New Blog
Mood:  happy

I have a new blog!  Check it out at http://practicaladventure.wordpress.com/.

Feet
Topic: Family
According to Dr. Wesselowski (my new podiatrist), my arches have started falling. He says that it is something that he typically sees in older people, overweight people, or those who are on their feet a lot, but he doesn't think that I fall into any of those categories. He took x-rays and I had to stand up - barefoot and painful! - but those didn't show anything wrong. Apparently, I have very flat, very flexible feet and I have an extra bone near the inside center of my foot. It usually fuses to another bone but mine didn't so they are putting pressure on the tendons and the tendons are starting to weaken and fall with all the pressure. Also, because of the flexibility, my pinkies tend to roll and are starting to get callouses on the outsides.

He added padding and support to my shoes and taped my right foot (the more painful of the two) to relieve some of the pressure on that tendon. I have an appointment for next week, so we will see how it's going!

Lots about Sara
Sara passed her state nursing boards!

As you know, Sara graduated in May with her BSN from Pittsburg State. She took her boards last Tuesday and called Mom with the good news on Friday. (I didn't find out until Sunday night.) She is currently working nights at the new Mercy hospital in Fort Scott and planning to move into a rental house with her friend Sarah on the 22nd. They will be living in Pittsburg since it is only about 15-25 minutes between the two cities. Sara says that she likes having a bit of a drive because, while driving between Pittsburg and Joplin for clinicals, she got used to having the time to destress from her shift.

Right now, Sara and Sarah are trying to pull together furniture and fittings for their soon-to-be new home. Some college friends gave them a very flowery couch, so they will be covering it very soon! Mom and Dad gave Sara a bed frame and dresser, she just has to find a mattress in her price range.

Sara's boyfriend also lives in Pittsburg, so I'm sure that is a contributing factor to her decision to stay. Sara and Josh have been dating since Easter and his family loves her! She was friends with his sisters, one of which is her future roommate, before they started dating. Josh has been here to visit a couple times and he went with us to Dad's company's family weekend in Wichita. We all like him pretty well but Sara thinks that he and Luke may get along a little too well! They tend to get very adventurous and competitive (with everyone else, not with each other) when they are together.

My First Business Trip - Part 2
Mood:  chillin'
From Tulsa, OK, Jackie and I had connecting flights in St. Louis and Chicago before arriving at Quad Cities International Airport around 2:00 that afternoon. We went to Lagomarcino's - a chocolate/candy store - before heading to the downtown office of John Deere for our first meeting. We met with a couple people who will be helping us transition from our current system of processing intercompany transactions to a more streamlined version. I was asked to attend this session because I was responsible for intercompany transactions when I was in the accounting clerk position as a temp. (I have about a year of hands-on experience, which is more than anyone else in the department.) Before the meeting, Jackie and I were both a little unclear on a few points but they were quickly explained by the experts.

After our meeting, we checked into our hotel - the Radisson in Davenport, IA, and then went to dinner at Le Pasteur which is a nice Vietnamese restaurant. (That was the first time I had ever eaten Vietnamese.) After dinner, we went down the street to an ice cream shop called Whitey's. I had the raspberry cheesecake frozen yogurt (made fresh while we waited). Yum!

Completely stuffed, Jackie and I went back to the hotel so she could catch up on work. I unpacked a little, called my parents, and explored the hotel. On my walk around the lobby, I located the pool - yay! - and spent the rest of the evening swimming laps, relaxing in the hot tub, and sleeping comfortably on the Sleep Number bed in my room.

My First Business Trip - Part 2
Mood:  chillin'
From Tulsa, OK, Jackie and I had connecting flights in St. Louis and Chicago before arriving at Quad Cities International Airport around 2:00 that afternoon. We went to Lagomarcino's - a chocolate/candy store - before heading to the downtown office of John Deere for our first meeting. We met with a couple people who will be helping us transition from our current system of processing intercompany transactions to a more streamlined version. I was asked to attend this session because I was responsible for intercompany transactions when I was in the accounting clerk position as a temp. (I have about a year of hands-on experience, which is more than anyone else in the department.) Before the meeting, Jackie and I were both a little unclear on a few points but they were quickly explained by the experts.

After our meeting, we checked into our hotel - the Radisson in Davenport, IA, and then went to dinner at Le Pasteur which is a nice Vietnamese restaurant. (That was the first time I had ever eaten Vietnamese.) After dinner, we went down the street to an ice cream shop called Whitey's. I had the raspberry cheesecake frozen yogurt (made fresh while we waited). Yum!

Completely stuffed, Jackie and I went back to the hotel so she could catch up on work. I unpacked a little, called my parents, and explored the hotel. On my walk around the lobby, I located the pool - yay! - and spent the rest of the evening swimming laps, relaxing in the hot tub, and sleeping comfortably on the Sleep Number bed in my room.

My First Business Trip - Part 1
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Work
I spent most of last week traveling. On Tuesday morning, I woke up around 4:00 a.m., did my last minute packing, made scrambled eggs and coffee, and left the house by 5:35. I arrived at the Tulsa airport, parked my car, checked in, checked my bag, and made it to my gate around 7:00. Since my flight did not board until 7:45 (the flight left at 8:10), I watched people and flipped through a magazine. About 20 minutes later, my supervisor called my cell to tell me that her alarm did not wake her up, so she was running late and might not make the flight. Her husband was dropping her off so she would not have to park, she would carry on her laptop case and small suitcase so that she would not have to take time to check a bag, and she would try to hurry through security. Jackie made it to the gate about 10 minutes before the first boarding call. She was very relieved and so was I since I had never been to Moline previously. Oh, I don't think that I mentioned it, but we were going to Moline for business meetings.

