January 19, 2009

All of this traveling has left me wondering where January has gone to. It's a new year, and the new year came whizzing past me at warp speed! Here we are back in Swavesey, with Nelly sitting here on the couch, the suitcases are unpacked, and there is food in the fridge- not bad for 2 days work combined with jet lag. But I'm a little surprised that it's the 20th tomorrow- past Januaries (except last year which we spent in Australia) have been the start of a new semester, new classes, new expectations, and new friends. This year there wasn't much new about the new year- more like a return to the familiar. Familiar Michigan, home, family, friends...and then a return to the now familiar UK home, friends, car, and countryside. It felt eerily familiar going for a walk yesterday out toward the Fen Drayton lakes, with a beautiful sun, and 55F weather. Ah the joys of culture adjustment.

We aren't back to a normal sleep pattern yet- we did manage to get out of bed by 10:30am this morning, a 1 hour improvement over yesterday. :) Over the next few days we'll get back to a normal routine I think. My travel photos are all processed, and I have a to do list about a mile long related to things here in the UK- some photo business related, some not.

Once things slowed down and I had a chance to think about this new year, I decided that this year I will try to read the entire bbl through. I've done that many times, but purposing to do it systematically really helps, and I haven't done that in a while. I've been so blessed already actually-my little iPod Touch has a bbl program that you can use, so I can read anywhere I happen to be. But I've been blessed reading some of the psalms that King David wrote, and thinking again about Gd's great goodness to us despite our own ignoring of him.

Please pr for us as we get back into the swing of things here- I'm teaching the ladies' study on Thursday, and catching up with my Chinese friends at Bounce A Round on Wednesday. iBASE has moved to Wednesday nights now. I'm hoping to contact one of the National Trust properties and see if they would like some grounds help during the week- I really miss being outside, and it's better for my physical and mental health to be out working outside, so I hope that will work out. Pr for G too as he readjusts to the work environment, catches up with the guys over lunch, and especially for his friendship with GL.