Not Quite the Brady Bunch

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2012-01-24T09:25:00.001-07:00

I don't know if you still get stuff at this email addy, but I wanted to wish you a happy HAPPY Birthday! I think of you guys alot and wonder how little bundle of wonder is doing, and if a sibling is on the way?

Anyway, just wanted to say hi and hope all is well with you guys!

Blessings!!

~Dani

Danielle Kelley

cell 303 523-9096

This email communication is intended as a private communication for the sole use of the primary addressee and those individuals listed for copies in the original message. The information contained in this email is private and confidential and If you are not an intended recipient you are hereby notified that copying, forwarding or other dissemination or distribution of this communication by any means is prohibited. If you are not specifically authorized to receive this email and if you believe that you received it in error please notify the original sender immediately. We honor similar requests relating to the privacy of email communications.

FINALLY FRIDAY!!!

2008-09-05T19:57:00.002-06:00

Where, oh where to begin??? How about with a comment on all the political activity that we've heard lately: "When's it gonna be OVER?!?" Okay, so since McCain announced Palin as his running mate, and I have read/heard some of the absolutely hateful and contrived "news" about her and her family (Hel-lo-oh? You really think that's her grandson? She was in her 40's when she had Trig, and that's a huge risk-age for having a baby with Downs. Besides, she couldn't have had the baby--little Trig is 5 months old, and the little darling is 5 months pregnant. Let me get out my abacus and do the math... Let their family, at least, have some private life!!)

Speaking of political activities, I had the opportunity to be in downtown Denver last week. I wasn't going to post anything about it, but decided it would be okay--heck, you all know that I'm a born and bred Republican anyway, so you all know that I would much rather have been in St. Paul this week than Denver last week. People were for the most part pretty cool, however, I did get accosted by a couple of drag queens who thought it was funny to interrupt me while I was trying to have a serious phone conversation. I just almost turned around and kicked them both in the shins--at least then we would all have gotten a laugh, except that I would have had the last laugh. They didn't need to be rude!! So maybe this week, Denver is back to normal. But then, when in any downtown metropolis, what really is normal? Did you hear that the mayor wanted to get the homeless people out of the downtown area (presumably for security reasons), so he offered them free passes to the zoo. Stupid Democrat. There were homeless people that I saw, and zoo or no zoo, they ain't stupid!! They aren't going to leave town when such an affluent group of fresh meat is coming to town--it must have been like a Christmas bonus for them!

Okay, so have I told you all lately how WONDERFUL my husband is? He works his fingers (and feet, quite literally) to the bone every day at work, and even on his off days, he's making and taking phone calls, checking sales and emails, and sending lists off to people for what to do. All this, and he still comes home after working a terrible long day with huge stressors surrounding payroll and scheduling problems, and the big lug decides to rub my feet and legs to put me to sleep last night. *Ah, sigh.* He's awesome--I am definitely going to keep him!! He's awful cute, too, you know!

Gotta brag on another FAVE of mine. A while back, I learned (from another blog--go figure) about this website called Library Thing. It's SO COOL!!! I now know where approximately half of our books are, and more specifically what they are. Okay, so I know where most of them are, but Library Thing has helped me keep track of the half of the books that I have been able to catalog in. Another thing that Library Thing does is called "Early Reviewer," and they work with publishers and get books earmarked for, surprisingly enough, early review. I have been on the list and requested early review books for months on end, but today I got my first book! Imagine my surprise, though, to open a package with a book in it that I KNOW I didn't order from Abebooks or Ebay... and because I had asked for this and several other books to review (the more you ask for, the better your chances of being selected... supposedly, anyway) back in early August, I didn't know who it was from. There was no note about early reviewing, Library Thing--okay, there was no note!! It took me a while to figure it out, but when I did, I got really excited.

So, on that note, I have to go read a book now! I improve my chances of being selected again if I actually read the book and give it a review, so I've got some homework.

By the way, if your name is Staci, and you're reading this, START A BLOG, BABY!!!

:-)

GREAT place to buy books, and CHEAP!

2008-08-29T18:54:00.001-06:00

Hey all--

Wanted to share with you a great website to buy books. I have been using them for a couple of months now, and just purchased Princess #3's college textbooks from them. It's called Abebooks.com. Other resources which I'm sure you are aware of are Ebay, but also don't forget their partner website, half.com. They have managed shipping prices, so it saves you from some of those sellers that would otherwise gouge you for prices.

Also, if you're a bookie, like DH and I are, then you may need a way to manage them. For that, I highly recommend LibraryThing.com, and if you have a TON of books, like we do, then a cuecat will also come in handy.

On that note, we have three potential buyers coming to look at our castle tomorrow, so I gotta go primp the house!!

See ya!

Now is as good a time as any...

2008-08-26T17:25:00.003-06:00

So, the latest news on the the NOT Brady Bunch:

Princess #1 is changing where she works. She'll now be working for some British Security Firm... Either that, or some lingerie company. Not our first choice, but a bigger company with a stronger leg on which to stand--at least for now. Of course, the night she came over insisting that she would be dropped from her college classes if we didn't pay for them that night, she informed us that she was thinking about going to work for Starbucks, who reportedly reimburse $1000 per semester. HELLO-OH? We responded by telling her what our favorite drinks were, and that we'd expect her to be at the local location serving us our beverages before the week was out. She didn't buy that, so we're letting her buy her books. Hey, she's got to have some ownership in her edumucation, right? Really, though; we couldn't be more proud of her dedication and work ethic. Even if we are convinced that she works so hard so she can go blow her money on clothes and burritos the size of her head!

Princess #2 has recently started a job at a great sandwich place. She gets to make shakes and come home smelling like toasted lunchmeat & cheese. She seems to enjoy working with everyone except the manager, so we'll see if this one lasts longer than the first job... I think she quit that one as soon as they handed her a mop. She's also starting her official sophomore year in high school, and is trying to convince her dad that it's so different this year because she's not a freshie. Keep dreamin', Honey! It's the same school, the same kids, and the same teachers. And those new freshies were in the 7th grade when you were top of the local junior high!

Update on Princess #3: She did swimming over the summer (after soccer in the spring. In the SPRING, people??? Hello, it's COLD here in the spring!!), and did very well at the swim meets. She's pretty fast, and if she decides she wants to pursue this, then we may look at getting her some lessons for launching off of the blocks and making turns more effectively. She was pretty excited to watch swimming during the Olympics recently. She and one of her best friends are writing their second book, and planning a trip (not anytime soon!) to Japan to ask the creators of Naruto if they can use their characters in their books so they can publish them. We support her all the way, while also advising her that they may or may not agree to sharing their license, and so helping her come up with some alternatives in case they don't. She is starting into the 8th grade, and she's thrilled to have classes with many of her friends, and only one friend that she has neither class nor lunch with this year. It's amazing how important it is to not be the bottom idol on the totem pole.

I don't remember it being such an issue when I was in school, but then, when there are 12 people in your class, and you have essentially every class with them year in and year out, there's not really much change from year to year. The things I remember looking forward to in High School were freshman initiation, which was a week of the seniors having fun with the freshies, but it was good, clean fun, and the freshies enjoyed it as much as the rest of the school did. After that, it was the junior-senior prom, which I didn't have to deal with because we moved, and I got to go to a prom where I didn't have to spend countless hours selling concessions at the b-ball games or hanging streamers in order to go. Then of course, there's graduation, but then, I never looked down on the underclassmen. Or did I, Mom? My memory is a little foggy. I recently missed my ()#&)(%-th year reunion (hey, if you don't remember when I graduated, then I'm sure I'm younger in your mind than would be otherwise!), and Classmates is inviting me to look at all the pics from the event. Did it ever occur to them to send me an invitiation???

Anyway, as far as the family as a collective is concerned, we are going to actively try to sell the palace that required the gross domestic product of a small country to pay the mortgage. We would love to list it with a realtor, but don't have the equity it would take in the current market to be able to do so. SO, we've stuck a for sale by owner sign in the yard, and are going to try something called a 5-day sale in the next month or so if it doesn't sell before then. Hey, who wants (when there are teenagers in the house) to try to keep the whole house spotless in case an agent drops by with no warning? Maybe a better question would be "Who CAN?"

Dear Hubby and I are also working with a financial coach to help us make our dreams become reality. Hey, we've screwed it up enough without help, and if we don't have some serious accountability, we won't put into effect the knowledge that we already have. Okay, so we haven't learned anything that shattered our viewpoints on money, but we are changing our mindset about it. Such as: DH came up with a great idea of a title for a book that we're going to write together: Don't buy a house unless you're debt-free, dummy! (Say it in your best Red Fox voice, and you'll get the feel of it). Anyway, we're experiencing some great successes, and would love to share with anyone who will listen. I won't bore you here, though.

Oh, how about an update on the pooch? Well, Sweet Dog did make it through the first 30 days--in fact, she's still kickin' it in the back yard with Annoying Dog on a daily basis. She "lost" 15 pounds of water weight, thanks to the Lasix, and we quickly realized how skinny she was! We now have a dog that costs us a whole bunch of money (in medicine) each month, but there is NO trade-off: she's a great dog. At least we only have to medicate her twice per day now, and it doesn't have to be EXACTLY 12 hours apart. Good thing, too, or we'd have lost her by now--life is just too hectic to keep such a schedule!

DH's job is keeping him hopping--his schedule changes weekly, and his days "off" begin by checking work emails and calling various personnel at the store. My schedule has also been pretty busy--not like DH's, but then, I'm also behind on laundry, cleaning out the closet, and repairing some holes in the bathroom wall where the towel bar got ripped out... Maybe I should try working as many hours as he does, and then it might all get done! At least we're both getting our homework done in time for our financial coaching sessions. Well, at least mostly!

On that note, I'm gonna call it a post and git on outta here. I've got some homework to do! Hey, feel free to leave comments--it lets me know that people are reading, which encourages me to post more. As in, more frequently. As in, more frequently than three times per year.

CIAO!

SICK of political ads

2008-08-26T17:09:00.004-06:00

Okay, I just got an email from a friend in Germany, and he tells me he's glad that they don't get all the political ads over there. He's not too excited about all the stuff he sees on TV about suicide and sex; however... And I have to ask him: Is there a difference between what we're watching, I mean, really???

Okay, back to blogging. You know, I couldn't remember the last time I had blogged until a DEAR friend asked me for the url. When I tried to log in to moderate a comment she had left, I realized (in a bit of a panic, thinking I would have to start a whole new blog, and come up with some other goofy name for it) that I had forgotten my login and password--yes, it's been that long, and I surely do apolgize. That's okay, so many of you know me that you know to expect the next post about the time you get a Christmas card from me (and if you don't remember when to expect one of those, please read my December 12 post--it's only a couple posts down!!). Does it make me feel guilty that my blog is one of Suni's favorite links on her blog page? Uh, YEP!

On that note, I just wanted to stop in and say hi, we're still alive, and we really are going to start blogging again. So, stay tuned!!

I hope to give directions in an upcoming post about how to do an RSS feed, but first, I gotta figure out how to do it!!

Ciao for now!

All you bloggers, BEWARE!

2008-04-09T15:09:00.001-06:00

I don't blog this much (OBVIOUSLY!!), but for those of you that do, please be careful!

http://www.timeswatch.org/articles/2008/20080407150959.aspx

Peace out.

an AWESOME poem!!

2008-02-16T21:25:00.003-07:00

By our dearest Princess #3, for a recent school assignment (creatively entitled "Photo Poem"):

Water splashing on my face

Plop Down I go

Giving more of my life to grace

Up I come

Feeling as good as a flower

I made my choice

and now God gave me a big voice

to speak out to others

My sisters and my brothers

Look who's alive!

2008-01-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I don't feel as bad as I did... I thought I hadn't posted since before Thanksgiving. I know, you were starting to wonder if you were ever going to hear from us again! Merry Christmas!

Well, okay, so we survived Christmas, barely.

DH's Dad was still ill with the same kidney stones that had been plaguing him since October. They had scoped and stinted and all kinds of stuff; to make a short story long (don't get too excited... it's gonna be long!), the larger stone passed out of one of the kidneys but was too large to pass out of the other (scoping didn't work because it went back up inside the kidney) side. Big stone, full of yucky kidneys-clean-the-crud-out-of-your-blood stuff, with sharp crystal edges and all caused the stone to lodge as it tried to pass, but instead caused scratching and pain and more infection. ANOTHER scope, another stint, another round of antibiotics, and they decided to do the laser treatment to crush the stone on Christmas Eve. Well, all seemed to be good; PawPaw even got to go home that same afternoon. Couldn't get back to the hospital fast enough, though, and complications, internal bleeding and clots and more kept him there until earlier this year. Oh yeah, Happy New Year.

So, DH and I had made an emergency trip out to see his folks when his Dad initially had the complications in early December. You may recall, that there were some horrifically BAD ice storms in December in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri? Yeah, well, we got out there fine, but woke up the morning we were supposed to leave to a veritable winter wonderland--we felt like we were in Narnia. Yep, it seems that I recall they have no electricity in Narnia, too. Powerlines down across the road prevented us from getting out; we rented another from Enterprise (they come pick you up, you know) so we could get to the airport in time for our flight out that night. On the way to the airport, we found out that our flight had been cancelled and that we had been scheduled for the same flight out the next evening ... Didn't really want to hang out in Wichita for the night; besides, we both needed to be at work! So, DH made the executive decision that we would rent yet another car (can't take Enterprise one-way or there's a ridiculous fee--like $1000 or so), and drive thru Kansas. In the middle of the oncoming ice storm, as another storm was heading east from Colorado. A trip that normally takes 11 hours total took over 24 driving (white-knuckled, all the way), and we only stopped for about 7 hours to get some much needed rest. Do you know, our neighbor called us at 3 a.m., complaining that our dog was barking and that we needed to do something to shut her up. She didn't really seem to care that we were in another state! Argh, that dog. She didn't care that we were in another state, either.

So, got home, and Dear Wifey got sick. Just in time for Christmas... didn't get the baking, shopping, or Christmas cards done, and that's my excuse this time. I'll have to come up with another one for Christmas 2008, so stay tuned for that excuse! I was back up and vertical for Christmas Day, and we had a beautiful, albeit slightly-dangerous-if-you-were-driving day. Dad was supposed to come up, and even set out this direction, but turned back because the roads were pretty slick. I still have his gift waiting for him...

New Year's was fairly uneventful--the laziest 4 days I recall ever having. By the 4th day, I decided that if the fever that was keeping me down didn't break that I was going to go make some snow angels in my delicates. Fortunately (?), I didn't have to resort to such measures, and was able to be back at work on Thursday after working from home on Wednesday. By the next Wednesday, however, the lifelong smoker that works across the hall from me at work suggested that I go see a doctor about that lung I had just hacked up. Can you believe it? I've never had it before, but the verdict was bronchitis. And it's the hanger-on kind, you know, kinda like ... never mind!

So what else? Oh, the dog (the sweet one, that everybody loves--not the pain-in-the-neck one that wakes our neighbors) is very sick. Actually, sick isn't a good way to describe it--she will never get better; she has a condition. It's called Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM for short), and by the time we figured out she was even sick, she was knocking on death's door. Okay, we didn't PLAN to spend $2000 on the dog; it just kind jumped in increments. Initial check, bloodwork, X-rays: $450. Something on the X-ray is funny... water around the heart and lungs, and the heart is enlarged. Need an echocardiogram. $400. OHMYGOSH, the diagnosis; this DCM is literally a death sentence. She can't stay on oxygen ($130) at the vets office overnight, so you have to take her to the overnight facility. If she makes it thru the night, there is some medication that helps dogs w/ DCM, and she should be okay. $450. Back to the vets office in the morning (who needs to be at work by 8:00, anyway?). More X-rays, oxygen, & the like. I've lost track now of how much we're spending... just put it on the card and we'll at least get some miles. Is she gonna live? Well, if she makes it the next 30 days, then her prognosis is good. Take her home, but get some medication (cha-CHING!) after driving all over the area to find it. Oh, and she has to have the diuretic (draws the water off the heart & lungs) at EXACTLY 8-hour intervals, and she's due in 20 minutes at 6:00 p.m. (DO THE MATH: next dosage, 2 a.m. Who needs sleep? Oh yeah, bronchitis-girl does!). Took about 10 days to adjust that so that we could medicate right before Princess #3 goes to school, right after she gets home from school and yours truly gets to stay up until Midnite. Tried the going to bed & setting the alarm. We love the dog, but we also love the snooze button... it's just easier to stay up, and it's not like I'm getting any less rest anyway!

