National Blog Month. Guess I missed the memo.

November is National Blog Month. Lots of people are honoring that designation by posting a blog EVERY DAY this month.

Obviously, I'm not one of them.

What can I say? November has been a slow month. And it's been a pretty hard month too. In fact, this "semester" has been pretty hard.

October was alright. I enjoyed getting to help-out with World Racers who were in town during that time.

I always enjoy getting to hang out with some of my IMB friends- usually on Friday nights when one family almost always cooks Homemade Pizza...which is the best Pizza in Ukraine, by far! A few weeks ago we had Mexican/Enchilada Night in honor of one of the team members' birthday (she's from Texas). The following week we had Red Beans and Rice with sausage in honor of my birthday. So...I can't complain about the food, at least not on Friday nights.

But back to this being a hard month and a hard time. It just is. Maybe it has something to do with the shortening of the days. We're down to just a little over 8 hours of daylight per day. It's still dim at 8 in the morning and it's dark by 4:15ish. The days will continue to get shorter for another month. It hasn't been particularly cold here, but we seem to be in that constant "overcast" mode- aptly reflecting how I feel on so many different levels.

School is hard. Really hard. It's always two steps forward and one step back. Not that I've ever been a real fan of homework...but it's getting harder and harder for me to "just do it." I usually end up waiting until a few hours before class- which is not good studying technique!

My sleeping habits have gotten continuously erratic since returning to Ukraine a couple months ago. At least I'll be all set to get back into the swing of things when I return to the States next month. I'm essentially living on Central Time here lately (which is about opposite of how I should be functioning over here!).

But next week is Thanksgiving. I'll have Dinner with friends and rumor has it we'll figure out a way to watch football too. I do have a lot to be thankful for (here's an excerpt from a newsletter I'm working on):

I’m thankful for the opportunity I’ve had to be in Ukraine all year, for the opportunity to move forward with language study. I’m thankful that I’m making progress. Sometimes I can’t believe I’m actually reading, writing, understanding and speaking a 2nd language– even if I do sound like a toddler!! I’m thankful to have lived on less than half of what I originally thought it would take. I’m thankful for my family’s unyielding support of me. I’m thankful for a handful of friends that have consistently reminded me this year that they are! I’m thankful that what I’ve done is not who I am! I’m thankful that He hasn’t forsaken me and He won’t. If it gets worse before it gets better, He’ll still be walking through it with me. And I’m thankful for your continued prayers for me.