Fall Is Here

That's right, fall has arrived in Sherbrooke! It's pretty crisp in the mornings, and they say it will just get colder and colder. The leaves are changing and that wonderful smell of fireplaces and hot chocolate is floating in the air.

School has kept us plenty busy, especially with all the activities outside of the classroom. It's fun to practice what we learn with our neighbors and the checkout people at the grocery store. We're still very limited in our communication, but already we've come a long way. We can pick up bits and pieces of the sermon on Sunday mornings, and those familiar hymns and praise songs we know so well in English are helping to build our biblical vocabulary. French is a lot of hard work, but we're slowly making progress, and it's always a good feeling when you can not only understand someone's question, but also respond to it!

Well, Joy is 4 days past her due date, and still no little girl. Looks like she's taking her sweet time! Just for kicks, we watched Father of the Bride Part II last night...but it doesn't really happen like that (or so I'm told). Everything else is ready for her arrival, we're just waiting and walking and waiting some more, and then walking and waiting, until it's time. I have to admit, even I'm getting a little anxious to see her now. But alas, I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait...and walk some more. If nothing has happened by the end of this week, mother nature will probably get a little nudge from the doctor to help things along. Pray that she will come on her own! Either way, sometime this week we should have a little girl in our arms--kind of an interesting feeling! Hopefully it won't be another month before I get to post something!

Beginning of the End? --or-- End of the Beginning?

We had our first official French class today! The first two weeks are phonetics based, so we're learning how to sound out letters and make humorous noises with our throats. I wish you could see it...a bunch of brand new French students all spitting at each other! Our instructor is very patient and understanding with us. It's very nice that our class only runs from 8:30am to noon. The rest of the day is spent practicing, listening, and making conversation with our neighbors and people we meet. We are listening to French CD's and watching French television and attempting to read French newspapers and magazines. We even try to speak to people...although most of the time we never really get passed, "Hello, my name is ____, I'm learning French!" It should be a very interesting semester!

In other exciting news, today is baby Konop's "birthday"....kind of. Joy is now full-term, which apparently means that our little girl could arrive any day. We had a doctor visit yesterday, and everything looks great; baby is right on target, and should be here in a few short weeks. Joy is getting pretty uncomfortable (I tell her I understand, but I really don't. I just rub feet, do the dishes, and make sure everything is ready to go for the big moment). Any last minute parenting advice would be greatly appreciated!

My younger brother is getting married on Saturday, which means I need to be in Virginia by Friday afternoon. We begin the drive as soon as class is out tomorrow, and hopefully we'll make it in time for the rehearsal! I'm guessing it will take at least 15 hours to drive, especially with a full term mommy lounging in the back seat! It will be even more challenging to make it back up to Sherbrooke for classes on Monday morning. We will see what happens; that's a whole lot of traveling in a very short amount of time. We would appreciate your prayers for a safe journey, and blessings on my brother's new marriage.

--Bon Voyage!