Transplant Success!

-----------------This is Supposed to be a Cute Picture...but it isn't ---------------------

Hi all,
I have to admit that 5 am is NOT a pretty hour for me. But I made it up this morning and after a LONG line to check in and a slight mishap at security (they finally caught me not taking my liquids out...5th time's the charm, hm?) I made it through and boarded successfully. Somehow, the regular flight to Chicago got over 25 minutes behind, leaving me with a scant half hour to race down the terminal to my connecting flight. It, too, managed to be 25 minutes late coming into Albany. So, resourceful as I am, I managed to page my ride from the Info desk. And then I met the first member of my new house. One of the long-term co-workers of the house picked me up. He filled me in a little on his wife, their 3 children and a little about the other short-term co-worker and the villagers. After an uneventful ride we arrived at my new home. Big and square on the outside, and cozy on the inside.

The picture above is one of the decorations made to welcome me by the kids. They were quite excited to meet their newest playmate...erm, co-worker, and started filling me in on everything. They also had priorities for what I should do, with choosing a napkin ring for the table near the top! I managed to get my unpacking done (with a captive audience...) and managed to meet the entire household, plus the two cats within the first 2 hours. We had tea and then went to a story/play at the hall.

Mittened kids in tow, we tromped over to the hall (on good paths...a lot of walking done here apparently) and settled ourselves in. For the first time ever, I got to watch a real tree being lit up (well, we've BBQ'ed our fair share, but this was with candles). The tree was HUGE (at least 30 feet!) and I have to admit it made me slightly nervous...especially as one of the lighters wasn't quite paying attention to where her flame was wandering around to. The story was cute, and got a good response.

Afterwards we had dinner, the high light for me was probably the olive bread, which literally had chunks of olive in it. Quite tasty. There was plenty of horse play and games afterwards, at a level only the under-10 can muster. I'm not really sure what to expect from tomorrow since it's the last day of their Christmas celebration things will be slightly off-kilter even without me! Luckily, everyone has been very nice and helpful, so I'm not too afraid of making any mistakes!

Hope all is well,
Steph

P.s. I'm definitely needing to re-name my blog...any suggestions?