A New Year

I haven't blogged in awhile with the holidays to keep me busy! We had a nice Christmas. I am starting to realize that things will probably change in a few years and we may not have the blessing of being all together. So I'm thankful for having my family to celebrate with this year. I finally got my IPod!!! I'm having fun putting music on it and downloading podcasts. Jim's mother bought us some beautiful crystal sherry glasses from Ireland and sent several bottles of wine from the Chateau Grand Traverse (http://www.cgtwines.com/vineyard.php). So I'm feelin' pretty hip and fancy! This year marked our 20th anniversary. We finally figured out what we wanted to do, but it was just too late! We wound up in Lincoln at a holiday jazz show and stayed overnight in a fantasy suite hotel. Not as great as that trip to Chicago (which we are going to do next year), but it was still memorable and fun.

This season was also marked with unbelief and sadness as a teenager shot and killed eight people at the Westroads Mall before turning the gun on himself. This is a mall 15 minutes from my home. A mall where I shop. These people were from my community. Even though I didn't know anyone that was personally affected, it deeply affected me. It was just so senseless and destructive and painful, and the media kept dragging us through it all daily. The store recently reopened, the snowflake memorials that people posted were collected and preserved, and things are starting to feel normal again-but they will never be the same.

Noah made it home for the holidays, a few days later than planned. Four ice storms moved through the area making travel very dangerous. Finals were cancelled for a few days, the university lost power several times, and damage to the town was heavy. A couple of days after his arrival, his car broke down. The water pump froze up and in doing so ruined his belt. Again, much to be thankful for....that he wasn't traveling when it happened, that he was very close to our auto repair shop and didn't require a tow, that the pump and the belt were still under warranty which cut our bill in half. Noah finished his first semester of college with all A's and one B (chemistry lab-he was so mad!!). When he got home, he went back to the grocery store where he used to work and asked if they needed any help over Christmas break. They were so short handed and gladly welcomed him back. He has been working 35-40 hour weeks. He was down to his last $13.90 so he was glad too! Nate has been really slacking in school lately and falling behind. We tried some things to get him caught up before the Christmas break, but I haven't had the courage to look at his grades online. He has been using all of his old tactics again-as if I didn't have enough stress already this time of year. He says he is ready to take driver's ed, he wants to run track in the spring, and he wants to get a job at a restaurant that is going to open up soon. All very positive things, but if he's slacking in school now adding more is only going to make it worse. He is looking forward to a snowboarding trip to Colorado with the youth group in a few weeks. Our dog is holding her ground for now with the cancer. We had some unusual things going on with her last night, and I started thinking to myself... this is it. Jim's reaction showed me that I am going to be the one making the decision to put her down. She has been caught several times during the day sleeping on the loveseat (a big no no). She doesn't even make an attempt to get down and the boys feel sorry for her and let her stay! Jim and I were sick over the holidays-someone in our family had to be or it just wouldn't be Christmas! Hopefully I've disinfected enough to protect the boys from the nasty little bug. I've continued to practice my knitting skills and am making another scarf. I signed up for a weight loss class that starts next week at church. I want to (and need to) lose weight, but it really teaches so much about good nutrition and I want to learn that even more. I need to make some big changes this year to regain my good health. I am also signing up for a class to become a grief counselor for children. I want to volunteer with an awesome organization called Teddy Bear Hollow (http://www.tedebearhollow.org/), but I need the training first.

Until next time......

November News

Jim and I went camping at a nearby state park. It was nice to get away, since it has been awhile. The nights were cold, but during the day we enjoyed beautiful fall weather. We went to a prime rib/seafood dinner at the lodge and then to see a melodrama at the park theater. We have never done that before and it was so much fun! When the hero entered the stage the audience was told to say-Yaaaahhh. When the heroine entered, we were to say-Aaawwww (and she would respond by lifting her leg and placing her finger on her cheek). When the villan came onstage, we were to yell-Booooo, Hisssss and throw popcorn at him. There were even a couple of chase scenes that went into the audience! In between Act I and Act II, we had an old fashioned sing along. I laughed so much-an unexpected great time! We had our bible study fall reunion. Arlene has the gift of decorating, so her house was very inviting. I tried a couple of new recipes-everyone loved the Pear Custard Bars. A lady who is in the Air Force Band played two songs for us on her clarinet. She is very talented. And when we closed, another woman spontaneously sang a blessing over us that was just beautiful. All in all, it was a really nice evening.

