Status Update

So our new 'son' has been here for just over a week and I think we've all pretty much fallen in love with him.  He's a delightful kid.  I'm completely surprised how quickly I've come to think of him as part of us.  I know that we're going to lose him at the end of the school year, that he's really just a visitor passing through our lives- but I'm feeling pretty lucky that we get him for the duration.  Two weeks ago when this hosting of a foreign student was first posed to us I had some real misgivings about how it was all going to work.  And I admit that I was less than generous in my thoughts when I came to realize that this was going to translate to extra laundry, more meal prep and clean up, and some random expenses.  But that was when it was for some unknown kid.  Now that Ildar is in the house and we know him, of course I can toss his laundry in, and he is a great help in the kitchen, and I'd love to help him experience as much of the St. Paul life as he can, so a little extra expense is no big thing.  I do realize that we are only about 10 days into this and there is much time left in the year, but so far all is good.  Until he finds out that I sometimes write on a little blog and that he might end up as a topic!  Awkward.