Okay, so are you sick of me griping yet?

Dear Husband and I just celebrated our 2nd year anniversary. Actually, he had to work ALL DAY on our anniversary, but we knew it was coming so we celebrated the day before. Late lunch at this great little tea house not far from home (they have GREAT mac & cheese!), then to explore the local Michael's. My husband is the BEST--he can walk around stores (and even malls, when so challenged) and not get "antsy" like so many men do. I credit that to the fact that he works in retail and always wants to see how things are merchandised, what's sold, etc. I got to show him all kinds of crafty stuff that he never knew that I enjoyed (it's been so long...), and I also got to explain to him why it's not a good idea to cross-sell too many items at a craft store. I'm still not sure that he buys it, but we had a good time. Then we went to see a great anniversary movie (okay, there were some somewhat inappropriate scenes and innuendos, but nothing too over the top, and certainly not as bad as you see on TV these days), 27 Dresses. I tell you what, I almost lost Dear Hubby within the first five minutes--brides peeing is just TMI for him! Well, we got past that, and the movie kinda gets you thinking about what your favorite part of weddings is, and so that's why it's a great anniversary movie. We had already talked and reminisced about our wedding that day, but we did a lot more of it after seeing the movie.

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE MY HUSBAND!?!!!!! More and more every day--I didn't know that it was possible, but I credit Jesus Christ with teaching me how to love, and showing me daily how to do so.

Okay, so before this BOOK needs CHAPTERS, I'm gonna sign off. I have a really great post coming tomorrow, so (now that you haven't tuned into my blog in weeks), STAY TUNED!!!

Getting to know me...

2007-12-12T11:41:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

NOTE: Okay, people! This is generally sent via email, but I wanted to post it to our blog. Please participate by copying the entry into an email and sending out to all those who love you and would want to know your favorite Christmas traditions!

 Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a  SCROOGE!!!  Just copy not forward) this entire e-mail and paste into a new e-mail that you can send.  Change all the answers so that they apply to you.  Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!

 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?  Wrapping paper,generally, unless the size/shape of the gift warrants a bag. Then, it's all-out: matchy-matchy tissue peeking out the top and everything.

 2. Real tree or Artificial?  Prefer real; life dictates artificial until life calms down. Looking like we'll be celebrating with a fake Christmas tree forever.

 3. When do you put up the tree?  Day after Thanksgiving. Who WANTS to go shopping when it's INSANE!?!? Besides, it's my favorite tradition that I have from growing upwe would all bundle up, because in Elbert, it was  inevitable snowing buckets, and all trudge out in the back pasture to pick the perfect tree. Mom always had the final say-so, and no matter how small a tree looks under God's great ceiling, it was always 2 feet too tall for ours!

 4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years'

 5. Do you  like egg nog?  Yes, but it's gotta be chased with some plain ole milk or somethingso thick a gal could choke, you know?

 6. Favorite gift received as a child.  I will never forget the Christmas that Santa brought me a whole bunch of sewing stuff. I mean, she  ahem, HE went all out. We three kids would come out on Christmas morning, drop to our knees before our respective collections (so artfully displayed) of gifts from Santa, and dig into the fun. My  little sister, however, did not think that My Pretty Pony (or whatever it was that Santa got her that yearI'm remembering MY favorite, not hers!) was her collection, and Mom had to tell her that that was my stuff and hers was over here. I also remember (may have been the same year?) that Santa brought me a whole slew of art stuff, and I think I still have one of those sketch pads.

 7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes complete with a creche, and also a beautiful cream & gold porcelain one that becomes our Christmas dinner centerpiece.

 8. Hardest person to buy for? Teenage mutant ninja girls. Just kidding; they give us lists. Um usually, people I work with. You can't give a gift to everybody, and some will get something more personal, and then there's always the person that you didn't get anything for

 9. Easiest person to buy for?  Me! I love whatever gifts I get myself. Just kidding. It's pretty easy for me to shop for my husband. He's an extension of me!

 10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Christmas what??? Oh, CARDS? I haven't sent those in years.

 11.  Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I almost didn't put it, but then, it's not like they'll be reading this anyway a frying pan. Yeah, how would you feel if the gift you got said "get in the kitchen and fix me some chicken pot pie, woman!" (Vernacular changed; I don't talk like that anymore, but the term of "endearment" started with a B and not a W)

 12. Favorite Christmas Movie. The Nativity Story, the Grinch (the Jim Carrey version, toohe did a great job!), It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story (You'll shoot yer eye out, kid!)  Oh, was I only supposed to name one? Not gonna do it; get over it.

 13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yesand anyone that says no is LYING!

 14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge (I'm going with Margaret on this one!)

 15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? On the tree: both. On the house: varies from year to year, depending upon mood and what strings still light up

 16. Favorite Christmas song?  Silent Night, Holy Nightthey REAL version.

 17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay Home  especially this year!

 18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers?  Well, I could, but after Grandma got run over, they all got the chair, and he's got new ones now Greedy, Dopey, Sneezy, Grumpy, Lumpy, and Clueless Oh, you think not? Don't you watch the news?

 19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?  One special one on Christmas Eve, the rest in the morning

 20. Most annoying thing about this time of year?  All the merchants that put stuff out in July and stupid retailers that think I want to buy a Holiday Tree (or worse: a Family Tree. Duh! Those are on paper, you idiots!). Do Jews put up "Hannukah Bushes"? Does anyone besides people celebrating Christmas decorate a tree? Gimme a break!

 21. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? My favorite ornaments are blown-glass; I have some that are "American" blown-glass (generally clear or colored-clear glass), and some that are Czech glass (the shaped and inside-mirrored ones) with the fancy colors. One day, I would like to have a tree with all cream & gold (& glass w/ gold) decorations and white lights. We have so many ornaments in our family, we could easily do two trees, so I may someday get my wish!

 22. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Family and friends  to share it with. And strawberry lemonade!

 23. What do you want for Christmas this year?  To honor Jesus, the Christ and the reason for the celebration, in everything.

 24. Who is most likely to respond to this?  Got it from Margaret, and she's the one I would have said

 25. Who is least likely to respond to this?  All the rest? Hey, it's Christmas, and these things take TIME! Now, go get on those Christmas emails, ya'll!

quick update on DH's Dad

2007-12-09T18:26:00.002-07:00

Many of you have been praying, and we thank you for that.

Dear Hubby and I had to leave town rather unexpectedly because his Dad (Colin) was doing poorly. So here we are somewhere in Oklahoma, and I have a few minutes to blog!

A couple of weeks ago, Colin had some pretty serious kidney stones. He had some in both kidneys, and they were fairly large. He went in and had surgery to remove them (via a scope--they didn't have to cut), and they got one but the other one went back up inside the right kidney. It wasn't small. They put a stint in, and he went home, doing very well. A couple days later, they pulled the stint out, and he seemed to be doing well until Tuesday when he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't urinate and was in extreme pain. They went to the emergency room, and he was in considerable pain. They gave him some morphine, which helped the pain but caused some interesting delusions--he was having a hard time resting because when he was seeing things behind his eyelids.

Well, what basically had happened was this remaining large kidney stone wanted to pass and started to move down and out of the kidney. Because it was so large, and because they're not polished little stones (they're jaggedy, and filled with crud), it scraped and caused damage, and I believe it got "stuck." It was blocking the kidney, and somehow affected the other one--neither one of them was working correctly (1 is good, 7 is bad; both were at about 3.5). There was also a blood clot in the right kidney; again, likely due to the scratchy stone.

Well, they scoped him again that night, and just missed the stone again. Evidently, they want to blast it with the laser, but that's not something that they can do while he has an infection, which he certainly does. He has a stint back in place keeping the stone from moving down again, and got IV antibiotics and is now taking them to control the infection.

To make a long story short: Colin is home, and feeling okay, but worn out. Fortunately, the unpleasant side effects of the morphine has worn off and the pain is much more easily controlled now. He needs to heal and get over the infection so the doctors can take the next step.

Dear Hubby's Mom, Peggy, is also doing very well. You may recall that she has been struggling for the past couple of years and about a year ago was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. This disease is often associated with someone that has a lifetime history of drinking; Peggy never touches a drop. She has been on a number of medications for a number of years, and she has struggled with her health the last couple of years. She was diagnosed w/ cancer and had a kidney removed; the other seems to function just fine. She has experienced no small amount of God's healing in her body, and has been taken off of the liver transplant list. She still gets tired very easily, and it doesn't take much to knock her down, but she is eating well again, and has finally started to regain some of the weight that she lost when she was sick for so long.

It's hard on DH, because we are so far away. We are blessed that they have so much family around, but they also both tend to do too much--can't say no, you know? We continue to pray for them, and God continues to answer. Anyway, thank you everyone for your prayers, and know that we pray for each of you daily that God gives you the strength and support that you need to face whatever life throws your way each day.

God bless, and we'll be back in Colorado tomorrow (Monday).

~DW

Boycotting "The Golden Compass?" Our family will be!

2007-11-19T09:55:00.001-07:00

The Golden Compass

You may already know about this, but I just learned about a kids movie coming out in December starring Nicole Kidman. It's called The Golden Compass, and while it will be a watered down version, it is based on a series of children's books about killing God (It is the anti-Narnia).

It is written by Phillip Pullman, a proud atheist who belongs to secular Humanist societies.

Please follow this link, and then pass it on. From what I understand, the hope is to get a lot of kids to see the movie - which won't seem too bad - and then get the parents to buy the books for their kids for Christmas. The quotes from the author sum it all up.
http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

Please pass on to everyone you know.

We need to be sure to spread the word about this movie!

Saving Money at the Pump

2007-11-16T09:10:00.001-07:00

Easy Ways to Conserve Gas

Take It Easy - aggressive driving ruins efficiency as much as anything. Revving the engine, quick acceleration, and high speed travel reduce your MPG a lot faster than you may realize. When applicable, use your cruise control to help keep the RPMs level.

Timing is Everything - Stop-and-go traffic, crowded roads, and looking for a parking space are all fuel-burners. Try running your errands outside of rush hours and peak shopping times. With the amount of stores that are open late or 24-hours, you can find most of what you need later or earlier than peak times. Not only can you save time getting there and parking, but it is often cooler at these times so you don't have to run the air conditioner. Try parking as soon as you get into the parking lot (instead of driving around, looking or waiting for the perfect parking spotthat probably doesn't exist anyway!) and walking the distance.
Race ya! when stopped at traffic lights, do not "punch it" when it turns green; rather, come up to speed gradually, especially if you are just "racing" to another red light. Try to time your stops so that you are still rolling ever so slightly or only just stopped when that next light does turn greenit takes more gas to start from a complete stop than it does from a rolling stop.
Don't be a "Gas-Brake-Gas" driverwhen it's time to slow down, simply take your foot off the gas and let the car coast slower (unless you're about to hit somebody!), especially if you see a red light ahead or traffic slowing down. Give the car in front of you some space, and then you won't have to hit your brakes, either.
Use common sense if you drive a standard transmission, keep your foot on the brake at red lights, instead of "bouncing" or using the gas pedal to keep you from rolling backwards. No "creeping" eitherit's hard on the brakes and hard on the transmission, not to mention your fuel economy.

Proper Maintenance - Inexpensive do-it-yourself maintenance such as replacing your air-filter and properly inflating your tires, and using only the necessary octane can make a big impact. In addition, using the proper weight of oil and performing scheduled tune-ups can make noticeable improvements as well as keeping the oil topped off at all times.

If you have more than one car, use the more efficient one - Sure it is a little harder to squeeze the groceries into that small trunk rather than the back of the SUV, but this may help you afford to get that filet rather than chopped liver (unless of course you like chopped liver).

Lighten the load - the weight that an engine has to push directly affects the fuel efficiency. Take all unnecessary items out of your vehicle (you should probably keep the spare tire and related tools). In addition, although most people like going for rides, try to only take those that need to go.

Reduce your trips -
- On the way home stop and pick up what you need so you don't have to go back out later. Use lists so you don't forget anything. Make do with what you have when you do forget something. Call the kids before you leave the store, because they're waiting until you get home to tell you that there's a bake sale at school, and they need you to make 8,000 cookies tonight.
- Not to support any one type of business, but try to buy what you need at a single location rather than driving to multiple stores (as long as you don't have to drive too much further to get there).
- Clean out the fridge and cupboard rather than going out for a meal.
- Order delivery. Sure someone is using gas, but the driver will usually be delivering to multiple people thus having a more efficient trip.

"Carpooling, it's not just for work anymore" -
- Go grocery shopping with your neighbor.
- Split the dropping off and picking up of the kids with the other parents.
- Get together with friends and family at each other's homes. This way only some, not everyone, will be traveling.

Buy a Locking Gas Cap Reports from several automotive parts stores report whenever a spike in gas prices occurs they see a run on keyed gas caps. Many of the people purchasing them tell the clerks the same story, "I went out in the morning and my tank had been drained".

No Joy-Riding -
- Remind the kids that driving is a privilege and not a right. The same bike that got them around when they were fifteen probably just needs some air in the tires (and I bet they forgot how much fun it is to pop wheelies).
- This could be a good time to rebuild the carburetor on your classic weekend driver.

Explore More Activities at Home -
- Pay-per-view or home movies vs. the video store or theater.
- Yard / Housework: finally clean out that attic / basement or weed that flower bed that keeps bothering you. Just quit procrastinating, already!
- Athletic Activities: play catch, soccer, bike riding, hiking, jogging, walking, meditation, etc.
- Misc.: board games, darts, reading, family talk hour, call old friends, write letters (REAL LETTERS!!), hobbies, etc.

Explore More Activities Close to Home -
- A Little League, high school, or youth organization game can be as much fun and a lot cheaper than taking a road trip or driving into the city for a college or professional game.
- Explore the nature in the parks in your community rather than driving to the larger parks.
- The local thrift stores can be more interesting than some museums.
- Community Service - You could perform some roadside beautification (a.k.a. picking up trash) and give smug looks to all those passing motorist who are wasting gas. Or DON'Tya' snob!
Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallon age is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.
If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.
Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)
If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapors, which is being sucked back into the underground tank so you're getting less gas for your money. Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump'.

~ Some of these tips were derived from Autotrader.com and some from www.FuelEconomy.gov., some from an email I must have gotten 43 times already by some guy that has worked on a pipeline for 31 years, and the rest I made up myself based on my own personal knowledge of the industry. ~

Things I have learned since becoming a mother:

2007-11-15T15:56:00.001-07:00

(and this isn't the same list that has been circulating in emails for a couple of years that talks about a queen-sized waterbed contains enough water to flood a ranch-style home with 2 inches of water, and flushed flashlights illuminate the toilet bowl.)