We have a new person at work. She came from a different branch and is helping us to learn things that our brief training didn't cover. I've been picking up a few extra shifts-I have a huge Visa bill coming next month. Jim's car was in the shop again (he needed a new battery, alternator, and plugs/wires/distributor cap). I had my brakes done in between, the dog had an ultrasound, and Noah didn't get a job so he needed me to cover his car insurance until he can pay me back. All on the card. I really need tires, but was hoping to get this paid down first. It doesn't look like the weather is going to cooperate; snow is in the forecast next week.

I took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill last week and I recycled our old computer. I am so excited that it is gone. It sat in our basement for three years. Jim wasn't happy when I told him of my plan to recycle it. He was even less happy when he found out we wouldn't get any money for it, but instead had to pay money for them to take it. I told him he had three years to come up with a solution, he hadn't done anything about it, so this was what was going to happen. With that old computer gone, I got motivated to really clean my basement. Today I decided to put up the Christmas decorations in the basement. I also ironed all the Christmas stuff that will go upstairs after Thanksgiving, got my Thanksgiving table linens ironed, washed a bunch of windows, and ran some errands in town. I still need to clean my fridge and get the turkey out of the freezer. We are doing our usual thing-just our family and I cook everything. Noah will be coming home Monday night. This will be his second trip home. He came home for a long weekend in October-and I can report he is back to his normal self! I am triple excited! I am excited for my son to be home again-I am excited because he will be here for almost a whole week-and I am excited because he will be meeting Jim in Kansas City Monday night to watch a basketball tournament and then following him home. The original plan was that they would go their separate ways after the game (I was uncomfortable that he would be on the road, back to school, so late, alone) but Noah was able to rearrange his schedule so he could come home with Jim instead. He is doing well at school, with very good grades. He seems to finally be adjusting. He doesn't complain so much when we talk to him and he is thinking about next year at Pittsburg. He is still not sure, but that is a change to see him looking into some things there. He continues to tutor kids in Biology. Last I heard he had 5 or 6 kids. He got another advisor (his was on sabbatical until spring semester) and has been meeting with him weekly, which has also made a difference. Now if he would just get a job! Nate is doing well. He's starting to slack off in school a little, but I think he got back on track this week. He went on fall retreat with his youth group and didn't come back sick. I think that's a first!

My fibromyalgia isn't improving. On top of that, I have various small health issues that are interfering with my recovery. It is all very frustrating and I have days where I want to sit down and give up. I'm just so tired of it all. I finished my Beth Moore study. I'm so proud that I did my whole workbook! I took my second knitting class and am finishing up my first project. I really like knitting. It is very relaxing. I'm going to take more classes and keep learning. Last weekend our branch manager's mother died. I baked some cookies and chipped in for some flowers, but I didn't make it to the wake. I feel so bad, like I let her down.

Well, I have to work tomorrow so I better sign off for now. It sure would be good to hear from someone.

College Days

After a long week, we enjoyed a day of fun and sun in Kansas City. The boys rode the rides at Worlds of Fun while Jim and I lounged around the pool at Oceans of Fun. The amusement park was pretty empty so the boys joined us at the water park later in the afternoon. It was hot-so the water park felt wonderful. We ate dinner at the Waffle House (a KC tradition), and headed to our hotel for the night. We were all so tired that we fell asleep at 10 pm-unheard of for teenagers! We were up bright and early the next morning for a two hour drive down to Pitt State. I'm glad we got there early to move in, because as the day wore on it got busy and hot. Noah arrived first and unloaded all his stuff. We tried to arrange that room, but there were several problems to work around (pipes, cable hookup, hookup for phone/internet, the heater/air unit). It got frustrating, but after his roomate arrived they were able to get everything in. We spent the rest of the day picking up football tickets, books, paying bills, getting a parking permit, hooking up to the internet.....At 4:30 they had a dinner in the cafeteria for everyone, and then we were back in the car for a 5 hour drive home. We did stop at the local Walmart; picked up some Pitt State shirts so we will be ready for the game! On the way home we saw two road kill armadillos. They have armadillos down there-wild! Heard the funniest song on the country station-Ticks by Brad Paisley. Talks about how he wants to take his gal out in the stix and walk through the wildflowers and he's even so sweet that he'll even check her for ticks! How romantic. Maybe to a guy-but to a girl ticks are nothing but gross!!! Speaking of gross, we came home to a bumble bee invasion. Had at least two dozen lying dead in the house. Most of them in the front hall, but we can't find where they are coming in yet. Worries me with the dog. She is very allergic-we have to get her a shot if she gets stung.

