Dawn & the Boys

Apartments & Appliances

2012-02-08T12:44:00.001-06:00

MBM - Click here to find out what this is.

This is my first Memorial Box post, although I can think of several times in my life where God arranged specific circumstances in specific places for his glory. This particular instance happened on Dec. 17 or 18, 2011. We live in a good sized apartment with a full size refrigerator. We've lived here since Jan. 2009, and generally it's a pretty good place to live.

That Saturday and Sunday I was really busy doing "stuff." Mostly pre-Christmas stuff.. shopping, etc. For whatever reason I didn't cook on Saturday or Sunday. Sunday evening I thought about it but the thought of fixing a big meal wasn't very appealing since I was prepping for Christmas Eve & Day... which is usually just fine with my teenage boys. They are good scavengers and there was a lot of random food available.

Monday morning Mike opens the freezer for some sausage for breakfast and said "The freezer is broken. Everything is thawed." Ugh... not what you want to hear on a frantic Monday morning at 5:45am. We both realize that the fridge has been running nonstop for most of the weekend. There is still a bit of coolness in the freezer & fridge so not too worried.

He calls the landlord company after they open, and they send someone right over. The maintenance guy takes a 2 minute look at the back of the fridge and says, "Oh, it's just the thermostat pooped out. I can install another one in a jiffy." Which he does.. and tells Mike it will take several hours for everything to cool back down to normal temps.

Fast forward to Monday night... I get home from work and the fridge is still running. It seems marginally cool-ish, but in the interest of not losing all the food I have Mike pick up a cooler and some ice on his way home... just in case. I was also thinking this would lessen the burden on the poor old fridge.. so it could cool down quicker. I cooked a bunch of the meat and repackaged it with a slight change of plans. I should mention that both freezer and fridge were PACKED with food for the holidays & the boys time off school AND my parents had visited earlier in December and had brought Pacific halibut and cod that my dad caught... about 30 lbs. of fish. I thank God for the quick resolution to this whole giant problem. Whew! Drama and nightmare avoided!

NOT!
Tuesday morning... cue the loud drum/horn music indicating doom and destruction. Nothing is cold and even the partially frozen stuff still in the freezer is completely thawed. Double Ugh... I call the landlord from work and leave a message. No call back. I call again around lunch time. The girl tells me "Oh, we thought that was a leftover message from yesterday about your refrigerator." I say no... its still a problem and now everything is warm and ruined. (Keep in mind this is Tuesday, Dec. 20... just a few days from Christmas... when my cooking and baking efforts start ramping up... and it is 2 more days until payday.)

She says they will try to have someone come that afternoon. I get home around 5:00 and still no one has been by to check in. I call the landlord's office again. "Oh my" she says, "I'm sure he will come first thing in the morning." The maintenance guy comes around 5:30 and declares that the fridge has died a slow death and we will have to get a replacement.... maybe on Wednesday.

I start bargaining with God... shouldn't we just go get one of our old refrigerators from the storage unit and plug it in? Isn't there a vacant apartment where we could store something? Couldn't a cold front blow in tonight and we could set things outside to keep cold? It is December in Illinois after all. Nope, nope and nope. Of course the whole idea of salvaging any of the food was ridiculous... grasping at straws I guess.

Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 they arrive with a new refrigerator. It's lovely, brand new from Sears. It's even a little larger than the old one. It even is noticably cold within a couple of hours! Awesome!! but we have nothing left to put in it and no money to go to the store with. Now... don't get me wrong... We had plenty of cereal, crackers, bread, tuna, etc. etc. that could have been made into a meal. My whiny heart just didn't want to deal with it.

I was chatting on Facebook with my brother, and then he quit responding. It was time for me to leave to pick up Mike from work so I signed off and gathered up my stuff and headed out the door. My phone rang and my brother's voice said, "Are you close to Hwy 150?" "Um.. yeah, why?" "Well how close?" "Pretty close.. Why?"  "Ok, is that South Main Street?"   "Yeah, I think so." "Ok sis, head that direction."

I follow my brother's directions and he says "Find the BP gas station." I say, "David, I don't need gas... just a listening ear while I vent all this frustration away." "No really, go the BP station on Main Street." (I know it well... it's just in front of our storage unit.)   "Ok, does it have a Western Union sign?" "y.e.a.h.... ? "   Ok, well there's a gift for you inside. Go out to dinner tonight, go to the movies, or even the grocery store if you want... just go spend it. Call me later when you get the money since I've never done this before and I'll tell you more of the story." Click.

Ok... I walk inside and go to the counter. I say to the man, I am supposed to receive Western Union money but I've never done this before. He just stared at me and said Come back tomorrow. I am new and don't know how to give the money. Hmmm ok God... what does THAT mean??

I walk back out to the car... Well I really should be getting over to pick up Mike from work... I'll figure it out as I go. I dial 411 and ask for another Western Union location, which connects me with their customer service info. I ask some questions and find out I can go to any of their locations. They give me a couple of addresses which are on the way. I stop at Kroger and go to their counter... but there is a sign saying they are on a 30 minute break.

Hmm next address is Kmart. Do I really want to go to Kmart two days before Christmas? I've got 20 minutes before Mike gets off work so I decide to see how long the line is. Wow.. only 1 person in line. I get to the counter and tell my tale. Ok, fill out this form... done... cash! The customer service man at Kmart was so pleasant, harried due to the season and yet wanted to make sure everything was done correctly and showing another co-worker how the process worked. Wow... talk about humbling. The amount was so generous. Walking back out to the car I felt like a troll and a frog... or a frog troll. I had been so focused on myself and my situation, negativity abounding.
I race to pick up Mike (late now) but can't wait to share the whole story! Yippee!! Ketchup, milk, eggs, cheese.

Fast forward to Tuesday, Dec. 27th. I had carefully shopped and saved all the receipts in hopes of getting some sort of reimbursement from our landlord company. $383 and change. Some of it wasn't replaceable, like the fish. It's out of season and like $26 per pound. I called and he offered half of the cost, applied to our January rent. That seemed reasonable-ish... but I now focused on things outside myself. I thanked him for the help and offered to fax the receipts for verification. (I still have them in my purse 6 weeks later!)

I have to say that I work for a large national insurance company, in their home office. And my cubicle is about 50 feet from the Claims dept. I know a few people over there because we share copiers and printers. I ran into Lori and normal chit-chat... how was your Christmas, etc. I mentioned the frantic last minute grocery shopping and the short version of the fridge death. She asked how the process of the claim was going.. assuming that I had done that. "Oh, we have renters insurance but our deductible is high on purpose.. too much hassle for $300." Her eyes just about popped out and she said, "You have to call that in right now! It's a non-chargable non-deductible claim."   I explained that we had been partially reimbursed from the landlord anyway so wasn't going to take advantage. Oh no, she says... this is what your insurance is for. What??? I reluctantly call in the claim, and within 40 minutes I had a check in my hand. Oh my... God's provision is so abundant and overflowing. I still can't believe it happened... and it's only been 6 weeks! Wow...

The fridge works fabulously... shiny, clean, full of everything we like.

Oh.. and the story of how my brother's family was blessed to have more money than they expected is for another day.

Thankfulness

2012-01-09T18:00:00.000-06:00

An earlier post about the forced gratitude, but this one is about the things I really am thankful for.

My husband. We've been together 11 years now and I think we know 95% of what there is to know about each other. (I had to leave the other 5% open since there is always something to learn :). He really tries to understand me and tries so hard to make my life easier. We often have different timeframes of when household things should get done and differing opinions on parenting techniques. But none of those are deal-breakers. He believes in me and encourages me to find outside interests. We both love books and sitting on the porch reading, or laying in bed reading, or finding a new used bookstore... always high on our lists of things to do together. We don't often read the same books, but just the act of being together in a similar task is relaxing in itself. He's honest with me when I want honesty, and is willing to gloss over difficult subjects when it's called for. He is not perfect and we do have disagreements. I do the same complaining as others do. Love covers many annoyances.

