I’m an aunt!  My sister just had her baby this morning (or tonight, where she is).  His name is William Hobson Boteler: William for our dad and Hobson for Mike’s dad (it’s a family middle name).  Will for short.  He weighs a little over 8 pounds, and he’s 21 inches long, with lots of brown hair already.  He was born around 8:30 PM, on February 26, 2007.  According to all accounts, he’s just beautiful.  I wish I could be there.

PS.  For those who don't know it already, I've basically switched over to my other blog since I've been here.  If you wan't updates, go to http://rbrainsop1.blogspot.com

I love you all, and I will update soon, I swear! 

I have just read two books that one of my teammates, Michelle, brought over here, and they are amazing.  Everyone, and I do mean everyone, should read them.  They are “For Women Only” by Shaunti Feldhahn and “For Men Only” by Jeff and Shaunti Feldhahn.

“For Women Only,” published in 2004, basically tries to explain men to women.  The author conducted a scientific national survey, written with the help of a survey design expert who used to be in charge of survey design for the US Census Bureau.  They also set up numerous focus groups, personal interviews, etc.  All in all, it was very thoroughly done.  And in the end, she came away with what she considered the 7 or 8 most important and most surprising findings of her research.

It’s great because it is a woman writing to women.  She was just as shocked as you will be by some of her findings.  But most men who have read the book, including some of the guys at training a few weeks ago, were amazed at how accurate it was.  They said that it even explained some things about themselves that they didn’t even realize.

The companion book, “For Men Only,” was written mostly by Jeff Feldhahn, the original author’s husband.  It is, as you can imagine, the same general idea, only it attempts to explain women to men.  I just finished reading it last night (in one sitting… yeah, it was that good), and it is amazingly accurate.  In one of the chapters I kept wishing that it would say a certain thing, the thing that I always wanted guys to know, only to come to the end of the chapter and there it was!

They were originally written towards married couples, but they are worth reading even if you have friends of the opposite sex.  I was reading “For Women Only” and things just kept clicking into place.  Everything, from things I’d encountered with my male friends as early as middle school to something one of my friends from training had said the night before, suddenly made more sense.  I was even able to understand my dad a little better. 

Anyway, Michelle read the books and felt it her personal mission to pass it on to as many people as possible.  Now I’ve read them and feel the same way.  So this is my official plug for the books.  Read them!  Share them with friends! 

This just doesn't feel fair... I thought I was done with the horrible goodbyes once I left Rome (or at least after my parents and grandpa left last weekend).  But no... now it's time to say goodbye to my new friends in the CIS group.

It's downright depressing if I let myself think about it too much.  I know I will get to see Jen and Charlene again at the Thanksgiving retreat, and maybe once or twice more (if we can manage the 30 hour train ride to get to them).  I'm so grateful for that.  But it's hard to imagine not seeing Alicia, Amy, Danielle, Emily, Jeff, or Tim for a whole year.  And they are a 4-day train trip and a very expensive visa away, so it's definitely not gonna happen. 

It's amazing to me how close I've become to people I've only known for just over a month.  And this is coming from me, one of the most social people I know!  Not a day has gone by in the last two weeks when I haven't stopped to marvel at how comfortable I am with them, and how much I am going to miss them.