Work is going better for me. The summer program is done for the kids and we have a month off before programming starts back up for the fall. Gives us time to catch up and learn some new things too. I'm still going to bible study (about prayer), and at the end of the month I signed up to take my first Beth Moore study about the tabernacle and prayer. I have been studying all about the tabernacle as a blueprint for prayer, healing, and drawing nearer to God this past year- so this study was a perfect continuation for me. Next weekend I signed up as a volunteer for Step Out-a citywide service project. There will be 20 churches participating with 1400 people from my church alone. It should be amazing! Nate continues to do well with his medication. Please pray for him though-he misses Noah. He also hung with Noah's friends at church, so now he doesn't have that group either. On top of that, his best friend is moving in a couple of weeks and it is really bothering him. He starts school in a few days, so pray for a better school year too. Our television broke a week ago, so we have been looking at new ones. Our tv isn't even very old.

Michigan Vacation

Vacation was wonderful. It was fun, relaxing, rejuvenating, full of memories. Like all good things though, it had to come to an end. We made it home early Saturday morning and spent the day trying to get caught up on chores-laundry, mail, balancing the checkbook, picking up the dog at the kennel....nothing too exciting but necessary.

We arrived in Michigan earlier than anticipated, so after a nice break at Holland State Park, we went directly to our campsite at Silver Lake. We had to pick Jim up at the airport in Grand Rapids the next day and by the time we returned, most of my family had arrived. It was wonderful to spend time with everyone. Everywhere I turned, there were people I knew! We played games, sat around the campfire, swam, went to an art fair, and of course went on Crazy Dom's Dune Ride! I have never gone so fast in my life-it was great fun! My friend Sarah and her boys came to visit one night, and I will never forget our ride together! At Holland, my boys saw people that had skim boards riding the small waves. They thought that looked like fun, so they purchased one at Silver Lake and worked on their own moves.

After we left Silver Lake, we drove up to Pentwater. Jim's sister was supposed to be docked in the marina there, but that information was old and he didn't know the name of her boat, so we were not able to find her. We did enjoy lunch and a stroll around town-Pentwater is a really nice! On our way to Saginaw, we stopped at Rock Lake. I explained to the present owner that my grandparents once lived there and I asked permission to show my boys the lake. I was hoping he would also invite me inside, which he didn't, but he did say we could go out back and look around. I remember the big picture window at the back of the house that looked out on the lake. Gram and Pa had a table and chairs in front of that window, and the new owner does too. The back yard and lake were pretty much as I remembered it, except for the wall that my sister,De, went over on her tricycle. I remember a small beach at the foot of that wall where she face planted and came up with sand in her nostrils and mouth. Now the lake comes right up to the retaining wall. I am really glad we stopped-I have such good memories of Rock Lake. Time in Saginaw was mostly spent doing chores and visiting family. Got caught up on laundry, paying bills, and had the oil changed in the car. Jim's mom had knee surgery the day we left, so she was hurting while we were there. Jim's sister Dorothy bought a new house which is very nice. We went to the Bay City fireworks with them. The last time I went to the Bay City fireworks I was pregnant with Noah! Johonna's girls are home for the summer with their dad, so we were able to see them. July 4th we were in St. Helen visiting Jim's dad. Thursday we drove back across the state and camped at Warren Dunes State Park. That is another beautiful place! We unhooked our camper and drove to Michigan City to meet up with Jim's sister Shelly. Her plans had changed and instead of a two week sail up to Pentwater, they were only able to go out for the weekend. She took us sailing on Lake Michigan. Sailing is rather slow and relaxing, so I was quite surprised that the boys really enjoyed it. Uncle Jon rigged up some stuff, so the boys were able to swing from the mast out over the lake and make a big splash as they let go. Nate is strong enough to hold on and he swung all the way around the boat! He tried to go a second time-but crashed into the back of the boat instead! We came back to our campsite and made dinner and sat around the campfire. The next day we went to the beach. It is a fantastic beach and the water was perfect! We had a picnic and then headed for home. We intended to stay at a campground one more night, but drove straight through and slept in our own beds instead.

I stopped in at work yesterday to get my new schedule-and I'm not looking forward to going back. At least vacation gave me the peace and strength I needed to go on! The weather was perfect the entire trip, so it was hard to come home and deal with the oppressive heat again. It was nearly 100 yesterday. It has obviously been hot and dry here-my yard is brown. I tried to do laundry yesterday, but it made the upstairs so hot. Of course it didn't help that my laundry exhaust pipe was all disconnected and it was venting directly into the bathroom! So I climbed back there and cleaned everything up, cleaned out the duct work, bought a better connector piece and some tape and put it all back together. I only got two loads done yesterday, so I'd better get going and finish up today.

Peace and Love

Recovering

Well I had my gall bladder removed on Tuesday morning and now I'm home recovering. The surgery went well. The worst part was the IV. Two nurses tried twice each before they finally called the anesthesiologist to do it. They felt so bad that they went to the gift shop and got me a present-a really pretty relish tray and a box of Baker's chocolates! Today I am trying to just use Tylenol for the pain during the day and save the pain pills for nighttime. Doing pretty well in my recovery though. Thank you for all your prayers.

