I’m getting really tired of trying to think up interesting subject lines for these posts. Does anyone mind if I just say Lydia: update?

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, I woke up this morning to the sound of….can you guess what?…..An ice cream truck. Arrgghh!!, I hate ice cream trucks. The music drives me nuts! I actually talked to an ice cream truck driver who said from the inside of the car, you can’t really hear the music that well, as long as you have some loud music of your own. Well, I didn’t mind too much, since it was time for me to get up anyway, and thankfully the ice cream truck was only passing through. There was one time when one stuck around our block for about a half an hour while I was trying to study. Grrr >:(.

On to more serious subjects. Actually not, since nothing really interesting happened this week. Some of you already know about Jerah’s grandmother, Norma, getting sick. I do not know what has happened since Friday. From what Mr. Pettibone said it was just a matter of time before she passed away, hence the rushing up to New Jersey to see her before she died. For those of you who didn’t get that prayer e-mail, Norma, my roommate Jerah’s grandmother, her mom’s mom, got very sick on Friday. She had been having heart problems for a long time, so this was not totally unexpected. I ask prayer for their family, comfort from the Lord.

I was very encouraged friday evening to see that I got 100’s on all four classes that day. The Lord is answering all your prayers for studying diligence and good comprehension. Friday’s lesson was pretty easy, so this was no great feat, but definitely good inspiration. This past week was the end of Chinese 102, so I have now completed two quarter’s worth of Chinese. Next week we start 103, and as part of that we will be watching and translating an old Chinese movie called “Strange Friends.” I watched it last night. I understood a little bit, and it seemed like I good movie, but there were definitely things going on that I didn’t understand.

We’ve been having a lot of rain here this past week. I walked to school in the rain for the first time on Wednesday. Then on Friday, when I was TRYING to garden (I’m doing Mr. Pettibone’s yard now), a downpour kept randomly starting and stopping on a moments notice. As a result, both me and the garden got very wet and muddy, and the weeds were happy because I didn’t pull many up. Of course, their attitude changed next day when I came back and wiped the whole bunch out in one fell swoop….well, many fell swoops, but you get the point.

Hope you all are well, I’d love to hear from you, you know the routine. In three more weeks I’ll be back home, and woe betide anyone whom I come across that has not one e-mail with their name on it in my mailbox. (Yes, I am resorting to threats of violence here, how else am I supposed to get you to talk to me? You’d think typing was a lot of work or something(for those who do e-mail me, thank you and ignore this admonishment, it is meant for the slackers)).

Love you all, be good, stay well, and God Bless.

In Christ

Lydia Thomas