"happy birthday to me...happy birthday to me...!"

What a wild adventure turning 50 turned out to be! Things started getting a little bit crazy early last week when Annie got so sick she couldn't keep anything down for days. Our vet was quite puzzled. He did x-rays and blood work and a few other unmentionable tests and could find nothing conclusive. He sent her home on Thursday evening with an IV which we had to monitor all night. On Friday morning I was supposed to head to Denver to pick up Amy for the weekend, so Brian and my dad took Annie to the internal medicine vet. (Who know there was such a person?) After shaving her belly, which embarrassed her greatly, she had an ultrasound. Again, nothing conclusive, but at least a tumor or an obstruction was ruled out. Back to our vet they went. Meanwhile, as I was just about to pull out of town to head north I got a phone call from Bethany who was running a fever. A quick U-turn and I headed back to the high school to pick her up. After tucking her in and putting Mom on alert (thanks, Mom!) I headed to Johnson & Wales to get Amy. As we walked toward each other on campus I was trying to remain cool and calm...didn't want to embarrass my girl. But when we were just a few feet away she yelled "hi, mom!" and flew into my arms and that was one of the best hugs ever!!! We had a quick trip back from Denver...she told stories the whole way and the time just flew by. Ten minutes after we got back, Brian walked in with a silly grin on his face. Right behind him was my sweet friend, Susan, who had flown in from Alabama for my birthday! I was shocked! She's a piece of my heart and I was just thrilled to wrap my arms around her. I know she had to move mountains in order to make the trip happen, and I'm stunned my family kept such a secret from me. I had NO clue she was coming. If it had been just about anyone else I would have been a basket case at being surprised. But this was a no-brainer. She's family! We laughed and told stories and tried to catch up on each other's lives (although there's NEVER enough time to do that.) I was a happy, happy girl. On Saturday, Laura and Ian arrived and my brother, John, also came down with his 2 kids. Could life possibly get any better? Oh yeah. On Sunday we went to church as a family and it was the first time in weeks I was "high on Jesus" on a Sunday morning. The music and the message were awesome, and I couldn't think of a better way to start my actual birthday. We had a wonderful meal of southern bbq afterward and then helped the college kids get on their way. And THEN Susan produced tulip and daffodil bulbs and proceeded to plant them in my flower beds! I couldn't believe she'd brought them all the way from Alabama! For 9 years I've thought, "this is the year I'm going to get bulbs in the ground" but somehow it never happens. ( It's probably no surprise to anyone that the green thumb gene skipped right on by me.) But in the spring I'll have beautifull flowers and I'll smile to be reminded of this very special gift from my sweet friend. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and early this morning I had to take Susan back to the airport. Now it's back to reality for me. Brian is upstairs recovering from steroid injections, Bethany is snuggled up next to him trying to get her strength back after her feverish weekend, and Annie is sleeping in the sun after spitting out her medicine (which I'll get down her soon.) Time to wash sheets and towels and pick up the clutter. But it's ok. I'll do it with a smile. it was such a lovely weekend! Who knew turning 50 could be such a blast?!!

a simple request...

I'm going to depart from my usual newsy family updates to ask for your prayers. In almost 25 years of being married, Brian and I have always been actively involved in churches--no matter where we lived. And in a city with so many conservative Christian organizations you'd think that would be the case here. While we've enjoyed church in the Springs, it's been hard to settle into one ever since Brian resigned from his position at WVC. I think his 2 years as a full-time pastor (vs part-time in Ohio) made us more aware of things that we'd never paid much attention to before. No longer are we able to just enter church with an expectant, worshipful heart. Instead, we tend to over-analyze, I think. We're too critical. Yes, we've prayed about this many times. And yes, we desire to find a place where the three of us who remain at home can worship together. But so far it just hasn't happened. I love music where I know the words and can sing along, and loud drums and electric guitars feel more like a concert to me than worship. Brian and Bethany love loud guitars and drums! We want preaching from the Word...with some life application perhaps. Most of all, we want to surround ourselves with believers who live what they believe, and we want to serve Him alongside other believers. Community! Lately we feel a bit lost on Sundays, and that's a first for us. So if you feel so inclined when you hit your knees, we'd appreciate your prayers as we listen for His leading. We've already noticed how unhealthy it is to not be part of a worshipful church body. We miss having our hearts in tune with His. I know He hears the prayers of those who call on His name, so with a expectant heart, we'll wait on Him.

Our culinary girl...

She's off and running...

