So here I am, outside under the “Bra”…the wind is whipping and the dust is blowing. But I persist…things are well enough. I pulled a table and chair behind the giant wooden film screen, so I’m mostly blocked from the wind.

I’m getting ready for my replacement to arrive at the end of the week, although I’m getting rather anxious because I still don’t have a flight home arranged quite yet. No one here does it — suffice it to say that there’s someone in the U.S. who makes all of our arrangements. I’m hoping to hear something in the next 48 hours!

Meanwhile, I am still awaiting word that I have to move into the transient tents later this week. So I’ve been packing up the extra stuff and shipping home what I don’t need between now and when I get home, such as extra yarn and books. I just shipped two boxes today, and there will probably be two more later this week.

Before I took it all down, I thought I’d share with you how I decorated my dorm room:

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

I received so much artwork from the boys, and even several letters from Jacob, but some of art from Timmy included some of his first word-writing.

Jacob’s teacher encouraged him to write letters to me. Here are some examples:

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

Before you pick too much on his spelling, remember that he’s in Kindergarten and apparently the spelling part of his language skills come later. Here’s a card Jacob made for Timmy’s 4th birthday in January. That’s Thomas the Tank Engine pulling Annie and Clarabel drawn at the bottom.

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

This is Timmy’s work. My heart melted at his drawing of Howie.

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

And finally, enjoy the Valentine’s Day card I received:

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

I also had pictures of the boys up elsewhere in the room, and I enjoyed looking at the art and the pictures of my boys each and every day. I’m so excited — it won’t be long before I’m home!

I need to stop now — the dust is actually accumulating on the laptop screen and it’s getting hard to see outside with the outdoor glare. Keep in touch with my Twitter feed on the right column!