Look Before...

Happy Leap Day!

I had a near miss yesterday.  It started snowing around 2pm and by the time I left work at 4pm, quite a bit had built up on the roads.  I only live 2 miles from work but Bob had asked me to pick up an RX at W@llgreens.  It’s only about another 2 or 3 miles away so I told him I would get it on my way home from work.  Driving there was not a problem.  The speed limit is 40 but I played it safe and drove closer to 30 mph.  I made it to the pharmacy with no problems whatsoever.  Driving home was a different story.  Right away I noticed that in the 20 minutes I’d been in the store, the snow was wetter and the roads slicker.  I took it slow from the get go.  Still, at the first stop light, even though I began braking WAY before I really needed to, I began fish-tailing and sliding rapidly towards the car in front of me.  Seconds earlier, that car was farther ahead of me but the driver must have noticed the precarious conditions and put the brakes on right about the time I did.  I did everything I knew to do to no avail. My car was sliding on a slippery surface and was rapidly approaching the rear end of the vehicle in front of me.  I was helpless to do anything to stop it.  Since the first stop light is at the bottom of a hill, both our cars were not only sliding, they were gaining speed.  I was so afraid that the car in front would stop only to be rear-ended by me and pushed into the intersection and into on-coming traffic.  Feeling helpless and seeing everything in that weird slow motion way that happens at times like this, I just yelled out audibly, “Lord, help!”, and seriously, both our cars stopped right where they were simultaneously.  It was the weirdest, most magical thing and I heaved a huge sigh of relief…until I saw the car behind me rapidly approaching my rear bumper.  Thankfully, they were able to turn out of the slide and go around.  Whew!

I feel like crap today.  I woke up at 2 this morning having to use the bathroom.  Once I was finished, I went back to bed only to toss and turn for the next 2 ½ hours.  I was so tired and my eyes so heavy and sore and burning from needing sleep.  Still, sleep would not come. I ended up getting up at 4:30 and doing some stuff around the apartment.  I left for work about an hour early just to keep busy and now I feel like I could topple over at any minute.  I’ve had that vague, gnawing feeling in my stomach all day.  That feeling you get when you’ve had too little sleep and to much caffeine.  That feeling like if you ingest the wrong thing, it’s all coming back the way it went in.  Do you know that feeling?  All I want to do is go home and crawl into my bed and fall asleep.  What a waste of a Friday night.

Oh, I forgot to say that because of the little mishap/near miss mentioned above, I did not attend the photography small group meeting at the church we visited on Sunday.  Their next meeting isn’t until March 20^th, so I have to wait a bit.  Still, I thought better safe than sorry and was glad to spend a quite night at home watching Lost.

Sticker Shock

I went to the eye doctor yesterday.  It’s been 2 years…actually, maybe 3!  Yikes!  Anyway, my eyesight has gotten worse both in regards to seeing far and seeing near so my RX for my progressives has had to be amped up a bit.  Not that I mind because I would like to be able to see what I’m looking at without having to do the random head rotation and eye squint it requires right now.

My favorite part of going to the eye doctor is picking out my new glasses.  However, the cost of progressives has put a huge damper on that little bit of fun.  My work provides vision insurance which is a godsend.  I used to be able to get my glasses and lens PLUS a second pair of sun glasses for under $100 after insurance was applied.  Yesterday’s bill for 1 pair of glasses (not even designer frames) was $210 after insurance.  Gulp.  Granted, if I didn’t have insurance, I’d have to pony the whole $550 so I’m thankful for insurance covering the majority of the costs, but still, talk about sticker shock.  I couldn’t order them yet because we don’t have the extra cash on hand right now.

Work is not fun right now.  I can’t go into it much here but imagine you’ve been doing the same job, more or less, for 5 years and it’s been going just fine.  Then imagine that new people are hired above you and to manage you, neither of which have any experience in doing what you do nor do they really know what your job entails.  Lets just say that your job is to count and distribute widgets.  And this time of year is crazy busy in the widget industry.  Now lets say your boss and another higher up decide that not only should you count the widgets but you should keep track of the widgets by size, weight, color, and shape.  AND you should create a checklist to help you keep track.  And you should create another checklist to keep track of the first checklist.  AND you should communicate all of this with your team daily. And you should create another checklist to keep track of the team members you are communicating with and what was told to them.  That is what my job has been like recently.  These days I can often be found fantasizing about winning the lottery and leaving this job for good.

