Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my darling niece Mikayla! So hard to imagine that she's fourteen already! I remember where exactly I was this morning fourteen years ago. The night before I'd worked a shift at the residential facility where I worked until 9:00pm. It was a Friday night. My older sister had gone into labor already and I desperately wanted to get to the hospital to see my sister and to be there when my very first niece made her grand entrance to this world. One glitch in my plans, though. My little sister was at a teen dance at the old dance hall across the street from our house. I went in to get her, but she wouldn't come with me. I fought long and hard, I begged, I pleaded, I may have even cried, but to no avail. She refused to come out early. She made me wait until that darned dance was over before she'd come with me. What a little pain in the butt she was!

It was a long night for all of us, as Mikayla delayed her grand entrance until 5:54 am. She was born at 6 minutes to 6am on the 26th in 1994, 6 years before the year 2000. Not quite a classic story, but one I remember none the less!

Funny how she's getting older but I'm not . . .

We had an absolute blast tonight at Action City. We played hard for 2 hours, then went to Walmart and played around. My youngest niece had $10.00 to spend and within 45 minutes she went from a dress for her dog to a Hannah Montana poster to a lint roller, finally settling on a fashion magazine and skittles. No rhyme or reason that I could see.

I talked to an old friend tonight. Two weeks ago they took their seven year old daughter to the doctor. After doing some labs but finding nothing, they finally ran her liver enzymes (they'd ran them a few months ago and they were elevated but went back down closer to normal soon after). They ran and reran them and called them at home, telling them to get little Baylee back to the hospital immediately. They started at their local hospital, but were quickly transferred to a children's hospital in Portland where they do liver transplants. They determined that Baylee was in liver failure and her liver is dying and not regenerating itself. At some point they were life flighted down to Stanford hospital in California. Throw in a reaction to a medication and pneumonia and their two weeks are a roller coaster. They put her at the top of the transplant list, but when a liver became available, her pneumonia made the surgery impossible. Today was a good day for them. Baylee was awake for the whole day and seemed much more upbeat today. Her numbers have begun to come down and her mom is really wondering if God has a miracle for Baylee. I cannot imagine having a child go through this. Baylee's brother and sister are waiting at home with family.

I must confess that with all of the fun that we had earlier, go karts, laser tag, bumper cars, bowling, etc, that my personal highlight occurred on the way home in the car. While flipping through the stations we heard Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer. To my nearly fourteen year old niece's dismay, my sister and I continued belting out the lyrics at the top of our lungs, long past her tolerance for our singing ability! It was a pretty strange moment, for sure! I loved it!

I'll go now, as we're watching Shrek the third (yikes! it's 1:35 am!) and getting ready for bed.

A night full of memories and fun!

A

Ahh, the weekend!

I really can't remember ever being quite so excited for, or in need of, a break. A mere long weekend, but hey, I won't complain (here, out loud!). I have Friday and Monday off, a four day weekend! Yippee! The kids have been going a little crazy! As have the staff! We've only had one snow day since Christmas break. The kids have had one or two early releases, but not enough to keep us all sane!

I'm going to Action City(where the fun never stops!) tomorrow night with some friends from church. I'm taking my nieces, 14 and 11. Strangely, my sister wants to come, too. I hope that it will be fun for all. Anyone want to place bets on if she comes or not? Sorry to be so cynical, but we'll see, won't we?

Dad got home on Monday and is doing okay. He's still in quite a bit of pain, though.

Conan O'Brien is on right now and his musical guest is fascinating. It's a woman who is wonderful! I can't understand her name, though. Elanen Yahee? Yes, I'm sure its not anywhere close to that! She's obviously foreign or at least her name is of foreign descent. Hmm, I'll have to do some research. Her song is on the popular music channels, and is quite unique! Yael Naim? Jeepers, no wonder I can't understand her name, it's one I've never heard before! Her performance was amazing, and quite fun. She looked like she was having fun and made direct eye contact and a smile! This is the song she was singing, but she apparently sings a wide variety of songs, like this one, or this one or even this one!! After doing a little research, I was right about the foreign part, she is an Israeli, born in Paris. (her website is here).

I'm off to bed . . .


Love,
A

Updates.

My dad is still in the hospital. They're keeping him on bed rest and feeding him what ever he wants. It's like room service, except blander! Hopefully they'll let him out tomorrow. It takes a while for his blood to get to the proper thin-ness. He'll have to give himself shots twice a day for a while, and then he'll switch to the pill version. Yuck. He's also giving up smoking . . . again. My mom won't even consider it AT. ALL. It's almost impossible for him to quit and stay quit with her smoking like a chimney. She's pretty selfish about it, too.

I am still enjoying my new car. Very fun to drive! I'll break 16,000 tomorrow.

