Josh at Prom

Isn't Josh a handsome young man? This past weekend was the Madrid High School Prom. Josh went with a girl named Emily that he is friends with. (This is a different Emily than his girlfriend, who had her own prom the same night at a different school.) About a dozen of his friends all went together for pictures and out to dinner. The After-Prom was held at a community center near by.

House Stuff

After a bit of negotiation, our bid on the house was accepted. We should be moving in July 1st. I'm excited at the prospect of owning a home again, but I know that it isn't a done deal until we sign on the dotted line at closing. Today we were supposed to have the inspection done but at the last minute it got cancelled due to miscommunication between our agent and the sellers agent. Hopefully it will be rescheduled for next week.

The house has a couple of great features including a fenced yard for the dog with lots of mature trees and a huge deck off the kitchen. Of course every house has some negative things, too. This house does not have a garage. There is space for one and we plan to build one next year. The house is also located close to a railroad track. I still believe that this house will be a great fit for Jeff and I and we are looking forward to moving in.

Josh vs. the Ladybug

The funniest thing happened last night. Josh and I were sitting in the living room; he was working on his laptop and I was reading a book. One of those annoying ladybugs was crawling across the arm of the sofa where I was sitting. I hate to smash them since they stink so badly, so I just flicked it off – toward Josh, of course. Now, Josh just happened to be wearing shorts and the lady bug just happened to land in the leg opening of his shorts!

He jumped to get it out and when he couldn’t find it, he relaxed thinking that it just bounced back out…that is until a few minutes later when his eyes got really big and he gave a shriek. The ladybug decided to start crawling. It was the funniest thing watching him jumping up and down and dancing all around. He finally ran for the bathroom. I must say that I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time!! That is a memory I won’t soon forget!

'Fraidy Dog

We have an 8 year old yellow lab named Dodger. When Dodger was a couple of years old, a neighbor boy thought it would be funny to throw various fireworks at him while he was tied up outside and we were away from home. We believe this may have happened numerous times. Consequently, Dodger is very frightened of popping noises; this is especially true around the 4th of July.

We currently live close to where the high school has its track meets. If you have ever been to a track meet, you know that each race is begun with a gun shot. My dog is totally freaked out by this! He truly has an anxiety attack. He starts shaking so hard that his teeth actually start to rattle and he pants like he just ran a marathon on a 90 degree day. He also sticks so close to me that he might as well just climb into my lap. (Picture my 85 pound dog trying to back up onto my lap – butt first!)

One of the shows that I watch on Animal Planet shows how people can re-train abused dogs by using treats. Josh and I are going to purchase some poppers and fire-crackers and see if we can teach Dodger not to be afraid of popping noise. I don’t know if it will work or not, but it is worth a try!

Homeowners Again??

Since Jeff and I gave a long-term commitment to stay at Cornerstone, we are once again looking for a home to buy. Jeff will be meeting with our realtor this afternoon to start the paperwork and to make a bid. We are looking to downsize since we will soon be empty-nesters. This house is certainly smaller than what we are used to and will require lots of sorting and purging, but I think that it will suit our needs just fine, especially once the boys are gone. We especially like the fenced in back yard with all the trees. Click on the link to see more of the house including a virtual tour!

Customer Service Counter

The last two days I’ve been training to work at the customer service counter at Hy-Vee. While I’ve learned a lot of new things that I don’t normally do while cashiering (like cashing payroll checks and printing out money orders), I think the most confusing thing is the lottery machine. There are so many different kinds of lottery tickets and we cash them different ways for different types. The phone system is a little bit challenging, too, but I don’t think that I’ve hung up on anyone yet!

I’m not sure if I will like working in Customer Service or not. It seems like you have to do several things at once and I’m really not good at multi-tasking. Jeff has always said that I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, but it is really a problem now as a result of chemo. Chemo kills off brain cells in the area of the brain that handles short term memory, concentration, and multi-tasking abilities. It’s called chemo-brain. This can sometimes last for years. Click here if you would like more information about chemo-brain.

District Leadership Conference

This week Jeff and I were in Omaha, Nebraska for District Leadership Conference. It was at Christ Community Church, the largest church in our district – one of the largest in our denomination. While we were there, I was able to connect with the person who is the coordinator for the early childhood department. They have a huge nursery/preschool department that serves about 450 children every week. She gave me a tour of their facility and gave me some great ideas for improving our nursery. I’m overwhelmed when I think of all that needs done just to update our two small rooms. I need to remember to pick the most important thing that needs changed and implement that first. Then focus on the next thing. I’m looking forward to getting started!!