Last night I woke up around 1:30.  I had to pee but I was also super thirsty.  After relieving my bladder, I left my bedroom to get some water from our cold filter in the kitchen.  I must have scared one of my cats because she flung herself into my ankle and then sprinted under the couch.  Except when she sprinted from my leg, her back paw caught my big toe and now there are 4 lovely deep red scratches across the top of it.  It bled quite nicely and is now scabbed over.  I put some Neosporin on it so it won’t get infected but it still hurts like a mother.

Huh

Bob and I actually went to church today. It was kind of a fluky thing. A woman I met at the wedding shower I attended Friday night invited me to her church. She wrote out the website and service times and I told Bob about it. He said that he could probably make an 11am service and we should try it. So we got up and got ready and drove to the church.

I was a little bit taken aback by it all. When we were within a block of the church, we saw lines and lines of cars and then we saw many traffic directors. When we saw the actual church building, we were again taken aback. It was a large "campus" type church. Typically we try to stay away from the "mega church" churches. Still, we made it that far so we forged ahead.

When we entered the building, we were in for another shock. It looked like a swanky hotel lobby more so than a church entry. There was marble, a fountain, benches, and lots of floral displays. We were greeted by a man and woman dressed to the nines. They directed us to another pair of greeters dressed fancily who, in turn, directed us to the sanctuary.

Once we entered the sanctuary, I wasn't sure what we were in for. It looked like a large ampitheater. The stage looked like a professionally appointed theater stage. To the right was a grand piano and large band complete with brass section. To the left was a large chair. Ahead of us was an auditorium filled with theater seats and I counted no less than 6 television cameras. Once we were seated, I was able to see the professional lighting, sound board, and tv editing station. I felt like we had just entered some televised musical production.

We were shown to a section of the auditorium that featured cut-outs for wheelchairs so that was nice. The whole building was accessible and there seemed to be quite a large contingent of people in wheelchairs. We were at the 4th service of the weekend so I'm sure their actual numbers are even higher than what we saw today.

The whole time we were sitting there during the service I kept thinking, "Surely you don't want us to go here Lord. Surely this isn't the place you have for us to attend." Yet it seemed that it just may be. During one of my silent protestations, my attention was turned towards the bulletin where I noticed that they have a photography group that meets once a month. This is interesting only in that yesterday I had just prayed for God to use my photography if he could in any way. I didn't know how or what it might mean or look like but it seems like something of an odd coincidence. When I got home, I went directly to the church website to see what I could find on the photography group and I found amazing galleries. Right away I began to tell myself I wasn't good enough to join these amazing photographers. Then I thought that if nothing else, I can learn from them and become better. The next meeting is this Thursday night and I can't wait.

Something else that kind of gave me pause was that the speaker/preacher today was Kenneth Copeland. I'm not a big fan of TV preachers and I've heard he's been in some kind of trouble financially but I will say that he had a very good message that ministered to both me and Bob personally. We tend to take things in with a large dose of skepticism but were very much surprised at how much the sermon and service moved us. Maybe this is because we haven't attended a formal church service in about a year or maybe it's because of the slick service style and professional music. Or, maybe it was because God showed up for us today.

At the end of everything, after all was said and done, Bob said, "I could go here again. Let's plan on attending next weekend too." I said I would be up for it but that it surprised me because this didn't seem to be the kind of church we were looking for. After all it was so big and fancy and flashy and how could we, jeans and t-shirt people, find a place to serve, move, live, and be in such a big fancy place? Bob said, "Maybe we just need to be faces in the crowd of a big church for a while." That sounded about right to me.

The other things that do attract us to this church right now are the smaller, more personal outreaches that the church is involved with. They have a prison ministry, a street evangelism program, a food shelf, a women's shelter, a car care program for single mothers and the elderly, and they have an awesome live music/dance club in downtown Minneapolis. They also have local small groups for a more intimate and friendly church experience. Finally, they have 2 Saturday night services in addition to the 2 on Sunday. Sometimes evening church is better for Bob so it's nice to have a choice.