Noah has been busy getting ready for his finals and graduation. He is also working lots of hours-so we don't see much of him lately. Got the announcements out this week, and graduation plans finalized. He made up his picture board and participated in the Senior Celebration Sunday at church last week. He got to set up a table and people from the congregation came by and congratulated him. He also got a $1,000 scholarship from Pittsburg State and a $1,000 scholarship from a former basketball coach's family. So things are coming together nicely for Noah.

Nate is really behind in school. The ADD meds are helping but there is no magic pill-you still have to do the work. They are taking him out of class 1/2 a day each week and working one on one with him to get caught up. He is mowing for my friend Laurie again this summer, but hasn't got another job lined up yet. He did get his permit, so when I heal up we are going to start driving some.

Not much else to tell right now. Just normal stuff-getting cars fixed and doing yard work......

Winter or Spring?

It snowed today! Did someone forget to tell Mother Nature that it is Spring? That's all I have to say about that!! I am sitting here waiting for a contractor to come and give me a bid on some work. I'd like to replace both showers and get some drywall work done-that is if the price is right. If not, I'm going to replace one shower and get some drywall done.

Jim and Nate were both home sick today. Nate had another high fever with chills last night and Jim had it coming out both ends. I have been washing, spraying, disinfecting everything in hopes of warding it off. I went to the surgeon today. He said I need to get my gall bladder removed. He scheduled me for surgery on May 8th. I was really hoping to get it done at the end of this month. There is so much going on in May with Noah's graduation. I don't need to be recovering then, but what can you do?

Good news about my job-I have been moved up to "library specialist" and given another raise. With my two raises, I am making almost twice as much as I did before the annexation without working any extra hours. Is God good or what!! I was maxed out working 20 hours and turned down a full time position even though I needed more money to help with Noah's college expenses. Amazing!! I didn't do a thing, God just worked things out for me!! Work is going a little better. I still feel incompetent, but a little less than last month so that's progress. I trained today on downloading e-books. We never had that option before, so it should be interesting.

The doctor actually diagnosed Nate with ADD and we are trying another medicine. Unfortunately, every day he has taken it, his mood has been unstable. I have called the doctor to discuss it, but we just haven't connected yet. He focused on the ADD and didn't discuss the mood swings with me at our appointment. Please pray for Nate and wisdom for the Dr. We really need to figure out what is going on.

Otherwise, not much else is new to tell-at least nothing interesting. I'm really tired so I'll write more later.

April Fools

I was going through my old photos the other day and came across this one that I'd thought I'd share with you for old times sake. Everybody looks so tan, fit, and oh my that hair! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did (HA, HA, HA).

Had to take my car in three times because the engine was misfiring. He wound up replacing the spark plugs and all the coils on top of the plugs-to the tune of $800. I also need to replace my brakes! I've been very busy at work, trying to keep up with my regular duties as well as learn new ones. We have the new computer system installed and it is really advanced/complicated compared to what we are presently using. We also are operating on two separate systems until they figure out how to merge our library into theirs. I come home feeling tired and frazzled most days. Last Friday I had a scan of my gall bladder. It didn't fill up with the dye, which I think means that there is some kind of a problem. I should find out the results tomorrow and will update you when I know more.

Noah has finally decided on a college (after much bouncing back and forth). He will be attending Pittsburgh State in Kansas next year. He has been filling out all the forms and we hope to have them done this week-YEAH! College financial aid does not work like it used to and we are very confused by the process. Some want us to make up our minds, before they send out the financial aid packets. Some have sent the packets by mail, others have posted it online and we have had to go search for it, and others have piddled out the information week by week instead of having the final package put together by now. Let the fun now begin-getting him ready to go, figuring out how to pay, preparing to let go. I didn't think I was going to be here yet as his original plan was to live at home for a few years and go to college locally.

Jim got in trouble at work and is now on probation for 3 years. It is difficult to explain-but his bosses had to make an example out of him because it happened during an inspection. He wasn't the only one not following procedure, but he was the only one that was disciplined for it.

Nate goes to see the psych doctor tomorrow. Pray that he will figure out what is really going on with Nathan. We've had some good conversations about school this past week and it appears that he is finally maturing. He realizes that he has to do the work-finally-and has been trying this past week. It has been a struggle though, he says his mind wanders all over. His mood has been stable since we told him that we were considering other living options for him. Don't know if it is just a good part of the cycle or he finally maturing in that area also.

Well that is all for now-got to get going with all I need to do.