Uma menina! Rach's scan today revealed our next baby will be a girl. But they said that last time and look what happened...

Friday night, writing tests. Rach is away for the weekend with Nelson in Recife and so I have the place to myself, to relax and... write tests on Friday evening. I'm trying to get ahead on my jobs before the new semester so I can have some time free with Danny, Caz and Gracie when they arrive next Thursday. I'll fix some pancakes later, that will ease the mindnumbing boredom.

Amusing uses of English: the Christmas card. A few weeks late, but no less funny. I was sorting out my things from before Christmas and found a card one of my students wrote me. The context: in one of the last classes of term I got the students to make and write cards for each other, secret Santa style. The other part of the activity was that there was a pile of random pictures and they had to pick one as a fake present that would be appropriate for the person their card was for. I joined in the festivities and Paula, a feisty teenager who is actually exceptionally good at English, decided to give me a picture of a teddy bear and wrote this unedited, unequivocal message in her card to me. (For extra points, spot Paula's reference to a Genesis song which we listened to in class).

Dear Dave,

I could buy you some shoes or shirts, maybe a ball, but only because you forced me to make this activity I won't. For punishment, my gift will be the most "no-masculine" gift possible: in Christmas you'll have cute pooh teddy. Look how happy the money is crazy about going to your arms. Now, seriously, teacher, "I can't dance, I can't talk" and I can't draw or make gay* cards but I can write. That's all I wanted to write to you: you are such a fantastic person (if I was better with English words I would choose a lot of other good adjectives).

Have a merry Christmas,
Paula

*sorry about the word, teacher.