So, we shall see. For now we will try to keep attending as we can. I will attend the this Thursday evening's photography meeting and who knows, maybe we will actually find a place to fit in here. If nothing else, maybe we will at least find ourselves back in the habit of church attendance, even if it doesn't mean that we end up at this particular church.

Weekend Fun...Thus Far

See that beautiful, smiling face? That is the face of a bride-to-be. Last night I spent the evening basking in her pre-marital bliss. It was her wedding shower and it was lots of fun. I used to be her youth leader another lifetime ago. The fun thing is I knew her fiance' before she did. He was a friend of mine when I used to live in Wisconsin. Their wedding will be a whole lot of fun.

Today I met my best friend from High School at the downtown convention center. Her daughter was here competing in a national dance competition. (Think "Bring it On".) It was amazing. My friend's daughter's team won 1st in their division which was exciting to see. One of the things I noticed was that most of the dance teams used classic 80's music for their routines. I guess they know good music when they hear it. Heh.

So, I spent my weekend in the presence of beautiful ladies and it was good. Check out more photos below or by clicking my Flickr badge.
This is the only team I saw in competition with a boy

This team had a healthy assortment of healthy larger girls.

This is my friend's beautiful daughter.

Here she is again. LOVE! HER!

Here is my friend and her daughter.
Just a random photo of a random dance team.
This is the all-star dance team from the same studio my friend's daughter dances with.And to end this round-up of estrogen, I leave you with a photo I took while walking back to my car after lunch. This father was teaching his son some hockey skills at a downtown rink. So cute.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

It was bitterly cold at the nature center last night. But that didn’t stop a dozen hardy souls from venturing out into night to view the Raccoon Moon and total lunar eclipse. It was amazing. First, we sat through a short presentation given by an amateur astronomer about eclipses and moon names. Then we tugged on our layers and tromped outside for a hike in the night. We were walking in the dark, following deer paths, walking on frozen lakes, climbing snowy hills, listening for owls and critters, and watching the earth’s shadow cover the moon. It was spectacular. After the hike, we set up our telescopes and cameras to better view the display. When the cold got too much for even the bravest of Minnesotans, we packed it in and head for home.

I am happy with the few pictures I took. During the initial covering of the moon, I was on the trail sans tripod so those photos are quite blurry. I got a couple photos of the eclipse that aren’t too blurry. I don’t have a remote for my camera yet so I used the 2-second self timer and that resulted in less blur but there is still some noticeable blurring. Still, I am happy with what I have and I had a great time getting the photos. If it hadn’t been so cold, I would have stayed out longer and experimented more with the settings and such. Still, a good time was had by all who attended.

Lunar Eclipse

I don’t know why I am so excited about tomorrow’s lunar eclipse.  I can’t even take a good photo of the moon.  I’ve tried.  Even with my newer camera and new lens I don’t get anything but a big white blob/blur.  Erg.  However, we are going to a local park preserve for their lunar eclipse program and viewing.  The first part of the evening begins at 7 with a program and discussion of the “Raccoon Moon”.  I didn’t know what a raccoon moon was until I Googled it and found that each month’s full moon has been named by different cultures.  The Dakotah Sioux have named February’s full moon the Raccoon Moon.  After the program, we will walk to the viewing area where they will have telescopes and sky guides available.  I asked about accessibility when I called for information and the lady said they had all-terrain wheelchairs available as well!  Score!  Bob is going to come with me but he is definitely not as excited about this as I am.  Usually, though, he will come to something just because I want him to and he ends up having a blast.  I hope this is the case with the eclipse otherwise I’m exposing him to the cold and snow for no good reason.  If you live in the Metro area and want to join us, email me and I will give you the particulars.  If you live somewhere else and want to find out what’s going on in your neck of the woods in regards to the eclipse, Google, 2-20-08 Lunar Eclipse, your area.  You should get some hits with viewings going on nearby.  Or you can just stand in your back yard and watch it.  We live in an area with lots of light pollution though I wanted to avoid that as much as possible.  Also, we don’t have a telescope which would be fun to use during the eclipse, hence the tromping out into the cold, cold woods at the nature preserve.

