Up and running.....

So the factory is finally running, pulling about 700 tons a day to eventually be 800 tons a day. Blake is still in the process of handing everything over to the plant, and we don't really know when we will be out of here. We would like to be home in time to enjoy Michigan summer. Boats, beer and the Sandbar. Sigh......something to look forward to.
Fall has come and gone and winter is upon us. We are now wearing long sleeves, sweaters, jeans and real shoes!! The nights get down to the low 40's and we have heaters in the bedrooms. BRRRRRR!!!!!!! Day time is usually in the hi 50's to low 70's. It rains occasionally but not usually for very long.
The sugar cane is being harvested this week. Large farm equipment collects the cane and then shoots it into massive open trailers connected to tractors. These tractors then pull the trailers over to the trucks that then transport the cane to the processing facilities. The roads are FULL of these huge, lumbering trucks that go VERY slow, causing traffic to back up for miles. (note to self, when asking God for patience, remember she has a sense of humor and will send you a reason to need it!)
Garrett has been keeping up with his schooling very well and is most especially proud of his reading skills. He has been reading the Magic Tree house series, after devouring the entire Captain Underpants series. He finished his typing just now and reported 18 words per minute. Impressive, big man!! We've picked up the Usborne Internet-linked science encyclopedia which is very well put together. For science today we reviewed momentum and inertia and then moved onto friction, drag and air resistance. The book gives websites we can go check out to play games related to the lessons of the day. This is way more fun than when Blake and I were in school.
Blake is really trying to make sure that the people who are now running the factory understand where all the spare parts are, what they are for and who is in charge of taking care of it. This is a critical part of the project. After spending $160 million dollars on a factory, it is of utmost importance to have well-educated people at the helm. Blake is working diligently to make sure that the people have everything they need. I'm so proud of him :)
In the meantime, we will just have to wait and see how long this process will take before we can cruise back home. By the way, for those of you who are wondering whether or not we are home sick the answer is yes, of course. We would LOVE to be home, enjoying warm weather, going out on the boat, speaking to everyone in English, using really thick, soft toilet paper. But the fact is, we need to control our exit. If we leave too soon, the factory won't be run as effectively as it needs to be, and then all of the time and preparation put into building it will be for nothing. We've made it 12 months. It really is only a matter of a few weeks more at this point. So we just do the best we can and enjoy the process. That's all that really matters anyway. Our family is healthy, happy and as strong as titanium.
I'll post again soon. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your comments. Tchau for now, Pam