Where Does the Time Go?

I cannot believe that October is already almost half over! Like the blog title says, "Where does the time go?" Tonight will be a quick update on the happenings with our family. I hope to update later this week after Josh's birthday... the big 8!

Jeff is staying busy with work. He is travelling a lot. He has taken on the role of Den Leader for Josh's Cub Scout Wolf Pack. We just had our first meeting last Friday night. It was only organizational, so totally boring for the poor kiddos, but I feel like we got a lot accomplished, and I know that Jeff is up for the task. He is very organized and can delegate like it is nobody's business!

I am staying very busy with my work as a medical transcriptionist/chauffer (for Josh). It is so nice being able to stay at home to work. I don't make nearly as much money as I did at my previous jobs in KC, but I have to say, it is a heck of a lot less stressful (the majority of the time). I do miss the adult interaction (a lot). Listening to doctors all day just isn't the same as actually being able to have a conversation with a real, live human being! Oh well! I am enjoying the occasional "Ladies Night" with my good friend Jen. I am so glad that I was finally able to find someone that I can relate to up here, and that lives close! She has it timed... 7 minutes from her door to mine. She is awesome. And I just adore her boys!

Now, onto the most important member of the family, Josh! Josh is doing amazing. He is loving school. We are struggling with getting him to LISTEN to directions and take his time. The teacher assures me that this is normal for boys, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it! Josh is counting down the days to his birthday... 4 more! Closer to 3 now! He is super pumped, as he is having his birthday party at LaserQuest this year. It has been three years since he has had a birthday party that included his friends. This year, he is having his friends, and he is having his cousins Allen, Allison, Brittany, and his "brother" Brice. So, since they are coming, it will be an even more special day as he looks up to them so much! I am really excited to give Josh one of his gifts this year. He is SUPER into anything related to the weather. This is going on 2+ years at this point. Last year for his birthday we went to the local TV station in Lincoln and he spent the afternoon of his birthday in the Weather Center with the chief meteorologist learning all about how they do the weather forecast. Well, since then, he has found out that about The Weather Channel (TWC). He is OBSESSED with TWC. He knows all the programs. He knows all the TV personalities. His favorite is Dr. Forbes, the severe weather expert and creator of the TorCon (an index that can predict the likelihood of a tornado in your area). Josh made me "friend" Dr. Forbes on Facebook. I was able to get in touch with Dr. Forbes and find out an address for TWC. Jeff wrote a letter explaining a little bit about Josh's passion about weather, and how much he respects Dr. Forbes. Dr. Forbes quickly sent a personal letter and autographed photo back. We didn't tell Josh about the letter that we sent to Dr. Forbes. We are having the letter from Dr. Forbes and the photo framed for his birthday. It is going to be awesome.

In September over Labor Day weekend, we surprised Josh with a trip to Kansas City to Worlds of Fun. He hadn't been since he was 3 (I think). He actually braved the Mamba and the Prowler. He wasn't a fan, but was so brave! We also got to see our friend Jenny, her husband Scott, and their daughter Elizabeth. They are having a baby in December, so it was fun to be able to see them on our trip down there!

My dad and Pauline are doing okay. Dad is super busy with harvest. He loves it. Pauline is busy with work (as usual) and with the city commission. Not much new on their front.

My sis Kara and her husband David, and Taly and Niko moved to Dallas at the beginning of August. They are living with my aunt Linda and her family until they are able to find a house. They haven't been having much luck on that front. They are hopeful that they will have something figured out by next Friday. They did find out last week that my nephew Niko might be deaf or hard of hearing. We are saying lots of prayers that he is not. They have an appointment with the specialist on Halloween.

So much for a short post! Oh well!

Kate

Happy September!

I can't believe that it has been four and a half months since I last updated. Ridiculous! Things are going well here. I am staying busy with work and Josh! Jeff is staying busy too with work. Sadly, his boss, mentor and friend Erv passed away from colon cancer two weeks ago. Josh is doing good. He is in second grade now and loving it. He is a little sick right now with a sore throat.