Things at work were sticky today.  We did something yesterday we should have waited until today to do.  It wasn’t a nightmare, but it kind of messed things up a bit for a gal who just got back from vacation.  However, as she called around to find out how to fix the small mess, she made comments like, “I can never go on vacation because everything falls apart when I’m gone,”  “I am the only one holding this place together,” and “What’s going to happen when I retire in 10 months?”  Also, someone on the other end of her phone conversation must have asked who entered the information that was supposed to be saved until today, she said, “Amy” in a tone of voice that can only be described as disdainful.  My name, a two syllable word, came out of her mouth sounding for all the world like, “That screw-up,” “Figures,” “Who else would it be?  Isn’t she the one that always messes things up?”  It’s hard to get that all out of two syllables, but my co-worker managed it.  Just hearing my name in that tone of voice made my face flush to the roots of my hair and I got all nervous and apologetic. Things are all worked out and back to normal but those first few hours this morning were horrible.  I hate feeling like the weak link on the chain.

Thank you all for your kind comments and emails regarding the photos I took this weekend.  My new lens is a 70/300 zoom with a macro setting.  I love it

Pondering

I am taking steps to wean myself off of Coke (the cola, not the drug) and so far today I’ve had none.  However, the amount of times I’ve thought of Coke over the past 7 hours?  Approximately every 4.2 seconds.  A guy I work with just opened a soda and just the sound of the little metal tab cracking drinking surface open makes my mouth water.  I don’t even know if it was a Coke the guy opened.  I just know that I would hand over my wedding band right now for a little Coke with lime.  Arg!

So, is everybody ready for Wednesday evening’s lunar eclipse viewing?  I am, I am!  I printed out a list of all the county parks that are hosting viewing parties and will be choosing the park I visit on the basis of it’s darkness ratio, accessibility in case Bob wants to join me, and level land for optimum tri-pod planting.  I can’t wait to try my new lens to see if it makes any difference in photo quality.

Question:  Why is it that everyone assumes that the elevator that arrives will arrive empty when usually it arrives with people waiting to get off?  The people inside the narrow box must then navigate around all the rubes standing directly in front of the doors as soon as they open.  There should be a rule that people waiting to get on the elevator stand at least 10 feet away from the door so as to allow passengers to disembark.  Maybe paint a big black line for those who enjoy a good visual aid.  Oh, and another question: Why does this bother me so much?

I just realized that all the infertility bloggers I’ve read are all moms now.  Yep, all of them.  And while I’m so happy for them and glad to read of their triumph over infertility I wonder where the new infertility bloggers are.  Am I just in a blog reading rut?  These women all gave me hope and inspiration while simultaneously writing of things that I could relate to and identify with.  That’s no longer the case.  We are still wading through the trough of childlessness and it’s still hard.  Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can turn in order to read some good, even humorous, infertility blogging?

In sort of relation to the above, I will say that the, uh “lovin’ time” with Bob has been exceeding and abundantly better this past couple of months.  It’s almost equal to honeymoon passion now that we are just doing it when the mood strikes instead of in timed intervals between doctor visits.  Huh, who knew?

Weekend

Kayte, I don't have your email. It's a Bissell Pet Hair Eraser vacuum and I still love it.

This weekend has gone too fast. We spent hours yesterday at the Como Park Conservatory and Zoo. I used the last bit of our tax return and bought a 70-300 zoom lens and I wanted to try it out. I love the pictures. Here are a few. You can see them all by clicking my Flickr badge.

Today was a frustrating day. We were going to go to church but Bob didn't feel up to it...again. So I decided to do laundry. I didn't want to do it but if I didn't do it, I wouldn't have clothes to wear this week. So I sucked it up and did it but while I was doing it, I started to think about all the things I HAVE to do and how I never get a day to just do nothing (other than go out and take pictures I guess). Basically I had a giant pity party and came home pouty. Thankfully Bob is a great guy and as I cleaned out the litter boxes, he vacuumed the carpets. He likes the new vacuum too! However, it would be nice of him to do it more often, not just when he sees me upset. Still, it was nice of him to do it. Oh, and he ordered dinner in so I wouldn't have to cook. So, pity party is over and I realize I am lucky to be married to Bob.

Valentine's Day Update

Bob and I had a very nice Valentine's Day. The best thing about it was that we sent a dozen long-stemmed roses to one of our single friends. She's been feeling sad and lonely lately and we wanted her to feel loved and special even though she's not seeing anyone right now. We were more excited about giving that gift to her than we would have been had we gone and gotten something for each other. She LOVED them and we were thrilled with how special a dozen roses can make someone feel.

