Good Bye 2014 and Flowers

It is the last hour of the last day of 2014.  I've had a very hard time keeping up with these two blogs and in fact would have had trouble keeping up with one.

I completely failed to learn Greek in the last three months.  This is what's kept me from writing.  I have been studying at least a half hour a day the last three months and have learned some, but I did not study the 90 minutes to two hours a day and most importantly I did not practice live with someone.

The need is still there.  I still need to learn Greek, and fast.  I do have other responsibilities and goals, so now what I'm going to do is let this blog stop right here.  I will no longer post on this blog at all.  I will make any posts on Illini6 only.  I will push up my Greek studies to a minimum of one hour a day and I must find someone to practice with at least once a week.  I can't do anything until that's done.

Goals for 2015 include getting a different job, loosing 20 lbs (in order to keep healthy and in my current size pants), enrolling in grad school and finishing the "Hate to Say I Told You So" story on Illini6.  I'm not yet sure how these goals will all fit together, but those are what I have.

We had a few exciting things happen in 2014.

• EHL turned 18 and got her first tattoo.
• We went to our first Brazilian steak house
• EHL graduated from high school and started college.
• SEL went to two week Girl Scout camp for high ropes
• SEL applied for and made it into Extension Arts
• SEL helped me take CML back to school in Boston and 
• got to see Boston for the first time
• saw the ocean for the first time
• flew in a plane for the first time
• CML started her final year of college as an RA
• CML started playing Rugby
• I played my first Rugby game with GJL
• We saw the All Blacks vs USA Eagles in Soldier Field
• MAL and I went to a Wolves game
• MAL continued to get awards at work
• MAL traveled to many foreign countries:  UK, Italy, and Kansas
• CML saw her first ballet
• We all visited a pet shelter to view the dogs
• GAK family visited from AZ for Christmas

Καλό Μηνά Christmas Season

Everybody is back at school.  We all had a lovely week of visiting for Thanksgiving.  We went to Oak Lawn on the day itself, and Chicago on Saturday for brunch.

On Wednesday we went down to Da Loop to look at lights and take pictures for our Christmas card.  I don't know if we got any that were good enough, but we'll try to make do.

Tuesday was the Mrs.'s 50th and she got a lot of nice greetings.  She got some lovely cards, a nice dinner at Morgan's, a fruit bouquet, a cupcake cake, a promise of cleaning ladies, and tickets to a Wolves game in December.

I grew a mustache for November, but as far as I can tell no one donated money in my name.  I'm going to keep it until the end of the week.  I'm still hoping for it to really come in.

I'm afraid I'm not nearly as far along in my Greek as I had hoped to be.  I think a lot of that has to do with my not having found a daily language partner.  What I need (what is recommended) is someone who will treat me like a parent treats a two year old.  We all know two year olds who talk but no one can understand them besides their parents.  Instead of correcting a child who calls a theater a, "peuter" they say, "Yes, we can go to the theater and see Frozen again" (turns out that child thought that movie screens were giant computer monitors and was trying to say "computer" but we knew what she meant).

I am much further along than I've ever been, and I still have a month.  I'm going to have to redouble my efforts, and the Mrs has promised to help (though her patience wears thin quickly).