Back to busy season

Incoming...

     I have been excited to get some nice mail this week. Here is some of it:

    This is a letter from my sponsored child in Ethiopia. Her name is Tseganesh. The bottom picture is a flower. I thought it was interesting that this letter was translated and written by the head of the school that she attends. I really enjoy hearing from this little girl. Her pictures are my favorite thing to get from her.

                                          
I got a letter from my penpal, Penny, from Singapore. Cool stamps!  Also, this is my first birthday card of the year. My birthday is October 13th. Thanks Penny!

     I also received a letter and postcard from Arthur in Sweden. I like the Swedish stamp too. I haven't gotten much mail from Sweden.

    Then I got this great, fat envelope from Belinda in South Africa. She wanted to know if I wanted to be pals. She sent a nice letter, some x-slips, a friendship book, and a few other small things. I love surprises like this. 

     Lastly, I got a letter from my pal Jeffrey. He always writes very quickly so the turnover between our letters is not long at all. I'll write soon!

    (I got a letter from my pal Susan in Alabama too but she sent a nice card I want to photograph)

Outgoing...

     I have not had a ton of time so I have been bad with my writing. I have a letter headed to Finland and to OH at the moment. I have been excited that a few people have contacted me to be new pals so I'm writing intro letters and sending them out. I have also sent out another food swap. This package is going to Belgium. I tried to find out what American foods that Belgians might want or foods that aren't available in Belgium and the answer I seemed to see most was: "Why would we want American food?" Apparently our foods are "gross," "weird," and just not wonderful.  So, I hope this person doesn't hate what I send.  Here's the package:

Montreal Steak Seasoning- Yum. I love it on steak. My parents make roast beef by rubbing the top of the meat with mayonnaise and putting the steak seasoning on. It's much less gross than it sounds.

Hidden Valley Ranch Dip- I love this for a vegetable dip.

Land O Lakes- french vanilla hot chocolate. I like their mint hot chocolate most but the person I'm sending it to does not like mint.

Snapple peach tea- instant drink mix. This person is not a huge herbal tea person but I figured that Snapple might be alright.

Russell Stover chocolate and coconut cream pumpkin. I wish I could find something similar to the coconut nests they make at Easter

Betty Crocker cornbread mix.

Betty Crocker instant cheddar and sour cream mashed potatoes

Hamburger Helper (thanks to all my German friends who commented that they wish they had it there!)

Marshmallow Creme- I know Massachusetts people- it's not Fluff. I thought the GIANT container of Fluff might not be the best thing to put in the mail. It would also be overwhelming to someone who doesn't know what to eat it with. lol.

The 366 Project

Received: 38
Sent: 83

     I'm getting there! I only need to write... 100 letters a month. Agh. 

Other news-

     School is back in session. I'm enjoying working with all of the students. I teach at a middle school. My students are about 10-14 years old.  We have a new principal this year and I'm excited for a new start with everyone.  This means that my life is a lot busier!
     My own kids are really enjoying school so far too. Timmy has picture day tomorrow.  David has a visitor coming to his class to talk about science. He's super excited too!
     I think I'm FINALLY feeling better. I got strep at the end of August and the medicine they gave me did not help. So, I'm about halfway through the next prescription and feeling a little bit more like myself. I also had a tooth that got infected and needed to be pulled this weekend. AND Matt's car broke. Less drama would be fantastic but I am still appreciative of what I have. 

    Oh- I also tried the creamy pepper dip from Finland.  I don't know what I expected- green or red pepper maybe? It was made with black pepper and I loved it! I took a picture of it prepared but it didn't look very appealing in my yellow bowl.  I served it at a cookout. If any of my friends who were at the cookout are reading this, feel free to comment and give your opinion. I also decided to give the salmon soup to John, who is one of my favorite postal workers. I am not a huge salmon fan and I kept avoiding trying it. John loves salmon. He's always so helpful with my mail that I don't mind sharing!
     I can't wait to try my next food swap package. It looks like it will come from Malaysia, The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Russia, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Jamaica, or Lithuania. Awesome.