Quick post to say:

 1) There are two people who are incredibly brilliant.  One of them is Gram, Donnie's grandma.  The other is my mom.  They are just generally brilliant, wonderful, lovable people but today they score extra points because I got two packages in the mail today, one complete with three varieties of homemade cookies from Gram (!) as well as some little birthday presents that were wrapped separately.  I have decided to leave those wrapped so I can open them on my actual birthday, which is in ten days.  What?  And, I got a lovely package from my mom containing little bits from home which was LOVELY.  There was a People magazine and some milky ways and sweedish fish and nerd candies and a really funny card and it was the best ever.  What a wonderful way to start my day that otherwise felt a little stressed and grumpy.  THANK YOU GRAM AND MOM!

2) I bought my tickets to go see Lena in Bonn, Germany over my first fall break.  I'm going to visit her from Nov. 3 to Nov. 6.  There's quite a bit of long train rides and changing trains to get there but I think it will all be worth it to see someone I know and love, and to explore Germany a little.  So, woohoo!

And probably the biggest news of all...
3) Mom, Gramma (my grandma, Iris, this time), and Cameron are coming to France from November 20-November 30.  They'll be here for Thanksgiving and I am so excited to share this town and the people here and that family holiday with them.  They are the best in the world and I am so excited.  The only thing better would be going to Centralia to visit my extended family there because I love them so much and I love Thanksgiving there.  But this will be really really good.  Also, Iris's 75th birthday is on November 14 so it will be a fun belated birthday celebration filled with amazing French wine.

OK. That's all for now.  I am going to go have a Skype date with that one boy.  :)

Oh. I lied.  Not quite all.  I'll write more about this soon, but basically I started teaching today and it was exhausting but wonderful.  In the interest of being quick and a bit lazy, I'm copying over my facebook status about it:

i told one of my classes that i had a boyfriend and they all went OOOOOOHHHHHHH. also, i showed them a picture from my prom back in the day, and a girl told me i have a nice figure. also, after i talked for half an hour about myself, urbana, my family, my country, etc, i asked this one boy to repeat one (just 1!) thing he had learned today. he said he learned nothing. at all. oh dear.  i like these kids already. :)