Poem
Mood:  lyrical
Topic: Thoughts

I'm With You

Waiting,
I'm waiting.
Waiting here for You.

I can't see the road's next bend,
Don't know where this path will end,
But I've made my choice
And I'm with You.

No second-best, no plan "B;"
You're the only One for me.
And I'll follow where You lead
'Cause I'm with You.

Loving,
I'm loving
Every moment I'm with You.

~12:45 a.m., 22 October 2005

Coming Home... and Leaving Again
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Family
Sara arrived home safely from Central Asia on Tuesday and she recovered quickly from jet lag and travel fatigue. She is enjoying her time at home, hanging out with our friend Rene, and getting ready to head back to PSU. At the moment, she is painting a computer desk.

Ben got home from Boy Scouts today. He's been at camp in southern Oklahoma all week (not the camp where the scout leaders were electrocuted). Last week he was at church camp in Salina. The older he gets, the less he seems to be home... but then, the same could be said for most kids.

Speaking of being at home less, I am moving out of my parents' house (barely)! I will be moving in to a fixer-upper of a rental house that needs lots of TLC and living with Ananda, a friend who is going to school here. Where is it, you ask? Next-door to Mom and Dad's house. Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want.

Catching Up
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Family
It has been over a month since my last update. Things have been pretty hectic around here. Since it would take too long to talk about everything that has gone on recently, I'll just hit the high points.

Work
I am working in the accounting department of the John Deere plant here in Coffeyville. Yes, my degree is in English, but they are apparently willing to overlook that. :) I enjoy the work and the friendly people quite a bit.

Mom

On June 17th, Mom found out that she had a large cyst that was putting pressure on some of her organ and making her think that she had a virus. On the 20th, the doctors operated, removing a cyst that was larger than a baseball!

Mom came home from the hospital on the 30th and we are all thrilled that she's back. She's moving around some more, but still gets tired easily and doesn't have a ton of energy. The moms from our homeschool group brought over some casseroles and other meals that can be stored in the freezer and two of them cleaned our house while we were out on Wednesday morning. Those two things were a terrific stress reliever for me. The church ladies also brought meals for a week and it was nice to have a break from cooking and planning meals. I feel like I've had to be an adult for the last four weeks and, boy, is it exhausting! Some things that I learned were:

1. Make every spare minute count.
2. No matter how tired you are, there's always room for more.
3. When a grown-up seems overwhelming, you just do what has to be done right now (i.e. make dinner for hungry boys) and leave the rest.
4. You know it's been a stressful week when the highlight is getting to take an uninterrupted shower in a clean tub.
5. I changed my mind, I don't want to be an adult after all! (Just kidding.)

Shadow & Everything Else

We have a new puppy! Her name is Shadow because she follows anything that moves and she is a Rottweiler-Husky mix. She's much bigger than when we first brought her home about 6 weeks ago and she's growing fast. Taffy, our older dog, treats Shadow like a pesky little sister.

Besides taking care of Shadow, I've been going to Luke's home baseball games a couple times a week, teaching junior high girls at Wednesday youth group, and going to Alias marathons at Alec's house. The rest of my time seems to be occupied with mundane things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. Something I've begun to realize is that it is much harder to get things done at home when working at a job where I'm away from home all day.

Birthdays & a New Job
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: "Beautiful One" - Jeremy Camp
Topic: Fun
I subbed every day except Friday last week. On Friday, I cleaned my room and closet, got ready for major birthday celebrations, and worked frantically on a job application. I also called in and quit substitute teaching that afternoon. Friday afternoon, Sara came home for all the birthday fun and she got a perm in Caney. (Her hair is really cute when it's curly.) Friday night, we had grilled kabobs (Sara's choice) while we watched The Incredibles, then we had ice cream and she opened gifts after the movie. I gave her a neck pillow with memory foam that may help her sleep on her flights this summer. I also gave her a black-and-white photo of Rachael Lampa that I had Rachael autograph to Sara when I went to a concert about a month ago.

Happy Birthday to Sara!
On Saturday, Sara and I slept in and then went to Wal-Mart with Mom. After lunch, our folks and Ben went to the CCC track meet while I went to run the sound board so that Sara, Kelli, Rene, and Bryan could practice the special that they are going to sing at church in a couple weeks. Almost two hours later, we left to get ready for our big night out. Kelli, Rene, Amber, Sara, and I went to Tulsa for dinner at Red Lobster. Sara had her first alcoholic drink (did I mention it was her 21st birthday?) and we all ate far too much food. There was a collective groan when our waitress asked if we'd like dessert. We drove around for a long time with everyone acting very goofy and eventually stopped for dessert. On the way home, we stopped at Sonic in Owasso and then I hit a 'possum somewhere north of Nowata. It was quite an eventful evening.

Happy Birthday to Me!
At 12:18 a.m. on Sunday, we were still driving and the girls started singing "Happy Birthday." Sara and I got about six hours of sleep before we got up for Sunday School and church. Seven people came over to eat lasagna, spaghetti, and hot rolls (my choice) for lunch and we had a marvelous time! Bill, a guy from Sunday School, brought his two young daughters, Mircedes and Ashleigh, and they had a blast playing with our dog, our trampoline, and our three-story tree house. They even ate lunch in the tree house. :) After everyone left, I opened my gifts and found three CD's, a journal and decorations for it, silly socks, and some stuff for my tatting.

Monday I started a new job. I am now an Accounting Clerk at the local John Deere Manufacturing Plant. It was a pretty good day, but I started feeling a little ill in the afternoon. I ate some less-than-ideal pasta salad at lunch, had the makings of a sinus headache, and was working in a small office with little ventilation. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was glad to be able to spend more time in my nice, airy cubicle. The heat was making me dizzy.