I now understand why Dad took away all my toys when I couldn't/wouldn't keep my room clean. We're mostly past the toys stage, and full-blown into the clothing stage: it's called a hamper, Sweetie!
Kids claim (falsely, I fervently believe) that they can distinguish between clean and dirty laundry, no matter how interspersed the two may be
Old cats pee on everything. Except kitty litter.
Old cats barf a lot. Especially on white carpet. White carpet isn't white after cats barf on it. Now it's leopard-print!
City kids have no idea what a growing tomato, broccoli, cucumber, or pepper plant looks like. Imagine explaining to them where the seeds come from!
Mice like garages. Especially garages where dog food gets dropped a lot.
Mice scare the daylights out of Moms when opening a box that was stored in the garage and there he is, peering at you just as frightened of you as you are of him. Maybe more so.
Parent-teacher conferences are never scheduled at a good time for the parent.
"huh" and "I dunno" are the first words teenagers learn. Older siblings and peers can be pivotal in helping them learn these words while still tweens.
Once-A-Month-Cooking gives one much more energy throughout the rest of the month to pursue such hobbies as baking cookies, giving homework help, and haircuts.
Once-A-Month-Cooking is best performed with help. Useful help is good, but yet oh-so-hard to find.
Potatoes don't freeze well for once a month cooking. Still not sure how they do it for commercially-sold French-fries and hash browns, and probably don't want to know!
Celery doesn't freeze well after being cooked, and can ruin an otherwise great quadruple batch of split pea soup
Teenagers are an excellent example of why some of God's creatures eat their young.
No matter how much it makes sense to eat them, we still love themeven more so when they're being most edible.
Parents are human, and humans generally don't eat their children, unless they want to be locked away for years.
Teenagers will lead parents to question if they will be locked away for years if, rather than eating them, they chain up their teenagers in the basement until they turn 21. They contemplate doing so anyway, and and wonder if they have enough fingers and toes to count the years.
Parenting is a thankless job, unless and until one starts thanking one's own parents

On that note: I LOVE MY PARENTS (all of 'em!), and I forgive them for any real or mostly imagined faults (especially my part of imagining!) in their parenting of methank you for loving me enough to discipline me when I needed it, not that it was very often, cuz we all know what an angel I was and still am! I like to think I turned out okay, and I hate to think that they ever may have wondered how I would make it in the world.

I also understand if they still wonder

(and just in case you were wondering, we absolutely DO love the kids!)

If Hillary is the answer, it must have been a stupid question. -unknown

Sleep, anyone?

2007-11-02T22:59:00.000-06:00

Imagine, in your best snobby, rich-kid, brat-pack from the 80's movie voice, some snotty kid (more on that thought later) querying, "Tennis, Buffy?"

Wow, this wife and mother thing has its challenges! Like the challenge to get up in the morning and get myself ready, and crack the whip to get princess #2 moving so we can get out the door in time that she's not late for school and I'm not late for work... On the weeks that she's here, I take an alternate route to work so I can drop her off, and although I've left the house almost 30 minutes earlier, battling traffic at that beautiful high school (who failed to plan for TURN LANES and TRAFFIC CONTROL??? Sheesh, people! Did you not realize that your several thousand chilluns would be driving to school at the same time their thousands of parents are trying to get to work?), and then battling down one of those roads--you know, the kind with enough lights to make the traffic move so slowly that only two cars can get through on each cycle? It's amazing I get to work at all, some days. But, the Lord has blessed me with some outSTANDing sunrises! Particularly because of the unfortunate fires in Cali these past weeks, the atmosphere has enough junk in it that even when there aren't any clouds for painting, the sky itself is shaded the most unusual and beautiful hues.

Challenges... yeah, that's where I was going (how cool that I got sidetracked by beautiful blessings?). The challenge to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Princess #3 has been an amazing help in this department, as has our family's decision (read: solely my decision, and the rest of them had no choice in the matter) to start Once a Month Cooking. (Go Google it--it's a ton of work up front, but a lot less later) #3 and I gotta work on the final directions--I often forget that she hasn't spent as much time in the kitchen as I have, and directions like "dump the bag into the bowl and put it in the oven on 400" don't get translated into "dump the bag, smash the contents down so there's not a mountain sticking out the top and getting burned and oven-dried beyond reasonable limits of human consumption and pools of liquid surrounding aforementioned mountain like a bubbling moat." Challenges communicating: "Can I go trick or treating with Sally (names always changed to protect the guilty)" actually means "will you come home early from work, help me put the final touches on my costume, and then take me over there--oh, and pick me up when we're done, and no, I didn't study for my 2 tests that I have on Friday like you told me I had to do or I couldn't go with Sally..."

Or how about the challenge of trying to make gravy for the potroast (which has been cooking all day, the mere smell of which has set the tummy monster into a fit of rage) while trying to answer the door for trick-or-treaters? I swear, every time I dumped some of the slurry in, the doorbell would ring. Well, at least it got to cook long enough that the gravy didn't taste like flour. (Again, back to the blessing... Hmm, I guess I'm still a raging "good attitudist"!)

Or, the challenge of getting the hubby home in time to have dinner before the clock tells me that it's tomorrow? I tell you what, he had worked almost 60 hours between Sunday and Wednesday, and not a day off in sight. I do like to see him live and in person every once in a while (I have his picture on my desk for those days when I can't wait to see him--which would only be days that end in "y"), and because he isn't the best at making time for meals while at the store, I like to have something ready for him to eat when he gets home. We then sit at the table and unwind him from the day, and I catch him up on the latest Princess Antics. Occasionally, one or more of the Princesses will stay up so they can see him before bed--oh, and then be so tired that the alarm gets shut off in the morning and DW gets a call saying someone overslept and just woke up and whoops, school started 45 minutes ago and oh, do you think that's a problem to oversleep on the day after All Saint's Day Eve? (Just in case you're wondering, YES, it's a problem. No more trick-or-treating for you, ever. Just kidding. I DO love you, Princess #3! I guess it shows, since I surprised you with the finishing touches for your costume and only reminded me that "you owe me bigtime" about 8 times!)

Then there's the challenge of sleep. Sleep, that blessed state in which one's body is refreshed, rejuvenated, and revived to do it all again another day. That state which has effectively eluded me for far too long. Thanks be to cats, who complain loudly throughout the night that they need food, and such tasty morsels have to be doled out in tiny portions because Old Man Wulfie will barf because he eats too fast and his old tummy can't take it anymore. Or Little Chunk will just starve to death (NOT!) if she doesn't get some food right now. And if it's not food, it's snuggle. As in, snuggle NOW! Oh, were you sleeping? Well, all the better, that means she has a captive audience. I have kicked the cats in my sleep before--would it be wrong if I pretended to sleep and gave them the boot? Hey, they'll never know that I wasn't sleeping... Not that it's all the cats' fault--somehow, I'm just waking up for no apparent reason in the middle of the night. How can a person be so tired and still have such a hard time sleeping?

So, back to Buffy. Sleep, Buffy? Oh, Buffy rhymes with fluffy. As in pillow. Pillow-top bed. Comfy. Calling my name. Now. Gonna go try to snag some of those elusive Z's. Slap-happy? Delirious? Can barely type? Choose "D," all of the above.

Drifting off, thinking, "I can't wait to review this post tomorrow and see what I really wrote." Should be entertaining! Stick THAT in your snobby-voice pipe and smoke it! Gosh, I love those old 80's movies, the really stupid ones with John Cusack in them. I'll probably have a dream where some kid is screaming "two dollars" all night long. Ahh. Dreams. Okay, NITEY-NITE!

check out the link

2007-10-30T12:54:00.001-06:00

Even if you've never been to YouTube, all you have to do is click on the link at the right that says "Are you proud?"

Great stuff--and from a 15-year-old! Thanks be to God that there are some teenagers that aren't so absorbed into MTV, Ipods, MySpace and FaceBook that they can see what's really going on in the world.

Thanks to Mimi for the link, and the email entitled "grab a hanky!"

The Master has been out with His paintbrush

2007-10-21T16:07:00.001-06:00

Oh, the lovely colors of fall! Often, we do not get to enjoy these as much in in this part of the country as those from the New England area like to brag; this year has been an exception, to be sure. The girls have a long-standing tradition of going to a charming mountain town each fall with their Dad toting cameras and enough cash to load up on ice cream and beanie babies (they've mostly grown out of the last stage). Last year, Princess #1 was still learning to drive, and got some drive-time experience on the way up. Dad got a "learning how to sit in the backseat and silently white-knuckle the whole ride while Dear Wifey sits in the passenger seat and coaches" lesson. It's a hard lesson for either parent--I remember my step Dad teaching me to drive because my Mom recognized that she might kill me if she had to teach me. I love you, Mom, and to this day, thank you! We probably have a better relationship for your having let someone else teach me to drive... I recognize how tough it is for a parent to let the arrow loose from the bow--oh, how the string quivers after sending such a precious arrow out into the world. Anyway, that was last year (no, don't think for a second that we're "over it"). She's driving on her own now, working and attending the local college... She doesn't write, she doesn't call... sisters (and DH/DW!) are starting to wonder: when's she gonna come home!?! Oh yeah... The colors (isn't that how I started down this train of thought?) in the mountains are a most beautiful yellow of the aspens against the stark contrast of the evergreen trees on the annual sojourn to the mountains. Sadly, the beatles are killing more and more of those dark trees, and the contrast is more yellow against brown these days... very sad, but that is part of the cycle of life, I suppose. So, THIS year was a different story. In a rare sighting, Princess #1 actually asked if we could plan a trip to this secluded mountain town. Now, when it came time to actually go, it was a different story (she's working, or Dad's working, or birthday parties are happening--oh, but the list does go on!), but it certainly got us all thinking again. We have been especially blessed with an extended Indian Summer this year--heck, we're still picking tomatoes, although their ripening has slowed significantly in these past weeks. We have, however, had one of the most colorful falls I can remember. Oranges, reds, yellows--reds over greens, and more. WOW! And just enough rain lately to keep everything from drying out, so the leaves are still actually on the trees and yards are still (mostly) green. The Master has been at work again, and we there's not a day that we don't enjoy it. We have the beautiful mountains out our back door (okay, there are actually neighbors' houses in the way, but we can see them when we drive around), and stunning colors to amuse us. God loves you so much that he sends you flowers every spring, but fall will not be outdone with its stunning array of contrasting colors. I love God!

So, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but (no, not a miniature sleigh--it's not time for that yet!) a weather prediction of temperatures touching 30 degrees. Bummer! I wanted more 'maters! So, I made DH come out in the blustering wind with me to drain water out of the planter boxes and move the still heavily-laden, green-fruited vines into the garage. Whew, biting wind, but a hood makes ALL the difference in the world! He must really love me (yes, he does!) to brave the bluster. Yep, my gardening sickness will be allowed to continue, as the garden has taken over the second stall in the garage. Hey, since Princess #1 wrecked the car, we have the space, so why not? Okay, okay, so there's not much daylight that gets in--only the windows on the garage door, but it's going to give them just a little more time to ripen those tasty toms, and save us some on our grocery bill at the same time. Interestingly, we bought some yellow and red peppers from the grocery the other day, and when I cut them up and sampled them, they had very little flavor compared to those that my taste buds have come to love. Don't even get me started on those pink-fleshed, mushy-mess spheres they pass off for tomatoes in the produce departments of our local grocery--there is simply no comparison to the sun-warmed tomatoes on my plate! Then, did I mention I woke up to a BLIZZARD this morning!?! It was pretty short-lived, but I sure am glad Dear Hubby and I brought stuff in last night. Yep, that snow-covered flowering color-bowl is from just this morning!

Let's see, before I write a book (which I am planning, by the way, but not here...), I should let you all know that Princess #2 has started her first official job at a deli/bakery at the local mall. DH and I went to pick her up last night, and I asked if we could go a few minutes early. We just stood there and watched her helping customers, working (!?!), and smiling. We commented that we may have to come and watch her work more often, just so we can see her smile--she is at "that stage" where the bedroom is the only place she'll be unless we insist she come and join us. We just don't get to see her much; it's not quite time to let that arrow go, but she thinks she's already left. If only she would figure out for which target she is aiming... She'll get there eventually. I keep reminding myself of a statistic I heard on James Dobson's radio program that said something like teenagers have the same brain-wave patterns of a psychopath. A PSYCHOPATH!!! How's THAT for encouraging? Well, he also says, "Just get them through it, and they'll come back to you." We spend all kinds of time in prayer for all our princesses, but for #2, it's that she'll preserve herself long enough to find (and then stay) in God's will for her life.

Speaking of just getting through teenager-hood and praying, I'll ask that you all remember our family in your prayers, because our Princess #3 has just turned 13! Yes, she's already displaying some of the classic teenager syndrome; but to be fair, she has had two shining (uh... ?) teenager examples to follow! Thirteen is a big one; I still remember mine: our family always saved the Japanese Kitchen Steakhouse trips for the "big" birthdays--13, 16, and the like. Well, I think I still had the picture that had been taken at my 13th until just a few years ago! Anyway, #3 had 6 friends over, and her Mom picked them up and took them to get manicures and then dinner at Red Robin. Then back to our house for gifts, cake (which I decorated myself, thank you very much!), a costume party and sleepover.
Go figure, the biggest girl (not big around--she's athletic, very tall and muscular!) had to dress as Wonder Woman, and kept taking "Wonder Leaps" off the couch in the basement. Not a problem if you have concrete-slab basement; however we happen to have elevated subfloors and the house sounds like it's coming down when wonder leaps are performed. Princess #1 took pictures of the girls in their costumes, which I then surprised them all by putting on CD's so they could take them home. Cute pictures... #3 and the friend with whom she is writing a book both dressed as ninjas-in-training (ever seen Naruto? No? Well, consider yourself lucky!), and of course they had to have mock fights where Wonder Woman was lasso-ing, Ninja swords were swinging, drama queens (all seven of them!) were flailing, wailing, and all were generally hamming it up. And CONTACTS!!! Did I mention that DH and I got her contacts?!? She's so excited--but it's going to take some time for her to get used to them. Best birthday in memory, she says. Mission: ACCOMPLISHED.

On that note: sayonara!

Praises to God

2007-10-02T11:37:00.000-06:00

YES!!! We get to stay where we are, for now! DH will be working in a great store with some great people, and while it's about 20 miles from where we live, at least it's not 2000 miles! What an answer to prayer, because this area is home to Dear Hubby and me, and the kids wouldn't think of moving away--and darn it, I guess it would be up to them. So, at least we don't have to deal with a big move, but we do still have to move...

Gotta get outta the big mortgage. It's just silly to think that mortgage brokers would do what they do--and regulations are starting to come into place so that they don't do that anymore. I remember when we were looking at financing the castle, and our mortgage guy was insistent that we should get an adjustable rate mortgage, "because you're going to refinance in a couple of years, anyway," he said. Well, we knew better, and we were insistent that we get a fixed-rate first mortgage, and can you believe it? He had to look into a different loan program than what he ever had used in recent history. We wouldn't even have had to use this guy except that with my work history (only being self-employed for a short time), we were looking into otherwise unconventional stuff. We also had to insist that the mortgage payment escrow the taxes and hazard insurance--I mean, this guy was unconventional! Anyway, the payment goes up when your taxes go up (and where we live, they just can't wait to bump our assessed values--even though the market is taking a dive), and we're just not that into having the big mortgage payment and big house. Too much to clean!!

So, where are we going to move? Somewhere close to where we are now. We definitely want the girls to stay in their schools, and if we end up out of the school district, we'll have to take BOTH of them to school every morning instead of just the one right now. Speaking of school, Princess #2 has decided that she wants to go to the HS just by our house, instead of the one over by her Mom's. This has been a matter of contention for Mom & Princess, but she has decided that she really wants to be in a school around her friends. We have discussed it, and Mom agrees with us that she can transfer but only after the semester is over, and only after she can prove to us that she can get her grades up and keep them up. Once she gets back into our local HS, she will be surrounded by the same friends and distractions that she had in middle school when she was getting very poor grades (due to said friends aka distractions, according to every single one of her teachers--and we tend to agree!). Anyway, Princess doesn't think it's fair that she should have to wait until the semester is over, and we have explained over and over to her that 1) she made the decision to go the other school. Yes, we know that it became a matter of being able to see her mother or not, but she still made that decision, and we expect her to respect and honor that. 2) She simply must prove to us that she can get good grades before we can allow her to be back in an environment that has historically fostered such poor academic performance. She insists that she can get good grades there (we don't believe it yet), and that we can't begin to understand how bad it is. Yeah, well, 'tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all... She doesn't know how good she has it (and don't all parents say that?). Unbelievably, she had all A's just a couple weeks ago, and then when we met with her teachers last week, the report we got was just more of the same stuff that we had heard all through Jr. High, and the grades had all slipped but one of them. We keep praying for her to understand that she is going to need to stick it out, and then have the resolve to do it--otherwise, she's not going to be transferring, and that would probably not help the situation either!

