Fifteen-year-old Bard is returning from her choir trip to China tonight. It's interesting how things have changed with her gone. I'm wondering how having her back will affect the family.
One thing I've noticed is how fourteen-year-old Houdin has greatly decrease his argumentativeness. Yesterday he was given a list of chores to complete, and he did them without being reminded and without any back talk. They were physical chores, too, shoveling manure and moving large rocks. But he did them all well, and it was a great help to me. I'm wondering if it's a maturing process, or if he now feels like the eldest. They've always been highly competitive, and I wonder if that lack of competition has allowed him to relax a bit.
Bard is also a great help around the house. I can always count on her to do the dishes, clean up the kitchen, do laundry, or whatever other tasks need completing. I miss her sense of humor, her warm hugs in the morning, her thoughtful conversation and her unconditional love. It will be so great to see her again. I feel like I said "goodbye" so long ago, and I almost expect a different person to step off that plane.
And in a lot of ways, she will be a different person. I've just read reports that her choir was detained on their plane in San Francisco on their way to Beijing because there was "fuel flowing out of the wings" and that they went 18 hours without food before landing and eating their first breakfast in Beijing. I've also received reports that most of the kids have upset stomachs.
Since we're not gathering her from the plane until late tonight, I'm sorry that I won't get to hear about most of the adventures until tomorrow, and then for a lifetime.
I'm very excited and just can't wait to leave. These hours seem like an eternity!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
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