Joy for Joi, Women's Day edition

Continuing my pattern of using the day of Joi (Thursday), to list some things that have brought me Joy is certainly not hard today -- it's Women's Day!

Moldovans celebrate Women's Day every March 8th, and man, is it a big deal!  It is an official government holiday, so many things are closed, both today and tomorrrow. (This includes schools, so it wasn't hard to persuade the headmaster of Poplar Streams Academy-Moldova Campus to close as well.  Yay, no school!)

 Last night we were at a grocery store and it was jammed with all kinds of men buying last-minute treats, flowers, wine and ingredients for cooking.  Apparently men leave things like this to the last minute cross-culturally.  :)

My favorite thing about Women's Day is the fact that it celebrates all females, young and old.  (This is Rayna's favorite aspect as well -- this is her holiday, too.)  Mother's Day in America is nice, but I always feel a little tinge of sadness when I think of the women who have lost babies, are who want to be mothers but aren't.... so Women's Day is superior in my book.  (But I'll let my kids celebrate Mother's Day this year, too.  :) )

Women's Day for me started off rather inauspicously this morning at 3 a.m. when I knocked over a glass of water next to my bed as I was trying to move a trespassing Miles back to his room.  Broken glass and water everywhere isn't so fun at 3 a.m.  Pete was such a gentleman to get up and help me clean it up!

Actually I should say my Women's Day did start off wonderfully -- the night before.  While we were out at a concert, Tania was here babysitting Miles and Colsen.  When we got back, I found that she had cleaned the house, made us a cake, made me a card, left me a gift, AND hung this big banner in my room!

If I haven't said it before, I will proclaim it from the rooftops now, Tania is a HUGE light in our lives here!!  How did I get so blessed?!

And the blessings continued all day as Pete and the kids made me special food, made cards (Colsen made his in "Afghanistan language" since writing in English was taking too long), and brought me flowers and chocolate.

Since we didn't have school and Pete was off all day, I had plenty of free time -- and even got to take a nap... which ended when a little person came in and asked, "Mom, are you up yet?" repeatedly.

I think I can speak on behalf of both of the women of the house and declare that this was a wonderful, JOYFUL day!

(These pictures were taken yesterday when we were studying Switzerland and we braided our hair... and made a Swiss braided-bread called Butter Tress-Butterzopf.).