We also started the family on a bonafide written spending plan (aka: a budget. Oooh, is that a bad word?). When I was single, I managed just fine--I knew how much I had and where, and I also knew when I didn't have it. Here's the kicker: the cats don't ask for money to go to the football game, or Starbucks, or get hair and nails done for Homecoming. So, it's been a lifestyle adjustment for me--one that has not gone as well as it's "fixin' to". Now we are married, and we have family finances, as well as cats (and dogs!), and of course, three princesses that wreck cars, go to the doctor, play sports, go to the movies, like to buy clothes, and MORE (did I mention Starbucks?)!!! I had already been familiar with Crown Financial Ministries (and I highly recommend EVERYONE check them out--God knew that money would be a tough area for us, and He talks more about it in the Bible than about Heaven and Hell combined), and had heard of the "envelope" system. Well, we started the girls on the envelopes last night. They had just recently had an "incident" with the mall cards that their Mom gives them, and Princess #2 wasn't able to purchase several much-desired items due to technical difficulties with the card. The girls thought that all that cash looked pretty cool--and we admonished them to be sure to budget it that it will last all month, because they're not getting any more until next month--and no "cash advances" either! We explained that it may look like a lot now, but by the end of the month, it's gonna be getting smaller and smaller. I fear that it will all be spent in two days, but they will learn life lessons this way--and better now, when we know that we will still feed them rather than later in life when it becomes an issue of ramen and tuna and Visa bills. Oh, we hope, anyway. We certainly have learned, and it seems that we'll get some "buy-in" for our overall family spending plan if they understand that it's budgeted, and that's it; when it's gone, it's gone!

Anyway, my lunch break is over, so I'm gonna get back to work before the boss comes around and cracks the whip (she's such a meanie!). Praying everybody is having a great week, and we'll try to make more frequent entries!

~Dear Wifey

Starting High School, Selling Cookies, and Long Weekends

2007-09-05T15:25:00.001-06:00

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's been forever. Hey, life's crazy; I've thought several times about writing but haven't been in front of a computer at the time.

That's all I have to say about that.

So, Princess #2 officially started High School. She is attending one that is close to her mother's house instead of the one that is 3 blocks from our house--time for a change of scenery for our little Drama Queen. Interestingly, on the first day of school, she has her ride "home" take her -- not home. For some reason, parents were not surprised. Basically, she wanted to see what the other high school was like and see some of her friends from 8th grade. Even more interestingly, she reports all the drama going on at what we'll call the "old school" as opposed to the "new school" where she is attending and knows all of 3 people. I chuckle and think of all the drama that must be going on that she just doesn't see because she doesn't know the cliques and the individuals. Can't wait for the drama to begin! She does have extra time after lunch to do some homework, so here's hoping that she doesn't just spend the time as extended lunch and does some of her work before she comes home--where she certainly is not known for doing her work, of the school-type nature or otherwise! She's a good kid, though, and we just can't help but love her. She's so creative, and very much looking forward to her art classes this year since she'll be doing a variety of different art practices instead of all pottery.

Princess #3 is selling cookie dough as a fundraiser for her school. She is working very hard to earn the next level in awards and prizes, but I'm not sure what we're going to do with 83 cases of frozen cookie dough until she can deliver them--or even how is she going to get it all home? I remember as a kid selling all kinds of garbage as fundraisers - from soap to jewelry to wrapping paper, but I still think the best fundraisers were the single-serving candies, either M&M's or chocolate bars or whatever. Kids could take them and sell them--or not; parents could put them in the breakroom at the office with a note and an envelope for collections (instead of having to deal with order forms and please pay now--it's just not worth it!). Ah, well, the bennies are much better than they ever were--she has earned a limo ride to lunch with several of her friends who have also achieved the same level of sales. Yeah, a LIMO RIDE, to where? Taco Bell??? Sheesh. At least make her work for it!

Princess #1 wrecked Dad's car last week. As she was leaving campus, she pulled out in front of a car, got smashed, and we're out a car payment. Uh, yippee? Oh wait, we're also out a car. Hmm... Well, I guess it's time to figure out how to ride the bus! SO glad that we had gap insurance coverage, because we were completely upside down in that car. If you have a loan on your car, PLEASE look into it and get it--it's cheap, and well worth the money in the event of one of those moments in time that will change one's life. Oh yeah, Princess is just fine. Her boyfriend is righteously upset (a little too much so) and insists that it wasn't her fault. Dad & I have surveyed the scene, and I tend to believe the police officer (who sees wrecks all the time and can better tell from experience who is to blame) who indicates by virtue of the ticket he wrote that our Princess was at fault. If the boyfriend doesn't pipe down, she might miss the lesson to be learned here, but she'll get to make up some of the lost lesson when we sit down to discuss the financial ramifications and what she will be contributing to get the situation squared away.

Finally, we have a "temporary" word on DH's assignment. He is wrapping up his time (if nowhere near his effort) at the current store, and will be assigned to another local store for a while. We're not sure what they're waiting on before they give him the permanent assignment, but we just keep praying that the decision-makers see what they need to see to make the decisions that God has in store for us. Hey, it's kept us here so far, so maybe that's His plan for us for the foreseeable future! Maybe He has an even better position for DH than we originally envisioned? We can only hope!

Long weekends are made for garage sales. I gotta tell you, we had one a couple weeks ago--participated with the neighbors in a "block" sale, and did extremely well, even if we were nickled-and-dimed to death. Sold a TON of little stuff, and at the end of the day had to move almost ALL the large furniture pieces back into the garage. Knowing that we had so much stuff, we didn't hesitate to determine that we would have another sale in a couple of weeks. Well, after cleaning up from that one with the help of Hubby and Princess #3, I was exhausted, and allergies were having a heyday for having stirred up all the garage-sale dust. I was still stuffy and sore throat come Monday. This time, however, was different: no block sale, no ad in the paper; just signs. Effective, apparently, because ALL the furniture sold (I even tried to give away the last dresser as I was "closing shop" but the guy insisted on giving me some money), I had very little to drag back into the garage afterwords, and made some decent cash, again. Now, if only I had remembered to put those boxes and bags of leftover goods on the stoop this morning so that AARP would pick them up... DOH!!! Guess I'll freecycle some stuff. Maybe, in light of the fact that we're down by one car, we'll figure out how to get the ole' truck running and haul some of the stuff to ARC or Goodwill. Duh? At least this time, I had Monday to recuperate as well--a good thing, since the rest of the weekend had been shot!

Okay, I gotta get going - hope you all are having a GREAT day (week, month... how long has it been?) and God bless!

~Me

the latest update

2007-08-07T13:08:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I have discovered something interesting about having a blog that family checks: when I don't keep it up, they actually write to me! Well I have found that, in my silence--and by their own admission--they can't be trusted!

It looks like Mom & Rick have two new puppies--and it looks like they're making themselves right at home on the dog-bed, too. Now, you must understand (for those of you that haven't seen the aforementioned dog bed), that to the average person, this piece of cushiony furniture might look like a rather comfy leather couch, suitable for snuggling with your sweetheart, watching movies or taking naps on (all of which I have done on said piece of furniture). You would be mistaken, however, if you called it a couch--just ask the dogs! They have clearly marked their territory, and as Mr. T would say to those who think otherwise, I pity the fool!

Well, life is, as I mentioned to Pops, like a soap opera. For those of you that have never "followed" one, you won't know what I'm talking about. For those of you that were ever involved in GH when Luke & Laura were getting married, or any one of them when somebody died and mysteriously came back to the show, you'll know what I mean when I say you can miss a day and miss entire episodes of drama, excitement, and death, or you can miss a month and not much has happened. Well, such is life in our household, and so here's a (not-so-) quick and dirty since the last update:

Dear Husband has been working in the prescripted SuperK store, trying to put the people, procedures and training in place to help the sales and service turn around in the various grocery departments. People have been on vacation, and the hiring/ training procedures can be arduous, so it has been an uphill battle, but he's fighting the good fight, and winning. Team members are now in place, and improvements will continue to happen as training and oversight continue to improve.
Meanwhile, he was also shipped back out to Chicago for a week (7/30 thru 8/3) for Super K specific training. The previous 7 weeks were for Kmart general training--learning the corporate philosophy, some systems training, meeting all the right people, etc. Trouble is, it's now monsoon season in Colorado, so his flight was diverted to Colorado Springs thanks to the storm cell sitting right over DIA. I'm telling you, building an airport in a part of the state that has historically been called "tornado alley" is not a smart thing to do... But then, they didn't ask me for my opinion. Oh, and just heard that they're going to be doing a $250 million improvement project to the airport (excuse me, is it even 10 years old yet? Oh, it is? Well, then, it is certainly past due for a major overhaul and redecoration!), and that they'll be budgeting $30 million for a new luggage system. For those of you that weren't in CO when this airport was being built, we're SICK of hearing about the problems with the luggage transportation in the airport itself--the first one was doomed before the airport even opened. Okay! Onward and upward...
Princess #2 has had a birthday--15 now! Lord help us, she'll be wanting to get her permit soon... She also has expressed herself and is thinking about going to live with her mom full-time. Please pray for us in this area--she needs her father's influence more than ever, as well as some consistent discipline in her life.
Princess #3 helped put on a garage sale last weekend. Okay, now let me not downplay this at all. We had a TON of work to do to get ready, and because the girls were at their mom's, I was trying all week to get ready for the garage sale as best I could by myself. I was planning on picking her up and having her help me price some stuff, then take Friday off so we could have the garage sale, but work dictated otherwise. Since the neighbors were planning a block sale, we hated to miss the opportunity of someone else paying for the ad and putting up signs, so we planned to still "open shop" on Saturday--but with Dad's flight being diverted, we were several hours behind and he was in no mood to play in the garage on Friday night. She and I worked until about 1 a.m., got back up at 6 and were at it again. After a couple of early sales, we were getting somewhat organized and beginning to price things when the waves of people started coming in. I was instructed by a well-meaning customer that I needed to have Princess #3 running the cash so she could learn how to do it, and we ended up being so busy that we ALL were running cash before we were finished! Anyway, I have been trying to teach her how to count cash back the real way without doing the math--her math is a little shaky after a summer of watching Disney channel reruns. She doesn't understand it yet, but at least now it's not a foreign concept, and she knows how to hold the money so that someone doesn't claim, "Hey, I gave you a $50!" and get away with it. So much work, and by far the most successful garage sale I've ever seen. More than once I would be standing in an area where I could see most of the garage and driveway, and be overcome with the idea that there are about 35 people pawing through our stuff at that very moment. Sold a lot, but not nearly enough--and hardly any furniture, which is weird because in my experience, furniture is the first thing to go (and the thing that draws people in), but then, most of my garage sale experience is in a college-town, where a glass-topped hardwood table for $5 will fit into any decor. It's amazing how much of a throwaway society we live in these days.
Gardening in our parts is interesting. We are trying container-gardening, because there really isn't a place in our yard that would be suitable for permanently converting to a garden unless we did some serious landscaping--for which we do NOT have the time. Anyway, I was saving some seeds from some store-bought roma tomatoes this spring (which involves them soaking in water for several days while allowing a film to grow--a fungus, actually--and kill off any bad bacteria that would inhibit the plant's natural growth, when the seeds all sprouted!! Well, I can't let anything die intentionally, so I put them in some soil, and we now have a plethora of tomato plants. Never mind that I had purchased some heirloom tomato seeds on Ebay, and so had a couple others, to boot... Anyway, you'll notice my earlier comment was regarding tomato plants, and there's a good reason for that. We currently have about 14 plants, all of which have tomatoes on them--not one of which has even begun to show a hint of color that might indicate an intention to ripen anytime soon. Lord have mercy if they all ripen at once--it's gonna be crazy! This is where we get to the "death" part of the soap opera; in the parts where we live, the winds can sure kick up and knock a plant over, or cause other problems. Personally, I have never grown any squash plants, but this year we have zucchini (whoa, did I spell that right?) and spaghetti squash, as well as cucumbers. Now, cucumbers don't usually get lumped into the squash family (or DO they?), but they grow on a similar vine, and are susceptible to the same problems, including powdery mildew. We nearly lost our entire spaghetti squash plant a while back--it creeps up fast, and if you don't treat it right away, it will take over your whole plant and affected areas don't recover well--at least, not when you're using organic treatments, as I insist on doing. Did you know that a mixture of 1 part skim milk (any milk will do, but the lesser the fat, the lesser the stink later) and 9 parts water, sprayed on the tops and bottoms of leaves at the first sign of this pesky problem will not only treat the problem, but strengthen the plant against further outbreak? I spent a good hour last night, culling the dead leaves and flowers off of the vines (quite a bit of work, since they had "gone crazy" growing well before being affected by the offending "Douie" I have named it --think Hewey, Louie & Dewey, only "Dewey" was too cute and Douie reminded me more of "doozy"). The poor plants now look nearly dead--all the original leaves are long gone and nothing is left but the new growth on the ends of the vines, which has been treated several times with this cat-attracting milk potion and is even bearing new male AND female flowers! Maybe we'll get a couple more "spaghetti" dinners out of the plants yet!

Okay, well, that's enough of an update for now (that's Dani-speak for my lunch is over, now I have to get back to work) so I'll have to fill more in later.

And Mom, what ARE their names???

Strange Notes from World War II

2007-08-07T12:28:00.001-06:00

In honor of my Grandfather, Colonel Jack Blanchard, U.S. Airforce, now gone for three years. We miss you, Grandpa, and can't wait to see you again on the flip side!

1. The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed by the Japanese (China, 1937), the first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940), the highest ranking American killed was Lt.Gen.Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.

2. The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham, USN. He was wounded and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about his age. (His benefits were later restored by act of Congress)

3. At the time of Pearl Harbor the top US Navy command was Called CINCUS (pronounced "sink us"), the shoulder patch of the US Army's 45th Infantry division was the Swastika, and Hitler's private train was named "Amerika". All three were soon changed for PR purposes.

4. More US servicemen died in the Air Corps than the Marine Corps. While completing the required 30 missions your chance of being killed was 71%.

5. Generally speaking there was no such thing as an average fighter pilot. You were either an ace or a target. For instance Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa shot down over 80 planes. He died while a passenger on a cargo plane.

6. It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a mistake. Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the target 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss rate go down.

7. German Me-264 bombers were capable of bombing New York City but it wasn't worth the effort.

8. German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.

9. Among the first "Germans" captured at Normandy were several Koreans.
They had been forced to fight for the Japanese Army until they were captured by the Russians and forced to fight for the Russian Army until they were captured by the Germans and forced to fight for the German Army until they were captured by the US Army.

10. Following a massive naval bombardment 35,000 US and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska. 21 troops were killed in the firefight. It would have been worse if there had been any Japanese on the island.

Humor from Mimi (my grandmother--no, REALLY!)

2007-07-23T15:02:00.001-06:00

John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called "pullets," and ten roosters, whose job it was to fertilize the eggs (for you city folks).

The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time, so he bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by listening to the bells.

The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch, and a very fine specimen he was, too. But on one particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! John went to investigate.

The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. But to Farmer John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He would sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.

John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result...The judges not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.

Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making: Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention!

It's HOT here!

2007-07-18T17:01:00.000-06:00

Happy blazin' summer, folks! Okay, I know for those of you in the Southeastern part of the country, you're wishing you could remind me of how hot 99-99 is, and don't think I've forgotten. Dear Husband and I were discussing when we might go to see Mom (in the hot and humid Southeastern part of the country) just this morning, and I made no secret that the worst times to be there are July and August. I love you guys, but let's plan some time when we'll have any energy left to do more than look at each other and weakly laugh!

Summer here is warm, and as I walk down the streets of Downtown, I am reminded how the term heat wave came into being. The heat just rises in ripples off of the sidewalks, and it has been somewhat humid lately--okay, humid by our standards, anyway! It has been clouding up in the afternoon with thunderstorms--some of which produce more than just garden-threatening winds! When I got home yesterday, our spaghetti squash plants, which I have trained up onto two tomato cages (and they've overgrown those, too... not sure what I'm going to do with them next!) had nearly blown over. Never mind that branch of tomato plant, either. It's history! We do get to see some spectacular sunsets, though, because as the clouds usually break as the sun dips down, we are enjoying more reds thanks in part to smoke from the unfortunate fires in Utah and other parts of the country right now. God can use bad for good--the good being our enjoyment. DH and I take every opportunity to enjoy the paintings that God sends us every day. Hey, if you like seeing the mountains, maybe you should live here, too!