After I got off work, I drove home, did my hair, put on make-up, and got dressed up for my husband. We had reservations at Timber Lodge. Nothing too fancy, but we had a coupon AND a gift certificate so we thought we'd put both to good use for V-Day. We got there a little bit late due to traffic, but we had a table within minutes. Walk-ins were not so lucky. We were told that the wait for walk-ins was 45 to 60 minutes!

Our dinner was great. We ordered an appetizer, had soup, bread, and salad and by the time our dinner came, we could each only eat a half a dozen bites before declaring ourselves full. We had a hostess take our photo:When we got home, we put our left-overs away and then we did what most couples do on Valentine's Day evening...we checked out email and watched TV. Heh! Well, we did do that but we also did other stuff too. Overall, it was a good day/night.

Goofy Fan

Have you ever really enjoyed some form of the media and wondered what it would be like to meet the people creating your faves? I used to work in radio and as a runner/gofer for a large concert hall so I've met a lot of popular entertainers. Mostly singers and songwriters though I've also interviewed quite a few local, state, and national politicians. I wasn't ever really star struck. Mostly that has more to do with the stars than with me. I have interviewed singers whose music I've enjoyed and had to work at being professional without sounding like a geeky fan-girl. I think I pulled it off for the most part. Whenever I've listened to those old interviews, I mostly sound more green than geeky. The more interviews I did and the more stories I wrote, the better I sounded. However, there were some performers I knew I could probably never meet or interview because my awe and admiration of them fully eclipsed any professionalism I could muster.

Well, last night I once again entered the realm of geeky fandom. Thankfully I wasn't interviewing anyone, but I was offered the chance to meet some of my favorite comedy performers. The original cast of MST3K performed last night at the ACME Comedy Club in Minneapolis. This was the launch party for their new DVD "The Oozing Skull". I brought my camera with hopes of getting some good photos but my seat wasn't so good. Actually at first it wasn't horrible. I was in the last seat of the regular chairs, but I was in the middle of 4 couples. One of the foursome had a friend show up and he was sitting in the way back, against the wall, in the tall bar chairs so I offered him my seat so he could be with his friends. Little did I know that I was giving up my unobstructed view for a partially obstructed one, but the guy was so thrilled with my offer, he gave me $10! It sometimes pays to do something nice. Anyway, I didn't take pictures because I was far away, the view was somewhat obstructed, and I didn't want to be "that guy". However, I did manage to get one shot of most of the cast at the end of the show:Here you see a tiny portion of J. Elvis Weinstein (Josh), all of Frank Conniff, Trace Beaulieu, Mary Jo Pehl, and Joel Hodgson. They were singing the theme song to MST3K before going out to the lobby to sign all kinds of autographs.

During the autograph signing, I took photos and waited for the line to go down so I could get my own copy of "The Oozing Skull" autographed. Of course, this is when I became completely tongue-tied and dopey. It didn't help that it was passed my bed time and I'd had some wine during the show (thanks to changing seats guy and his $10). All I could muster in the way of intelligent conversation was "thank you", "I love you guys", and "great show". Duh! I am SO a graduate of a Communications program, huh? You'd never know I once interviewed the governor of Wisconsin and procured a fairly intelligent interchange. Still, I wasn't really a fan of his, so maybe that's the difference.

Here are some photos. Go out and buy your own copy of "The Oozing Skull". Also, look for tickets to Cinematic Titanic's Live show at the State Theater in October.

Josh and FrankThe lovely Mary Jo

Frank and Joel

Mary Jo and JoshThe whole Cinematic Titanic cast

Dolled Up

I love the new vacuum. Bob asked why we needed a new vacuum. So I showed him. I put a new bag in our old vacuum (which is an 8 year old Hoover upright) and went over the floors. Then I put together and plugged in the new machine. The amount of cat hair and crap that still came up was enough to fill the bagless dirt holder twice. Gah! THAT is why we needed a new vacuum. He's a believer now. I've used it every day since buying it on Sunday and it's still picking up stuff. LOVE the new vacuum.

I had continuing education classes yesterday and today. Yesterday I wore make-up and today I didn't. When I got to class someone commented that I wasn't all dolled up today as I had been yesterday. My hair was exactly the same, my outfit both days was just jeans and a sweater. The only difference was that I wasn't wearing make-up today. How does that make me dolled up yesterday? I know there is a huge difference in my look sans make-up but really? That much difference? Huh.

