Many of you know that these past couple of months have been quite busy for me. I had been traveling, and I moved into a new apartment (more on that in another newsletter). In the beginning of December, I flew from New Hampshire to California to meet two of my students! 

This week in the US (United States) we are celebrating a day of love called Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is celebrated every February 14th. Typically, this is a day when people who are in love express their feelings of love for each other. It is customary that couples exchange gifts and give each other greeting cards. Typical gifts are flowers, the red rose is a symbol of love; candy, especially chocolate; and jewelry. 

It’s the year of the pig. So what does this mean, exactly? In the Chinese culture, each year is identified with a different animal from the Chinese zodiac, and there are 12 animals. This year 2019, is the year of the pig. The pig is a symbol of wealth and prosperity, so you would think that if you were born in the year of the pig that it would be a good year for you, but no, no, no- this is not the case.

As most of you know, the holiday season is widely celebrated here in the US, as well as in other parts of the world. One tradition during this season is to decorate a Christmas tree with ornaments and lights. Sometimes the ornaments have sentimental value and they are usually very colorful and festive. Typically there are two types of Christmas trees in the US. We decorate "real” trees which are also called “live” trees. 

November 14th was my daughter’s 27th birthday, She is visiting me so we celebrated her birthday like we used to when she was a child. Our family tradition was to always have cake for breakfast the morning of the birthday. So when the birthday boy or girl awoke, they would come into the kitchen to find the table decorated with presents (also known as gifts), balloons and a cake. Can you name the items in the picture?

Today, Monday, November 5th, I am going to Logan Boston International Airport to pick up my daughter and her husband who are flying in from Bulgaria. Her husband is my son-in-law and I am his mother-in-law. When he meets my two sons, he will be meeting his brothers-in-law.

Today we're going to talk about mice. This has been a banner year for mice where I live. I live in the countryside where there are a lot of woods with many trees, so it's not uncommon to have a furry little critter appear in your kitchen, especially when it begins to turn cold. 

Our five takeaways are: banner year, critter, to turn cold, lures (to lure), and set free (to set free)