So, let's see... what's up with the family right now... I'll start with the youngest of the human children. Princess #3 is currently in Arizona enjoying the church's summer camp. DH and I dropped her off at the airport at SIX A.M. on Sunday (traditionally a day to sleep in, but not so this time around!) and she was chatty and excited--wish we felt the same. Talk about uncontrolled chaos: there were at least 52 kids trying to get checked in with the church and then checked in for their flights, plus parents trying to get one last hug out of the kids, plus "supervising" adults (not more than 5 kids per group leader), plus the extra yay-hoos in the group. Communication is KEY, people! Get a plan and then execute, already! Well, they finally got the group headed out to the terminal--made 'em walk to the terminal after giving everyone clear-cut instructions on how they were going to handle getting on the tram--at which point, Princess was completely oblivious to the fact that we were still there, waiting and hoping for one last wave. DH got a call from her on Tuesday; it sounds like she's having a blast, and really enjoying the camp. She says they have chapel services in the morning and the evening, and she's making some new friends. Hmm... she'll never convince me that she has a hard time with that! The return flight is due in on Friday at 10 p.m., so we're praying for no delays since airports are not the most comfortable hangout (nor the cheapest!) and DH has to work on Saturday morning. It's a good thing she's my favorite!

Let's see, the next human is Princess #2, and she's been in summer school since the 9th. In an effort to get ahead in high school (before she inevitably gets behind because homework comes first on the list AFTER boys, phone time, computer time, text-messaging time, boys, friends, sleeping, and getting beautified for ... phone time, computer time, etc...), she will be going all the rest of July, Mondays through Thursdays. She has a friend whose older sister is going to summer school as well, so it's not like she doesn't know anybody. Not that SHE ever has a hard time making friends, either! She is about the most socially-minded little girl I have ever known. She didn't get to go to the high-schoolers' church camp this summer because she was in Florida. I think it would have been a good one for her to attend, but alas, the time has come and gone... like sands through the hourglass! Princess #2 and I have a unique connection in that we're both the middle child in the family (well, so far for her); that makes her my favorite.

Little Miss Princess #1 has been doing fantastically at her job at a popular clothing store. She has been promoted in a little over a year from low man on the totem pole to assistant manager, and this was her first job! We have been cautious with her and this job, because she does intend to go to college; she seems to think that she will be able to work full time and still handle a full-time class schedule as well. I guess we'll see what her schedule looks like in the fall. We are thrilled that she is going to be taking classes at the local Community College. Not only is it close to home, but also, with the grades on her transcript and her now-busy schedule, not to mention the fact that she's 18 and has no idea what she wants to be when she grows up, it would seem foolish to fork out tons more money for the same (sometimes lesser!) education at a bigger, more prestigious university--at least for now. We are encouraging her to give the first couple of years her best efforts, and to crack out as many of the un-fun credits as possible so that she can enjoy the rest of her college career. We hope that she's able to get the grades that will reflect favorably on a university application and that she can transfer after two years at the Community College. Heck, knowing how hard a road it is when you're working and going to school, I'm just praying that she sticks it out, and I think she will. She's a good kid--takes right after her Dad, going into retail. Yep, she's definitely my favorite.

Okay, the non-human kids: Did I mention that we have some overweight dogs? Well, Candy, at least. Brandy was a little heavy, but she has so much energy, she burns it off and is probably right where she needs to be now that we've cut the food down. Oh, and she looks a lot less like a woolie bear since we groomed her! Candy, on the other hand, has also been losing weight, and is now having a much easier time keeping up with us when we all go for walks. She still pants heavily, but at least she doesn't try to lay down in the middle of the walk anymore! She also got groomed, and the groomers loved how playful and fun-loving she is. She is the hairiest golden retriever I have ever met, and as such, got a partial body-clipping. I tell you what: when they shaved her bum area, it was the funniest thing I think I had ever seen--fat dog, fuzzy dog, naked bum. YIKES!

The other non-human kids are doing fine, too. I think I'm going to take Beaujolais in to be fitted for a football helmet. She takes this snuggly-thing to a whole new level--she is now known as the Kamikazi Snuggler. She comes in at a lively pace and crashes into me, head-first, which turns into a body-slam. I secretly think she does it to wake me up, because she is usually initiating a snuggle either right as I'm falling asleep at night (like it was last night), or right after that snooze button gets smashed in the morning. I guess she thinks that's when she has a captive audience. It would be a lot easier to resist her if she weren't so darn cute! Wulfgang has taken to talking a lot more these days. He has a tendency to sit by the food bowl in the kitchen (the only one into which anything resembling canned food might land) and demand that something appear. Initial unmet requests are repeated. Frequently. He also has taken to drinking water out of the reservoirs under our containers in the garden. He gets fresh water in the bowl every day, and still has to steal it from the 'maters... Go figure! His snuggle times are when Chris is in the recliner or I am on the couch. He isn't as much of a bedtime snuggler as his cohort; perhaps he doesn't want to have to "compete" with her when she's in 'Nuggle Nazi mode.

DH is having fun as well as frustrations in his project at the SuperK. He called me yesterday, and there was a tone in his voice that spoke of a rare excitement... I could tell something was up when he asked me, "Did you know that lemon meringue pies are on sale today at SuperK for $2.99? Today only, save two dollars!" Well, let's just say that the pie on sale that day is pretty tasty! It's great to hear the excitement and passion for his work in his voice--and it's very contagious. He explained to me that the cashier's were in a contest to see who could sell the most pies, and the positive energy was thrumming through the whole store. Long gone are those blue-light specials! DH is still in his training project, and we won't know anymore about where they want him to work until after the project is over. I know, I know! This not knowing is driving us crazy, too!

I have also been completely inundated at work. We have been working a drilling schedule that is constantly changing--it's like aiming at a moving target, only to realize that the target is completely gone and now there's another one. I am constantly amazed at all the pieces that must be in place in order for a single well to be drilled, hooked up to pipeline, and produce revenues. Believe me, people, the prices you are paying at the pump may be driving higher profits for oil companies at the moment, but it truly is based on supply and demand, and the cost of doing business doesn't even get considered by all those politicians that are screaming "price-gouging!" In ANY market, there are ups and downs; it's to be expected. I, personally, am enjoying riding this wave. I love being this busy!

Well, it's that time again... I gotta sign off and go live some life. Maybe one of these days I'll get some pictures posted... I guess I'd have to be at my own computer to do that! On that note, I'm outta here!

If it's tough for us, what must you all be going through?

2007-07-10T08:32:00.001-06:00

Sorry, I couldn't quite bring myself to write "y'all" but I know that I'm "talking" to some Southerners here, and I'll never forget the day in high school when I called a bunch of my girlfriends "you guys" (truly a not-Southern thing!) and I got a talkin'-to! We're not GUYS, we're gals, so if you say 'y'all' then your bases are covered!

Okay, so back to the storyline here. It's VERY tough on us not knowing what's going on with Dear Husband's situation still. We have to remember daily (hourly, minute-by-minute, breath by breath!) to give it back to God because we trust that He has plans for us, and that they're better than anything we could think of. Oh, and all that worrying doesn't help, anyway! "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:34

DH's job is going well. He's back from Chicago, and I am LOVING having my husband in bed next to me where he belongs! Meanwhile, he's beginning to wonder if he's not a Christian living in the 21st century, but maybe a Hebrew slave living in the times of the great pharaohs.

He has been given a project in the Thornton Super K: to "fix" the broken grocery side of the store. How will this "fixing" be measured? By an increase in the bottom line. Period. How long does he have? Just six short weeks. Meanwhile, his drive to work is shorter than mine!

DH is really being challenged, though, and he does love a challenge. He is struggling with the personnelthere simply aren't enough people to do the jobs that need to be done, and some of them do require some experience. There have been a number of positions that are vacantsome for a short time, some for longer periods. The presentation in the store has suffered some, and the problem has compounded over time without proper guidance. He has a bevy of qualified department managers that could whip the store into shape, but the hiring and training process takes 6 weeks or more too late to help him on his project, but certainly will help the store in the not-so-long run. Those changes take time, you know?

Now, he'll be the first to tell you: if your back stockroom is out of control, so is the rest of your store. Well, their back stockroom is having a tough time. Getting it under control is fairly simple, given DH's experience with clearing out back stockrooms. It does, however, require a few bodies to move some freight aroundlike out on the sales floor, so customers can buy it and take it out of the store forever. Since they're short a few of those requisite bodies, he has taken the short-term approach of working all day Monday, and then deciding he needs to go back and work the graveyard shift with the night stockers. I don't know how long this will continue, but he does have a line on some kid that used to work at the King Soopers down the way from our house that's dating the oldest daughter I hear he's pretty good, so we'll be keeping you posted (hey, it's not a promise, it's a vague "we'll neglect something else one day so we can blog about it").

Speaking of neglect I need to get back to work. Just know this: we don't really know what's going on yet. DH has to complete this project, and then he does a panel interview. It will then be decided what his actual title will beFood District Manager (he was teased with allover District Manager, but that carrot was taken back the other day), or whatever; and of course, the all-important where he will be. We have heard hints that they are considering keeping him right here as a Food DM, which would thrill us to no end. We continue to pray for that, and unabashedly ask for your prayers as well towards this end. Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, Lord.

Thanks alland we'll keep you posted on any possible future increases to the Kelley population as we have updates. (How's THAT for a cliffhanger!)

Ciao!

I know, I know!

2007-07-06T15:51:00.000-06:00

Yeah, okay, so it's been two weeks again. Well, we've been busy, and we're still learning to remember to make this a priority!

So, here's the quick & dirty: My Dear Husband is BACK!!! YEAH!!! He got back on Friday, the 29th, and the girls also got back from vacationing with their Mom the same day--so we had a mostly full house on Friday. Princess #1 still only stays at her Mom's, but we're trying to encourage her to give us some face-time, too.

Saturday was a great day--woke up and took one really fat dog to the groomers, and went home to work on the other one (also fat, but not as much so). I had taken them both to the vet's on Thursday night (they have to be current on rabies and kennel cough vaccinations before the groomer will work on them), and got the "your dog is FAT" diagnosis--Candy should weigh in somewhere between 70 and 75 lbs, she's sitting at 5 score and 2! Well, they're lazy, and to be fair, we are too--they don't get walked as often as they should; oh, and they were being fed more than a little bit too much, so they've been "cut back" now. Well, Brandy, our little Fox Wire Terrier, (Terrorist, if you ask me) has had cloudy eyes for a while now, and we noticed some time ago that she was now blind, but it hasn't seemed to slow her down a bit. He (the vet) ran some tests, and determined that she had glaucoma in both eyes--very unusual for dogs to get glaucoma in the first place, but there you are. He also said that the odds of her getting any of her sight back is slim, but that we could go through ridiculously expensive procedures to try and restore her vision. Bearing in mind that the words you just read are my paraphrasing of what he said, we just aren't as willing as some of our neighbors to spend thousands of dollars on a pup--dollars that might be wasted since he indicated the success of any such procedures would be questionable. I asked him what our other options were, and it looks like --PLEASE don't panic or be upset, because it really is okay--Brandy is going to lose her eyes. Not much different than she is now--she's already blind (which, I might add, happened very quickly), but the pressure associated with glaucoma apparently does cause some pain. Not that you'd know it from watching her--you can tell she's blind, because she walks right into things, but she doesn't shy away like she's in any pain. Anyway, we're topically medicating her now and waiting to hear from the vet on her bloodwork which has to be run before she can be put asleep for the surgery. Candy (the first one--the Golden Retriever) needs some dental work, but other than that, she's just a (squish your face together by putting your hands on your cheeks and exerting forward pressure towards your mouth when you say these following words) chubby puppy!

Okay, so dogs... husband... how about kids? Well, it sounds like they had a fun time in Florida--Princess #3 laments being the youngest and getting the short end of the stick. I gotta tell you, no matter who you talk to, the oldest will tell you that they had way more rules, middle children feel lost because they're not the first and they're not the baby... it's just tough being a kid sometimes. We continue to have trouble with getting Princess #2 to understand that we're on her side, still problems with the communication, but we continue to work with her. Just last night, the four of us sat and watched a ridiculously stupid movie about witches that couldn't stand the smell of little children so they (the witches) concocted a potion to turn them (the children) into mice--it was really nice to get to spend some time together, without Princess #2 barricading herself in her room. I often wonder: Mom, did I do that? Anyway, Princess #1 had the day off today, so they're enjoying their season passes at the water park today--they'll be exhausted tonight, I'm sure!

Let's see, what else? Oh, yes, we've had a major holiday since last I wrote! Our Fourth was kicked off a day early when some friends of mine from my previous hometown hosted a BBQ. Andy almost fell down the mountain (not really, but if he ever does, nobody will believe him), Princess #3 got to see a potato cannon shot off, and we ate entirely too much food. It really was great to get to catch up with Steph & Gary (& Reggie!), Andy & Jen (at least, what's left of her!), Stacy, Shannon, Kaylee & Millie & Sam, Brian, Mark & Deanna, more... Got to meet some new friends too, including Staci's "new" guy Jason. I tell you what, God is GOOD! It looks like another match made in Heaven, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for them. We got home late (we left about three hours after I was first asked, "Are we going soon?") and so slept IN on Wednesday--DH woke me up at 6 a.m. and I was having no part of that, so we passed out for a couple more hours. Got up and got some groceries (Super-Kmarts have some of the best canteloupe I've ever had on sale for a buck apiece right now!) and then went home and made some homemade ice cream. When we were at the store, Princess #3 tried to get me to buy some of that packaged powder ice-cream mix, so I told her to read the ingredients label to me. When she couldn't, I asked her if she could spell "milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla" and she said yes, and I responded with some smart-alec comment that I wasn't putting anything into my ice cream that she couldn't pronounce or spell, and she wouldn't regret it after she tasted it. Well, we also got some super-sweet bing cherries (on sale for $1.39/lb at the local SuperK location because they're overstocked), and I pitted and chopped some of those into some ice cream for my husband, sprinkled some pecans on his bowl, and he was in Heaven--even compared it with Braums, and for anyone that knows my husband, that's no small feat! Okay, so there's no ice cream left--except maybe that layered parfait that I hid from the kids in the freezer--I guess it was pretty good!

When it came time for fireworks, we had to jumpstart the truck (which won't run without a charged battery), and then it died as we tried to leave. We quickly bailed out of the truck when it died getting out of the driveway, and it was a family effort to push it back up onto the driveway. So, we split up and then promptly lost the kids (it's not like Princess #1 waited for us, or anything. I forgot how you're always in a hurry when you're 18) trying to figure out where we were going. It doesn't help that the town moved their fireworks this year, and we're always the last to find out, but the kids knew... DH and I quickly decided in the effort to find parking that we didn't want any part of the insanity, so we dropped the chairs off and let the kids "do the fireworks thing" and we went home. It's a good thing, too, because we forgot that the puppies have a hard time with fireworks going off, so we were there to put them in the garage and give them some peace. Now it's back to the grind, and speaking of which, I do need to get back to work--my boss is such a slavedriver! I've got to wrap up a couple things before I go home for the weekend--no big plans this weekend, at least, not yet. We may be making another trip to my old stompin' grounds to check on the townhome--we were supposed to close on the sale last week, but our lease-option tenant didn't qualify for a mortgage with her credit. Imagine her grown son's surprise (he lives with her, as does his sister) to find that she was behind on rent and was about to have to find a new place to live... Ah, yes, I think I've just thought of the title for a new reality show to put on HGTV: Who Wants To Be A Landlord??? Subtitled with and What's WRONG With You???

Alrighty, then! Ciao for now, and don't ya'll be strangers, 'kay?

One more week in Chicago

2007-06-25T21:16:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!

