New beginning

Tony & I have begun a new year...a return to being 'parents' of a teen. Our exchange student, Giulia, arrived from Rome last week and has settled in extremely well. In February I had given her an e-mail address of a student here in Mendon who would be in her class. Morgan Murphy is the daughter of a friend of mine and this proved to be a good mix. Morgan and Giulia have been corresponding since February and have discovered many similar likes and interests. Giulia arrived on the 15th, late at night, and after a fitfull sleep, she awakened on Thursday morning with questions about when she could see Morgan. Soooo, we got these 2 girls together and they 'hit it off'. During the next few days, Morgan took Giulia to the movies, introduced her to more friends, took her bowling (twice) with more friends, and took her to the school for a personal tour during which she met the principal. Today was new-student orientation. Giulia came home from that floating on cloud-nine. She's soooo ready. Classes begin next Tuesday. We meet with the guidance counselor tomorrow morning to register for her classes and get her schedule and locker. She's thrilled at having a locker and riding on the yellow school bus (we'll see how long that lasts).
Adriana has been acting as Giulia's guide around the house, and in the process has taken on so many more of the household kitchen tasks. She's quite adept at making and serving coffee, loading and unloading the dishwasher, making salads, pancakes (even learning how to manage cooking safely) and muffins. The 2 of them routinely clear the table after supper and clean up the kitchen. Giulia has cooked the dinner on 2 occasions (spaghetti alla Cabanara--FABULOUS!) and is anxious to show off her culinary skills on more meals. If I work this right.....
We had a new pellet stove installed in the family room to replace the air-tight wood-burning stove that has been there for the past 25 years. Splitting, stacking and hauling wood has become much too muchwork for Tony. Arthritis has given him more pain than he needs, and these winter tasks don't help the situation. Besides, the new stove should be a lot cleaner...less wood chips around the hearth and across the floor, and much less ash to dispose of. Bring on winter!
Have been making the fruit jellies as usual this summer. They smell sooooo good now, and will taste sooooo good in the winter. This week is blackberry jam week. Packed away already is blueberry and red raspberry. Later will be apple butter and grape jelly and conserve. That should do it for this year. Some of the jars will become Christmas gifts to neighbors with freshly made breads, others will be donated to Susan's church's Christmas Fair, and enough for us will be put into reserve.
This week is the third week of HHH weather so the neighbor's pool has been a welcome oasis. Until the North Carolinians came for a visit at the end of July, we'd had a unusually cool wet summer. It was only then that the window AC units were installed, but they've had a constant workout since. At least getting a good night's sleep makes the days more bearable, and when heat 'gets to me', I can retreat to the bedrooms during the day for a brief respite. Forecast is for cool nights beginning tomorrow (even as low as 49 at night in the forecast), and warm days...typical for early autumn.
Alex is due home on 9-15 for a 2-week leave. We'll talk with him on Skype a few times. His family is most anxious to have him home and I know that 2 weeks will fly.
To all, stay happy, healthy and safe.