My sons. One from my body, and one by choice. They are as unique as two snowflakes, and are at a stage where their maturing toward adulthood is more apparent. And yet even on days where one or both are difficult to like, I see seeds of promise in each of them as men. The oldest is mine by blood. In him I see reflections of many men in his family lines. He is quick to smile, usually slow to anger, not very competitive, likes to make life easier for mom (which always gains points!). He ambles through life without many goals. He's physically strong and generally a marshmallow. He freely gives hugs. My younger son is not of my flesh, and yet our personalities are so similar. He wants to control his own life without interference and be independent. When he turned 11 he really thought he had arrived and that he could now start being in charge of himself. (He was sorely mistaken.) He chafes against being underage for anything. He is fearless and will challenge any authority that he thinks is wrong. He is competitive about everything. He has a contradictory statement for anything... abrasive. And he loves little kids. He was a great mother's helper for his aunt and younger cousins a few years ago. As a high schooler he has babysat at adult parties and will play and play with little ones and believes he's having a great time. He hates that he has a second cousin who just turned 2 that we haven't met in person yet.. and can't wait to hang out with him. Right now he doesn't want children of his own, but I believe that he will be a good daddy someday... a LONG time from now!

To be continued at a later date...

Christmas 2011

2011-12-24T09:01:00.001-06:00

Welcome to those who have stopped by for the first time. So happy about Christmas time. Trying to drink in the moments of family today. Just the four of us.

So there it is.. the fake tree. I grew up always having a tree we cut as a family event, that my parents would leave up for weeks and weeks, and then finally we would have a burning party. Decorating the tree was an event with my mom.. pulling out each ornament, one at a time for my brother and I to place. I still have a lot of my childhood ornaments. I remember my dad with some version of saw... cutting off a few branches at a time to put in the fireplace until only the trunk was left and could be put in the garbage. I was well into adulthood before I saw how dangerous it is!

Now we have an artificial tree. (Artificial seems like the PC term.) Doesn't have an odor of freshness, but is convenient. The heavier ornaments are secure. No one has to remember to water it or worry that it gets too warm. No one has to vacuum around presents to keep it looking nice. No pets this year means no monitoring the lower branches for slobber or missing items.

I expected this week to be relaxed and quiet. Work was that way... Home was not exactly what I planned. But no matter the circumstances, we are here at home. We have all the things we need (and probably several that we want under the tree). . The sun is even shining. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Gratitude

2011-11-13T08:33:00.001-06:00

November is full of reminders to be thankful/grateful and it almost seems overdone to me. I'm blessed to have a family, a home, 2 working vehicles, good health, a good job , food in the cupboard and friends who care about me. So why does the canned Thanksgiving thankfulness irritate me this year? I think it's kind of like Valentine's Day.

Don't get me wrong, I love hearts, romantic dinners with Mike and mushy greeting cards. But it's the idea that one particular day (or month of November) is the time to remember it all. This year "thankfulness" seems to be in my face on Facebook and other blogs. It's that moment of guilt that says "Oh, I should be doing that and publicly thankful for that too". My heels just want to dig in and say NO!

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving Day. It will be just the boys and me. Mike will be working a shift that is not conducive to having a big sit-down feast. I'm looking forward to making their favorite foods, the smell of roasting turkey and stuffing, and the to eating until WE are stuffed.

I am thankful for Mike, Seth and Brandon... because each brings something to my life that I could not get anywhere else. God knew that I needed each of them to make my life complete. Thank you Father, for the gifts you have given me. And when I seem ungrateful, please give me that poke in my brain to remember what I have been given.

Autumn

2011-09-28T15:46:00.000-05:00

Spring and Fall are my favorite times of the year... I guess it's the transition to something new. Strange to see myself liking the transition since I often don't handle change well. I am enjoying the cool mornings and comfortable afternoons. The colorful trees and brown corn stalks.

This is my wallpaper at work.

Although the more I look at it, it looks like a trail I wouldn't really take unless I knew where it led. Too much chance of spider webs to the face... and maybe something scary that could jump out at me.

Midwest sunsets are a thing of beauty. Spectacular a couple of evenings ago, but couldn't get my camera out quickly enough.

10 Year Milestone

2011-09-18T10:12:00.000-05:00

Our 10th wedding anniversary was May 27, 2011. We didn't really do anything too exciting... pizza with the boys. It's the milestone that makes me happy. The boys were 5 and 8 when we got married. Now they're both taller than me. I think Seth is about 5' 10" and Brandon about 5'8". Seth probably has a few more inches in him since his grandpa, uncle and dad all grew after they were out of high school. I'm just glad his feet stopped growing! Brandon keeps stretching and stretching physically... the sky is the limit I guess. He has an uncle who is about 6'4" and a cousin who is 6'5".

Five years ago we couldn't have imagined moving 2300 miles away from everything familiar. Now we're hear and settled. Shortly after getting married we got a dog, and then had multiple pets until just a few months ago... very strange to be pet-free.

Ten years ago I was pretty healthy and Mike was strong and muscled from a physical job. LOL It seems so long ago now. I cherish the pictures of our early months. The picture below was taken by our neighbor, and then she gave it to us when she found out we were moving. Note that Brandon is standing on his tiptoes to seem a little taller.

We had only been married a few months when the morning of 9/11/01 became infamous. Seeing all the news coverage this month has got me thinking more & more about how things changes, and yet how they stay the same. Not sure if I'm ready to think about how the next 10 years will change for us. The most obvious is that the boys will move out and be on their own and Mike and I will have a quiet, boring life. Ha!

2011-09-14T17:27:00.000-05:00

Hmm how did I make it through the summer without posting?

We didn't vacation during the summer. The tall one got a job that lasted a month, and then spent the days lounging. The slightly shorter one spent as much time at the homes of his friends as possible. He came home to shower & change clothes about twice per week, and to try to get in some driving time now and then. All is well health-wise. Mike got a bit of a promotion at work in late August so that's been nice.

We have been living with road construction about 50 yards from our apartment. Literaly construction of a new road. And with construction comes the death of the swamp and then the invasion of various horrible insects. The ants have been the most persistent. We have spent the entire summer battling various sizes & colors of ants. They like the poison so we keep putting it out. Theoretically the bulk of the construction on our street will be done by December... not holding my breath for that.. but it would be nice. Today they poured a new driveway for our parking lot. Would have been helpful if they had used any extra cement to fill the hold in the middle of our parking lot, but of course the landlord corporation would have had to pay for it.

In August we decided to shake things up a bit and rearranged furniture. Partly this was in hopes of getting rid of more bugs & ants. It did help, but we did such a good job of moving things around, we are still putting away... a bit more every day. I have thrown away so much junk! There is something so freeing in realizing that you have no need for paper piles.

I did realize at some point that I really haven't prayed much in a long time. Not really a reason for this, but I confess that it did take me a long time to realize that I missed it. I am working on being thankful and praying for my boys.

Fish

2011-05-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

From http://www.recipe.com/, they credit Family Circle magazine.
Forgot to take my own picture so here is the website version.

18 Ritz crackers
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
4 tilapia filets (about 1-1/2 pounds total)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste

Oven at 425. Crush crackers in a zipper sandwich bag, then add basil, Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Zip the bag shut and smoosh everything together.

Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray and place filets on it. Brush a thin layer of Dijon on each filet, then press a handful of cracker mix on each filet. Bake 12-15 minutes. Check fish with a fork to see it the thickest parts are flaky - and it's Done!

We've had this twice to rave reviews. Most of my guys don't care for Dijon mustard at all, but they don't mind the little bit in this recipe. I didn't use salt, but substituted some lemon pepper sprinkled between the Dijon and the cracker mix.

The interesting thing is that the mustard must do something to the fishy smell that you normally would have. There is ZERO smell, and of course clean up is easy. I plan to try this on halibut and trout.

April Drama

2011-04-28T16:10:00.001-05:00

Usually I love April... It's officially spring and even though there is usually a lot of rainy days, there are peeks of sun that keep getting more frequent. Except this year...

It's been a busy month. Let's see, starting April 4th, Mike started a round of doctor appointments that hasn't ended yet. In fact each appointment seems to spawn 2-3 more! Being insulin-dependent for 40+ years does take a toll and we knew this time would come eventually... but knowing that in the back of your head doesn't do justice to hearing the doctor say "Hmm.. we need to explore..." this or that possibility.