That is the short and sweet. I will update soon with a summer/vacation update.

Katie

I Thought it Only Appropriate...

With the highly anticipated (by me) Royal Wedding just hours away at this point that my blog design should reflect the occasion. So, for at least a couple of weeks, I will be featuing crowns on my blog!

Things in Eagle are going great. Jeff is currently out of town. He will be returning tomorrow night... just in time to crash my wedding watching plans. Oh well. That is what DVR is for. Jeff has been keeping busy with work (the paying kind) and also work outside. He is hoping that we will have nice weather this weekend so that he can start getting our garden ready for planting (till it, etc.) He also is the proud new owner of a 16 foot utility trailer. He has been wanting one for so long that I told him he should just bite the bullet and get it over with. He has had it almost two weeks and has yet to use it. I see a trip to rent a tiller and get a bunch of mulch from Menards in our future!

I am doing well. I am still doing medical transcription from home. I am trying to keep busy, and am beginning to see that things are going to start getting busy for me in the near future. My big excitement recently is getting Invisalign. I have had it just over a week. It is definitely a big change. I have a newfound respect for people that get traditional braces. These darn things hurt so bad the first 3 days I thought I wouldn't make it. They are fine now. I change my trays every 2 weeks, and so I anticipate every 2 weeks there will be a couple tough days.

Josh is doing great. He just finished his Easter break and went back to school today. He is now 7-1/2. We celebrated at school with a cookie cake which was a HUGE hit! He also got to pick anything he wanted for supper. He chose McDonalds. I was regretting letting him choose. Gross. He is ready for the weather to get nice and stay nice! He enjoys spending time outside with Bella.

Bella's big news is that she got an electric fence. Actually, I think that this might be bigger news for Jeff and me. It has been three weeks, and she is doing awesome. I think everyone (who can afford to have one) should. The man who installed the fence and trained her on how to use it told me, "She is REALLY smart!" Uh, what? Are we talking about the same dog? She is so dumb... loveable, but dumb! Well, it turns out, she is not dumb. She is just bored. She totally got the whole fence thing in under 10 minutes. The geese that live on the pond love to torture her, because it seems that they have figured out that she can't go past the flags. They stand just on the other side of them.

In March, Josh and I travelled to SD to visit my Dad and Pauline while Kara, Natalya and Niko were home for vacation. We got to spend about 2 days with them. So much fun. Pauline taught Kara and me how to sew. We are now making memory bears for people who have lost loved ones. I gave away my first one this week. What a great feeling that was! I had no idea that I would enjoy sewing this much! I may drive Jeff nuts with my new addiction to JoAnn's Fabrics. I think that I just need to pace myself.

For Maddie

For my few followers, today's post will be short. I am attaching pictures of Josh that I took today. They are to honor the memory of Maddie, a little girl who's story I have been following on another blog. You can find a link to it under My Blogs (I think it is under "It Started When Two People Fell In Love". Today marks Maddie's one month Angelversary. She was just 4 months old when she earned her angel wings. Each day since, I have hugged my miracle Josh a little tighter. Fly high Maddie!

Less than 1 month? I hope so!

So, I was trying to update my blog template to one that is called I (heart) Spring. The computer won't let me do it. I hope that this isn't a sign that Spring is going to continue to stay away! It is less than 1 months away... right? The weather here in Nebraska is kind of questionable... still. We had some crazy snowstorm last night. It wasn't so bad, but it still took Jeff and Josh over and hour and a half to get home from school/work. Yikes!

Things are going well here. I am still staying semi-busy with work. Jeff is staying busy as well.

