World Without End

I FINALLY finished reading Ken Follett's epic novel, World Without End. At 1,014 pages of skillful writing, it did take quite some time to read it with relish. This book was written as a sequel to Follett's Pillars of the Earth written 30 years ago. Because I loved the first book so much, I was almost hesitant to read this one. However I was happily surprised to find this book just as good, if not better, than the first.

Set in Kingsbridge, England, in the 1300's, this book takes place about 300 years after Pillars of the Earth. It tells the story about feudal England in the Middle Ages. The story centers around three primary families, a cloister of monks and nuns, and of course, the lord, bishop, and king. There is tons of drama, love, war, disease, hardship. Actually, the whole book is an excellent view of how hard life was during those years. No one had it easy. Even the nobility lived tough lives and toiled, though in different ways than the peasants, to make life livable.

The characters are so real that it is a sad feeling to reach the last page and close the book. You can't help but wonder what they will do with the rest of their lives, and if their children will be able to stave off the next wave of the plague.

That said, I've been reading this book for quite some time now, and I'm ready to delve into the world of Young Adult lit head first. My kids checked out library books on Thursday and Friday, and I wanted to read every single book they took home with them.

Reading... it's so great. I'm pretty sure it's the primary thing that separates us from animals.

Chester is 5!

Yesterday was Chester's fifth birthday. It's hard to believe that five years ago, my friend Robin and I drove the (brand new) Mini to Spandalem, Germany, to visit a brand new litter of Beagle puppies. When the breeder brought in the two males, Robin and I politely informed the lady that we weren't here for the hamsters. We're here for BEAGLES! (Picture us saying that slowly and clearly, just in case there was a language issue here).

The breeder said that these WERE Beagles, and that they were one or two days old. Their eyes were sealed shut, and they just sucked on our fingers. We could hold both of them in one hand. I chose Chester because he had a cute little white mark on his back and because he didn't cry as much as his brother.
But now Chester is all grown up, and has all but forgotten his old German commands. It seems I have too. Funny how that happens.
His birthday gifts were a raccoon stuffed animal and a raw hide. He graciously accepted both with sincere thanks. Such a good dog.

Once, a long time ago, I think Bob and I were engaged at this point, I told his parents: "We MIGHT have kids some day, but we'll NEVER get a dog." How silly I was. Once you know the love of a dog, and really love it back, I'm not sure life is really complete.

Happy Birthday, Chester!

Family Fun Day, Army Style

Today was Family Day at Ft. Lewis, and I, being part of an Army family, felt obliged to go. I really thought it wouldn't be fun, but it turns out I was wrong. The activities on the schedule were things like shooting lots of different kinds of machine guns (no thanks!), driving a Stryker (hmmm... maybe), and taking part in a Halo tournament (I'd rather not, thanks so much).

So we got there at about the same time our friends Dana and Andrew Figer did. Dana and I climbed around a bit on a Stryker, got in the hatch, tried on the helmet... you know, all the things you can do to try to picture what it is really like for these guys on live machinery.

The following pictures are a sort of play-by-play of the day that ended up being quite a lot of fun. Climbing up to the hatch.Almost there...

Sitting in the driver's hatch, PRETENDING like I'm driving.

Getting the tutorial on Driver's Safety. Man, can you imagine how much trouble I'd be in if I wrecked the Stryker on my first test drive?
I couldn't help but notice there were no cup holders for my latte. That is just a design flaw. I had to make do.
Here I am in the personnel part of the vehicle after driving through a muti-terrain, 1.5 kilometer course. I drove over hills (and got a little bit of air), over logs, through swampy ground, and of course on the road. It was SO much fun.

I imagine it's not a piece of cake when our guys are driving these things for real, in combat, but for today, it was a great time and a learning experience.

Hmmm... at Ft. Knox, they never DID let me drive a tank!

School Daze

Yesterday was the first day of school, and it was great! I forgot how dog-tired you are in the evenings, especially after the first couple of days. Whew! I met all my kids, and I'm really impressed with how quickly they took to me. Maybe my most recent comparison of Anniston really is a juxtaposition.

In Anniston, the kids came in both on the defensive and the the offensive. They didn't immediately trust me or even know what to think of me, really. These kids are just the opposite. They came in with their little hearts soft and their minds open. -Incredible!

So yesterday was a perfect first day. I couldn't have dreamed a more ideal start at Komachin. And then today was even better. How is that even possible? Well, for one thing, today I got to teach content instead of just classroom and school procedures.

Anyhoo, I found this great, vintage picture of a teacher in 1955 presenting a bit of propaganda to her students about how happy they should be about their impending giant injection! In hind sight, they probably were happy to be rid of Polio.
And in other news... punk rock fashion is back!






I didn't realize how huge it was until yesterday when the girls AND guys came to school in tight black clothes, loads of eye-liner, and those fishnet arm-warmer things. I think punk was phasing out when I was starting middle school.
It makes me happy to see these little guys dressed like we used to.

They look like rebels, but I'm pretty sure it's just a facade. They are dressed in khakis on the inside. I just know it.