Jeff's Surgery

I don't know how many of you knew that Jeff was having gastric by-pass surgery today. He came through just fine and was resting comfortably when I left him. The decision to have this radical surgery was not a whim. We have been going through the process to get approved for more than a year. As a result of being over weight, in the last few years Jeff has developed diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. He also has a lot of achy joints. This surgery and the resulting weight loss will help him to be much more healthy and will extend his life by many years (God willing).

Josh went with Jeff and I to Mason City where the surgery was performed. We are both exhausted after only getting 3 hours of sleep last night and then getting up at 2:45 a.m. to get Jeff to the hospital by 5:30 a.m. We took turns driving/sleeping coming home this afternoon because we kept getting drowsy. It has been a long day and I am looking forward to falling into bed in just a little bit.

I'll work tomorrow morning and then head back up to spend the afternoon with Jeff. He will come home some time on Friday. Keep praying for his recovery and the change in lifestyle that we will be making. Thanks!!

Family Comes to Visit

My nieces - notice the ziplock bag the oldest one is holding.


Friday my sister Leslie and her three girls, Erika-8, Meghan-5 1/2, and Bekah-2 1/2 came to visit for the weekend. Saturday I kidnapped Bryce-3 1/2 and Hailey-1 1/2 for the day so that the cousins could get to know each other. We spent the morning at the park playing on the playground. After lunch and naps, we walked to the train depot where the kids watched an old steam engine leave for a ride and played on some old train cars. For supper they made their own pan pizzas. The kids all loved playing together. Bryce and Bekah really hit it off.

I thought it was really funny this morning when my nieces wanted to go play in the back yard after breakfast in their pajamas. It was even funnier when they came in and asked if they could take a dead lightning bug home in a plastic bag (with grass and a stick) so they could bury it. They didn't want to bury it here because it would be too far away to visit! As of mid-afternoon today, Iowa will be short one dead lightening bug.

Firework Fears

This has been a long day for Dodger, our 9 year old yellow lab. He has an unreasonable fear of fireworks. When he was a puppy, the neighbor boy threw firecrackers at him while he was tied up outside. Since then, he has disliked all loud popping sounds, but the last few years that fear has become irrational.

He has not slept well the last few nights and wouldn't go outside today unless we walked all the way out with him. Throughout the evening he was never more than a step behind me where ever I went. Tonight when I tried to go to bed, the dog insisted on sleeping in our room. We tried it but he couldn't lie still. Finally, I made him go in the hallway and shut the door. Five minutes later he burst in. Since Jeff has to preach tomorrow and Dodger is my dog...I guess I get doggie duty. It's going to be a looooong night!!

Fun at the Park

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. It's not that I've forgotten, just life has been pretty mundane and not worth mentioning. (Which is a good thing!)

Josh's girlfriend, Katie, was visiting this week and Bryce thinks she is the greatest. Wednesday evening we kidnapped Bryce and Hailey so we could spend some time with them. After dinner, we walked to the park and spent about an hour or so playing. Neither one of the kids have any fear it seems. They both had fun climbing on the play structure, but the favorite thing to do was the swings. Bryce kept yelling, "Push higher, Josh, I want an underdog!" Hailey doesn't like to go as high, but would start with a small smile that slowly grew until a full blown giggle erupted!

I was glad to have Josh and Katie with, too. They ran around and around and up and down chasing the kids. I don't know what time Bryce and Hailey went to bed, but Josh and Katie were sound asleep on the couch soon after we got home!

Catch-Up

It's been a while since I last blogged and I thought I better take some time to catch-up on the last couple of weeks. I must say that time has flown by so quickly. I haven't mentioned much about my new job since I started, so I will tell you a little about how that is going.

When I took the director position at the daycare, I knew that things were in pretty tough shape there. I just didn't realize how screwed up every aspect of it was!! My first major change was to increase the tuition and change most of the payment policies. I can't believe that the hourly rate for childcare was only 40 cents more than 15 years ago. We did lose several families due to the increase (and I feel bad about that) but we can't give our service away for free.

We've been slowly purchasing equipment and toys to replace worn out stuff. We just got cots that are more sanitary to store than the old ripped up mats they were using. I can't believe how excited the kids got over "new beds". We also bought a toy kitchen set with dishes and pots and pans. Arranging the room into learning centers and switching out the toys has also helped reduce behavior problems.

We have a long way to go to be considered a "quality" childcare center, but we are slowly making progress. Most days I really enjoy my job. When I get home in the evenings, I struggle to get my mind turned off and usually look forward to going to work each day. The downside is that I have a hard time figuring out how to get laundry and housework done when I am gone so much. Mostly I miss not seeing Jeff all day every day like I have for the past 2 1/2 years.

Good Eats in Louisville

First, let me say that the conference last week was really good. The worship band was versatile enough to be able to do traditional hymns as well as contemporary/christian rock so we got the best of both worlds so to speak. They had some great speakers and I really enjoyed meeting many pastors and connecting names and faces. But one of the best parts of the week was the food!

The breakfasts at the B&B were really yummy. We especially liked the lemon raspberry crapes. Lunches were just whatever we could get close by the conference center and was usually either fast food or a sandwich at an all-American type of restaurant. We did have one afternoon free and ate at the cafe at Churchill Downs where we were served fried green tomatoes and Kentucky Derby Pie.

Evenings is when we tried to find something different. We took advantage of many ethnic restaurants in downtown Louisville. We ate authentic Mexican and Italian food as well as at both a Moroccan and a Persian restaurant. The Moroccan place was unique in that it was also a store, so it was filled with jewelry, rugs, robes, framed art, and pottery. My favorite was the Persian place. Persian food is from Iran. These are pictures of what we ate - sorry, I'm not sure what it is called except that it is a rack of lamb. After a week of eating out, I am sure glad to be home and eat cereal and PBJ's!!

Bed & Breakfast

I'm writing this from Louisville, Kentucky. Jeff and I headed down here Sunday after church for a conference for the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination. We decided to stay in a bed and breakfast about 2 miles away from the conference center. Central Park B&B is located in a historical area of downtown. All the homes are similar in size and shape as the one we are staying in (pictured above). This house was built in the 1880's and has the original hand carved wood work, stained glass, and 12 fire places. Some of the flooring is original, too.

It's been a relaxing day for me so far. The conference officially doesn't begin until tonight. Jeff has had meetings and a golf tournament since last night, so I have been lounging around here doing some reading and some daycare work that I brought with me. It should be a really good week.