Rebecca has to admit it's getting better all the time!

[rebecca_in_blue]

It seems like today and yesterday have contained a year's worth of good times and good news. 

Yesterday I went right over to Grandma's house after I got off work. She was serving dinner of shrimp gumbo, crawfish pie, and pizza, as well as several different desserts. Connie, Athena, Eva, and Karla Ann were there visiting, and Josh, Jacob, Cathy, and Mackenzie were in town from Alabama. So Grandma's house was full of people talking, laughing, and eating delicious food, which is exactly the way it should be. I hadn't seen Mackenzie since she was a baby, and at first I almost didn't recognize the big walking, talking 2-year-old. Although I usually tolerate young children at best, I found her extremely cute. Several people asked me about my plans to go to France during dinner, but I wasn't able to tell them much, since I was still waiting on pins and needles to get a letter from the school where I will be teaching.

After I got home that evening, I checked my e-mail, and lo and behold, there was a letter from the English teacher at my school. She seemed very polite, and she explained a lot about the town, the school, and its students; best of all, she filled me in on living arrangements. My school can provide housing for me, and no one can imagine what a huge relief it was to get that news. I will be renting a room with a bed, desk, dresser, closet, and sink, and sharing a bathroom and a kitchen down the hall with other assistants -- all for only 76 euros a month! I felt like an enormous weight was lifted off my shoulders. Although I'm still scared of going to a foreign country all by myself, I also think that it might just be the time of my life.

After I got off work today, Adam and I went right over to Eva's house for her 10th birthday party. Connie was serving fried shrimp and rice dressing for dinner, with a cookies, ice cream, and a delicious homemade birthday cake for dessert, and a lot of the family was there (but not Sara or Athena, who had to work). Eva's presents included a toy rifle and handcuffs, two plastic pistols and a holster, a cowboy hat, a three-pound bag of licorice, and a stuffed dog that was almost as big as her. I told everyone about the letter during dinner, and there were all very happy for me. Grandma must have felt as relieved as I did, because I think she almost cried; she seems to think that France is a third-world country, because she once asked me if they had washing machines there.

P.S. Yesterday I realized something that I should have realized when I booked my flight last week. I will be leaving the country on September 18, the three-year anniversary of the day Carolyn died, which was also the last day I spent with Dad, who died a month later. When I told Athena this, she said it was a good omen. I'm not so sure.