Is this blog still here?

Just thought I would check!  So, yeah, lots has happened since mid-October.  I have not had time to get over here and, well, life just gets in the way.  Plus, this darn machine has not been connecting to the internet and John finally dealt with it.  Voila!  Internet access!

FALL/WINTER RECAP

The race went great!  It took me 2:35 and I ran most of it with my friend Karen.  Weather was perfect, nutrition was just right (I brought a couple gu's and consumed a 3rd given out at one of the stations), and I just had a wonderful time!  All the training miles were worth it and I can't wait to do another half marathon.  Karen, her husband John, and I sat for coffee/tea at Starbuck's afterwards and visited since we don't see much of each other these days.  After that I headed back over the hills to home.  A nice warm welcome and congrats back home from the fam and I finally rested my tired body.  What an accomplishment!  Never really dreamed of running 13 miles and I actually did it.

The next day I felt like I had been hit by a truck!!  Eek!  Motrin became my friend again and after a few days my knees weren't screaming at the thought of stairs.  Yep, still worth it :-)

Mom was here in November and we really didn't do anything terribly noteworthy.  We usually just hang out, visit, go for walks to the park, play lots of cards, etc.  This trip was no different.  She had missed her last trip and had to cancel back in May due to having her gall bladder out.  But we saw her in MI so that was good enough.

Christmas came and went without a hitch.  Well, I guess there was a hitch when on Christmas Eve John was assembling 2 Big Wheels, a Blue Streak for Connor and Green Machine for Zack.  One was missed 1 part and the other was missing 2!  Darn it!  So, that was a bit of a let-down Christmas morning but a few weeks later...parts finally arrived!  Now that its warmer outside they've been riding them constantly.

Since the bunion on my right foot has been bothering me more and more, now just to walk, I decided to have it fixed.  Scheduled it for Jan. 25.  I'll spare you the pictures.  They are pretty scary, even for a nurse.  It was nasty even for me to look at when they changed the dressing every 2 weeks.  Ugh.  But the 3 incisions all healed except for one little spot so I will post a before and (9wks) after picture.  I am wearing a bunion splint most of the time and I am allowed to put heel weight only so far.  I am using the crutches and scooter less and less this week.  I even went to the store for 5 things yesterday and hobbled through with NO crutches.  Slowly but surely...

Katie had a birthday the weekend I had surgery...my first baby is 17 years old!  Wow.  She and John picked out a cake, I had taken her shopping a few days earlier, and it worked out fine.  She's in her second semester at the community college, got a 4.0 in her first english class.  I'm so proud of her!  This semester she is taking another english class (english major at this point) plus Statistics.  This makes her dual-enrolled both as a high school student and college student.  The classes she takes at the college count as part of her high school schedule as well as college credit.  She's an 11th grader at home and we will graduate her next year with about 27 college credits.  Did I mention how proud I am of her???

Four weeks into the healing process I ended up with what seemed like a megaflu virus.  Oh man, was it bad.  Turned out I was dehydrated, had a raging bladder infection, and a sinus infection...with no symptoms!  Well, the symptoms I did have were fevers of 103-106 for 6 days, a cough that had lasted for 5 weeks, and a horrible headache that would not go away.  John finally took me to ER one night where it was all diagnosed.  After a couple bags of iv fluids my speedy heart rate and fever settled down.  I got some antibiotics and felt so much better within days.  My birthday came and went and I was finally able to try some of the special cake Katie made for me.  What a sucky birthday!

March brought a production of Hairspray at Stephanie's school.  She was in the chorus, the 'tv dancers', and loved every minute of it.  The show brought in a record amount of money this year and seemed to be a huge hit.  She's loving the public scene and still getting A's and a couple B's.  She was even put on the academic honor's program for her grade point for 2 semesters in a row.  Yay Steph!  So proud of her too!

Can't forget about my boys.  They are in karate and recently tested and made yellow belt!  Yippee!  I came across a fellow homeschooler that teaches out of her home.  They love it and really look forward to it.  Best of all, it is literally less than 2 minutes away from our house.  Love that.  Next fall I anticipate they will be ready to move up to the Master's class as the class they are in now only goes through orange belt.  We will continue through the summer and should make orange belt by next fall.

John has had to travel very little this past year.  Can't complain about that!  He's gone a little crazy organizing the garage into a office/man cave and I have to say, it looks really nice.  Good thing he's home alot because he's been able to fix the things that seem to keep breaking around here!  Our tub upstairs ended up with a broken drain and leaked into the garage.  Unfortunately, it'll take more construction that just throwing a new drain in there, so we're planning on remodelling the bathroom in the very near future.  He ordered a shed, had that built a couple weeks ago.  The fence next to it was made very poorly and with sprinklers spraying it for years, is a mess.  After a couple moderately windy days, we found the fence tipping toward the shed with more rotted wood.  So, he spent last weekend rebuilding 1 and a half sections of the fence.  Of course he had to buy the special saw and drill and a slew of other tools!  Of course!  But now the fence is standing and for that I am thankful.  Good enough to get us through another year till we are ready to put up a brand new fence.

We are currently on Spring Break, relaxing with long, lazy mornings and late night games and movies.  The girls are going to an all-night teen Shin-Dig at our church later today.  They usually get well over 400 kids at this with bounce houses, sumo wrestling, FOOD, talent show, a band, and an Easter message by the Youth Pastor.  Its a great time, I hear, and the girls can't wait to go.  I, on the other hand, will be here with the rest of my brood.  I did volunteer to make a bunch of cookies and I supposed I should get on that.  Six hours till party time!  Better get baking!