Winter Blahs!

I think the winter blahs have hit our home, or else we are sick or homesick. It has been a tough week for everyone. It has been cold and rainy all week. Today, I thought that for sure I would get out of the house for a bit and go into the village market but it has been blustery with periodic snow flurries. I wimped out and decided that I really didn't need to get out of the house that bad. How I long to see the sun for a whole day.

Dennis has had a bad cold and not been able to lay down at night to sleep because of a hacking cough. He stayed home on Monday and worked from home but had meetings the rest of the week and the earliest he has gotten home is 8:30 PM. Tonight, he also has home teaching appointments so we don't expect to see him until about 10:30. At least last night he was able to get 6 or 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Alyna had mid-terms which she studied hard for but still thinks she did terrible. For some reason, on every test were things that had not been covered in the chapters they had done up to this point. That was pretty discouraging for her. She has also been thinking a lot about where she should live when she comes home this fall. It will not be an easy decision for any of us, well me especially, since I think that the best place for her to be is with me - but not here in Holland!

I have been trying to get some sewing done for the weddings. The quilts turned out okay and were fun to make but the clothes.... Well, they don't look as good as I had envisioned. I have thought I was a fairly decent seamstress but this has really humbled me. After a week of fussing with the skirt for Alyna to wear at Andrew's wedding, she finally told me to give it up and it was good enough for the one night she would wear it. The dress I've been working on all week is... a mess. If I had to judge it at a 4-H fair, it would get a white ribbon (which of course is the same as last place.)! Part of the problem has been that I've been trying to combine a couple of different patterns and the other problem is the choice of fabric. It doesn't have the body to give the dress the look I was hoping for. Now the trick is figuring out what to do. We need 4 dresses. I think I will put that away for awhile and see if anyone or anything can give me any inspiration. I do have a dress suit I'd like to try making for myself so I'm hoping maybe I can redeem myself there.

It's nice to know that winter won't last forever, and that when spring comes to Holland it should be glorious. For now, we will just keep reminding ourselves that we get to head home and be with family and friends again in less than a month. Thanks Andrew and Lisa for giving us something to look forward to and anticipate.