5 years 5 months 15 days

Day 1994. Yesterday was our one Saturday with nothing going on in the morning and early afternoon, thanks to this past week having been semester break so that all classes were paused. Once the kids had gone downstairs with Randy, it was finally quiet enough for me to get some more sleep. Eventually I got up to make lunch, then they came upstairs, and we sat down to eat. 

After lunch, I sat down on the computer to do some scanning of teaching materials, and continued to do so once Randy and the kids went downstairs to play. Now it's much warmer downstairs since they possibly repaired the heating last Thursday. At 3:30 pm I went to the kitchen to make their dinner-to-go boxes, and at 4:10 we left the house rather late to make the 4:20 train.

But we made it, then got on the subway, and arrived at church a good number of minutes before the service started. We hadn't been there in a while, so it was great to be back, and Sammy was eager to see his friend Janos. We walked into the sanctuary, but there was no Janos. We got our seats, then the service started. And then we saw Janos, where he always sits. Emmy ran to be with him, then Sammy took off, crawling all the way to the other side of the sanctuary to be with him. Emmy left, and Sammy then stayed with him for a while. Then he returned to us. Emmy played with Sammy on the floor for a little bit.

But they were impatient to leave for the kids' program. However, the program started rather late, after worship, at about 6 pm. We first had communtion together. Then Randy left with the kids a little early, as they had no patience left. I stayed in the sanctuary until the end of the service. Then we all left to go back home, where we arrived just after 8 pm. It was bedtime right away.

This morning I once again enjoyed getting to sleep in after Randy and the kids had gone downstairs. I got up slowly and made lunch, then we sat down to eat. After we were done eating, Tammy and I were getting ready to leave the house together. Last Sunday, Emmy had a suprise event I took him to, today it was Tammy's turn. And she had no clue what we were going to see, even until after it had started.

We left the house at 12:40 pm and headed to the subway. We then took a second subway and had to walk quite a bit to get to the event hall. We were having a great time together. When Emmy is with her, they are so unruly, but by herself, she was at her best behavior.

We reached the event hall and lined up to get in. It was a smaller hall than last week, right next to the one from last week. This time they didn't care about our purses, and there was no popcorn, no any stands seeling merchandise which I found surprising. I had told Tammy she could also choose a gift to buy, but there was nothing to buy. We went straight to where you hand in your coats and got tickets to pick them up later. Then we headed to the staircase to go up to our seats. This event was more expensive than Emmy's last week, even though it was a smaller hall. I could only afford sitting in the very back, but you could still see very well. The only issue was that a very tall man sat down in front of us, so we had to move in such a way that we could look through between him and the person next to him.

At 2 pm the show started, and the first song revealed right away what we were going to see, as it was in the song - "The Beauty and the Biest". Tammy knew it, but for some reason they have never watched the (Disney) movie, so she didn't really know the story. She enjoyed the story and the music and the dancing, and probably commented a little too much on everything as the people in front of us turned their heads to us a few times.

Then there was a break and we went back outside and downstairs so she could buy something to eat, even though there was no popcorn. She had a pretzel and some gummibears. Then we headed to the bathroom where there was a long line. After we were done, we headed back upstairs and to our seats. We didn't have to wait long before they started playing again. After it was over, we left the auditorium with everyone else and stood in line to pick up our coats. It went faster than I had expected, and so we soon left the building.

We walked to the tram stop and saw a tram leave, which meant 8 minutes wait time until the next one. Randy had called me before the play was over and had embarrassed me having a ringing phone during the show. So I called him back while we were waiting for the tram, and we had a video class with Emmy and Sammy.

We then got on the tram, and then on the subway, but we got off at the train station to go to the grocery store there. On Sundays they're all closed except at the train stations. That means that there are more people in that store than at any other time. It's absolutely crazy! All we wanted was to buy cake for Randy's birthday tomorrow, and we found one really good-looking one, then had to wait in line a little before being able to check out. Then we headed back to the subway and continued on our way home.

It was 5:15 by the time we were back home, and I was able to get the cake inside without Randy noticing and put it on the balcony where it's as cold as in the fridge, if not colder. Then I went to the kitchen to make dinner for the kids. The kids started eating, and I lay down for a few minutes of rest until having a student at 6:30 pm. I don't usually teach on Sunday, unless it's an emergency, and this student had a test on Monday and needed the lesson. And so I taught until 7:20. While I was teaching, the kids went into the bathtub, and they were already in their pj's when I was done. I put Sammy to bed with a prayer, then read a story to Tammy and Emmy. They then brushed their teeth and also went to bed. I went to the kitchen and made myself something to eat. I enjoyed sitting down with my meal and watching a good show. Then I started working on today's pictures. Now it's nearly 1 am, and I still have to clean up the kitchen.