm in Africa, remember!)  Around lunch time on Friday I went into my kitchen to fix me a little something to eat.  I discovered my kitchen faucet was running water and wouldn't stop.  I immediately called T and he told me to cut the water off outside.  That didn't stop the water so he came over to check it out.  When he went to turn off the water out back from my reservoir, the handle broke and water started gushing out from it into the yard.  We got the water turned off from the reservoir on the roof (which meant I had no water at all).  He needed a part to fix my faucet that meant he had to travel to Mbour (1 hour away).  Besides my problem, they also had a problem with their washing machine and needed a part.  Off he went to Mbour.  It was late when he returned so I just managed without water for the night.  He came over on Saturday to fix the faucet with the new part and repair the outside problem.  When he fixed one thing, another thing would break.  Finally, he got it repaired enough so I would have water.  While checking out the kitchen faucet to make sure it would work, it broke again.  That means we'll have to go back to Mbour on Monday to get a whole new faucet.  As if things weren't bad enough, when he was leaving my house he discovered that his moto had been stolen.  After many hours of talking to different people and driving around, he located the person who stole the moto and was able to get it back.  It will need a little fixing but at least it is returned.  

     Just in case you are worried that after two days of no water I might be starting to "stink," let me set your mind at rest.  K picked me up this morning and took me to her house so I could take a shower and wash my hair.  She brought me back home so I could fix my hair and dress for church.