I just finished reading my Dear Wife's blog update from yesterday. I just returned from grabbing a little dinner at the local Red Lobster, where I found that their seafood gumbo doesn't hold a candle to that of my beautiful bride. I'm just about to call her and let her know how much I enjoyed reading about the beautiful sunset she enjoyed tonite. Psalm 19 comes to mind everytime we discuss the sunsets at home.

There are many memories of watching the heavens with my precious DW as they declare the glory of God.....and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto Day utter speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where His voice is not heard.....DW and I have spent several evenings and mornings quoting this scripture as He takes out His paintbrush and places images in front of us that shout out glory to His mighty name!!!

I had the incredible priviledge of traveling a couple of hours north of Chicago into the "Dells" of Wisconsin this past weekend to spend some time with K and S (friends of mine for the last 20 yrs). We hadn't had any face to face contact for about the last 3 yrs and really enjoyed our time together. Saturday night consisted of traveling to a local resort town where we enjoyed "junkyard" pizza at the local downtown pizzeria.

From there we went to another small tourist town (can't recall the name of the town) where there was a beautiful granite quarry at the centerpiece of the town. There was a waterfall that sprayed over about a 200 ft square area of granite that had hundreds of beautiful natural colors gleaming from underneath the water as it dashed to the pool below. The pond of about 4 acres was crystal clear was hundreds of 3 to 5 lb largemouth black bass swimming near the top begging to be caught. I then had to get back in the car before I got arrested for fishing without a license, and tresspassing on private property...... the temptation was just too great to bear!!! We then went back to their 14 acre farm, and on the way observed at least 20 white tailed deer grazing in the corn fields near their home.

Sunday service at their church was wonderful. Their pastor (Casey) preached on 2 Corinthians 5:7-19 on how we are new creatures IN CHRIST all of the old has passed away, and everything in our world is new and wonderful everday as we celebrate life in our daily walks with Christ. Their santuary backs up to the what must be deepest clearwater lake in the state of Wisconsin. "S" went to brunch with a friend while "K" and I picked up some supplies at the local "Piggly Wiggly" and grilled burgers at the farm. After a wonderful afternoon nap I found K and S giving their cocker spaniel "Scooter" her summer hair cut afterwhich K and I rode mopeds for about an hour and saw maybe one car the entire time. We also saw a wild turkey, and several HUGE sand cranes. What a great time with great friends, and what a wonderful retreat from the BIG city of Chicago.

My next four days are at the corporate headquarters here in Il. I get to return home on Friday to my beautiful bride, and don't have to return to Chicago for at least 4 weeks as I start a new project in the hometown area.

All of the girls are on vacation in Florida with their mom. If you guys are reading this I Love You and hope you are having a great time!!

Time to sign off and call the world's most beautiful blonde.

Till next time,

In Christ!

The Dad in the Family

The world is upside-down tonite

2007-06-24T22:56:00.001-06:00

When I was in Europe a couple of years ago, I had the very special privilege of traveling with some wonderful people. I picked up a saying from one of these special people (actually, I picked up several), and I can't help but borrow Connie's peaceful "Today was a good day." It was a phrase often said at the end of the day as we sat down over an evening coffee and sweet treat--oh, how I long to go back to that little patisserie in Prague, just a couple shops up from the entrance to picturesque Charles Bridge. Well, today was a good day.

I had a bit of a rough afternoon and evening yesterday--I had been planning a jewelry party for Sunday for some time, and had been working on the house this week. We have been wanting to put the house on the market anyway, so it's high time to make this place presentable! Anyway, work has also been getting crazier--there's a lot of work to do, and no chance I'll run out of work anytime soon! My Dear Husband has been gone, and the girls left on Friday with their Mom to go to Florida; I was getting kinda lonely. As I was making calls (people aren't the best about RSVP-ing) to remind people of the jewelry party, I began to realize that there really is no good day, or night, or afternoon--or anytime in June--to have a jewelry party (it's no wonder they offer double incentives to host a party in June!). So, I had worked my tail off all week and all day Saturday, and finally my wave crashed. DH is so sensitive--he picked up pretty quickly that something was bothering me, and I got the frustration out of my system--thank you, DH! So, I slept like a baby (having worked all day long probably helped!), and Snuggle Monkey woke me up this morning. She was hungry. Brat.

I had a few things to do to finish the house--just in case someone decided to show up. So, I got up and cranked the A/C down (I always work up a "sparkle" when I'm vacuuming), cranked up some Third Day and Paul Coleman, and set to work. I called the "jewelry person" (Nicole doesn't want to be known as the jewelry "lady") to let her know that we would be having a private party (read: nobody's coming), and we decided that since I had some outside orders, we should get together to pick out my free jewelry that I had "earned" with my book sales. I made it to the store, picked up some fruit & yogurt dip, and made it back to the house just in time to bake some brownies--Nicole and I discussed having some chocolate on Friday--and the two of us had a ball! I finally found another person who can eat as many brownies as I can, and not feel bad about it! Anyway, I'm made off with a boatload of jewelry for not very much money, and she said it's the easiest party she's ever done--she didn't have to do a presentation, and we were just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company.

After Nicole left, I discovered I had little energy left to clean anymore (hey, I never said I finished the upstairs!), and thought I would take a nap. Except... I hadn't heard from my husband all day, and he told me yesterday that he was leaving his friend "K's" house after brunch. So, I thought I had better call him and find out if he was okay! We had a conversation that lasted several phone calls, as he was driving out in the boonies and his signal bottomed out time and again--he had a fantastic weekend, and I'll let him tell you about it.

So, I never got that nap--I decided that Wulfgang would probably be needing some snuggle time, because he only sits down to snuggle when a body sits down to watch some tube, and I hadn't done that all week! I picked out some movies I hadn't seen yet, and a couple of favorites that I hadn't seen in a while, and then played eenie-meenie-minie-moe--and finally decided to watch all of them. As I settled down to watch the first one, it didn't take Wulfie but a moment to come over and ask for some snuggle, but he was only here for a minute. We have a chair in the corner of the living room that has a skirt on it that hangs to the ground--it's the perfect hiding spot for a snoozing pussycat, and one of Wulfie's favorites. Well, as he sauntered off and squeezed under the chair, I teased him about leaving so soon, and he responded with his usual repeated twitching of the tail. The one that still was sticking out from under the chair! I continued to give him a hard time--he thinks he can't be seen, but his tail tells me that he can hear every word, and continues to wind down twitching as he drops off to sleep.

I am currently enjoying A Walk In The Clouds, and I again have a fuzzy little companion who would rather be on my lap than on the couch next to me. Now, I'll bet you're wondering, how does all this tie into the world being upside down? Well, every once in a while, one had a truly good day. Today was definitely one of those--completely upside down from how yesterday was. In this part of the country, God has blessed us with beautiful mountains, and we get to enjoy the most beautiful sunsets. Today was no exception, but it was a most exceptional sunset. You see, every once in a while, God does the neatest thing: He lets the sun dip down below the mountains, and shine up under the evening clouds, lighting them up and bringing an absolute, reflective glow to the entire sky--it's like a sunrise, but from the other side of the earth. The evening was mild, and the kitties were playing in the grass, and here was this incredible evening sky--brighter than it had been for the preceeding hour or so.

Pardon me for waxing poetic, but it just made me think of the world being upside down.

I'm going to go watch my movie now!!

Ciao!

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-17T21:45:00.001-06:00

Well, it's been a great weekend! It actually started early--I got a call on Thursday from Princess #2, asking if she and "J" (one of her best-est friends) could come and stay the night at our house. Now, we have a special rule in our house: no sleepovers on school nights. While the kids are out of school, it was still a "school night" for me, since I had to work the next day. Whoa, last year, I let Princess #2 and Princess #3 have friends stay the night on a DW school night, and I got ZERO sleep. Can't figure out why DH wasn't there... oh yeah, that other company for whom he used to work had a thing up in the mountains for store managers. That was the first time we had spent apart since we had gotten married, and it wasn't our idea of fun--especially the lack of sleep on DW's part. Now, where was I???

Oh yes, last Thursday. Well, we have an interesting time with the kids assuming that the other parents will: give rides, know that I'm going to be gone and going to work in the morning, etc. So, I allowed them to come over, and then of course, when they got here, I asked J if her Mom knew that I would be gone in the morning... I don't have to tell you the answer to that one! Anyway, I told Princess #3 that she would be home alone all day and probably until late at night because I had to go to the airport to pick her Dad up after work. She had the GREAT idea to come to work with me. I then made them promise to keep it down to a dull roar because I was getting ready for bed, they had to be in bed by midnight, and be ready to go by 7:20 so we could drop J off on our way to the office. So, we were late getting to the office--the one day that I really shouldn't be--and Princess #3 (she's so sweet!) sat in the corner of the conference room and listened to her CD player while I was on a conference call with others at the office. Then she went to my office with me (I now occupy a space on the 5th floor, and the company's offices are on the 4th, which is where the conference call was), and we set her up with the DVD player to watch some movies. We had packed a lunch that day, and so took some fresh veggies down to the Mall to people watch. She said she really wanted to see somebody with an afro--something that's not uncommon "on the mall," but Friday, I guess all the wackadoos were on vacation. It was pretty mellow--not even very crowded, and mostly business people and folks on vacation. Princess #2 has lived here almost her whole life, and can't fathom this being a vacation destination unless it's the slopes in the wintertime. Ah, to be so young and naive... she's just such a cutie! Anyway, she now understands what it means to "sit on the mall" and peoplewatch, and we gave our extra food to a guy that was collecting aluminum cans out of the trash. He was pretty unassuming and unthreatening--compared to some of those yay-hoos!

So then we had a snack on the way to the airport--our healthy lunch left us famished in the late afternoon and early evening; then we picked DH up and headed back home for our favorite Chinese restaurant. I love the place, and the people are very nice, but my number one agenda for immigration consideration (besides everyone doing it legally) is fluency in English. It's pretty bad when the server can't even say "Pepsi." That one had us guessing for a while! But, the food's good, so I guess it's a trade-off.

Saturday... Saturday... Hmm... I guess I got kinda wiped out--Oh yeah! DH took each of the younger two on dates--first, Princess #2, who got a short-term stint watching a dog for some of her Mom's neighbors. Poor little pooch (a "Labradoodle?") had to spend all day in the house, so it was good that Dad was there to ensure that Princess #2 actually walked the dog instead of just letting her out... Anyway, they then followed up by going to one of her favorite places: Starbucks. Oh yeah, she's addicted--but not to the coffee. Give her a frappaccino (sp?) even on the coldest winter day--she might even wear mittens if she knows she'll be needing to hold onto a frosty frap cup! Anyway, they had some great one-on-one time, and she sure needs it. I would ask you all to pray for us and for Princess #2--she's reached that stage in her life where she recognizes no authority whatsoever and does whatever she wants and is ... uh... less than honest with us sometimes. To say that she is a strong-willed young lady is a nomination for the understatement of the year. She really is a good kid, and we just want the best for her; she just doesn't often agree with what we think (and know--hey, we've been there before) is best for her.

After that, Dad had a lunch-date with Princess #3 at their "secret place." He has a secret place with each of the girls--a different one for each. She is always giving me hints as to what their secret place is, but I can't quite figure it out (and wouldn't let on that I knew if I did!). I think it's maybe a Mexican food place, but I'm not sure, because she told me yesterday that she had a burger for lunch... Hey, some "Mexican" places serve burgers! Who knows? All I know is that they had a great time, and she is young enough that she hasn't begun to give us the grief that her sister has--and probably won't, either. They are about as opposite from each other in personality and taste as two people living in the same culture and under the same roof can be. She really has a servants heart, and she is a great help to me. AND she likes to spend time with the parents still, unlike those teenagers!!! I suppose we'd better enjoy it while it lasts... *sigh*

Sunday dawned bright and warm: a perfect day to fulfill our plans to go to the water park. First, though, we had a breakfast of fruit salad and cinnamon rolls and the girls gave Dad his Father's Day gift: he is now a sharp-dressed man with all the fancy new shirts and ties that will complement his suits nicely. We've been hearing for some time that it's free when you bring your Dad to the water park on Father's Day--and it is--well, for him to get in, anyway. Sheesh--they let you bring in coolers with food and unopened original beverages (no Nalgene water bottles or anything you fill yourself), and I can't recommend it enough! We may have saved thirty bucks on Dad's admission, but crikey, we spent $60 on food and drinks (and let us not forget, the rest of us still had to pay admission!)--oh, and return trips to the single-use fifty-cent lockers! They're not big enough that the family can fit towels, sunscreen & the like into any less than three lockers, and of course, every time we turn around, someone now wants their flip flops (and mine are in this locker, hers are in that one), someone needs more sunscreen, we left the cash in side pocket of the bag and need to buy some water, now it's time for lunch and we need the coupons for free breadsticks... I really think it might be worth the "unlimited use" lockers that require $8.00 up front, $5.00 of which is refundable at the end of the day. Let's just say that they have a fine attraction, but they sure are proud of their stuff! We had a great time--the kids love that Dad can carry the tube up to the top of the ride, and once the two older girls and I made an interesting 6-legged "tubulous monstrous" as we carried one on our heads. We picked a great day to go to the water park, as we hit a new record of 97 degrees today. Princess #3 taught us a new trick in the wave pool--we sit in the "shallows" and wait for the water to come and drag us around. When you're in that area, the water waves (once every seven minutes) straight back, then bounces off this side while it bounces off that side--basically, you get hit from the front, then the right, then the left, and then the water drags you around as it continues to wave in and out and settle to wait for the next big wave. We were rolling all over the place and having a great time--and no cramps that way since we had just eaten. You know, I heard that was actually an old wive's tale, the "no swimming for 30 minutes" rule... Still, it makes sense, so we stayed out of the deeper water. Besides, you can get "run over" in the crest of the wave if you don't have a tube--I once got cold-cocked and nearly knocked out. And I DID have a tube! Of course, that was years ago, and I'm much wiser now. HA!

Okay, so we're all cooked (I missed a spot on my shoulder with the sunscreen--it's gonna hurt later!), washed out, and tired. Sunscreen in the eyes (can you say "ouch?") is a good way to make a person want to close them and not re-open them, so we all took naps (although I think I was the only one with the SPF 50 on the orbs). Mellow evening, getting ready to head back to work on Monday and DH's flight leaves tomorrow evening. It's been nice not having to take him back on Sunday this time, and I'll get out of work a bit early tomorrow to have him to the airport on time.

Finally, a couple people have been asking me if we know where the company is going to have us for our "permanent" assignment, and the short answer to that is "no." I will ask DH to blog and fill you in on that one (and maybe I'll pick up some details I haven't heard yet, too!). Basically, we won't know until probably mid-August at the earliest. Pray that we get to stay here!

On that note, I'm gonna go get some stuff ready to help him turn in his expense report tomorrow, make sure I've got clothes for tomorrow, all that "evening routine" stuff.

Until next time,

CIAO!!!

Science is "interpretation" of the "evidence"

2007-06-12T09:22:00.001-06:00

One Nation, "Under God."

One day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children.

The teacher asked a little boy: Tommy do you see the tree outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.
TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.
TEACHER: Did you see God up there?
TOMMY: No.
TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. Possibly he just doesn't exist.

A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions.
The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yessssss!
LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?
TOMMY: Yessssss!
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
TOMMY: Yes
LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?
TOMMY: No
LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school, she possibly may not even have one!

(You Go Girl!)

“FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT"
II CORINTHIANS 5:7

Yes, we're still alive!

2007-06-11T08:27:00.000-06:00

Some of you have been wondering... We don't call, we don't write; when are we gonna blog again??? Well, I guess it kinda goes without saying that we have been a bit busy. Let's see, since Boo Boo did her stand-up fall-down comedy routine, DH has been home for Memorial Day (wow, it's dawning on me how far behind we are!) and back to Chicago, he has been back again, and Princess #1 has graduated high school, the girls have finished school for the year, and I got a hysterical mailing from Pops. Oh, and we've had a hailstorm that looked like snow, a windstorm that blew around and killed half of my garden, and SUN to BEAT THE BAND!!! It may not be summer according to the calendar (we do have the summer equinox approaching rapidly), but it sure feels like it!