It's a four day week this week, the first of two four day weeks, in fact! I have Friday and next Monday off for Easter and a cheap spring break! I hope that this week flies by. Sometimes it is the short weeks that hit you the hardest! The kids get really wound up . . . it is after all the first day we'll have had off since Christmas except one snow day!

Have a fantastic week!
Amanda

Sad . . .

This story happened about 45 or 50 minutes from my house in a St. Paul/Minneapolis suburb, on a stretch of highway I've traveled on many a time. Perhaps you've heard about it? A woman slowed or stopped her car for some reason in the middle of 3 lanes of traffic. A semi-truck rear-ended her. Her four year old baby girl went into cardiac arrest, but one of the first, or maybe the first, person on the scene was a heart surgeon. It seemed to be a happy ending when he was able to do CPR and resuscitate her and she was rushed to the hospital. The happy ending turned out to be merely a fortunate delay, though, as the girl died today. I haven't heard why she slowed down, but I can't imagine that she'll ever be able to fully recover from this . . .

Here is the link from one of the local TV stations, KSTP.

Family . . .

My dad is in the hospital tonight. He went in for a check up about 2 or 3 weeks post knee surgery. He's been in pretty significant pain since well before the surgery, but it's not healing as quickly as he'd hoped. He dropped Mom and his cousin Mary off at Walmart and drove over to the hospital. The plan was that the ladies would fill their carts and finish their shopping in time for Dad to pick them up at the door. Great plan, eh? Unless they find a blood clot and choose instead to admit him immediately, and NO he is not able to just go pick them up first! Mom doesn't have a cell phone, and Mary's new one didn't have service, or wasn't on, or she just didn't hear it! (A whole other topic- people who have cells but never answer them! Or leave them at home or in the car, etc!)

Somehow it came to pass that one of the NURSES would go over to Walmart and pick them up. She'd never met them and they didn't know she was coming instead of Dad, but it seemed to work out. They were paged to the customer service desk and promptly left carts FULL of stuff to meet this stranger at the door. She pulls up and looks at them and from the details my dad has given recognizes them and says their names. They get in her car and she brings them back to the hospital. Two thoughts: either she was just really nice, or they were worried about Dad enough that they could spare a nurse to get them there quickly. Not sure which, but I hope it "just worked out" that way.

I'm going to pick up my mom in the morning and head over. It's a great thing that they caught it when they did. It's apparently in the main artery in his leg and if it had broken loose has a quick, direct route to his heart. Not good at all. He thinks that he might even get out tomorrow, if he can learn to give himself shots twice a day. I think it may take more than one day to get him comfortable with that. He would then get his blood checked regularly and would switch to pills for maintenance when it's at the desired level. Can I just say what a nightmare it would be if something happened to him? A fierce battle would ensue to prevent a certain family member from draining my mom dry- and it would not be pretty! Mom is hardly partial or capable of being partial where her granddaughters are involved. (Sigh) Can I just pray that when they go they go together? Now, hopefully not for many years, as they are only 58 and 59, but both smoke more than a forest fire(a chimney didn't seem appropriate!). But then that would bring about a whole other battle! But enough about my family's dirty secrets!

Good news of the day: I got my contract renewal for next year today!

Other bummer news: Looks like my trip to England in June may not happen. It looks like it simply isn't going to work out with finances and time on both sides of the ocean!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Amanda

Ichabod . . .

Ichabod, the glory has departed . . . well the air freshener has departed, anyway. I've moved it to my new car (actually I just bought a new fresh one!). The "fresh linen" smell has moved with me to my new car! I've moved the essentials now, bought a new holder for my CDs for my new CD player, bought a new bag with which to carry my junk to and from work(it WILL all fit in this bag, no excuses to leave stuff in the car!). I rushed the the credit union yesterday after work (a different branch than the one I met with Saturday!) and then to pick up my mom and then to pick up my car! I spent the weekend contemplating the purchase of a Ford Focus, and once I made the decision on Monday morning, I really wanted to get it as soon as possible. Bless his heart for lending me his car, but my dad smokes like a chimney and his car smelled like an ashtray! Besides the fact that the car has nearly 200,000 miles on it. I'm a bit anxious to see how fuel efficient or fuel inefficient my new car is. If it's less than I hoped, I have the next 5 or 6 years to regret it!

It is a beautiful (no, thank you, I did not say pretty!) car, and is very fun to drive! I loved jamming out to my favorite CDs and listening to Elisabeth Elliot teach on an mp3 on the way home! And of course, I hope I tire of the remote locking and unlocking soon, as even I'll get annoyed with the short little honk when I hit the lock button twice! I'm quite sure I'll never tire of being able to unlock all of my doors at once before I reach the car, instead of trying to juggle all of my stuff and then pitch it all across the front seat only to drag it all back across getting out of my car at work! Could you all remind me of these features next month when I'm trying to budget around my new car payment? Thanks!