In January Mike had 2 doctors... a general primary care doc and an endocrinologist. Now he has at least 7! Now - I am NOT complaining - actually just the opposite. I want him to be healthy and to be with me a very long time.

So.. here it goes. Back on February 1st Mike's PCP (primary care physician) recommended having an updatd echocardiogram to see how his heart murmur was doing. No big deal, happens every few years. But, due to an impending blizzard, they wanted to do it ASAP - meaning that same day. As always, nothing remarkable is said during the test.

Winter continues. 5 weeks go by and Mike goes back for the next appointment. Dr. PCP says "When is your appointment with cardiology? I don't see it in the system." Mike says, "Don't know what you're talking about. I don't have an a cardiologist." Dr. PCP says, "Didn't they call you with results of your echocardiogram? You need to be seen by a cardiologist." Dr. PCP is very flustered and leaves the room. Mike broke the cardinal rule of doctor appts. and used his cell phone while the doctor was gone. He called me to say that Dr. PCP seems a little frantic and I'll let you know as soon as I find something out. Dr. PCP comes back and tells Mike he has an appt. scheduled for April 4th, a few weeks away. Okay.. so not too urgent...

We spend the rest of March waiting for spring weather to appear, go on a fabulous vacation for Spring Break to Washington DC and Virginia, and return home to the beginnings of spring thunderstorm season. Somewhere in there he also acquired a dermatologist and a podiatrist. The appointed day finally rolls around and we go to meet the cardiologist, Dr. P. She reviewed some records and asked some questions... and says she suspects the source of the heart murmur, the aortic valve, needs to be replaced... likely within a year.

Hmm... lots to think about. First order of business is a series of 4 tests to see more specifically how damagaed the valve is. Another echo, a Holter monitor, a Doppler on his legs, and a catheterization with dye. the first 4 are non-invasive and really don't entail anything on Mike's part except showing up for the appointments. The "cath" is planned for one day, outpatient procedure scheduled for Tuesday, April 19th. We know that if "something" is found during the procedure, they will attempt to fix it. All the pre-requisite worst-case scenarios are discussed and paperwork signed. Mike and I both were a little nervous, but my biggest prayer was that they would find something and be able to fix it.

Chalk that up to the "Be careful what you pray for" category. They did both halves of his blood vessels.. veins and arteries. Ultimately the dye showed that his aortic valve is not as damaged as feared, but the left descending artery was 80% blocked. The LAD is also sometimes called the "Widowmaker" as it feeds most of the blood to the lower heart muscle, and if 100% blocked there is too much damage to the heart muscle... that is, death is immediate.

They give me an update at the 90 minute mark to say that this is what they've found and per our signatures on the paperwork, they will be fixing it, which usually takes about 30 more minutes. I find my way to the cafeteria and back (without too much getting lost) and right at the 30 minute mark, the doctor comes to tell me Mike is in recovery and doing well.

Eventually I am shown the way to his room on the cardiac care unit. The procedure was done with wakeful sedation, so he was just a little bit tired. The surgery people weren't completely happy with his blood's ability to clot at that time so they left an IV sheath type thing in his vein for the cardiac nurses to take out. I wish I had a picture of how funny it was... Nurse 1 with her intern, Charge Nurse with another intern, and 1 more intern watching from the foot of the bed. Nurse 1 tests his clotting ability.. sample doesn't have enough blood. Intern #1 had watched and now begins to take sample #2. She does fine and the blood has cooperated... time to remove the sheath. However, there is some question as to whether this hole is the vein or the artery, and if it is the artery, it could spring a big leak and cause some problems. Mike points out that he remembers that they did the arterial portion first and it is the upper hole.. and the one in question is the venous one marked with V on the tape, which they have now removed & discarded. None of the nurses really believe him... "better safe than sorry" they say.

Now, 4 sets of nurse hands converge on Mike's groin to make sure there is enough pressure to cut off blood flow if indeed this is the apocalypse and Mike's femoral artery should burst while taking out the sheath. Mike looks at me and laughs... "If I were younger and SINGLE, this might be fun!" His slightly groggy brain finds this highly funny and he giggles to himself, which causes his whole body to move around and the nurses have to wait for him to be still... 20 minutes of lying perfectly still with 4 sets of hands pressing down along his groin & leg "just in case." All is accomplished without incident and he was adorned with those lovely plastic bandaids.

I brought the boys to see him Tuesday evening and we spent an hour together. Wednesday morning I got the boys to school, and then spent the morning with Mike, just waiting to be discharged. He decided the bed was not comfortable enough so he was in the recliner and I was in the bed watching House on tv. Kind of a strange show to watch while you are in a hospital.

They let him out after lunch and we drove carefully home. He missed 3 additional days of work on doctor's orders. On that Friday, Apr. 22nd, he sees endocrinologist Dr. K, who wants him to be on a continuous monitoring system with his insulin pump (read that as additional dollars per month). We are considering this and will likely do a 72 hour trial of it soon... but not sure we are ready for another expense.

On Wednesday, April 29th he saw a vascular doctor (who is in league with the cardiologist), who will work on the apparent lessening blood flow to his legs. She explains that the Dopper tests from earlier in the month show that he has a problem in both legs, but wants a little more detail... so more tests. Lo & behold they schedule him for the next day! I'm more nervous this time because of the immediate nature. It's supposed to take a month to get scheduled. However we finally now have a 3 week break from doctor appointments. Mike's next visit is May 19th for 1 month follow up on the stent. Here's to a quiet 3 weeks!

Cooking up a storm

2011-03-06T09:36:00.000-06:00

I've been in a cooking whirl since last fall. Trying new recipes, new ways of doing old standards... and the best part is that it has been well-received.

This is one of our new favorites: Double Onion, Kielbasa & Potato Roast with Mustard Sauce

I am a fan of quick easy dinners, and generally speaking we're not picky eaters. I saw this one in a Woman's Day magazine email and printed it out last September. What could be better than meat & potatoes?! I've made it 4 times so far and it just keeps getting better.

Here's the recipe - and then my comments in color.

First, the sauce....
1/2 cup of reduced-fat sour cream
2 Tablespoons of country-style Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon of little water.

Stir together & chill. I have found that a little less mustard, or a little more sour cream is a better fit for my guys.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Takes a longer time so make sure to get it heating up. Position oven racks to divide space into thirds.

2 leeks, chopped
1 large sweet onion, cut into ½ inch thick wedges. Don’t worry about separating the layers as the cooking process does this.
4 teaspoons oil (I use olive oil)
4 large carrots, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces (I use whatever is on hand. If I have baby carrots, I just cut them lengthwise)
5 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut lengthwise in quarters, then halved crosswise
¼ teaspoon each of salt & pepper
1 turkey or beef kielbasa (14 oz.), cut in 2 inch pieces, then halved lengthwise
2 rimmed baking pans

I use 15 x 2 cookie sheets/jelly roll pans, lined with foil to make cleanup easier. My local stores tend to sell leeks in bundles of 3 so I use all three. Chop the leeks and onions & combine in a large metal bowl with half of the oil. Toss together and then dump onto pan #1. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Chop carrots and potatoes and combine in the large bowl with the remaining oil. Dump this onto pan #2. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Place onions on top rack, carrots & potatoes on bottom rack. Roast for 15 minutes.

While this is roasting, cut up kielbasa. I have found with 2 teen boys and a husband who all enjoy meat that it works well to double the meat. Last time I did 1 beef kielbasa and 1 polish sausage.

When the timer rings, remove the pans and toss ingredients around each pan. Add the meat to the carrot/potato pan and arrange as flat as possible. Recipe says to put them both pans back in the oven but I find that the onions are getting crispy and seem pretty soft so I don’t put them back. Put the meat/carrot/potato pan back into oven on bottom rack for 15 minutes longer, or until vegetables are fork tender.

Once this is done, everything goes back in the big bowl and is tossed together. Everyone serves himself, sauce is available, and usually we have enough for seconds for everyone.