Well, now it's Monday morning, and I should be working--actually, I will be soon, but since I'm working late tonight, I figure I can take a few minutes this morning to catch up a bit.

Let's see... When DH was home for Memorial Day, we had a nice time getting to see each other's faces... the girls sure were glad to see their Dad--as was I! We were able to make some plans for the following weekend, and pretty much enjoyed each other's company. Crazy week at school, what with it being the week that the girls have to turn in their books and finish assignments without them--I'm not sure what the purpose is of that last week of school; I remember the last week being a week of tests and turning in books back when I was in school. These girls had all that the week before the last week of school. Hmmm.... makes one wonder what all those tax dollars aren't doing!

DH then got in on Friday, June 1. His flight was delayed, and therefore, so was dinner... we were HUNGRY by the time we got some food in front of us! It was really nice to get to see him and spend some one-on-one time that evening; the girls had already gone to their Mom's, so it was just us Friday night. Well, us, and the cats, and the dogs, and the yellow jackets.

Princess #1's graduation was picture-perfect. The weather was much different than it had been a couple years ago when her boyfriend graduated; this time, it wasn't pouring down rain. No, this time, it was pouring down sunshine and warm and sunburn--I don't think I've ever been to a graduation ceremony where they had a concessions stand open. Well, okay, they were selling bottles of water. It gets hot in the morning sun on the football field! We all got pretty cooked, too; I'm even peeling on my arm. Yummy--save me a piece o' that for later! After that, we went to brunch with the girls and their Mom and Grandmother--and Grandmother gave her a car! What a spoiled little girl, and she knows it. So, I got to show her what to do to get her car licensed and legal on Monday morning. I'll never forget where to go to get the emissions and inspection done, and neither will she--I got two main parallel roads confused, and we got to tour parts of our town that are usually reserved for people that live in those neighborhoods! One of these days, I'll get it figured out!

Princess #3 came home with us after church on Sunday so she could spend some time with Dad, and then she accompanied me to the airport to drop him off for his flight out. We then went to the mall to do a little Father's Day shopping -- we'll never shop at Dillard's again. And I can't say more about it than that, because DH might read this... Then she and I watched Willow and she stayed at the house that night. Wow, I haven't seen that movie in years, and it's just as weird as I remember it!

Let's see, I think that just about catches us up... This last weekend was pretty uneventful. I started about 3 projects and didn't finish any of them, including gardening (well, that one was started quite some time ago), getting ready for a garage sale, and cleaning up the house; but I got to hang out with Princess #3 for a little bit. I just remembered on the way to work this morning that I have a jewelry party on Sunday the 24th, and I haven't gotten any invitations to send out from the jewelry-lady... One more thing to put on my to-do list! Oh, and the realtor is calling, wanting to know if we're ready to list our house; I have been trying to wrangle my accountant to get some stuff ready so the IRS doesn't come and carry me away... and I have a second meeting with a client set up for Tuesday evening. He and his IMMENSE family have some minerals in Texas, and we're trying to figure out who has how much, and how to get that information of record so that everyone else can tell who has the minerals. It's crazy--there have been a number of wells producing since the 1950's, and nobody knows what's going on! Ah, well, I live for the challenge, and really get a sense of accomplishment when these things get resolved.

Oh, yeah, and I got the Sales Contract out to the tenant for the townhome in my old hometown. Now THAT is a blog in and of itself...

Finally, DH is still in Chicago, and has met what he calls the "Echo" class (they started a couple weeks after his class did). I guess the group of store managers with whom he is training are all in line for basic stores; this Echo class is a group of store managers in line for the upper line of stores, so he's been hanging out with them alot. Anyway, I guess they have doubled everybody up in rooms for this week, because this week is called *something particular* (don't remember what) and I'm sure that it's an acronym or something, but I couldn't tell you what. Basically, they'll be meeting all the upper-tier management and teams and spending time with them, getting more deeply entrenched in the culture, etc. He'll be out late all week, so it's doubtful he'll be able to blog much, either. I'll be picking him up again this Friday--I CAN'T WAIT!!!

On that note, I'm gonna go get to work!

Have a great day, everybody!

Homeward bound

2007-05-25T14:54:00.000-06:00

Chicago is nice to visit, but I'm ready to get home to my beautiful wife, and family. The first two weeks of my training have been very eye opening, very encouraging, and very successful. We have tests every week to see what we have retained, so far my scores are great.....wk #1 95%, wk#2 100%. It is a challenge to learn the systems, and accronyms of a new company. I am finding all involved are very committed to seeing the re-invention of the company to be a big success, and any and all suggestions from my past experiences are being welcomed with open arms. There is a tremendous amount of opportunity for improving the sales, and profits of our stores, and I am finding that just getting back to the basics of discount retail, and the basics of grocery 101 ie. stores that are friendly, clean, in-stock, signed well, and offering fast checkouts....just to name a few, are the elements our customers are looking for.

The better that we get at taking care of the above mentioned areas, the more chances we have to take market share from the competition. With the power brands and more, (merging with that "other" company has made our brand recognition much stronger), we have all the tools we need to recapture the dominance we once held in the marketplace. There is however a great need to see day in day out consistency in sustaining superior store conditions to increase customer confidence and build the loyalty that we need to move forward. That is where I come on the scene.

Needless to say I am very excited to be a part of the leadership team of the new Sears Holdings Company.

I am even more excited that I get to see DW and the girls tomorrow afternoon, and spend the entire weekend with them. I will be back in Chicago on Tuesday.

Until then,

In Christ,

DH

Boo Boo the comedian...

2007-05-23T22:17:00.000-06:00

Any of you that know me--and I'm thinking that would be anyone reading this--knows that I'll talk about my cats sooner or later. They're my first kids, and such an interesting addition to my life! Wulfgang was formerly known as "Lumpy," because he slept so much that I used to ponder: "Gee, if only he would get up! He bears such a lifelike resemblance to an actual living, breathing cat, that might get up and do something..." Okay, I used to have two cats. Wulfie is now my husband's cat--he actually goes to him more than to me these days. Well, since DH is in Chicago, the Wulfman has kind of adopted Princess #2... There may be round one of WWF in our house for the cat-rights when he gets back!

Then there's Binky. (Beaujolais, aka Boo Boo, aka about a hundred other "pet" names, no pun intended, but it's there so just go with it) She came to me when she was about a week old--her eyes were only beginning to open. Needless to say, I am her Mummy, and she thinks (well, I don't try to convince her otherwise) that she is my baby. Just over a year ago, she developed a new technique for laying down. She uses this most interesting technique no matter where she is--outside on the concrete, on the floor under the window--pretty much anywhere. She's very vigorous in her getting lazy: DH has affectionately coined her technique the "stop and plop." She pretty much throws herself over or down--sometimes quite forcefully! She's quite the bully when she wants some affection too--she'll throw herself on me when I'm in bed, because for some reason, that's her favorite place to snuggle. Anywhere else, and you gotta watch out for those razors--it could be playtime with little or no warning!

Okay, so, my cat and I have a morning routine. I generally don't like to get up in the morning, and so when I have to (which is most days), I generaly like to do so slowly. I don't recommend being awakened by the house alarm going off--that kinda jolts a body out of comfort in a rather rude fashion. I also remember as a kid my dad waking me up by pouring a little water on my neck as I was sleeping--wow, did that put me in a good mood. Anyway, I'm a "snoozer." You know, the alarm goes off and so you hit the snooze button. Well, if you're like me, you're a "multiple snoozer" and I find that I actually have some great naps and extremely vivid dreams between snoozes. That is, when Snuggle Chunks isn't around. Generally, she hears that alarm go off, and before I can settle back in, she's right up next to me, asserting her wet nose on the closest hand. I generally comply with her demands for attention, because if I don't she'll verbally command the hand to come to life--not an annoying yowl, but quite the cutest little "heya, I'm here!" noise. And of course, the infamous stop and plop--it's quite an irresistable combination.

Well, this morning, our routine took a slightly different turn. I don't remember ever waking up laughing, but that's pretty much what happened. No, not at the alarm clock, and not because of a dream, but because as soon as I hit that snooze, there she was, affectionate as ever. Now, she's not as polite about her claws as her compatriot is, so I have one of those fuzzy acrylic blankets that serves as a great barrier between her kneading and my ... uh... pyjamas (don't want to snag them, you know!). She has, for as long as I can remember, loved on that blanket (but only when I'm around and loving on her) with her claws; she even takes a piece of it in her mouth and sucks on it as if she was nursing. I had heard about cats that "suck wool" (I guess someone had a sweater that some Fluffy enjoyed tasting), but had never experienced it. Anyway, it's pretty cute, and if we get it just right, she'll lay there and look at me while she snuggles. Except for this morning. She decided to try a twist on the old stop and plop after I had hit the snooze button after she jumped up to join me. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody's there, does it make a sound? Well, if there's bear poop in the road but nobody saw the bear make a deposit, does that mean a bear didn't put it there? Oh, wait... getting off subject. I tend to ramble sometimes...

Okay, so here's me, getting settled in for the a.m. snuggle--it does help me wake up. Pulling the "magic" blanket up in a protective manner, squishing it in all the right places, I prepare for a comfy snuggle. And that's when I started laughing. It's like she thought she was plopping onto the pillow and didn't have far to fall or something, but it was less like "plop" and more like (picture the aforementioned tree falling in the forest) "TIMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-BERRRRRRR!!!!" I cracked up laughing, and could only laugh harder when she gave me the dirtiest look! Poor thing (oh, yeah, she's so abused and neglected), she gave me the "I meant to do that" look for which cats are infamous, and then sauntered off. If it helps, she's over it now.

Oh, and I never hit the snooze button again this morning! We'll see if we have a similarly amusing story tomorrow... Sorry if this one bored you, I just had to get something in there about Monkey Chunk!

Catcha all later!

(I MISS MY HUSBAND!!!)

Tuesday, again!

2007-05-22T20:41:00.000-06:00

Well, we made it through Monday, and now Tuesday's almost over... Where does the time go? I will say this, though: it seems like DH has been gone for a month already, and it's only just over a week. I can't wait for Saturday!!!

Did you catch American Idol tonight? Wow, Blake had a rough night--he had some really tough songs to sing. I wish he could have sung his first song last, and not have sung that last song (or the second one, for that matter!) at all. Jordan did well--I didn't agree with the judges though; I thought she was "pitchy," although I don't agree with the screeching that Simon accused her of. She's good, but I really do think Blake has more stage presence and confidence. I guess America will decide who they like best! Then, to add insult to injury (I have really been rooting for Blake--he's just so strong in who he is as an artist!), there was no House afterwards. I can't STAND the show, but I love the medical mysteries that they face, and I have a couple times even beat them to the next "guess" in their diagnosis process--Princess #3 thinks that I should write their scripts or something. Anyway, we'll be watching next week for the season finale. #3's a little upset because we had planned to have an American Idol Finals Party and make pizza and have friends over, but their Mom wants to have all the girls over because it's Princess #1's one night off this week. I had to ... uh... help her deal? with her frustration (she cries when she gets upset; I just get mad and snipey) and remind her that we can do a pizza party some other time with friends. If next week's House wasn't so late on a school night, we could do it then... we'll figure something out.

Work has been insane for me lately--I'm going to be getting some help soon I hope; the boss knows that we certainly need it on our team! I think my favorite part of my job is telling attorneys how to do theirs... I even had one ask me yesterday if I was an attorney. I'm thinking... no, but maybe I should be! We had a full-building evacuation today--that was interesting. I don't think I've participated in a fire drill since I was a kid. This was different than anything I've ever experienced--for those of you that don't know, I work in a downtown metropolitan area in a building that's probably 45 stories tall. After September 11, the fire departments are required to do these drills. Anyway, after Sept 11, our company has decided to evacuate far enough away from the building that if it topples, we'l be clear from the initial impact. Interesting that other floors/companies only evacuate to the front step, though... After we were cleared to go back into the building, it took us longer to get back to the office--our bank of 6 elevators services the first 18 floors, and you can imagine how long it takes to repopulate 18 floors, one box-car at a time! At least we were able to get out of the building for a while...

Okay, so now the news is on, and the headlines are interesting: Snow in the forecast (which made both girls moan and groan about no more snow, I hate snow!!!), a panty-bandit in Fort Collins (laundromats just aren't safe these days!), and then the usual bad news--including those boys that lost their legs in a car accident might have been drinking when they got hit.

Well, I have to go do the parenting thing now... someone needs this, the other one needs that. It's been an education, learning that kids think parents are 20-dollar bill dispensers!

Ciao for now, and we'll catcha later!

~DW

What an awesome weekend, and it isn't over yet!

2007-05-20T16:09:00.001-06:00

Well, Princess #2, Princess #3, and I have been really enjoying each other's company this weekend. We went to see Shrek 3 on Friday night--we all laughed alot. Afterwards, we each tried to name our favorite parts--wow, it moved so fast that I can't even remember it! #2 thinks her favorite part is where Donkey had a baby ogre face; #3's favorite part was when Shrek had a nightmare, and my favorite part is where Donkey and Puss N Boots were thrown into the dungeon and "Puss" hissed. If you haven't seen it yet, you'll have to check it out!

Saturday morning we went garage sale-ing ("saling" looked weird, so I spelled it out--work with me on this, 'kay?). Princess #2 really didn't want to go, but before we were finished, she was pointing them out to me so we could go check out another one. We had fun, and Princess #2 got a "new" bike and Princess #3 got some movies and some beads--oh, and a "dresser." We also got a bird-bath for our front yard. Then we came home and had some lunch, tea-party style, on the front lawn under a shady tree. Beaujolais (the cat) was the fourth attendee at our impromptu gathering, and Wulfgang (the other cat) provided entertainment when he got brave and wandered off to the check out the neighbor's front lawn area--until someone came out and scared him! He came at a dead run (okay, he's kinda old; it was more a "purposeful lope") and hid behind a rose bush to peek out at the neighbors coming out to get in their car and take off for some errand.

Princess #2 had a friend who was in a dance recital/competition last night, and she said it was fun. Princess #2 had picked up a couple of silly necklaces at one of our garage sales, and gave the second one to her friend--I don't understand why they like the bright, simple beads (they kinda look "kiddie" to me), but then, I'm sure there was a time when I wasn't all about the fancy or elegant-looking stuff... Which reminds me, I'm hosting a jewelry party in June... Please let me know if you want to attend; I'm compiling names and addresses for the invitations to go out.

Church on Sunday was good--the new series is titled 2 Much 2 Do. Wow, I gotta wonder if the preacher has a hidden camera on my life--I am guilty as charged of not honoring the gift of the Sabbath that God has given to all of us. I do try to fit a little Sabbath into every day, and it was great for the kids to hear (from someone other than us parents) what the purpose of Sabbath is as well as what it isn't. Princess #2 especially wanted her Dad to hear the message, and so he's planning on listening online. You can too, at: http://www.flatironschurch.com/listen/index.html

Well, we have an indoor picnic to prepare for; I'll have to touch base again later.

Have a blessed day, friends and family!

Update from Chicago

2007-05-17T20:25:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone!

A very special Thank you to my beautiful wife for taking the time to keep me informed of what is going on back home. We get to talk on the phone a couple of times a day, and then getting back to the room to find her dedicating part of her day to documenting the daily events is as close to sitting around the dinner table with family as I can get.

Things are going GREAT here in Chicago. I am actually in Elgin, and my training is most days at the Sears Holdings corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates (about 7 miles away). I just yesterday finally figured out how to get to training without having to use the toll road. It sometimes takes 30 minutes plus to go just a mile or so.

The headquarters is a beautiful first class facility. I can't wait for DW and Princess #3 to visit so I can show them around. All of the guys/gals I am training with are looking forward to meeting them as well. I am very excited about the opportunity in front of me from a career standpoint. The Company has an executive leadership team that is dead set on reinventing the culture, and the leadership team of the company branch that I work for. I have been hired as a Store Coach in training so that I could as an external manager, come in and learn the culture, and systems for 6 wks, then have a district manager project assigned by my Divisional manager for 6 weeks after which time I go in front of the executive panel for promotion to District manager. This company is very eager to use my experience from both prior places of employment to capitalize on the opportunity for growth in the division.