Amanda

A quote:

Don't be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life.

-Bertolt Brecht

Why, oh why?

Why, oh why can I not go paperless? I spent a solid hour today filing papers that have come in the mail that for months pile up unopened. Open, file, open, file. I must have opened 5 bills from my student loan people. Bank account print outs? Credit card bills? Sprint? I never, well, rarely open my mail. When a bill requires paying in person or via snail mail, it is almost certain to be late. It' s painful really. I think every creditor/biller should have an internet pay option. Well, then? Why can't I seem to let go and go paperless? Less paper, better for the environment. Less clutter, better home environment. Less mail, more likely to see the important things! Less paper clutter, less guilt when I finally throw it away!

Someday when I am dead, someone is going to have to go through it all and throw it away. Pity the fool!

I am pleased as punch that I was able to transfer my high interest rate credit card (computer purchase) to my other zeroed (existing) Citibank card with 0% APR. I've known for some time that I needed to do a balance transfer. I've been paying on the computer monthly, and the balance isn't outrageous, but the balance seems to be growing instead of decreasing thanks to the high interest rate! I'd like to be able to make some progress! Perhaps if I had done this a few months ago when the rate skyrocketed I'd have it paid off! Why, oh why didn't I do this before?

Happy Daylight Savings! I hope we all enjoy it as much in the dark of morning . . . (just call me Negative Nelly!)

Car update: I'm leaning towards a Ford Focus. Did I talk about it Friday? 2005, 15,000 miles. Dealer with a fantastic reputation . . . Not quite the gas mileage I'd have liked, and a little more than I wanted to spend, but it seems like I will be able to handle it . . .

Amanda

I got dumped!

Well, left anyway. Left on the side of the road by my not-so-lovely Taurus. I had just gotten on the road to start my journey to work this morning and after accelerating onto the on ramp to the freeway, it seemingly shifted into neutral and stayed there. It runs, but it doesn't go! No matter where I moved the shifter, it wouldn't actually shift the car. The RPMs go up and the engine revs, but she's not moving! (Yeah, like anyone who reads my blog actually cares about car details?) My uneducated guess is that the transmission went out and that it's gone baby gone!

The good news is that I have been looking for a new car for a couple of weeks and am pre-approved for a car loan and so it's not a major shock! The bad news is that I don't have my own transport to and from car dealerships, etc . . . although my parents are loaning me one of their vehicles, as dad just had knee surgery and isn't working for a couple of weeks. They are able to survive with one vehicle for a time. He found a 2005 Ford Focus, fully loaded, I think! for a little more than I hoped to spend, but it only has 15,000 miles on it, and is from a dealer we know! I think I might be able to pay a little bit more knowing all that. Our new contract just got voted in this morning, so I should get a small amount of pay increase, and the dealer might even take my old car as a trade for parts!

All things considered, it was pretty good timing. I'm glad it was on a Friday, and super-blessed that I hadn't actually gotten on the freeway. If I hadn't stopped at the gas station for those donuts, (something I promise I never do!) I would have been a few miles or more on my way! Thank God for His timing! Fridays are better than other days, because it gives me a little time and a weekend to work with! No panicking that way!

If my coworkers read my blog, they'd have some exciting stories for you about today, as they weren't able to get a sub for me! If I'd been sick, I think I would have considered leaving my deathbed to avoid that! I guess I shouldn't have joked to my principal about staying home with strep throat today, huh? Of course, strep throat would be preferable to the $75.00 towing charge and the extra added stress!

Well, I hope your day started a little more gently! Anyone have anything exciting?

Have a fantastic weekend!

Amanda

I am . . .

I am a Barista! Yep, this means that I operate an espresso machine at a coffeehouse. (I make a mean mocha if you're ever in Wisconsin!) I only work one day a week, after church Sundays, but I love it! Making drinks is my favorite thing to do on my shift! Yippee! that I get to do it for now! Now, I have known that there is a term for me for some time, but I was reminded of it in a memo I got on my email. Today, I must say that it provides a wonderful balance to all the other names I've been called! It was a wild and crazy day at work, with every one's screws seemingly coming loose all at once! I won't repeat those, or my blog would move up to a more restrictive rating! I had the idea today while one of my boys was screaming insults at the people around him that he should have to write a list of sincere positive comments to try to restore the relationships he damages in his anger and jealousy and to try to restore some balance. It's probably a little much for a third grader, but it makes me think that I should remind myself of the nice names and titles that I hold, just to balance it all out!

And so . . . daughter, aunt, sister, friend, daughter of the King(hence, Princess!), child of God, disciple, teacher, coworker, loved . . . .

Now, if any one has anything nice to hear, I'm blatantly fishing for compliments here! If you don't have anything nice to say? Say it on somebody else's blog!

Love,
Amanda