Pseudo-cleaning

2011-01-04T16:47:00.000-06:00

I am happy to report that I successfully crammed all the Christmas stuff back into the boxes and tubs from whence they came in December. The tree was carefully taken apart and put into its box, and now it's all back in the storage unit.

It feels like I've done a major clean-up/cleaning out of junk, but really it's just the extras that I put out for a month, and then put away. And now I'm left with the same dingy carpet, piles of laundry and pantry-with-lots-of-random-items-that-don't-go-together that I had in late November.

I think I'm ready for a major clean-up/purge event... or at least I'm mentally preparing for one.

2011 - The beginning

2011-01-02T11:20:00.000-06:00

Our holiday season is modified a bit due to Mike's work schedule on weekends & holidays so today is our "New Years Day" celebration of relaxation & junk food. We are watching old movies (1980's) on Netflix, and munching homemade chex mix & cheese dip & cookies.

At the end of 2010 I spent several weeks in a stressed-out knot of emotion & frustration. I am working on letting it go and working toward enjoying a few specific moments each day. Less expectation = much less stress!

A new post?

2010-09-11T15:36:00.000-05:00

It's finally time for a new post. I've thought about what to write and planned a few sentences but so far it's not working out the way I like. So... starting from scratch...

It's a quiet Saturday afternoon. Brandon is with Addi for the afternoon and then babysitting in the evening. Seth helped me at work this afternoon and we got it all done in record time. Buster is snoozing in his crate - his choice of sleeping place. And I am sitting here eating marshmallows. Planning to bake a texas cake brownie in a few minutes... planning dinner (hamburgers on the grill)... cleaning the kitchen... the usual Saturday stuff.

Football season is in full swing. Brandon is doing great for his first season. He's number 22, third from the left in the picture below.

More soon, I promise!

Random Saturday Thoughts

2010-06-05T16:21:00.000-05:00

Hmmm not really planning to write but feels like I should since it's been more than a week. The dog is snoozing at my feet. The boys are playing Xbox and not fighting! Mike is on his way home from work. Gave the dog a bath. I should have worked on baby quilts but haven't yet.

A few photos I haven't posted before from the trip to Woldhuis Farms in March.

Brandon really liked the pallet mover with his last name on it. Takes little to amuse that boy!

Last Friday of May

2010-05-28T12:06:00.000-05:00

I took today as a vacation day and will therefore have a 4-day weekend! I've only checked work email once so far.

Yesterday was our 9th anniversary and we celebrated with Pizza Hut with the boys. Brandon wished us a happy anniversary and I responded "Happy anniversary to you too." He had a puzzled look on his face so I said "Happy anniversary of becoming my son!" He rolled his 14-year old eyes and grinned.

We're going to take a drive this afternoon and just look at the countryside. Happy Friday everyone!!

stream of consciousness

2010-05-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

The last day of school is looming over me like a giant tower waitin to fall. I'm not looking forward to summer wtih the boys at home. Fortunately Brandon will have football camp starting in a couple of weeks... although I'm not sure I'm ready to be a high school football mom. My youngest in high school?? And it seems so strange to think about football when the summer hasn't even started yet.

I think of football in terms of cool drizzling Friday nights... back in 1983. Wearing Saxon scarlet and columbia blue (we couldn't just be fire-engine-red and light blue!). Everything had to be red and blue... and so much better if you wore a Saxon football jersey and had matching ribbons in your hair and matching laces in your Nikes. Rarely sitting in the bleachers, we had to circle the field all during the game... to see and be seen. Oh the memories... Even at the time I knew that I would have been content to sit on the bleachers and concentrate on the game, but as a girl that was not looked kindly upon. Girls weren't supposed to care about the details during the game... just whether we win or lose.

I am looking toward a rather bland day. It's 8:10am and I have already caught up on work email, read a few blogs, talked with a co-worker, and now I really don't have much to do. I guess I can look forward to lunch... I did brown bag it today.

Favorites - Music at Work

2010-05-12T08:33:00.000-05:00

I should be able to carry this thread out for awhile.. but today my new favorite radio station is Broadway Love Songs on AccuRadio.com. I think it's a new guilty pleasure but the guilt hasn't kicked in yet. LOL

Reception at my desk it to iffy to have a radio at my desk but we can use online music and headphones so when I need to tune out the office noise I use AccuRadio.com. There are so many options of music to choose from, and in February they introduced a "love song" station. I avoided it... too sappy, right? But today I needed something peppy and fun so I tried the Broadway sub-channel. It's terrific!! I've heard Barbra, Ethel Merman, Harry Connick Jr., Judy Garland, and a host of others. Just had to share!

Changes of Life

2010-05-05T10:59:00.000-05:00

I am not a small person. I'm overweight and I can say it. Technically I'm obese and apple shaped. That being said, I am rarely cold. When I was young and correctly proportioned (never was thin) I would get cold hands, feel the chill, etc. Goosebumps are a thing of my past.

At this point in my life I am hot. Not Paris Hilton "hot," but meaning very warm temperature. I have a fan at my desk at work and run it almost every day of the year. I have had the ceiling fans going at home for more than a month.... even all night long. Being in the midst of menopause doesn't help... hot flashes are horrible! I don't think you'll find any woman who enjoys them.
I admit that I am looking forward to ending "that time of the month" although mine is pretty easy & uneventful. I don't yearn for a return to the childbearing years.

My boys are almost grown. I like that they can go out after dark to take out the trash or take the dog for a walk, and I don't have to worry that someone will grab a sweet little boy from my yard. They are both on the edge of being men. Scary thought... but so true. I am not looking forward to either one moving out on his own, but I know that time will come sooner than later. I do enjoy the fact that they are old enough to watch some of my tv shows and don't have nightmares afterward. They understand the humor and dramatic license. They are both beginning to own their faith, figuring out how they will fit into God's plan.

Changes are not easy. Choosing whether to be upset or accepting of life change is such a cruicial part of growing up. In my mind I'm still not finished growing or changing. Seems like I read somewhere that when a person is finished growing is the day they die... or something like that. It makes sense to me.

Monday is canceled

2010-05-03T13:07:00.000-05:00

I'll let the photo speak for itself.

Birthday Girl

2010-04-27T08:08:00.001-05:00

Yep, here it is... my birthday. I'm 44 today!

I wonder why it is that we still feel 20-something-ish in our heads. I know I'm not 20-something. I don't think I'd really want to be 20-something again... although I would change somethings, like how I parented my son when he was a toddler. From that I know that I've grown and changed my attitude about life, love and a lot of things. Forty-ish seems to have made me more reflective of choices and consequences.

Well, off to start the day!

Saturday

2010-04-24T12:51:00.001-05:00

It's 12:51pm. I generally love Saturdays. Mike is up early for work and I get to sleep in. Buster snuggles in tight once Mike is gone and we stretch and doze and roll over and sleep some more. I didn't get up until 9:45 this morning! That's practically a record for me!

The boys stayed up late and watched Avatar. Seth said it ended around 1:30 this morning. Oh to be a teenager again. Brand is planning an afternoon movie with Addi and another friend.

I have the crock pot going with a beef roast. I have caught up on current events. I think it's time to start a new book. Yay!!

Short

2010-04-21T06:33:00.001-05:00

I'm officially the shortest human in this home. And I'll continue to shrink in stature for a few more years. Fortunately I still have a drill-sargeant voice that can bring them to their knees... at least for a few minutes.

Spring has Sprung and I'm loving it!

2010-04-19T15:17:00.001-05:00

It's been weeks since I even visited my own blog... so busy being outside in the wonderful Midwest spring weather. I love daffodils and tulips blooming madly... the irises will be along shortly. I love looking at the trees that were recently completely bare, and now they are leafed out and full of life. The birds are twittering around all around our building. I'm sure nesting season is fast approaching.

I even planted a few flowers this weekend... room for another post!

Counting down

2010-03-25T13:18:00.000-05:00

I've been counting weeks, then days, then hours and finally today is the day! My parents are coming to visit. Just checked online and the first leg of their flight is on-time. They should be in St. Louis around 6:45 tonight. We're driving down to meet them and will spend the night.

