EXTREMELY BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Did you ever get tired of grandparents telling you how wonderful it is? Well, I’ve joined their side now. And “wonderful” is actually an understatement. Also, one of the best parts of my world is that The Professor and I live near NDM.
In reality, the proximity has turned into a real boon. Iltflinthills has to pass a PRAXIS test in a subject she has not yet taken in order to keep her teaching job for next year . . . maybe. IMO tends NDM during the day, so the baby gets to stay at home and not be exposed to all the germs that kids bring to daycare, and takes classes at night after Iltflinthills returns home from work. So, the new parents are not seeing much of each other lately. I remember how impossible it was for me to study for my Finnish class at home when I had a newborn and toddler. (We solved that problem by adding an hour each class day for me to do my next assignments and study at the college before I picked up the children at the babysitter.)
So, in order to help in what little way I can, I go over to babysit for a couple of hours each evening. That way Iltflinthills can study while I tend to NDM. I just love that boy! I was afraid his dirty diapers would nauseate me, but apparently love conquers all. The best part of all this babysitting is that I think NDM recognizes me as being familiar. He seems to like me to sing to him, so I have requested Marisol, who has a beautiful voice, not to sing to NDM over her spring break; I don’t want him developing any musical standards!
The only part about the babysitting I do not like is driving home through all the construction in the dark. But, Iltflinthills is quite diligent about using her study time efficiently, even though it just about kills her after being away from NDM all day. Also, she needs to study daily to put all that information into her long-term memory.
I’m really proud of what good parents IMO and Iltflinthills are. They seem to be much more relaxed than I was, which probably helps NDM be the happy little guy he is most of the time.
In other catch-up news, The Professor and I are taking a lay sermon-preparing course at church. I hate public speaking, so this course is going to be way outside of my comfort zone. However, I didn’t take the class in previous years because I hadn’t a clue about what I wanted to say. I still don’t know what I’ll say, but when I signed up, I knew that my topic would be immigration.
And, speaking of immigration, let me congratulate IMO on being granted his green card yesterday. IMO’s plans include becoming a citizen as soon as possible. I think you have to be courageous to move to another country and transfer your primary loyalty to it.
The retaining wall in our back yard started to crumble more and more. It was built out of the limestone rocks excavated from the site when our house was originally built; the freeze-thaw of Missouri winters took their toll. The new wall is a huge construction project, but the landscape company promises that it will last our lifetimes, which I hope means that we will live for years and not weeks. I have been longing for a new, smaller car, but that seems to have been put into the wall, so I will just have to be grateful to have the old car and a house that probably will not tumble down the hill now.
In quilting news, I am piecing the quilt top for my niece’s graduation present. There is about a 50-50 chance that I will finish on time, but that is the story of my life. 