Josh is doing pretty well. He had not been feeling well for a couple of weeks, and had quit eating and drinking almost entirely (a bite or two and a sip, here and there). I finally took him to the doctor last Friday, and it turns out that he is having GI issues. So, for the next month, he is on a dairy free diet. This is no fun for a little guy who loves his milk. He is also having to drink prune juice mixed with Miralax. There are many tears every morning, but things seem to be moving better, so I think we will switch out the juice that we are mixing it with. Josh is going to be getting a retainer. We start the process next Thursday with "Smurfs". I had always heard of them being called spacers, but whatever. Then March 15th he gets his retainer. We are hoping that after a couple of months, both of his top teeth will be in front of his lower teeth! They assured us that this would be achieved quite easily! We ended up going to a different orthodontist after the original one had him bite on a popsicle stick for two hours a day for 3 months. We went back in and they said two more months. Um, that is a little crazy to ask a 7-year-old to do that for almost 6 months. So, the new ortho agreed that was crazy. Retainer it is!

Our sweet (and totally crazy) girl Bella is doing good. She might beg to differ after spending months in the garage because of the cold temps. She is enjoying any time she gets outside at this point, and is looking forward to Spring, and warmer temps... aren't we all? She is turning 1 next Monday. How exciting! We haven't made any big plans for her big day yet, but hopefully we can find her a fun, indestructable toy! She had ruined everything we have given her EXCEPT her Kong. She ruins other toys made by KONG, but not the actual KONG. Hopefully the snow will melt and she can run and play all day on her birthday. Or, maybe an afternoon at doggy daycare with some friends is in order.

My dad has started his radiation therapy. He seems to be feeling okay most of the time, although he says that his stomach starts getting upset. Also, for any readers out there, my stepmom's brother Gus was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer that has spread to the liver. Any prayers you can send his way, and the way of his family are greatly appreciated. He has a wife and two daughters.

I'm So Over It!

So, here I sit at 12:15 in the morning. It is not unusual for me to stay up late, however, tonight I am wide awake because Jeff is leaving in the morning for a week. That in itself is fine. What I am not happy about is the fact that we are in the middle of a snow storm. I really pushed for Jeff to leave this afternoon, but he couldn't talk his boss into it. So, this morning (Sunday) in about 3 hours (3:15 am), he will head out to Lincoln to meet his boss. And then from there, the two of them will trek over to Omaha. I am already dreading the morning and sitting around anxiously waiting for him to call and let me know that he made it. I am stressing about it already. Stupid snow. So, that is what I am over... SNOW! And WINTER! Let it be Spring already!

So, other than the stress of that, things are going well here. Yesterday (still seems like today to me,) was Jeff's birthday. I wish that I could say that we did something exciting, but we didn't. We went to Lincoln in the morning and ran some errands. We ate birthday lunch at Taco John's and had birthday churros for dessert. We headed back to town for mass this afternoon, and then had our favorite for supper... One Eyed Dog. Love that place. And Jeff got his supper for free because it was his birthday week. Cool.

Josh is doing well. He is still really enjoying school. Friday night we attended the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby for his pack. Jeff really enjoyed making Josh's car. For anyone reading, that is right up his alley. Josh didn't care at all. The top 5 cars advanced to regionals. Josh came in 6th. Oh well! There is always next year. This was Jeff and Josh's first go round, so I am sure that Jeff will do some extensive research between now and then. One of the older boys decorated and designed his car to look like an iPod touch on wheels. It even had a jack for the earplugs. It was really neat.

I am doing well. I am working what I would consider pretty much full-time at this point. I am still doing medical transcription for my uncle. It is extremely interesting. I started another client about 6 weeks ago. This client is kind of two-pronged. They have both transcription and editing documents that were done with voice recognition software. I started wht voice recognition software editing in December and was able to get my feet wet with that. It was a challenge at first (that makes it sound like it isn't anymore... it still is), as it was a new specialty, radiology. It really is a whole new animal for me. I went to Yankton to train on the actual transcription portion at the beginning of January. It has been a real learning experience, but the lady who trained me sent me a note on Friday to say thanks and that I am doing a great job. That is always nice to hear. So, I am really enjoying the fast paced world of medical transcription. It doesn't pay as well as my old jobs in KC, but, I get to work at home. I can work in my pajamas (and I do most days!) In fact, this week, I didn't leave the house except to take Josh to school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Finally Friday I got to bust out of here.