Today is Mike's birthday - he's 46 and really doesn't want to be reminded of it. We'll go out to dinner tonight and celebrate.

Here's to Spring!

I love Snow!!

2010-02-05T08:17:00.000-06:00

We are getting another batch of winter weather today and I'm so excited! Being from Oregon, any snow is an event.

I will say that I don't enjoy the salt on the roads after the main snow event is gone, but I am grateful for the lack of slippery roads. I just don't like my shiny black vehicle spattered with snow. I think there should be something like Rain-X to put on the sides of cars so that gunk just rolls right off.

Here's a picture from last month's ice & snow. I am starting to enjoy the native prairie grass, espcially when it's pretty like in this photo.

January Full Moon?

2010-01-29T10:55:00.000-06:00

Don't know what the deal is this week... is it the full moon or is it just that doctors have finally gotten their heads back on track since the holidays? I can't believe how many people I know who are dealing with cancer diagnoses. Cancer is almost a syndrome because it has so many forms and causes.

I had to pull out my Relay for Life bookmark and remember:

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot take away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot surppress memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot conquer the spirit.
-- author unknown

Many prayers for Amy and Myrna for the foreseeable future. Thank you Lord for new treatments, support groups and families that are built stronger through their journey.

One magical inch

2009-12-15T16:15:00.000-06:00

Read back to September's post and Brandon was 5 ft. 3-1/4 inches tall. As of two days ago he has grown one magical inch which makes him taller than Mom. He is happy to remind me of this at least 6 times per day.

We have recently had two cousins born into our families. Mike's niece had a baby boy on Nov. 11th and Seth's cousin had a baby girl on Nov. 23rd. So fun to wander the baby aisles in the stores and see all the fun little clothes, plus all the crazy gadgets. Only 16 years ago I didn't need most of this stuff!

Almost Christmas

2009-12-06T21:35:00.001-06:00

Ok, at long last I am actually making a new post. I use my blog to follow lots of other blogs, but rarely think to update mine. Here's to a new year resolution in December.

Family update

2009-09-30T09:35:00.000-05:00

We are enjoying the beginning of fall in Illinois. The evenings are definitely cooler and this week's days have been sunny and beautiful. We went to the Apple 'N' Pork Festival in Clinton, IL last weekend. A lot of fun to visit little towns and wander around.

My parents went to visit my brother's family last week (Micah's birthday) and and she sent a few pictures. I always like to point out that David is younger than I but has much more gray hair... a little sister love there... Makes me laugh that the kids are all in jeans when it was about 100 degrees there.

Kendra is 15, Caleb is 13-1/2, and Micah turned 12 this week.

A Thursday Post

2009-09-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

Today I just wanted to look at something pretty.

Almost looks like Oregon weather in central Illinois today. Has been really foggy the past 3 mornings and doesn't totally burn off through the day. Definitely has an autumn chill in the air in the evenings.

Headaches & Stomachaches

2009-09-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

Between Mike's 4-1/2 day migraine last week, Seth's cold and now Brandon's "I don't feel good" mantra, I feel like "Dr. Mom".

Brandon had a physical yesterday and is perfectly healthy, but he got the bacterial menigitis vaccine and I think that's driving his "I don't feel good", as in he's talking himself into not feeling well. The doctor said Brandon is primed for a big growth spurt "any minute". As of yesterday he was 5 ft. 3-1/4 inches. In Oregon he was later at growing than most of his friends, but here it seems he is right in the middle of the pack, height-wise.

Seth has lost several pounds in the past month. He has a pair of shorts that now just fall off after he fastens them. In addition to PE at school, he is walking on the treadmill for 45-60 minutes almost every day. I think partly it's so he can have some quiet, alone time with his cell phone, texting. I know he's not moving very fast on the treadmill, but he's moving and that's what counts!

The dogs keep doing their doggy things. Buster really likes the toy box for all the balls and stuffed animals. He carefully digs around for each item and spreads them around the house. "Magically" the next day, they are all back in the box and he repeats the game. At least it keeps him busy & away from pestering Buddy for a few minutes.

And yes I did change the format & background. I had to mess around with it for awhile to get rid of the old one completely, but I triumphed in the end and everything was saved.

Monday Madness... never ends

2009-08-24T16:56:00.000-05:00

While I wasn't directly affected by some of the chaos in the office today, it swirled around a vortex that was self-sustaining.

The boys have survived 3 full days of school, through today. Here is my text conversation with Brandon this afternoon:

Mom - texted to both boys - home yet? Shouldn't have 2 remind u everyday
Brandon - Yes im home and remind of what
Mom - 2 let me know that u r home
Brandon - Why mom. im capable
Mom - Yes u r capable of getting home BUT i need 2 know u made it alive. common courtesy 2 obey ur mother
Brandon - Ok

Five minutes later Seth replies - Yea we're home

August 19th

2009-08-19T09:01:00.000-05:00

Lots of things have happened on August 19th in my past... My neice was born 15 years ago. A nephew was born 22 (?) years ago. Seth broke out in a measle-type rash on the 10th day after his MMR vaccine... wish I had a picture of that one.

And now 2009 - it's the first day of school! I did take pictures and will post those tonight. Our drive & drop-off times worked well. It's a short day for both boys. I took the afternoon off to spend with them. Maybe we'll do something fun... like shopping!

Twice Yearly Posting?

2009-08-17T11:32:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it has been almost 6 months since I posted here. So much has happened...

March - the boys came to visit Illinois during Spring Break. Loved having them with us, hated sending them back to Oregon. The apartment was sooo quiet after they left.

April - Seth's famous bike accident. More on that in a later post....

May - I don't really remember May.

June - I don't remember much of June either except that there was a hot, humid spell here and it was not fun. Then at the end of the month I attended Women of Faith in St. Louis with my mom. My dad and the boys arrived safely on June 30th.

July - A month of juggling Seth's doctor appts with new doctorsa nd figuring out the best course of follow-up treatment.

August - Now both boys are enrolled in school and are ready to start on Wednesday the 19th. Whew!

Making a trip to the Library?

2009-02-24T15:16:00.000-06:00

The BBC made a list of classics that they thought everyone should read. They said they reckon that most people have read six of these. Put an "x" behind the ones that you have read. I tag whomever wants to play!

I am happy to say that I have 17 X's on this list... which is no surprise if you know me. Wonder if seeing the movie counts??!!! Think I'll be making a trip to the library very soon.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell X
9 His Dark Materials trilogy - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell X
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery X
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zol
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Alborn
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

A New Friend

2009-02-17T16:45:00.000-06:00

We have been attending Eastview Christian Church and really like it. It is a mega-church compared to what we are used to, but the excitement and energy radiating from the people are motivating.

I met a lady at a membership-type class at the church, who also works at Country, and she has now invited me to a women's Bible study with an exercise class. It's on Tuesday evenings, and I'm not going tonight... but I did put it on my calendar for next week. They are studying Balance that Works when Life Doesn't by Susie Larson. I've added Susie's blog to my list and am excited to get started with the exercise group/Bible study.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T10:45:00.000-06:00

My valentine and I are together this morning, having hot tea & coffee, looking at the snow out our window. Yes, it snowed a little last night.. maybe only half an inch. I still like it... but the Illinois natives are restless and ready for spring. This snow is not supposed to last long; the sun is already hitting it.

We are not planning much for the weekend. I brought a lot of work home, and a few errands to run. Otherwise it's just another day in paradise :) !

Central Illinois

2009-01-12T11:31:00.001-06:00

Well, 2 weeks into residency we are adjusting well. I survived the first week in my new office pretty well. I didn't get lost any of the times I went to the cafeteria or conference rooms. The girls in my department have been very welcoming and wonderfully helpful.

Mike is still job-hunting. Just getting a call back would be nice... keep praying!

The boys are doing great with Grammie and Grandpa. Brandon has been the one to call more often, just needing to know what we are doing, if we like it, how is Buddy liking the area, etc. It's his way of being reassured.