What a whirlwind week! Brian was in Maui and I headed to Denver to drop Amy off at Johnson & Wales University for her freshmen year of culinary school. On Thursday night she was so hyper I wasn't sure she'd ever be able to sleep, yet I ended up waking her up on Friday morning so we could get on the road. We arrived at the first check-in point only to find out they showed her as being deferred until fall of 2010. (If you'll recall, at one point during her wound healing issues we weren't sure she'd even make it to college at all, let alone culinary school.) But after a chat with the admissions office, things were cleared up and we were ready to unload. I pulled the car up to the dorm and began unloading things into the grassy area while Amy was checking in with her RA. I'd only unloaded a box or two when the "move-in crew" came along and finished the process, including hauling everything up 6 flights of stairs to her room! How amazing was that?!! Out of everything she took, I only had to carry one small box! We discovered at check-in that Amy and Emily had been switched from room 626 to 628 which turned out to be quite a blessing. This room was at the end of the hallway, which meant the girls had a private bathroom instead of having to share it with suitemates...definitely "a Jesus moment," as Amy would say! We quickly shoved things into drawers and closets because the girls had to go to their first scheduled get-together with the other freshmen. By this time it was about 4pm and neither of us had eaten anything since 8:15 that morning. Surprisingly, we were holding up pretty well. Amy headed off to her WIGI group (each freshman was required to sign up for a special interest group. Amy chose the Christianity group.) I headed outside to wait for Ian and Laura to arrive. Ian only had about 1 1/2 hours, so we headed to Famous Dave's for bbq. Our time ended up being shortened as we waited for the 3 police cars that came up suddenly ahead and beside us to put their guns on the driver they pulled over 15 feet away. Soon they handcuffed him and we went on our merry way to deal with Friday afternoon traffic. We made it back to the dorm just in time for Ian to take off for his evening activity. He never did get to see Amy or her dorm room, but I was thankful to spend a little bit of time with him, and it was awesome that he brought Laura over for the evening. Laura and I headed upstairs so she could get Amy's computer/printer set up. Within minutes Amy was back and we set off for a whirlwind trip to Subway (for Amy) and Wal-Mart to pick up a few things we discovered she still needed. You just haven't lived until you've been to Wal-Mart on Quebec Street on a Friday night when you're in a hurry! Amy had to be back for a floor meeting at 7:30, and we got her back by 7:25. We dumped her things and as she left for her meeting, Laura and I headed back to my suite at the Hilton to spend 4 quiet, calm hours before Ian picked her up. It was so wonderful to visit with her and get caught up on how things were going for her at Mines. We laughed and relaxed and unwound and it was just wonderful!!!! All too soon it was morning and time to head to JWU for the ceremony for the freshmen class...sort of like a commencement ceremony in reverse. The students filed in behind a bagpiper and walked thru the gate on campus that is only unlocked twice a year...to welcome the incoming freshmen and to say goodbye to the outgoing graduates. Afterward everyone headed to the outdoor amphitheater to listen to speeches from the President, a couple of Deans, and the student body president. I thought they did a great job, but I think Amy was less than impressed. Every time they talked about the "class of 2013" she was thinking, "but I only plan to get a 2 year degree so I'll be in the class of 2011!" All too soon parents were asked to clear the campus so the students could go to their 7 hour mandatory lab. No tears for us...Amy was quite ready to be there and I was happy for her. We were ok. A quick hug and I was on my way to Golden to spend time at the farmer's market with Laura. I found out later that after I left the freshmen were divided into groups for their lab time. Amy's group ended up working in the meat cutting lab, which meant she was in shorts and a t-shirt in 42 degree temps for 7 hours! She said once the temperature hit 18 degrees they were allowed to put on jackets...how nice. She was frozen! But she now has her knives and her uniforms and her textbooks and she's unpacked and things are beginning to fall into place for her. She already knows everyone on her floor and lots of others as well. She's high-fived with one of the Deans and is ready to get on with things. Classes begin on Tuesday and supposedly she'll start her on-campus job that evening as well. She'll be one very busy girl. For those of you who are eager to sample her homework creations, don't be holding your breath. Her first trimester will be all academics...a disadvantage of having her last name begin with an A. Her roommate, Emily, will be jumping feet first into culinary labs, lucky girl! But in late November it will be Amy's turn to cook, so hopefully by the holidays she'll be ready to practice her newly acquired culinary skills. If anyone is interested in receiving her weekly e-mail updates, just let me know and I'll make sure she adds you to her e-mal list. Meanwhile, please keep her in your prayers. While her pain issues are helped by the medication she's taking, she still deals with pain daily, especially in the morning and late in the evening. And we just don't know yet how she'll do once she starts her 6 hour labs. But my guess is that if her amazing, spunky attitude has anything to do with it, she'll be just fine!

Married to a rocket scientist...

Whenever Brian leaves town we turn off the air conditioner and turn on the attic fan if at all possible. Unless it's sweltering hot, we much prefer having the A/C off. Yesterday it was nice and cool in the house most of the day, but in the afternoon I turned on the attic fan as we were doing some work upstairs. I totally forgot that first we need to equalize the pressure in the house, so the draft of turning on the fan blew out the pilot light on the hot water heater. This has happened many times before. Brian usually just re-lights it and that's that. But I never light it myself. I have a phobia about lighting pilot lights. So I called one of my neighbors who came over to help us out. No luck this time. Every time he lit it, it blew out again. Seems we have a bad sensor or the hot water heater just finally died. We knew this would happen eventually, so no surprise there. But now we're without hot water for the rest of the week while Brian is in Maui. Before you feel sorry for us realize that this is just a minor inconvenience. My parents live a block away, so we can shower there. And we'll just eat out so we won't have to do dishes. I can use cold water for laundry, etc. Really, it's not that big of a deal.
Last night I got comments from well-meaning people who wanted to give me advice on replacing the hot water heater while Brian is gone. They were shocked that I wasn't going to do so. But what people need to understand is that Brian and I have a system that works for us. There are certain things he prefers to take care of, and certain things that are my domain. We know better than to cross over into each other's area. It's ok. For 25 years this system has been a good one and we're happy with it. The point was well made in our first year of marriage when I picked out a stereo system for him. He appreciated the thought and thanked me and then promptly took it back and asked me to not do that again. I wasn't insulted. He was right. He knows electronics and prefers to pick out his own. Communication, people!
So don't feel sorry for us. When Brian comes home he'll probably have already done online research to know what he wants to buy to replace the hot water heater. I respect that. I'm happy to let him do his thing. We'll have hot water again. Meanwhile, I'm thankful my parents are offering free showers all week! Thanks, mom & dad!