I have been very busy reading.  That stands to reason—and I’m enjoying every minute of it.  I have had my debut filming for the Columbia documentary and will be one of the featured students in that project.  I’m really excited about the documentary which should be finished by spring.  I’ll keep you posted on that project as it comes together.  For my Hindu/Buddhism class I’m required to go experience Hindu and Buddhism.  The coolest thing is that the Dalai Lama is going to be in Atlanta this fall and fits perfectly in the class requirement.  I’m really excited about seeing the Dalai Lama—how often do you get to be in the space of someone of that spiritual level?  (Even if he is from another faith tradition.)  I’d be just as excited to be in the same space as the Pope (and I don’t even like the Pope.)  Speaking of being in somebody’s space—Walter Brueggemann was a guest lecturer in my Old Testament class and that man can knock your socks off.  It was an absolutely, incredible lecture on 1&2 Samuel and the beginning of Kings.  If you ever have a chance to read or hear Walter Brueggemann, do it.  He is an outstanding scholar of the Old Testament. 

I am learning so much here and not all of it is the classroom.  Some of the discussions I have with my classmates are very enlightening.  I think this experience so far is another place where my faith is being defined.  I’m learning the difference between fundamental and liberal and where I land on that spectrum.  I’m going to leave you all in suspense though.  You know it’s not good to talk about religion and politics in public. J

Charles is at last back at work and riding the train daily up to BuckHead. It is about an hour commute each way but it certainly beats driving in Atlanta. Now he has plenty of reading time and he says it is nowhere near as packed as the Underground Trains in London. Still his first few days of travel were interesting as the trains kept breaking down and then the next day S’s school bus broke down making Charles late for work.  However, he is settling into his new job and I have taken back some of the chores he was doing such as feeding the family. With regard to his School project, he has been in contact with his school liaison and should be starting to work on that for at least the next 7-9 months. This will mean that both of us will be hard at school work for the next little while.

I got a book from Charles the other day on the questions Pastor’s hope not to be asked. It has been funny reading.  Some of the questions, although very serious, struck my funny bone.  I enjoyed reading them—though, the answers that the authors gave were somewhat antiquated and patriarchal. 

S keeps up with his piano playing and is getting good at the right hand stuff; the left hand is slowly beginning to show music in it as well. Thanks to the Youth Auction for having that keyboard for sale, both the kids are enjoying it. We are still working hard to try and get S in the Talent Development program at school; they will review his case this month.

Little B is still fighting some kind of allergy that does not seem to go away and it keeps her sounding like she has a permanent cold.  We are trying a humidifier at night to see if that will help.  We’ll probably need to have her tested for allergies soon to find out what is going on.

On the subject of health, we continue to search for new health insurance as Blue Cross Blue Shield of GA sent us a transfer policy that was over $2000 a month. This is about 3 times what we pay Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC. Fortunately, I qualify for the group insurance with the Presbyterian Board of Pensions as an Inquirer.  We are also all due for dental check-ups and are searching for a local Dentist, all the joys of moving. 

Charles was defeated at chess the other day by B. She and S have gotten into chess since they announced the club at school.  On some mornings, the two of them can be found to be actively playing over breakfast. S usually wins, so I think we know now how good Charles is at chess. J  I don’t play chess with them because I’m usually still getting ready for the day.

We continuing to visit churches and have now been to Emory Presbyterian here in Decatur and to 1^st Presbyterian uptown Atlanta. Both were very nice. So if you had been in Atlanta the other week, you may have seen us all on TV as 1^st Presbyterian is filmed.

This past weekend saw us finally hanging some pictures; the place is now beginning to feel more like a home. We did it at night and whispered quietly outside the kid’s room about the layout so as not to disturb them, and then we would bang the nails in the walls – oops.  They didn’t complain about all the noise, so we must have sound sleepers.

The kids are enjoying their Wednesday night program at Columbia Presbyterian Church and then afterwards we have a dinner out at the refectory (campus cafeteria) with desert for them.  It is our new Wednesday evening program as a family.  I usually read while they enjoy crafts, songs and games and Charles rides the train home.

Charles and a couple of others in The Village got their guitars out to swap playing styles the other night. Fun was had by all.

The weather is cooling off down here, so we are opening the windows to let the breeze flow through. B took me on a nature walk around the neighborhood and showed me lots of cool things – A Fish pond, Butterfly nests, Cocoons that she had seen made etc……….  It was a great bonding time for us as well as a well deserved break from reading.

We considered flying the whole family to the Grandparents in Ohio for thanksgiving but have put that idea on hold.  ($1600 for plane tickets) I’ll go to visit another time.  It is funny that the cost of tickets from Atlanta to Akron is twice the price as the tickets from Charlotte to Akron.  Even though it is the same airline, same destination, and same Atlanta flight.  It is cheaper to catch a plane from Charlotte to Atlanta and then fly to Akron than it is for me to catch the same plane direct from Atlanta to Akron.  Go Figure.  Have I mentioned that Georgia is a little bit mixed up?

That’s all for now; thanks for your continued support and keep us in your prayers as we continue to grow and adjust to life at Seminary.