We are still unpacking, although I definitely see that we are making progress. Mike has rearranged the 2nd bedroom to make more room for getting to boxes. So far nothing is broken... all the depression glass, china, trinkets, etc. survived intact.

We are adjusting to Central Time on the TV schedule. It is very weird that 8pm shows are on at 7pm, and so on. All three local network channels have news at 10pm, and then Letterman & Leno come on at 10:35pm.

Groceries are pretty close to the same prices as Oregon. Gas is about $1.87. Houses look a little lower than Salem, but we aren't looking much... waiting for the Salem house to sell... #2 item to pray for.

We are supposed to get a cold snap today... then another one late Tuesday/early Wednesday. By Thursday, the high temp is forecast to be 5 above zero!! It is much drier than Oregon so in some ways it doesn't seem as cold. We'll keep staying warm by the gas fireplace!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T10:02:00.000-06:00

I can't believe the whole month of December went by without a post... wow.

The Hawaii vacation was fabulous. I only got a little sunburned, and no peeling. I'll find the cord for the camera soon. Speaking of finding things, our move to Illinois has happened too.

We left Salem on Dec. 26th and headed south to Vacaville to stay the night with my brother's family. Buddy tried to drown himself in the pool (he's mostly blind and blundered into it in the dark), but we found him in time. The water was so cold, and he doesn't swim well. He was very happy to be held and dried, and then snuggle on the bed with us. No lasting effects.. except he is more cautious about stepping where the ground changes.. like from grass to cement, or tile to carpet.

Saturday, Dec. 27, we left Vacaville at 7am and drove south toward Bakersfield. We had one small adventure in that following the GPS unit (Rhoda) took us off I-5, across the freeway, down a local road for 2-3 miles, back across the freeway, down another road for 4-5 miles, and then back on the freeway. There was no construction, nothing to avoid... we just followed instructions. We could see I-5 all the time and kept thinking there was a point to the detour... but there wasn't.

At Bakersfield we finally turned east and went across the Mojave desert. There was quite a bit of traffic, but even more was headed the opposite way. Very uneventful... and quite chilly. I've only been through the Mojave a couple of times that I remember and this was the first time in the winter. We had one stop for gas where I had to wait in line for 30 minutes for the ladies room. No one in line was happy about that. We arrived in Kingman, Arizona at about 7:30pm... a long day.

Sunday, Dec. 28th, we slept in later and reaaranged the van contents quite a bit. It helped a lot to be able to see where things were and reach what we wanted. We drove due east and crossed Arizona and New Mexico that day. The weather was cold and sunny. We crossed the Continental Divide at 7,330 feet. We stopped in Tucumcari, NM for the night. Sunday's drive was only about 10 hours.

Monday, Dec. 29th, we left early and thought we would grab a quick bite of breakfast on our way out of town, or maybe at the next exit. However, we kept driving and driving and there was nothing! We crossed the New Mexico/Texas border and it was more desolate than the Mojave. The best thing about this part of the drive is that we were seeing amazing high-desert landscape. Several places reminded us of the cliff scenes in the movie Cars... the bluffs really did look like the fronts of old cars. We stopped briefly at the Petrified Forest National Park because Mike had never seen it. By the time we stopped in Amarillo, Texas, it was long past breakfast. After Texas was Oklahoma, and on to Oklahoma City, finally turning northeast toward Tulsa and then Missouri. We stayed in Springfield, MO on Monday night. Kudos to La Quinta hotel because they don't charge up-front for small pets.

Tuesday, Dec. 30th, was the final stretch. Our goal was to get to Bloomington by afternoon so we could pick up the keys to our new apartment. We made it by 3:00, and were at our apartment by 4:00pm. It's nice, fairly large and very beige. Everything is a neutral color. We went to Walmart for a few necessities, like a shower curtain and something to sit on, and some groceries. The only glitches we found were that the toilet leaks in one bathroom, and the tub drain doesn't work in the other bathroom. The tub drain shouldn't be too hard to fix... back to Walmart for some Drano.

New Year's Eve was very quiet and uneventful. We stayed up until midnight watching movies on the computer... and then I couldn't sleep. I stayed up until 2:37 this morning... reading by the fire in the living room. Life is good... our household goods get delivered tomorrow (Friday) so we'll have the weekend to get organized.

I'll post more soon with more thoughts and less facts.

Adoption Announcement

2008-11-26T14:58:00.000-06:00

Join us in prayers of praise and thanksgiving!!

Our petition for the stepparent adoption of Brandon Michael has been granted by the State of Oregon. Dawn is now his legal mother, just as if he was physically born to us.

Not knowing his biological mother, at age 5 Brandon gave me his trust and love. We explained that when people are added to a family, God doesn’t let us lessen the love for people already in our lives, but instead gives us a new piece to add to our heart as the new person is integrated into our life.

Vital Statistics:
Age: 12 years, 7 months
Height: 5 ft. 2 in.
Weight: 93 lbs.

Our family is complete!

Time Warp

2008-11-18T13:21:00.000-06:00

Countdown Status:

- 48 days until I start work in Bloomington

- 37 days until Christmas

- 25 days until we leave for Hawaii

- 9 days until Thanksgiving

It's getting closer and closer! I am not entirely past the anxiety, but I am now able to adjust my focus away from the negative things, and think about packing for Hawaii. Looking around the house, it doesn't feel like we're getting ready to move. Very few things are in boxes in the garage. Closets & drawers are still loaded. We are eating up some stuff out of the freezers and I haven't done a big fall stock-up of non-perishables for the winter. I think this weekend will be the time to get the rest of the summer clothes sorted, some packed for Hawaii, and some just packed away.

My brother and I have both decided that we don't care about activities and sight-seeing in Hawaii. We will both be content just sitting on a beach, staring at the ocean.

Just a quick one

2008-11-05T18:31:00.000-06:00

Countdown Status:
- 60 days until I start work in Bloomington
- 49 days until Christmas
- 38 days until we leave for Hawaii
- 22 days until Thanksgiving

Whew! Our fact-finding trip to Illinois was fruitful. It is a very stereo-typical Midwest college town. There is very little change in the landscape. Can't wait to see the seasons change there. Met some of Mike's extended family, that he hasn't seen for almost 25 years.

I have found myself mentally divorcing (?), detaching myself from Salem. I supposed its a coping mechanism for all the change. We'll definitely have a place for our belongings.

Please pray for the sale of our house. I find myself repeating to God, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief." I want to trust God's timing, but now that we have less than 8 weeks to be there, it's becoming apparent that only he can work a miracle to sell our house and have it be an appropriate amount of money that we need.

I'll be back soon!

Lame Duck

2008-10-22T11:22:00.000-05:00

I'm rapidly becoming a lame duck at work. There just isn't as much to do here.

The countdown is as follows:

- 74 days to Jan. 5 to begin the new position in Illinois

- 63 days until Christmas

- 51 days until we leave for Hawaii

- 7 days until Mike & I had for Illinois on an apartment-finding mission

Seth asked me this morning "When do you have another school week?" - meaning a really busy week at work with lots of trainees, etc. I've had about 10 per year for the last 6 years... and the last one was in September... and it was the last one here in Oregon.

I will have a couple of 2-day and 3-day groups in November. Probably will have jury duty in the last half of November, then two weeks to pack up the office (will probably only take a couple of days). Ho hum... what to do.... I guess it's time for some hot chocolate this morning. Toodles.

Fall Equinox

2008-09-20T13:35:00.000-05:00

I am breathing cool autumn air this morning... what a relief from the heat of summer. Doesn't this picture just invite you to wander down the road?

I'm watching the boys do yardwork; sprucing up the lawn & edges for an open house tomorrow. My family is in the midst of what could be turmoil with a job transfer coming at Christmas, moving 2100 miles away from home, house for sale and the chore of keeping it "perfect" every day. But as I read each Caring Bridge update for Darian, Chance, and others am reminded that we are so blessed with physical health.

The Lord gave me this job 7 years ago and has continued to amaze us through it. I had a very stressful week at work with a training school and survivied it with mental health intact. I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend with my boys. Mike has Sunday off work so the four of us will have a wonderful family day.

