Discovering a new language!

I've been a little envious of my kids. Three of them are in college right now! Jordan just began studying for a business degree, Micah just began her accounting classes and Josh has been going to college for years and is closing in on a masters in organizational leadership, and is studying for an accounting degree. I'm thinking, "I would love to be studying something interesting!" Well, I do that a lot anyway in my own casual and sometimes all-consuming way. I love to learn about new interests. But I'm hankering for something more long-term. SO, when Josh was visiting he suggested learning a language through Duolingo.com. 

I signed up today (it's absolutely free!) to learn Hebrew!  I'm still learning the ropes, reading through tons of discussions and FAQ-type stuff. I've spent 50 minutes today doing (and re-doing) the first two lessons. One of the first obstacles to get over was finding a keyboard to type in Hebrew. There are many hi-tech options, but I really didn't understand how to install and use them. So, I went to a simple virtual keyboard where I type out answers and then copy and paste them into the Duolingo answer box. A little clunky, but it works for low-tech me. They sort of throw you in at the deep end and you have to do a lot of figuring things out without any explanation. (Like the sounds of the letters and female forms of words. But I'm just starting. That may change and there may be explanations I haven't come across yet.) Kind of like you would in real life if you were dropped into the country in a parachute, lol. I can't tell you how excited I was when I typed this phrase (.אבא אמא באה ) into the answer box and it was CORRECT! (BTW, it says, "Dad, Mom is coming.") I'm hoping to persevere and look at it like a game. They have every language imaginable. Join me?

I've been babysitting on and off for the last three days, so I was kind of exhausted today. Also, I walked 3 miles day-before-yesterday, and it usually takes a couple of days for that to hit me. I walked 2 miles today and I hope to keep doing that. (Three miles one day a week, and two miles several other days.)

My other activity for today was sketching out some ATC's. The one on the right was a request for a one-on-one trade. This gal does the Renaissance Fair type thing and she wanted a gryphon. I'll probably paint it tomorrow. The two on the left are for the September Bizarre Holidays swap. I'll paint them tomorrow and then make two more, probably.

 Now it's time for some Bible and other good reading. I hope you are all enjoying the end of summer as much as I am!

Not sure what happened to my usual font. I'll have to investigate. Sheesh.
Shalom! 
   שלם