Day 2456. Thursday was a holiday which is why Sammy was off school on Friday as well but Tammy and Emmy had school so the first alarm went off at 6:15 am, as usual. Just after 7 am Randy left with Tammy and Emmy to take them to school. Once back, he spent the morning with Sammy. As for me, the third alarm went off at 11 am as I had a student at 11:30. I taught until 12:20 pm while Sammy was riding his new, special bike. Randy left at noon to go pick up Tammy and Emmy without having eaten. I warmed up food for Sammy and myself.
At 1:30 pm I started teaching, and Randy returned a few minutes later with Tammy and Emmy. I had a busy afternoon, teaching three students in a row until 4:30 pm. I was pretty tired once I was done but it was time to make their sandwiches and cut up their fruit. Randy had left with Emmy to take him to his breakdance class, taking the 3:50 pm train, and they returned at 6 pm. Emmy then sat down to eat his fruit. After they had eaten, we went downstairs for piano practice, and we still had to do reading practice. After the bathtub, I prayed for them, then I sat down to teach at 8 pm while they went to bed. After having eaten, I went to the kitchen to get something to eat and took a break. Later I went back to work.
Yesterday was no typical Saturday. Tammy's and Emmy's piano class was canceled while Sammy's music class was moved to 11:30 am. Since Tammy and Emmy had a free morning, we took advantage of that and went to a soccer try-out training that we had meant to go to for a long time. We're trying to find a better place for Emmy next year. Tammy wanted to take part as well.
It was a cold and rainy day. We left the house at 9:30 am and rode the subway to the end, then walked to the house where the soccer school was located on the roof. It was raining a little but the kids were excited. Some boys were already playing on the field, and Emmy joined them right away. Then the trainer arrived and also joined them on the field. At first, they were all just playing, and Emmy was trying to get the ball from the trainer who made it hard for him. Emmy was enjoying it.
Then the actual training started. They did different exercices, training balance and moving the ball. I was standing on the sidelines, under a tent roof that the rain could get through but it was okay. There was a Dad of another kid that I got to talk to quite a bit during the 90 minutes of the training. He gave me some valuable information about the soccer club that is not like most soccer clubs and I liked what I heard.
After the kids had done some technical training, it was finally time for a game. Emmy was quite prominent in the game and scored a lot of goals.
At 11:30 am the training was over. Together with that Dad and his son we walked to the subway. Emmy really connected with the son as well. We got on the subway together, then they got off before we did. We got off before our final destination to make a quick run into the grocery store, then we got back on the subway, passed our house and got off where the McDonald's is located. Randy and Sammy were going to meet up with us there, after Sammy's music class.
We found a table, I placed the order, and we started eating. It took Randy and Sammy longer than expected to get there but they finally got there before 1 pm. We had a good time together, then we rode the subway home.
I was pretty tired and needed a nap. It took some time, but then I was finally able to set my timer to 50 minutes and closed my eyes. After I got up, I sat down at the computer to prepare for my 4:30 pm student. I taught until 5:20 pm, then I got ready for us to leave the house.
We took the 5:50 train, then got on a tram and got to the church where the birthday party was taking place right on time. It was the 50th birthday of a friend I hadn't seen since my own 50th birthday three years ago. I hadn't been to that church in many years and never to that new location. And there was only one other person I knew at first, later another old friend arrived that I hadn't seen for many years.
Their church service had just ended. I found my friend and said hello. They were just opening the buffet, and the kids were hungry, so we found a table and lined up to get some food, then we sat down to eat. My friend sat with us for a while. It was nice to catch up. Then he left to talk to other people.
After we were done eating, we found seats in the sanctuary as we knew the program was about to start. While waiting, the kids and I were doing the quiz on the birthday kid. Then he came and spoke for a while. Next, somebody else went through the quiz questions. We had 9 of 14 right. The kids were really getting into the quiz and were disappointed we didn't win.
After some more talking, the wife brought in the birthday cake, and we sang together. Then it was time to eat cake. I wanted to see my old friend so I went up to him to talk to him which was great. He had never met the kids before but had stayed up-to-date thanks to our newsletter. Then we got some cake and sat down to eat it. It was getting late so we looked for my friend to give him our birthday gift and say good-bye. Tammy and Emmy had made a drawing for him that I attached to my wrapped present. My friend then wanted me to meet a lady from the leadership team, so I got to talk to her for a few minutes. Then we left for good.
It was 8:30 pm, so quite late. We walked to the tram stop, took the tram to the train station and rode the train home. It was 9:15 pm when we arrived so we got the kids into bed as quickly as possible. Then I turned my computer on to get some more work done.
I was glad to sleep in this morning. At 11:30 my alarm went off, and I got up to go to the kitchen and make lunch. The kids had been riding their bikes right outside our apartment. We ate, then Randy left with Tammy and Emmy to take them to their maths club that starts at 1 pm. At 1:20 pm I had a student - an exception on a Sunday - and Randy arrived just a few minutes later to play with Sammy. He left again at 2 pm to pick up the kids, while I had to teach utnil 2:10 pm. It was 3 pm when Randy returned with the other kids who had spent a few minutes at the playground near the maths club before coming home. The kids had an hour on their tablets while I was working on my computer, then we went downstairs to do piano practice. After we were done, I returned upstairs to make their sandwiches as Tammy was getting hungry. The boys still stayed downstairs and played but Tammy started eating. I cut up their fruit and gave it to them. Soon the boys also came upstairs to eat. I continued working, taking advantage of having time I don't have during the week. The kids still had to do their reading practice, then it was bathtub time at 7 pm. They had fun, then got out and got ready for bed. We were going to read a story but instead we were looking at birthday venues in Vienna as they would also like to do their birthday party at a fun location instead of at home, like we usually do. Unfortunately that used up all the time we had. I prayed for them, then they went to bed, while I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. After having eaten and taken a break, I went back to work. Now it's 1 am and time to take care of the dishes before going to bed.