Jeff is keeping super busy with work as usual. He did a bunch of training with some guys from KC, Wyoming and the Mechanical Integrity guys from across the street from his office. This week he is going to Houston for a seminar (I think that is what he said it is.) Hopefully he will enjoy much nicer weather than we have here! I think that I will be calling the neighbor to see if he will dig me out tomorrow. I hate that! I wouldn't feel so bad about it if we knew them better. Oh well.

My dad and Pauline are doing okay. My dad goes to the doctor on February 3rd to find out when he will start his radiation treatments. He will go five days a week for 6 weeks. I pray that this will be the answer to our prayers and that he will be healed. Cancer sucks. On another cancer sucks note, my sister-in-law Tara's dad has been diagnosed with lung cancer. I am not sure what the most recent news is, but he has had surgery, and I believe that they are waiting to see what his treatment plan will be. This is a very scary time for Tara and her family, and I am sure that any extra prayers sent her family's way would be greatly appreciated.

Kara, David, Taly and Niko are fairing well (I think). They live in Tucson, and were thankfully nowhere near the tragic shootings that took place two weeks ago. Kara is coming to SD in March. Hopefully we will be able to get together with them while they are home. Niko is turning 1 on February 22nd and Taly will be 4 on April 9th. So much fun!

Well, I should go get to bed.

December and Wedding

Happy New Year to my three or so readers... lol! I hope that anyone who reads this had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. A lot has happened since my last post. I started part of my new job. I am working at editing transcription for a radiology group. I am really enjoying it, and learning a lot! It is a completely different animal than plastic surgery! Everyday I learn something new. I think that between the two jobs, I am really cleaning the cobwebs out of my brain! It is a good feeling!

I had the great joy of going to my sister's wedding during the month of December. While I did have a fantastic time, it wasn't without some drama! Poor Pauline got sick the first night that we were there, and we ended up having to call the ambulance. Thankfully, it was just a really bad case of the flu, and about 36 hours later, she was good to go. I had bothered Kara a lot about having the rehearsal dinner on Thursday, but it really worked out well. If it had been Friday, Pauline would not have been able to go. So, with Pauline down for the count, I got to spend Friday with Lois, Kara, Dad, Natalya and Niko. What a good time. It would have been better if we weren't stuck in the hotel room the entire time, but oh well! I also got to experience my first In & Out burger. My friend Kim (and many others I am sure) have been telling me about this place FOREVER. It was good, but I don't know if it was all that everyone cracked it up to be! I think 5 Guys is equally as good, if not better. I also got to experience Tucson only 1 week before Christmas. While I appreciated getting away from the cold Nebraska weather, I didn't really love fighting with all the people trying to do their Christmas shopping. While I realized that Tucson was only 1 hour from Mexico, I did not realize that everyone drives up to Tucson FROM Mexico to get their Christmas shopping done. Let's just say that it was... CRAZY!

With Pauline feeling better, Kara, Pauline, Miroslava, Clariza and I headed to the salon on Saturday morning. Other than the whole ambulance thing, this was my least favorite, by far! My experience was awful. The lady who did my makeup was awesome, and I liked that. However, the old dude that did my hair, did not understand at all what I wanted for my hair. Even after we told him that I didn't like it and he re-did it, it was STILL awful. Do you remember the scene in Steel Magnolias after Shelby's funeral, where Sally Fields is talking to all the women. She asks to see a mirror and starts crying and says, "Shelby was right. It DOES look like a brown football helmet!" I had that moment and even referenced the movie while I was sobbing with Kara and Pauline on our way to do errands. Thankfully I am perfectly capable of salvaging my own hair! And Kara looked AMAZING! I don't think I have ever seen someone look so beautiful.

After a couple hours of pictures, the wedding went off without a hitch. Kara and David are married... AGAIN! And the party started. We stayed until a little after 10 (11 our time) and then headed back to the hotel. Lois and I wanted to finish off our wine (that is a story for another time!)