For Sale

2008-08-27T17:51:00.000-05:00

Whew! The anticipation is over... the house is officially "on the market." Sign went into the front yard on Tuesday. I like some of the pictures the realtor took, but I think I could do better. I'm going to take more pictures tonight and will try to upload them from Seth's laptop (which of course doesn't have the camera software).

It's just Mike and I this week. Brando is at the coast with a friend's family and Seth is with his dad. We'll have to find something fun to do in the evenings... besides washing windows, painting baseboards, etc. Now the true wait begins... trusting God's timing for the sale, praying for the potential buyers, keeping the house perfect every day, etc. With the house this clean I find myself wanting to drag out projects to work on... which would make large messes, so my goal for the week is to play the piano at least 30 minutes each day and read for at least 1 hour uninterrupted. Such luxury!

Who am I?

2008-08-20T13:08:00.000-05:00

Lord, I'm amazed by you... Who am I that you are mindful of me?
Just two of the songs on the CD I am listening to. Wonderfully soothing & uplifting today.

It's been a quiet morning at work, which is unusual. I am cleaning out a file cabinet and throwing away old junk.

I have been thinking about our new home and town.. what it will be like, finding a church, new friends, etc. I know I will miss things here but I feel myself backing away already. There are still four months before we actually move. It's hard to think of fall kickoffs at church for the fall programs, knowing we will be gone in a short time. I'm sure it must be hard for the boys too, with school coming up in just two weeks.

My prayer focus this week is that God would reveal his plan for the house sale, and the boys settling into the school routine. I love my family and want them to be secure and comfortable.

The song playing right now is You are God alone... From before time began You were on your throne... And right now through the good times and bad You are on your throne and you are God alone. Unchangeable, unshakable, unstoppable... that's what You are. Wonderful to be able to release the stress of life and just focus on Him.

Thousand Dollar Thursday

2008-08-14T17:50:00.000-05:00

Ok, I didn't win the money today, but I did actually know the song at least. We're so close on the house. I'm working on a couple of projects in the AIR-CONDITIONED house tonight. I'll make Brnadon go out and water everything tonight.

Really not looking forward to leaving my lovely cool office for the bus... but maybe today the newer bus will have not broken down and will still be in service on both of my routes.

Today's picture is because I have to hold on to the surety that autumn will be here soon... along with cool temperatures, fog and beautiful multi-colored trees.

Getting the house ready to sell

2008-08-01T16:24:00.000-05:00

We have made so much progress in the past month... and yet there is still more to do. The boys have been awesome about their part in the process.

We have made 2 trips to the dump, and probably have one more next week. The garage door was replaced today - hurray! The picture was taken with my phone and I think it's a pretty good picture.

I am starting to have anxiety about how long it might take to sell. My head says "God has the right buyers preparing now and they will be ready at the right time." However my emotions are on a roller-coaster of what-if's. I know the move is the right decision and have no regrets about moving forward. I just wish the unknown was know-able.

July Heat

2008-07-03T14:34:00.001-05:00

I am officially tired of hot weather. At least there is a breeze today and the California smoke has mostly gone away... but it's still hot. I wonder how I will deal with it in the Midwest... those hot, humid summers.

It has been a long two weeks of waiting to plan and planning to wait. We are officially moving forward - finally. The moving company has done their official survey, and the realtor has been contacted and our first remodeling and painting projects are 95% done. Next focus is the garage door, the family room floor, and exterior paint. Looking forward to making progress and getting the house listed. Praying it will sell for the amount we would like to get.

However, God has been arranging this for a long time (looking back more than 1 year... ) so we have to believe that He has a plan for how and when the house sale will take place, and who will buy it.

Point A to Point B

2008-06-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

I guess I didn't post this specifically before... I have accepted a job offer in Bloomington, Illinois, with my company. I work in the training dept. and they're consolidating all of the main training to the home offices. I'll have my same job, title, & co-workers... but we will get to be in the same time zone.

Mike is excited, except for the part about driving across the country in late December. The boys are unsure, but not negative.

The plan is to sell our house in the next 6 months and move between Christmas & New Years. We have SO much to do in a very short time. My hope is to have the house ready to list around the first week of July.

It's 2,100 miles, so mid-winter it will probably take at least 5 days of driving. The adventurous part of me is excited. I've never lived in the Midwest. It's close to several big cities. Another part of me is unsure... new church, new climate/weather, politics of a big corporate office, Mike's job, etc. I haven't had regrets or doubts about the decision so far. Feeling at peace and that it is the right decision for us.

Monday evening

2008-06-03T00:02:00.001-05:00

The confession - I did bring work home today. I didn't do much of it though. Mike is home from work now, and I'm ready to quit for the evening.

Seth did pretty well today. No pain meds, and not much complaining about the overwhelming load of homework. He's going to try school tomorrow.

One of his friends has called a few times and really wants (1) Seth back at school and (2) Seth to commit to staying at Sprague through their senior year. I told Seth I didn't know if that could happen. He said that's his goal right now. I think we have more talking to do...

Another Monday

2008-06-02T17:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, in the past 10 days, Mike's truck died, Seth has been/still is sick, Brandon had 3 baseball games, I still had 40 hours of work to complete, plus the "Big Decision" to think about and a bathroom to paint and finish.

The truck - is mostly dead. Paid almost $150 to find that out. It costs more to fix than it is work in Kelly Blue Book, so it is likely to stay dead. Of course it has a full tank of gas and brand new tires. It's just sitting in the driveway for now.

Seth - had a fever of 102-103 for 5 days with unexplained pain in his abdomen. Not appendicitis, tumor or abscess, according to x-rays and CT scan. The fever left last Thursday, but the pain has persisted. So far we are counting an Urgent Care/ER visit, 2 regular doctor visits, multiple blood draws, 2 heavy-duty antibiotics and Vicodin. We are currently waiting for a referral to a gastrointestinal doctor.. should hear by Wednesday. He is stressed out about finals next week, plus missing homework.

Baseball - Brandon's doing well but I am so tired of the routine. We're going until Monday 6/16.

The Bathroom - Is painted with 1 coat. I love the color but I think it's too dark for most people. I will probably go back to the drawing board. I don't think ragging it will look good, but I may try it to see.

Work - Oh my... Fortunately I won't have any groups here until July. I am buried, but I am trying really hard not to take work home with me. I've been successful at that for 2-3 weeks. No promises tonight since there is no baseball game or practice.

The Decision - We are feeling pretty confident about our decision, but are waiting to meet with Pastor Ben another time. He asked us to wait two weeks and make sure we are seeing an overall picture, pros and cons.

Ok, that's the short version. I am amazed at how much it helps to actually write this out and send it away to cyberspace. No one reads it but me... but the act of writing gets it out of my swirling brain.

Washed Away

2008-05-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

It's been a long week... so here's an image that shows how I am feeling.

I have a fear of deep water. Boats are fine, ships are fine... it's just me in the water that is not good. I don't like it when I can't see the bottom, or when something in the water touches me... doesn't matter... it's irrational phobia. My imagination worked overtime as a kid.. and the older I get, it seems to grow! Oceans, lakes, etc. Swimming pools are mostly ok... Last summer when we were at Detroit Lake with my brother's family, I think I held my breath the entire time we were out on the biscuit behind the boat. Lifejackets are fine and I swim just fine... but something in the water might touch me. So... this picture is a good representation of how I am feeling about the big changes we are facing. I had this on my work computer as a wallpaper... trying to desensitize myself, which sort of worked.

However I am trying to remind myself today that God says "It's okay to go back in the water!" Oh look, now the sun is coming out... That's what I needed to see :)

Changes and Plans

2008-05-20T09:45:00.000-05:00

Wow... My world has been tipped a bit sideways with some news yesterday. I have a huge decision to make. It is a compliment to be asked to make this decision.. but will still be tough to decide.

1. Is it a crossroads decision, where God is specifically leading to a certain path?
2. Is it an opportunity where God doesn't give a specific answer, and will honor either path?
3. Is it something where God wants me to be willing to take a leap of faith, but then has something different in mind, not yet revealed until I am ready for the leap?

