Our internet is back up and running! It has been on the fritz for several days. I have received more than a few emails and notes on my Facebook asking about the cold weather here. First of all thanks to everyone who was thinking of us! It has been crazy cold here, though not any colder than what we get in KC. It is not usual for it to get so cold where we are because we are on the water but lucky for us (sarcasm), this is an unusual winter so far! It really has not been too bad for us except for this past weekend.
We do not have a car here so we take public transportation or walk wherever we go. Our tram stops, depending on where we want to go, are each about a 10 minute walk from our house. This weekend the air temp was between 0-7. We knew this was coming so Ben and I went to the store on Thursday and stocked up for the weekend. We were loaded down by the time we got home but I was glad to have everything we needed. Usually we go to the store every day, or every other day. Friday was not so bad. We had Trey's play and then were home for the day. Friday night, Saturday and Sunday were bitterly cold. Ben was getting a little stir crazy and he and his friend concocted an idea that Ben come over to his house. We (being unreasonable as we are) told him that he was not going to walk to the tram to take it downtown, then take a bus for 40 minutes and then walk a mile to his friend's house in these temperatures. Wow! Are we overprotective or what?
Yesterday was supposed to be above freezing but it wasn't. I think the high was 23 or something chilly like that. It is supposed to warm up a bit later in the week (at least above freezing). The kids had school on Monday and then they had their school Christmas party and "Christmas Quiz" yesterday. They were divided into groups and competed for a certificate. Ben was on the reindeer team, Natalie was on the elf team and Abbie and Trey were both snowflakes. They had pizza at school and exchanged their Secret Santa gifts. They really love being a part of the school. The school starts again on January 6th which is a Wednesday. So my kids will have their first day back on January 11th. Think of how much home schooling we are going to get done!
On a much different topic, there was the recent issue of the "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign from Auschwitz being stolen! We followed that story closely. I think it felt much more personal to us since we were just there in October.
They found the thing cut into three pieces in a forest on the outskirts of Gdansk. Talk about close to home! According to the news, the plan was for it to be taken on a ferry and make it's way to Sweden to some collector there. Now there are a bunch of guys in a heap of trouble.
We are ready for Christmas! This is a very simple and scaled down Christmas for us--I'm really liking it! Next year I will make a traditional Polish 12 course meal when I have my own stuff in my own big kitchen! We have been invited to spend Christmas Eve with our neighbors and are looking forward to that. We are leaving for our big trip on Friday at noon (5:00 a.m. KC time). We have received quite a few Christmas cards from the US. All of them have been opened by the post office or customs or something. I don't know if customs in the US opens stuff like they do here, but it is quite a different experience for us!
Merry Christmas to all!
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