and I won't bore you with a total day by day recap of things. I also promise to have pictures the next time I write. I just haven't gotten my photos from the weekend downloaded as yet but will try to do it in the next day or so.
We had a wonderful weekend! Liisa and Jesse and Max (the 12+ year old yellow lab) came down for a visit. Poor kids got more than they bargined for in the trip each way: they left after Jesse got off work on Friday evening, thus driving all night, and when they got close to our house they hit a really icy patch on the interstate (64), going over a bridge, and slid some; there was a spin out ahead of them, and a semi pulled over as well. Fortunately no one was injured and their car landed safely on the shoulder. But they arrived here tired, pumped on adrenaline, and ready to go at 5:30 am...
They brought the most wonderful gift imaginable to Eric and I, which we opened as soon as Eric got home from work (about 7 am); Kristi and Liisa worked together and made us a scrapbook of our courtship and wedding and move, with photos "stolen" off my computer! It's huge, complete, and absolutely precious to us! I have already looked at it over a dozen times, and it is one of my treasured possessions! They worked so hard on it, and it shows. I cannot wait to share it with people! (It's already gone with to the bowling alley!)
We took the kids to the bowling alley with us, and Eric went too--first Saturday he's been there in over 3 months to coach--and we had fun. Then, we came home and everyone crashed for the afternoon. Saturday late afternoon I tried to take the kids to a few of my favorite places, but alas, they weren't open (I was 0 for 3 by the time the weekend was over!). Sunday worked out a bit better in that we went to Brianne's drill Christmas party for 11:30 am, and then when that was done we went over to St Louis and took the kids to the Arch. We wandered the museum, where we met a very talented "mannequin" who chatted with us, then we rode the trams to the top and took tons of pictures. It was lots of fun! We stopped by home to "water" the dogs, then went to the BX and Commisary for some shopping. Then it was home to make dinner and watch movies (Eric worked all weekend--in fact he was teasing me that the only time we have guests is when he needs to work!)
Monday Eric and I took Liisa and Jesse out for breakfast, then they headed back to MN around 11 am. I felt really bad for them, because while the weather here was very mild, they drove back through horrendous snow and ice (they also had snow the first 5 hours of their drive coming down). They didn't get home until 12:30 am Tuesday. I sure appreciated their coming though, and it was sad to see them go. The biggest issue we ran into while they were here was that Max and Po are both unneutered males, and as such, had a hard time with each other and were very territorial (including some marking behaviors, which really frustrated Liisa and I). We felt bad, but needed to take turns confining one or the other of the dogs, just to limit growling and mess. That got hard at times. The other excitement when they were here was at the commisary on Sunday evening: a woman had a grand mal seizure in front of me that I needed to help with. Thank goodness I am fully trained in first aid, and have worked in the past with seizure patients, so I knew what to do to keep her safe and comfortable. I stayed by her, along with an EMT who happened to be shopping and offered to help, until the ambulance arrived. I think she is ok, but the concern was that she was pregnant, and she said she had no history of seizures before. I have been saying a prayer for her. I left my name and contact info with the manager at the store, in case they need me for anything. This is the second time I have been in the same place as someone experiencing a seizure (outside of a hospital setting), and it's no less scary the second time around.
My father in law is having some back surgery today, so I have been sending him warm thoughts and big hugs... I still am unsure of all the details, but I am confident it should go well. I assume my mother in law will call us later. They are such wonderful people, and I am so grateful they have welcomed us as they have!
The economy really stinks these days: a dear friend of mine was laid off on Monday from her job of 3.5 years. Business was slow and they needed to cut back, so she was the one let go. I feel so badly for her, although she is so far handling it well. Another friend was laid off over a month ago, and that too just stinks; and one of Jesse's good friends was laid off too on Monday. It makes my job search a little more understandable. From what I was hearing on the news last night, unemployment in East St Louis is at 20%, one of the highest in the nation... We live just 20-30 minutes east of there... I am still looking though. And the word from HR at the VA hospital is that they are still reviewing applications and have NOT started interviewing as yet. So I guess I am still in the running there.
Patrick was cut from the varsity bowling team because of his grades. He was very disappointed with himself because this had been important to him, but he left things too long to dig himself out of. He will also need to take some sort of an online class to make up a credit he needs towards graduation so that he graduates on time... It's do-able, and we will be keeping on top of it as best we can. All is not lost yet! He was pretty sad though as we attended that meeting. The other kids are doing fine, and Aurora will be gone this weekend (friday/saturday) at a bowling tournament.
I am working on finishing some christmas gifts I want to make, but ran into a snag: my state of the art sewing machine decided to stop working. We took it in to the shop on Tuesday to have it looked at. I paid $2500 for it brand new 10 years ago, and it has paid for itself in spades, but I still will cry if it is unrepairable (and I will eventually want a new one too!). In the meantime, I have Eric's ex-wife's machine here that I can use, but it is like trading in an Escalade for a Geo... It works, but ish.... Oh well, beggars can't be chosers in the moment... It'll be fine.
I am also getting things ready for my friend Erika to come spend a few days with us. She will arrive on the 17th and stay through the 21st, and I am very excited about that. We had a few projects planned to do, but maybe we will just shop and hang out instead! It's gonna be fun!
Well, Mom's Taxi rears it's head as Cliff needs a ride onto post... So I guess that's it for today!
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