General warning to those who inhabit the planet Earth

I took my son in to get his driver’s permit this morning. By the end of March, he will be behind the wheel of a car that does NOT have a brake on the passenger side. Let this be a warning to you all!

On another, less frightening, note, we’re perusing applications for next year’s exchange student. We’ve hosted four girls so far (two from Germany, one from China and one from Italy) and have, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We’re branching out to the other sex for next year and have received three applications from German boys to look over.

This is always a nerve-wracking time. We’re a pretty laid-back family and think we’re easy to get along with. So far, we’ve had great luck with our students. Of course, the beauty of hosting is that if the student is simply not working in your home, you can ask for him/her to be moved to torment another family. Don’t you sometimes wish that was an option with your own kids? YOU JUST SHAPE UP OR WE’RE DUMPING YOU ON SOMEONE ELSE!!! Yeah, I can see how that would be a useful tool.

But no matter how good previous experiences were, I’m always nervous during the choosing phase and while waiting for the student to arrive. What if the introductory letter they wrote was more about getting picked and less about what they’re truly like?

So, keep your fingers crossed for us. We’re just looking for someone who enjoys the outdoors, will eat my cooking and pretends our jokes are funny. How hard is that?