Sto Lat and Sunshine

It was a quiet weekend at home.  Saturday was rainy and chilly, so we decided not to try a day trip anywhere, and instead hung around just chillin' - laundry, a little baking, cleaning, some games of Farkle (aka "Greed"), Yahtzee (on our home-made score sheets), and cribbage, skyping, and getting some needed rest and down time.  

Sunday during the church service, we saw our first baptism in the congregation.  

The father and godmother sing with our choir, so some of the members sang a couple of special numbers for the occasion.  (At left)  We didn't sing with them this time, because the songs were contemporary ones we had never heard, and they only had lyric sheets without the music for us to read.  

On the walk home from church we passed this little coffee shop / bar with sidewalk tables, complete with blankets to wrap up in against the chill!!  We've noticed that custom before, but never wanted to annoy people sitting in the chairs by taking photos!

Sunday afternoon was sunny and warmer, so we decided to get the bikes out, check the air in the tires, and go for a ride.  Well, we weren't entirely successful because one bike tipped over as the tire was being pumped up, so the little valve stem snapped off the tire.  Not good.  And not fixable, by us anyway.  So that was the end of our bike expedition for the day.  SIGH!      :-(      But Monday after school, I rode and Tim walked a bike down to our friend Jan's bike shop, and he got the inner tube replaced, so we were rolling again to go to choir practice.     :-)      Choir practice was fun, as we all shared refreshments left over from the baptism reception, brought to rehearsal by the baby's dad!  And then of course we had a great time at volleyball after that.  

Milka, one of our colleagues, just got back from a couple of weeks studying in Russia.  While she was gone, she celebrated her 50th birthday, so upon her return today, she brought in oodles of goodies for a big party during our 10-minute break.  Which turned into a 20-25 minute break.  What were the kids doing??  Who knows??   :-)   (Neither Tim nor I had a class the next hour, so we didn't worry about it.  Lots different than in Iowa!)
Miro presented Milka with an orchid that many of us chipped in to purchase for her.

Some of the staff listening as Miro presented our gift.  They sang a Russian birthday song, and then, much to my surprise, a song that I remembered from way back in 1976 when the Clarke-Loras Singers traveled to Poland!!  WOW!!  So I could even sing along!  (The Polish words were slightly different, but very close, and the tune was easy to remember!)  From Wikipedia:   "Sto lat" (One Hundred Years) is a traditional Polish song that is sung to express good wishes, good health and long life to a person - often sung at birthdays, name days and weddings.
If any of my C-L Singers friends are reading this, you'll definitely remember singing that song too!!   :-)

Nada, Danka, and Vierka dancing to some folk music on the CD player.   :-)

You go, girls!!   :-)   

This is the customary line of well-wishers, waiting to shake hands, double-cheek kiss, and greet the birthday girl (Milka is on the left.)  It's so fun to celebrate birthdays here!   :-)

The weather was awesome today - it had to be in the upper 70's!!  It was sunny and actually felt HOT at times out walking --- LOVE IT!!    :-)      Maybe we'll get that first nice bike ride in yet this weekend!   

I had my after-school class at the basic school today, so I asked for permission from the principal to take my kids outside on an English Nature Walk.   It was really fun.  First, I showed the kids some worksheets I had planned for the lesson, and told them if I heard any Slovak at all from them outside, we'd come back inside and do the worksheets instead!   LOL!!  It worked - I only heard English the whole time!   :-)  We just talked about anything and everything we saw or heard outside, so my happy little troupe enjoyed the warmth, birds chirping, and walking in the fresh air.  I figure it was good for their English conversation skills, AND for their teacher's attitude.  Everyone knows I love the sunshine!