Tonight I am going to see Cinematic Titanic at the Acme Comedy Club. I. Can't. Wait. I will bring the camera but I don't know their rules on photography. Still, I can't allow a photo opportunity to pass me by.

Bob Update and a New Toy

The meeting with the pulmonary doctor on Friday was mostly just to get a preliminary check-up. It was kind of a meet and greet since he didn't perform any tests today. He will be running some kind of breathing/lung tests and he is setting up a sleep study because he is sure sleep apnea is exaserbating Bob's breathing problems. Or maybe his breathing problems are exaserbated by sleep apnea. It's a catch-22.

We were glad to find out that this doctor is actually going to refer Bob to another doctor in the pulmonary clinic. Apparently this other doctor is a pulmonary specialist with a neuromuscular specialty. This was EXACTALLY the kind of doctor we were looking for when we moved all Bob's health care to the U. This doctor will be setting up and monitoring the sleep study and lung/breathing tests.

The final appointment of the day was with Bob's primary care physician. He told us that all Bob's blood tests came back normal. He has good regular blood pressure, good thyroid, great cholesterol, etc. He did say that Bob has low iron count though he is not anemic. Still, he wants Bob to add an iron pill to his daily vitamin regime.

Right now we are still kind of in limbo as far as a diagnosis is concerned. Thankfully they are not concerned enough to hospitalize Bob. They think there is a possibility that one of Bob's heart valves is weakened. They want to be sure and that is why they have ordered the lung/breathing tests. The tentative diagnosis is pulmonary hypertension. They will know more after these other tests come back. So it's more waiting and wondering. Thankfully Bob is doing better and has lost about 15 lbs of water weight. He feels much more himself and is anxious to feel even better.

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So, we got our tax refund back already. We paid some bills and then split the remainder. I have enough to get a zoom lens for my camera as well as this:

Interviews and Breaking Down

Quick update:  I ended up having 2 interviews yesterday and both went nowhere.  I talked to the guy in Austin, TX and I talked to another guy in Palm Beach, FL.  Both interviews were for other jobs with-in Big Bank Co.  Both guys were super nice and both guys ended up saying I sounded like a good candidate but they were really looking for someone who could start right away.  Both said if I ended up in their area to look them up and they would see what openings they had at that time and thank you but no thanks.  So, there’s that.

I went with Bob to his CT scan.  It ended up being a quick trip.  We got there and they took him in right away.  They injected dye into his vein, laid him on a table, and then the table was raised and sent through a scanning/X-ray machine.  I didn’t get to be in the room during the actual scan but it only took about 2 minutes.  We go tomorrow morning to meet with the pulmonary doctor and with his primary care physician.  I guess this is the appointment where we will find out the results from all these tests and see if there is a treatment plan or not.

Bob sister called us after I created and posted to Bob’s Caring Bridge site.  She said their dad had a genetic heart defect called PVOD.  It has something to do with a weakened heart valve.  He had similar symptoms to what Bob is exhibiting right now.  It’s kind of scary because Bob already has a genetic issue what with the MD and everything.  Wouldn’t it just figure he has something else too?

Speaking of defects it seems like everything is breaking down just about now.  Bob’s wheelchair needs to be repaired.  We are dropping that off tomorrow after all his doctor appointments.  Thankfully, the repair place has a replacement for him to use while we wait for the repairs.  Bob’s van also needs to be repaired.  The check engine light has been on for over 2 weeks.  Bob took it to have the oil changed right when it first came on but the mechanic couldn’t find anything wrong at the time.  Now it’s getting worse and making noise.  We have an appointment Saturday morning to have it looked at again.  I hope it makes it there and that they find something wrong with it.  Well, something wrong that’s fixable and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.  My car needs a new headlight but in comparison, that’s not so bad.

I’m nervous about tomorrow and what we will be finding out.

Interview!

In an attempt to expand our quest for warmth, I applied for positions in Texas and Alabama as well as Florida.  I just got a call from a guy in Austin, TX asking for a phone interview for tomorrow late afternoon.  Whooo!  Hoooooo!

