As Summer Ends...

Technically, summer doesn't end until after mid-September, but for those of us who live with an academic schedule, summer ends when classes begin.  Here in mid-Missouri, classes will begin in about a week or so.

Vy and Anh have been busy preparing for Anh's move to Minnesota.  In addition to Anh doing laundry and packing things, she and Vy have attended graduation parties for other Vietnamese students...hosted their own good-bye bar-b-q for Anh at a local park....accompanied others to the St. Louis airport as they prepare to return to Vietnam...and now the girls are enjoying the last few days of sleeping whenever they want.

Vy and Anh have been cooking quite a bit these last days of summer.  Not me.  Vietnamese cooking is A LOT OF WORK!!   I observe all the work they do, and all I want to do is make a salad or eat some fruit or yogurt. So many times I've seen them in the kitchen chop, chop, chopping....steaming....boiling....frying foods.  We have a small kitchen, and they move about in easy harmony as they chat.  But all that work!  It wears me out just to listen to it.

Watching Vy and Anh cook, and watching Gahee prepare some Korean foods....I realize that I'm quite a lazy person when it comes to cooking. I think many American are....unless they're like my son-in-law, Paul, and truly love cooking/baking.   During the school year when I'm teaching four classes, well, that's my excuse for not spending a lot of complicated time in the kitchen like the girls do.  Over the summer, though, well, I'm just plain lazy, and with the outside temperatures over 100 F. much of the time this year, my mind convinced me that it's impossible and impractical to cook in such heat--even though the house is air-conditioned.  So unlike Vy and Anh, who chopped, fried, boiled, and steamed foods as if they were on a reality TV cooking show....I just piddled around with salads and fruit this summer.

The girls have been enjoying lots of time with friends these past few weeks, but it's bittersweet because so many farewells have been exchanged.  George takes Anh to the airport tomorrow for her new adventure at the University of Minnesota, but before they get to the airport, Vy and Anh will take a ride on the St. Louis Arch.

This evening Gahee returns to Columbia.  I believe she is traveling with two cousins (a brother and sister) who will rent an apartment close to us.  They will enroll in the Intensive English Program at MU and will spend the night here...or maybe two nights until they get moved in.  We are holding some furniture for them which needs to be moved into their apartment. George will ask our grandson and his friend if they can help.  In addition, George will help them look at used cars as they settle in to life in our college town.

Tomorrow I leave town for a week to visit my parents in northern Illinois.  My mother turns 86 and she cares for my dad who is 90.  So we have people going and coming....but in about a week or two we'll all be settled into our fall schedules, except Anh.  She doesn't start classes until early September...so she'll have some time to get to know some new friends and become familiar with her new city, Minneapolis.  Although I've never lived there, I've told her it's a great city with lots to do.  We hope to get up there to see her...maybe for her graduation....maybe before?  

So we have people coming and going over the next few days.  Meanwhile, I can't believe I'm looking out the window and seeing a bit of rain....REAL RAIN!!  We have experienced a severe drought in this part of the country....so the rain is welcomed with a deep bow of gratitude.