Maybe taking Spanish isn't so bad, after all...

At the start of this school year, Lily was put into 2nd-year Spanish, with the rest of her class.  (The school divides the kids based on the language they choose- & they teacher that was determined to be the best one for Lily happened to have a group of  "Spanish-tracked" students.)  The main difficulty was that Lily had never had Spanish before- & suddenly she had to try & catch up with the class- & she had to do it while being taught Spanish in Czech, while learning Czech at the same time.  It's been a bit of an uphill struggle, to say the least.
BUT, sometimes perseverance is rewarded (or perhaps, just patience), & today she is on her way to Madrid.
For the last week we've had a Spanish student staying with us- Victor, a very nice, polite boy who made his bed every day & played on the Wii with the boys- & now, for a week, Lily will stay with his family in Spain.  The kids didn't have to go to classes, instead they've been walking all around Prague, seeing the sites, going to the theater, parks & even had a day-trip to Karlovy Vary, to sample the healing mineral waters.

They now get to have another week like this, but this time in Madrid.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that the volcano in Iceland doesn't send another ash-cloud out & force them to return home by bus (although they'd probably be thrilled, as it would just extend the trip by another day or two)...

A Day of Mourning

Maybe I'm not supposed cook.  I'm just not sure how I can do it without this pan.

My great aunt gave it to me when we first moved to La Conner in 1998 & she was clearing out some things- & I'm sure it had a long & useful life before becoming my favorite (& much-beloved) pan.









I used it for everything. Everything.









(Well, for everything except comforting Gingerbread cake...)