Random Photos From the MDA Event

Bob and I just had so much fun at the MDA Winter Wine Down in Stillwater that I wanted to post some of the photos I took at the event. Next year, please come out and join us.

You will check in and meet some great folks from the MDA.You will get your very own wine glass to take home from the event.

You will enjoy some live music.

Live music performed by Walden Pond Revisited.You will meet nice people and maybe make some friends.

You will meet the MDA Youth Ambassador and his family.

You will have the chance to play Heads or Tails.This guy won Heads or Tails

There is a wine pull

There are heavy appetizers. Mmmm, so good.

There is a silent auction

You will find lots of nice things to bid on.

Just don't get outbid!Of course there is wine to tasteAnd more wine to tasteWineWine

and more wine to swirl, sniff, and swill.

There are also places to hang out and talk...like in a window,

Standing around a bar,

or hanging out in the red room. Come join us next year, won't you?

The Wine Down Wrap Up

The Wine Down was fun. It was held, once again, at the Depot in Stillwater. Everyone had a great time. There was a silent auction, live music, heavy appetizers, and of course, wine. I found a yummy new dessert wine from the Stillwater winery. I also pulled 3 bottles of wine at the wine pull. I pulled my favorite, a Riesling, off the bat but then pulled a red I was able to trade for a nice white. My last pull garnered another nice white. Score! If you want to see what kind of evening we had, click my Flickr badge to see the shots I took.

I didn't do a thing yesterday but go to the Wine Down. Today was a totally different story. I got up and got all our tax info together for our tax guy. I called him and he said I could bring it all by this afternoon, which I did on my way to the library. I dropped off my latest stack of books and then drove to the laundromat. For some reason, it was not very busy today. I did 6 loads which kind of freaked me out. Usually I do 4. While the clothes were washing I ran to Target to get some stuff we needed. I LOVE Target. Where else can you get a can of WD40, a roll of packaging tape, a bag of potatoes, and a bottle of cooking sherry all at once?

I drove back to the laundromat in time to change my clothes to the dryer and then I ran 2 more errands. I was able to fold all our laundry in a half hour and then it was back home to put it away.

I used the WD40 on the rusted screws on my car's front license plate. It worked except one of the screws busted in half. I got the new plate on but it's only being held by one screw. Hope it holds. I also need a new front headlight so maybe when I get that put in, I can ask about securing the plate.

Though I had been busy, I wasn't done yet. I started cleaning our apartment at 4. This was no surface cleaning either. I've been feeling peckish and closed in and usually a good clean or purge of stuff makes me feel better. I cleaned and cleaned for four hours. We only live in less than 1200 square feet so you know I was a cleaning machine. I feel so much better now. I still have a niggling antsy-ness that will only really go away once I get my butt in gear and purge some of the crap we've been holding on to for the past year. Gah!

I forgot to mention that while at the Wine Down I found out that 4 of the MDA staff are pregnant and all due this summer. What is in the water that everyone but me seems to be getting knocked up? Bob and I did talk about the possibility of adopting with in the next year. It's not something we are doing anything serious about right now but Bob wants to think/pray about it for a couple of months before revisiting the topic.

I came up with what I think might be a good way to get started with my photography business. I can't really talk about it here yet but I'll let you know what it is and how it goes as we get closer to Spring. If it works here, it will pretty much work anywhere and having a portable business will be nice if and when we move.

500

Hey! Look at that! It's my 500th post. Huh.

Well, Bob's health is no better but we are no closer to having any answers either. We went to the hospital yesterday and Bob had an ecko, an EKG, and an ultra sound. After waiting around for 3 hours, we left because I only took a half day off of work and I had to get back. They told us they would call us and they didn't. Not with the results anyway. They did call to say Bob has another appointment on the 6th. This time for a CT or some kind of scan. They are afraid Bob's heart valves are weak and that his lung tissue is fused together. I created a Caring Bridge site to keep our family updated on the road we travel towards Bob's healing/treatment. If you are interested on following along, go here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/robertmingo.

Tonight we are going to a wine tasting. It's an annual fundraiser for the MDA. It's one of our favorite events and we look forward to it every year.

I didn't do much today. I did rearrange our bedroom because Bob told me that it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to walk from the office where he parks his wheelchair to the bedroom and needs a place in the bedroom to park it. I think the new arrangement will benefit him greatly.