One Gorgeous Saturday...

Howdy...the week has gone quickly here--I was off with a nasty cold Monday and Tuesday this week, and have been recovering since. From the number of kids with sniffly noses I tutored this week, they (colds, that is) seem to have been going around. Enjoyed tutoring even more than usual this week. I made a cup of tea for one kid with a sore throat and he really appreciated the effort, and I had a good laugh with another kid over his misreading of operation as "opertion" and his mis-spelling of umbrella as "umbrelly." He laughed and laughed for about five minutes, and I decided to join him rather than try to move on. I've heard that kids learn more when they're having fun, so perhaps he'll remember the funny moment and the correct spelling of umbrella the next time he needs that word.

I got news yesterday morning that good friends from my Stirling community are expecting their first baby, so I took the opportunity to call them last night to congratulate them. It was fun to chat with Bethany again and find out how her pregnancy is progressing.

This morning I did some work on completing some tutoring reports--my kids have come in staggered clumps, so some are just finished now, and others will be going right until the end of July. I've also gotten out for walks around Barking a couple of time today. It has been beautiful here this week--high 20s and sunny, just the kind of weather I had been missing. I found out some of my British friends don't appreciate it though...some of them were finding it too hot and were wishing it would cool down a bit. I was called a "hardy Canadian type" by someone on Facebook--I knew Canadians were famous for being able to stand all kinds of cold weather, but I didn't really think that enjoying 27-28 C was meritorious of the "hardy" moniker. After dinner, I walked up the road to check out a little place called "Afters." My friend Karen, who's coming in a month and I are both fans of the "Just Desserts" chain in Canada, and this was along the same lines. Waffles, cakes, milkshakes, a full ice cream bar, lassis and Indian milkshakes (yes, there is a high Indian population in the community) are all on the menu. From my brief examination, it looks like a good spot to come some evening--certainly my ice cream was quite satisfactory. I had a good chinwag with Karen this afternoon too--as it's been a pretty quiet weekend here, it's nice just to catch up with friends from back home who I haven't talked to in a while. We're busy planning the details for our epic trip around Europe in August. Stay tuned for more details...she's bringing her laptop with her, so I will be able to update my blog while on the trip.

I'm going to Wood Green again tomorrow. Will, our usual song leader just left for China yesterday to meet his fiance there. They will get married on July 3, honeymoon there, and then he comes back here alone for three months or so until she is able to be cleared by the immigration people--they have to be married already before the application can be finalized, so she will come over and join him in October or so. Since Chris, our other musician is back in the States for two months, I have volunteered to take over music leadership for the few weeks until Will is back.

In other Wood Green news, the London Mennonite Centre trustees have made a decision to sell all of the property at which the current LMC is based. They will be finding an interim location, with the intention of buying and settling in a new location, probably in North or East London by fall 2011. This will certainly have implications for the Mennonite church, which has long had a strong connection to the LMC--almost half of our members live at, or are employed within the LMC. In addition, the church has traditionally used the LMC for fellowship meals and communion suppers, and indeed had been hoping to be able to move worship services from the current location (the fellowship hall of a Baptist church) to the LMC. Wood Green and the LMC are deeply enmeshed with each other, so this decision to sell the current LMC building will have profound impacts on the congregation--where we worship, how we do church, etc.

Hope this finds you all healthy and happy.

Julie