I went up the hill to the restaurant the other day.  Hywät was not there, but the same little girl who waited on me the other evening was there.  She was the one who asked, “Where is my husband?”  This time she asked me, “Where is my wife?  Where is she?”  So, she got the husband/wife part correct this time, but didn’t catch the correct pronoun.  I wasn’t going to try to explain it to her, because I had a hard enough time just ordering.

One of the interesting things I’ve discovered in life is how fast kids learn.  Many of the children whose parents work overseas, have a local nanny who will teach them the local language.  One lady I spoke with the other day, said when they lived in Germany, their nanny taught their 3 year old German.  One day he kept saying something which neither parent knew.  Finally they had to call the nanny at home and find out what he’s saying.  She said the little one was hungry.  All this time the parents though he had to potty, so they kept putting him on his little commode when all he wanted was something to eat.  He kept saying, “Nein, Mama!  Nein!”

We visited with Hywät again the other night and she is still going strong with her medical learning stuff.  She told Terese the more she studies the maternity part, the more she loves her mother.  She also told Terese, that when she talks to me it’s a form of training for her.  I’m not sure how to take that.

The monkeys have raised their ugly tails a few times lately, and I’ve had a few battles with them.  This morning I’m off because it’s MLK day.  Enjoying the sun in the back yard, I heard branches snap and rattle causing the fat birds in the tree to flutter away in unison.  I quickly got my slingshot and collection of paintballs, and proceeded with a short battle.  I saw one critter in the tree, and drew back and hit the little sucker right in the butt!  Again, I heard the familiar “Holy Bananas!” as it dropped down out of sight.  So, as it stands now, the score is Dwaine 1 2, Monkeys 31.