Well enough about work, I had better sign off and call the DW and the girls before the girls turn in for the night. I thank God daily for giving DW to me, I miss you sweetheart and love you very much!

DH

What to WEAR???

2007-05-16T22:04:00.001-06:00

Oh my goodness, it's another crazy day in the Non-Brady household!

DH is... ahem, learning his way around Chicago--the hard way. Maybe he's having a hard time understanding the funny way those Chicagoans talk when they give him directions, yuk yuk! Maybe one of these days he'll actually get to have dinner with some of the fellows in his training class. Of course, that involves nobody getting lost on the way back from training to the hotel, and then being able to find the rendezvous point for dinner... Well, at least he's not starving--there's plenty to eat in Elgin and the greater Chicago area.

It's been interesting, being the wife of a guy that likes to shop--or at least, likes to "walk shop," which is DW-speak for the equivalent of window-shopping to compare and contrast stores and see who is doing what right and wrong. There have been times I have been worn out! It always amazes me how much I have learned from him when we "shop" together. I have learned merchandising, cleanliness standards, and more--and he's always telling me what he sees, what could be done better, etc. He's just so good at what he does, and we're thrilled that his skills will be utilized in his new position with the company. There's one monstrous advantage the company now has since he is on the payroll: after 21 years with "the other guys", he knows how to compete with that mass-marketing/merchandising monster (and then some, thanks to what he subsequently learned at the grocery store, too), and that knowledge is a weapon that he is not afraid to use!

Princess #1 and I had a really interesting conversation about Heaven tonight on the way back from Youth Group. We started out by talking about the likelihood that people can't really see what's going on here on earth once they are absent from the body and present with the Lord. I know, there are all these "ideas" out there, but then really, where is it in the Bible that we'll all be floating around on clouds, wearing wings and playing harps? Well, I believe, contrary to what the cartoons would have us believe, that people do not turn into angels when they die. Okay, so that part wasn't in our discussion; I'm just giving you some background on how my thoughts for our discussion was directed. We did talk about people not being able to see us from heaven. She commented that she would want to see what's going on with her family and friends, and (I love her so much) her dogs. I told her that we will be so caught up with what's going on in heaven, and that I want everyone at my funeral to be jealous that I got to meet Jesus face-to-face before they did. And, that I can't wait to meet certain people we read about in Biblical history, like Moses, the apostles (I especially want to meet Matthew, the original "punk rocker," at least in my mind), Adam & Eve, and Mary. She wants to meet Noah, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington (okay, not all Biblical figures, but historically-asserted to be Bible-believing, God-fearing men). Isn't she precious? We have the most interesting conversations!

So, the girls tell me that they have a concert next week. Princess #2 and Princess #3 both play the violin, and there is a big she-bang going down next Thursday. Princess #3 is bummed that her Dad won't get to see her play, but we're going to send her out there with a mini tape-recorder so he can hear, up-close and personal, how much she has improved over the year. She says that they have worked really hard all year for what they'll be playing, and I can't wait to hear the results. Now, if we can just get that violin back from the repair shop before then... Sheesh, it looks like we're going to have to rent a violin for a month (they don't do a "day" rate or pro-rate it if you bring it back early), because there's no way the repairs will be completed in time. If only we had known about the fact that the violin was essentially useless before now, we could have taken it to the shop sooner... I'll get over it; I really will. Someday. Not soon, but someday. I love these girls!!! Now, whatever will they wear??? Hmm... we may just have to go shopping this weekend for some nifty spring duds!

***** doo-doo-de-doo-doot... (intermission--sing yourself some goofy elevator music for a moment!)*******

Well, that was an interesting conversation. Princess #2 has decided that she wants no part of the aforementioned spring concert. Gee, if her BFF (Best Female Friend) isn't going, that's reason enough that she shouldn't have to go, too, right? Uh, well, I for one am not so sure about that. I'll duly note her desires, discuss it with the appropriate authority figures (namely, DAD!), and meanwhile, she'll be sorting through her suitcase (which promptly pukes all over her bedroom when she gets here from her Mom's) to see if she has anything suitable to wear. Would it be bribery to get her to go if I buy her some nifty spring duds? If so, is that necessarily a bad thing? Apparently, she and her class have not been working as hard as Princess #3...

Okay, gotta go. It's bedtime, and I expect to be hearing from my husband soon so I can tuck him into bed over the phone... It reminds me of before we were married when we used to fall asleep on the phone reading Bible verses to each other... Maybe we'll do that tonight!

Ciao for now!

2007-05-15T12:06:00.000-06:00

New Year's Eve, 2005-2006. The man now known as DH had just surprised the gal now knowns as DW with a knock-your-socks off ring and proposal. She was the only person that didn't know what was going on! (maybe the "D" stands for duh?)

Guess what? She said yes. Oh, and she got back at him surprising her with the engagement ring by surprising him--with a surprise wedding! Now THAT'S a story to be told!

Tuesday

2007-05-15T11:54:00.001-06:00

Like sands through the hourglass, I am counting the days until I get to see my husband again! I have been sending him text messages throughout my day--this is almost like a "business arrangement" as much as anything! Yes, there's the fun married part of it--the romance, the dates, the goofy little names we have for each other and the memories of snuggling until Beaujolais snuggles up against me and puts her bum right in DH' face! But there's also the day-to-day stuff: Princess #2's phone is broken, and I don't have authorization to activate the replacement phone that came in yesterday; the same Princess #2 was home "sick" from school yesterday (we think she's trying to convince us all that she needs to stay at her Mom's this week, but that is directly against her father's direction); Princess #3 is taking care of the dogs (hmm... except for the poop part; we'll have to work on that together!); it's raining in our neck of the woods today, so we can delay turning our sprinklers on for yet another week--and thank goodness I sprayed for weeds on Sunday so the stuff had some time to work!

I wonder what life was like B.C. (that's before DH for those of you that... never mind!). I don't function well without him!

Anyway, he tells me that Chicago is an interesting place, from what he's seen so far. He says that it's pretty green there right now, and a bit cooler than here at home. He's actually staying in Elgin, which is about 55 miles from where they have him training--which I think is the Sears Headquarters. He said it's a pretty impressive place (HQ), and he was very much looking forward to meeting some of the folks with whom he'll be spending some time in the coming weeks. He also mentioned that everything is all closed up and put to bed by 10:00 at night--which made it tough for him to find a late dinner on Sunday when he got in, due to the fact that by the time he got a rental car, found his hotel & put on some long pants (he says it's not quite shorts weather there), it was well past 10 and he could hardly find an open store! I checked this morning on tickets to Chicago, and for Princess #3 and me to head out there on June 9th and return with him on the 15th, it's gonna be about $720. OUCH, but I would love to see Chicago. Oh, and of course, I would love to see the guy that's staying there for a while!

You're probably wondering, where are those pictures I promised to post? Well, that's an interesting question. They're out there, somewhere; I just have to find some time when I'm at home to post them--maybe tonight, between coaching with homework, managing dinner, and American Idol. I can't stand that I'm hooked on a TV show now--I hate the time wasted that I can never get back! Interesting, given how much TV I watch when nobody else is around... Hmm... something psychosomatic going on there, I'm sure.

Well, I'm going to sign off for now--please everybody keep in touch! I have heard from my Uncle Rich since starting this blog... Can't wait to hear from the rest of you! ~DW

testing the email blog for DH's trip

2007-05-13T10:01:00.001-06:00

Gotta make it easy for him to post so he can keep us all up-to-date on what's going on in Chicago!

I love you, Honey, and I miss you already!

What's up with those kids?

2007-05-11T18:44:00.000-06:00

Well, we have so much going on in our lives, I just can't keep track of it all! Maybe blogging will help me get it down so that when I don't remember, I can at least look it up! Okay, so Princess #1 will be graduating High School in just a few weeks. We're wondering how long her commencement ceremonies will be, because she has a friend (and an "adopted" family member) also graduating that same day. The Friend's graduation starts only 1 1/2 hours after Princess #1's, so we could have a tough time seeing both girls march. It's so hard to believe that they're graduating already!

We grilled Princess #1 the other day, and she has no idea what she wants to do after high school. But then, really, does anyone? She is doing extremely well in her job, and has already had a couple of promotions, with a promise of promotion to Assistant Manager after graduation. She seems to enjoy the work, and she and I had discussed a possible future there. She certainly looks up to the various management members with whom she has worked, and they have given her some valuable advice--especially as she now finds herself managing some of her peers and good friends. You know, retail is kind of in her blood (her Dad has run retail stores for more than half of his life), so maybe she'll be a district manager for them someday! Meanwhile, she's going to be attending the local Community College and getting her basics out of the way as she examines what she wants to do with her future.

Princess #2 is about the most social person I have ever met. She knows full well that her priorities are supposed to line friends up somewhere behind God, Family & School, but somehow, that often gets conveniently forgotten. She has been talking with her friends, and they are wanting to take driver's education together--I can't even believe that she's going to be 15 this summer! She has always made friends easily--we're constantly meeting her new friends. She is definitely in the throes of teenager-hood, and I can only imagine how she'll be in the next couple of years. She has always done one thing well (sometimes a little too well!), and that's speak her mind. She isn't afraid to tell us when she disagrees with something; we know that this will also give her the strength to stand up to her peers when they are pressuring her to do something that she knows isn't right. She has recently made a decision that she is going to give her best to school--her teachers definitely know that she is capable, we know that she's capable, heck, even she knows she can do the work. Now, she's going to show the world (via grades, we pray) that she is capable of the tasks she is assigned.

Princess #3 has just wrapped up a couple of absolutely fantastic weeks. I have a habit of asking the girls at dinner, "What happened in school today?" Or, "What was your high today?" Well, this young lady has a very long list! She has been doing some testing at school--the law requires literacy testing, and they test every fall and spring. Well, her scores were below the acceptable level last fall, and so she has been working diligently this school year to improve her reading skills. She has even found a couple books that she likes--I find that she favors the ones that have shorter stories, because she can read for 15-20 minutes and then be finished with that story. The longer books sometimes get a little involved, and she gets a sense of accomplishment when she can finish a shorter story in a longer book. Anyway, she recently re-tested, and was very confident that she had done well. She also read a passage orally to her reading teacher (all the kids did), and found that she is now reading above her grade level! She also has done some comprehensive testing to determine her overall level regarding vocabulary, grammar, spelling, comprehension, etc., and her score jumped from a 26 to 77 in just this school year! Her teachers recognize the extra effort that she puts forth, and recently she was honored by them with special Award for her efforts. Oh, she's also the queen of sleepovers now, having had them with multiple friends for more than one weekend running.

Finally, and our favorite high for her, she was baptized this past Sunday. We had a fantastic time watching her prepare for this--she has such a gentle heart, but it is filled with (not-so-quiet) passion. She was baptized by her Dad and her Mom in church (I'll post some pictures soon), and she continues to pepper us with questions--and bring her friends to us with their questions! You should have heard the questions she came up with when she was reading Revelation; she was understandably frightened by some of the stuff that she read. Isn't it great to know what's going to happen before it happens! Yes, Princess #3 has had a great week--she even got to have lunch with Dad on Wednesday--he came to the school and had cafeteria food (now that's love!) with her!

We will be spending a little time together today since DH leaves tomorrow--we look forward to dinner with all the girls before we drop them off at their Mom's house for Mother's Day. He is such a great Dad, and while none of us on earth is perfect, I don't think there's any doubt in any of these girls' minds that he loves them absolutely. Okay, I think I have used enough exclamation points for one blog--I'll have to catch up later. Hope all the friends and family are doing well!

New Blog and Family Update

2007-05-11T14:03:00.000-06:00

Hello family and friends!

As you know, we have been looking for some time for a new employer for Chris. His days with Safeway were shortened when we realized late last year that Chris' career with them was not going to be using his talents to their full potential. Chris recently accepted a position as a Store Coach (in training) for Super K Centers--the K-Marts that have added a full grocery section to their stores.

We had been discussing some options for some time, but right after the first of the year, he got serious about finding new employment. It was sparked, interestingly enough, by phone calls from potential employers that had viewed his resume that he had posted to Monster.com three years ago when Safeway picked him up. Well, after several unsolicited contacts, we decided that we needed to update his resume and begin seriously seeking some offers. You would never believe it, but while renewing his contacts at Wal-Mart, he was contacted by Winn-Dixie (a grocery chain in Florida), Home Depot (who wanted us to relocate to Gallup, NM--dead center in the middle of nowhere), and several others. He also contacted Target, Circuit City, Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, and others. Some nibbled, some grabbed the bait, and some swam off to other waters.

When he telephone interviewed with K-Mart for a Store Director ("manager") position, it became evident immediately that he was overqualified for what they needed, and the interviewer suggested that he should consider discussing a District Manager position, and so the interview was set up. Chris did a little homework before the face-to-face interview with Sears Holding Company (they own K-Mart now) executives, and he pulled no punches telling them how they could get more business into the stores, what could be done from a merchandising standpoint to improve the appearance (and sales!) of the stores, etc. The team interviewing him appeared to enjoy his feedback, and were very excited to offer him a position. One thing remained a hold-up from making the offer official: he had to pass a background check. Now, Chris' legal name is John, and since he goes by both, they had to run two very common name-checks, and it took a little while longer than we would have hoped to get the official go-ahead.

Here's the kicker: in order to accept the position (heck, before they even ran the aforementioned background check), he had to sign an acceptance of willingness to relocate. This was a really tough part for us, because the girls (and we!) have quite a life and roots put down here in Colorado. We can't bear the thought of being away from the kids for any length of time, so it was a really difficult decision to make because we knew we would have them either during school or during summers. We knew back when he started looking for jobs that it was a very real possibility, given his skillset, that we would be relocated. We had discussed it with each other and with God, and Chris also discussed it at length with his parents. I also discussed it with Mom, and we talked about what happens with the kids when you can't have them around all the time. She told me exactly what I needed to hear, even it if will be difficult to accept: whatever happens, it will be okay. Chris and I keep thanking God that He is the one in control and that He knows what the final outcome will be--heck, there's a very outside chance that we will be able to stay in Colorado! If we don't, we don't have the first clue as to where they might send us--maybe Chicago or Detroit, maybe the Carolinas... We just don't know.

Meanwhile, we broke the news to the girls last Thursday, and needless to say, there were tears and fears, questions and qualms. Either way (whether they go with us or stay here with their Mom), Kaitlyn and Lauren both will be going to a new school next year, because their Mom lives in a different school district than they are currently enrolled. You know, it wasn't just yesterday that I was 14 or 12, but I do remember some of what it was like; these girls are having a really tough time--we knew they would. We took that into consideration, and have asked them to examine the possibilities and try to figure out what they would like to do. Immediately, they both wanted to stay here and go to school locally--the social little butterflies that they are can't even begin to imagine not being here where their friends are. They both claim that it's very hard for them to make friends, which isn't true but they feel that way in light of being in a place where they don't know anybody (yet!). They're also thinking that since they definitely have to go to a new school next year, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go with Dad & Dani--that way, when they come to visit their Mom in the summer, they can catch up with their old friends. Sheesh--summers would be horrible if they didn't know anybody! Anyway, I would ask for all your prayers as we move forward with this new part of our lives, and decisions are made that will affect our whole family.

Finally, Chris leaves SUNDAY (May 13) for Chicago to begin his training. He'll be rubbing shoulders with the company execs in Chicago, and going through some classes to indoctrinate him into the Super K mindset. He will be gone except for a couple of weekends until the end of June. We have decided that we are going to sell our house, whether we stay in Colorado or not, so we need to get it on the market. Gee, I wish we had had more time in this place--I sure love the house and the location, but I guess God has other plans for us.

Chris will be home in Colorado for Kristin's graduation (!) on June 2nd, and then back also for Father's Day. I will be trying to scoop up some work and take it with me, and hopefully join him for a week in Chicago. Lauren has said that she would like to go on that trip--sounds like we might be able to work something out, so we're praying for that.

I will write more on the kids next time--I gotta get back to work now. Lunch is almost over--and my boss (uh, that would be me) is such a slave-driver!