Whew... So much to think about. I have asked 3 people specifically to pray for me and Mike in making this decision. At this point my prayer is that I can focus on day-to-day needs of family and work, not lose sleep over the decision, and that I can know a clear direction from God.

Happy Tuesday.... I think....

Picture of the Day

2008-05-16T13:23:00.001-05:00

Ok, it's not Buddy and we don't have a wooden deck, but he is home striking a similar pose. According to Mike the real Buddy is laying in the barkdust snoozing in the sun. It's supposed to be summer today.. and it's about 80 at 11:30am. Of course any native Pacific Northwesterner knows that nice weather this week/weekend will guarantee that Memorial weekend will be cloudy, cold and rainy! Enjoy the sun while you can!!

Plans and Changes

2008-05-14T14:46:00.000-05:00

I am feeling a bit proud of myself today because I chose not to get bent out of shape in a situation where I could have let myself get sent over the edge.

Yesterday was a day of drowning in paperwork and so many things to do that I didn't know where to start. Then the work day got away from me and I ended up taking about 3 hours worth of work home with me. Then after Bible study we didn't get home until 9:30... so logically I watched TV and skipped all the stuff I brought home.

So, today I get to work bright and early and it turns out to be the day that my computer is to be replaced. It should take about 2-1/2 hours... I'm up to almost 4 hours at this point, and it will be awhile yet. So... am I getting anything done? A little... but I am choosing not to stress about it. Whatever gets done today, gets done. Anything leftover will wait for tomorrow. I am sitting in a lovely training room next to a window filled with bright red rhodedendron blooms.

Cheers!

Annoying Coworkers

2008-05-08T10:38:00.000-05:00

Oh my... this is really funny. I don't watch "The Office" very often.. just when I'm flipping channels and happen across it. Fortunately the coworkers I sit closest to are away from the office on a regular basis... so I don't have to use my scissors very often. Happy viewing!

RBI's

2008-05-07T22:30:00.000-05:00

Brandon's team lost tonight. It was a make-up of their very first game more than a month ago. We beat this team 12-3 last week, but lost tonight 0-2. Brandon wasn't in much; only up to bat once. It was cold tonight, and windy at the field. My dream of a quiet evening at home tomorrow night won't happen... there is baseball practice at 5:30.

Seth was a little down in the dumps today. The girl he has a crush on went back to her old boyfriend. Our own teen angst. Fortunately all it takes for him to perk up is some quiet time and a movie. Right now it's "The Core" - and a testosterone fest in the living room. They are watching the movie and eating steak.. what a stereotype. I'm glad Seth likes disaster movies... nothing like a fictional disaster with inane people to cheer for! That reminds me.. I never saw the new "Posideon Adventure." I'll have to remember to rent it soon. I've seen the old one dozens of times. Few things better than 1970's Gene Hackman and Shelley Winters.

I think I'm done for the night. Buddy is ready for snuggling and I'm still cold from sitting on the bleachers. Good night!

Jumping into 2008

2008-05-06T18:34:00.001-05:00

Wow... I didn't realize it had been so long since I blogged. Eleven months just sneaks by...

I think about blogging, sometimes even compose in my head, but obviously never make it to the computer to complete the task.

Here's the quick update:

Nothing major happened in the second half of 2007. The pets are still alive and thriving, Mike and the boys too.

As of February we have been planning a big family vacation for December.. in Hawaii... yep. We're going! Mike and the boys are thrilled. It is a stretch financially but we are ready.

As of March 27th, I have retained an attorney to finalize my adoption of Brandon. We have said we were going to do it for several years, but all of the sudden he is 12 and we just need to go it... so I'll officially be a mom again/still... whatever.

With the adoption, Brandon is legally changing his middle name to Michael. His initials will be BMW... which he really likes.

Speaking of Brandon, we have entered the Little League cult. Oh my.. some of these people are rabid! He's having fun and learning a lot. Most of the moms I talk to are shocked that this is his first time in organized ball. He is a Parrish Pirate. One month down, and another to go. Personally I really hope he doesn't make All Stars. I love baseball, but I can see that I will be completely burned out by June.

Hmm, what about Seth? He is navigating his freshman year of high school. He has some new friends, and seems to be doing okay. I am walking the mom-tightrope of trying to be involved, and yet backing off when appropriate.
Seth has gone rock-climbing at Smith Rock in central Oregon, with the youth pastor and some other boys. He will definitely go again. I'm really glad he's being challenged in his faith. He's the right age to start figuring out his own faith, not just skating along on parental faith.

Mike is still Mike and I am still me. In a couple of weeks it will have been 7 years of marriage & blended family.

Ok, I think that's enough catching up for today. My new goal is to blog at least once per week. Can I do it? Of course! Will I? Watch and see... Here are a couple of photos I enjoy often at work.

Melancholy Tuesday

2007-06-19T22:16:00.000-05:00

Truthfully I have been in this state of mind since Saturday. I'm not sure if it's because Seth is on his trip, or because of financial worries, or because I miss spending time with Mike. Probably a combination of several things.

Seth is on his Washington DC trip. Brandon is out playing with neighbor kids. I'm still working.... Mike is due home soon. I will finish up this contest report and go soak in the tub.

Sunday afternoon

2007-06-03T19:33:00.000-05:00

It's been a quiet afternoon. There are several things I know I should be doing but I keep putting them off... laundry (washing & folding), sorting mail, watering plants, getting ready for the week ahead. I read a bok this afternoon.. that's pretty much it.

I love sitting at the computer looking at my roses. They are blooming wonderfully. The breeze is causing them to wave around. The climber rose is Joseph's Coat. Therear re a couple dozen blooms in various stages of yellow, coral, pink and orange. The First Prize rose is coming right along. It always takes a little longer. The Loenfeld has grown taller this year, but no flowers yet.

Brandon is at the movies with Alec, and Seth is watching Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Buddy is much happier now that his fleas are mostly gone, and prednisone and antibiotic are working. He is snoozing on the couch... looking like an old dog who loves his nap. :) Ok, back to reality. I'm going to head to the washing machine and get something acoomplished today.

Memorial Day

2007-05-28T18:52:00.000-05:00

The boys and I went to the cemetery this afternoon. We walked around and read headstones for about half an hour. If they hadn't been there I probably could have let emotions have free rein and thought a lot longer about wars and US history. Instead I tried to impress on them the respectful nature of the day. They were at least able to parrot the correct information so I guess that's something.

I planted a geranium from Mother's Day and a green thing I bought with Mom. Feeling dumb that I don't know what it's called. I planted it under Brandon's window because it's supposed to like shade. Seth finished up the front grass and Brandon is mowing the back. He wasn't very happy about having to do it.

I'm feeling... comtemplative. I don't know why exactly... just a little quiet in my spirit. I've read two great books since my visit to the library. Wildflowers by Robin Jones Gunn and Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick. That could have something to do with my speculative mood... just thinking about the messages of the authors.

The Second Day

2007-05-26T19:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, well I made it here today.

I have a hard time knowing what to write since anything online can be read by nearly anyone. My instinct is to pour my heart out and give a voice to my heart and private thoughts... but I'm not sure yet.

I burned my hand this morning on the steam from the water kettle. Didn't seem like it was a big deal until later and eventually it did hurt enough that I did put ice on it. And now I have a blister.

My sixth wedding anniversary is tomorrow. It's very strange to think about the last 6-7 years. Time does fly... Mike is working today so I indulged myself at the library. Only came home with 5 books, and I think I may have read at least 1 of them before, maybe 2. But oh well... keeps my brain busy.

Wow.. that's very pink

2007-05-25T12:18:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've been surrounded by that much pink since I was 10 or 11. I'll try it for awhile and see if it grows on me.

The First

2007-05-25T12:09:00.000-05:00

Well, I am finally jumping into the blogging universe. Wonder how many first entries start off the same way.

It's a lonely Friday at work, all the office mates in this vicinity are off and it's just me and radio. Oh, and a few birds outside the window. Hubby is working today and tomorow so the boys and I will be on our own for the weekend. Fortunately we'll have a little money for grocery treats to keep ourselves going.