Last Day of Leave

Today is the official last day of my extended leave of absence.  Monday I go back to teaching.  It has been SUCH a blessing being off this whole time.  As J and I were in our waiting phase, I couldn't begin to fathom what the Lord had planned and why it was taking SOOOOO long.  Hindsight is always 20/20.  Traveling on Sept. 11, 2008 allowed me to start the 2008 school year, but then take the rest of that year plus the 2 additional ones allowed by our contract (totaling almost 3 years).  Only He could orchestrate such things. 

We decided to go downtown and meet J one last time for lunch.  It is always great when we get to see him during the day!

 Side note here--I think this picture is so funny!  For those of you who have been to China, you know that many Chinese will squat while they wait--whether they are at a bus stop, playing cards, having a snack, chatting, talking on the phone, etc.  It is such a common sight, both for men as well as women.  The Chinese Noodle will frequently drop into her "Chinese person pose" as J and I call it whether she's playing, outside, or like here, eating an apple!  Ha!

After that, the Noodle and I decided to try a new frozen yogurt store that has just opened up in our area.  They have all these flavors and you pick as many or as few as you want, plus all kinds of yummy toppings and sauces.  You pay by the ounce.  Not too bad you may think, but they totally fool you by having these HUGE cups.  Major portion control is needed, otherwise you have a nice, full bowl of frozen yogurt but it is probably 20 times the serving size that you actually need!  That soft serve machine was also hard to control, but let me tell you it was delish!!

For me--cappuccino and red velvet (I'm obsessed w/that flavor lately) and for the Noodle--York peppermint and red velevet.  We both added a few turtle candies and I had a small dab of hot fudge!

See what I mean about the size of the bowls?!