Church Hop

I hate picking a church; I really do. We've been out of town on Sundays a lot so it's been a while since we have tried a new one. The very idea makes me want to hyperventilate. I would just like a single Sunday service church like we had at Abundant Life in England or Grace International in Willis. I want a church I feel at home at. I want one where the people actually enter in and their not just there to be entertained. We need a place that has a good children's program. I would prefer one that has less then 300 people. And one thing that is very important to me is the kids staying in until after praise and worship.

It seems all the churches around us have 2-4 Sunday(one's on Saturday night) services. I understand that to have that many you MUST be structured, but honestly I feel I need to moo while walking through because we are cows being herded through. I think I've been burned by multiple service churches in the past because as soon as it starts feeling like that I want to run. We went to one church a couple times that has two services and to me it didn't feel like a doubler. I guess it did in that the worship team was fired up and ready to go. I liked the church other then it was extremely loud. I don't mean oh, poor me, that's a little loud. It's more like dear Lord where are my ear plugs. It was bad. I might as well have been at a concert. However, I would take ear plugs if the sound was the only issue. The thing that I hated most was they don't have anything for Kaitlyn. She was in a room with a lady and maybe six other kids. The lady's job was simply to watch the kids and make sure they were well cared for. She didn't have any help so they didn't have any kind of lesson. On a random note, it was a big church so I'm a bit puzzled there were so few little ones. I know they did have a room they said I could take her into (usually for babies) where I could watch her during the service.

Anyway, we need a church. I'm just scared to keep looking. "Church, where are you?"

Basketball & Surgery

Every week Neal plays basketball with the guys from his office, against other organizations in the military. I won't lie to you, they stink. In their defence to be in his career field you have to have been in the military for a while as apposed to Security Forces (cops) who take kids straight out of high school. Some of the men on Neal's team are bald and not for fashionable reasons. I tried to buy Neal a hoop a couple years ago and he didn't want it. Now maybe he wishes he had accepted the offer.

Neal's the second one from the left. This was taken as they were just starting to warm up.

Here's Neal shooting (#10 in the blue shirt) which was immediately followed by the next picture.

Yep, he was fouled and given two free throws.

We actually saw his team do several free throws last night.

They just kept coming. The other team was great at fouling.

Here's Kaitlyn Joy doing what she does best at the basketball games. This sure beats running across the court which she did again this week. Thankfully all the guys were at one end and she was just passed center court when she ran out. Neal and another guy took off after her. Little rat!

I had to do surgery on some girl's old cat. I'm not sure how I got volunteered for the job. One day Neal came home with this dirty cat saying it belongs to the roommate of the girl he shares an office with. They were dog sitting when he discovered the cat and did what dogs do best. He tore into it. He only got as far as chewing up the nose, braking it off, and putting some holes around his face. I was impressed that the fur did a great job in hiding my stitches on the face. The nose was another story. The picture you are seeing here is after the face was sewn up with the hard plastic piece inside the cat that the nose attaches to. I put pins under the plastic piece so it wouldn't sink into the cat while I tried to glue the nose back on. I used model glue, like for model cars and planes, to weld the plastic nose to the base. Hopefully it stays on. Now I think I deserve at least $5 for saving the beloved cat. Maybe I should have held it for ransom??? I bet I could have gotten more then $5 if I had done that. As it is, she got her cat and I got nothing.

Holly Jolly Swap Blocks

Mom and I finished our swap blocks and got them in the mail yesterday. For anyone from the swap who may be reading this, I'm in group 1 and mom is in group 4.

Here's samples of my blocks:

For some reason this picture came out really bright. The blue is ornaments and doves and as you can see the red has snowflakes.

My theme is ornaments (in case you didn't notice). I made them all different. I know they won't be together, but I had a hard time with the idea of making them all the same. The one on the left has yellow beads at all the crossing green lines and the one on the right has white and red beads. Some of the blocks have a different shape, more like a teardrop; on those I hung the teardrop both ways. Some have a simple ribbon, others have snowflakes made out of beads.
Here's mom's blocks. I know I should have put mine together and only snapped one photo like this. Anyway, the nine patch is of candy canes and the word "Joy". Her theme wasn't ornaments, but gingerbread "men". Here's one of her ladies.

Snow Driving

Having two computers in the house really hinders my posting on here. You think it would make it easier and more often, but it doesn't. I want pictures to be apart of my post and they always seem to be on the other computer or one of our two cameras. Now that I'm sitting at a computer with some pictures I haven't posted I thought I would. These were taken during the storm on January 6th while we were trying to get home from Minnesota.

Noon in South Dakota.

It was pretty bad in SD.

Then we got into Iowa. This was taken at 3pm. It only got worse from here. We didn't take pictures of the turned over cars on the side of the road. As darkness quickly approached we were overtaken by the storm. We had to pull over and wait two days just over the boarder in Nebraska.

Thankfully by the 8th the roads were clean enough we were able to drive home. This picture was taken in Nebraska.

Kaitlyn was getting "cabin" fever. Her legs are going through the arm holes of her jacket. The hood is hanging down by her rear.

Quick Update

We now have two $2 friends in the tank. I picked up the second guy, a tiny catfish, to clean up the bottom of the tank. He's not your average catfish that will become dinner one day. This guy will stay small. He's a quick little thing. He can be amusing to watch.

$2 Friend & Note to APP

Allow me a moment to comment on our new $2 friend. I learned a couple things about him today. One, he will only eat the food while it's falling or while it's on the top of the water; never off the bottom. As soon as a flake he was chasing hit the bottom, it didn't exist to him anymore. Two, he can eat his food in a more timely manner (I don't believe he ate his first 24 hours here) if I turn the bubblier off. All the bubbles cause the food to sink faster. Three, he doesn't like the light colored flakes in the fish food. He will take a bite then blow it out. It's kind of amusing to watch. Now I saved the best for last. Number four thing I learned today is that he spits! No joke! He swam up to the top and spit water into the air three times. Kaitlyn came in from the back yard to find me sitting on a step stool watching the fish spit and eat his food. She wanted to know if she could spit in the water too. Stinker.

If APP is checking in, yes, I'm working on my embellished swap blocks. My original plan was to have them done long before now, but between sewing Christmas presents and being away for three weeks over Christmas... well let's just say I'm glad you're out of town and giving us another week. Tomorrow I'll try to take pictures of an embellished block or two and post them for your viewing pleasure.

Still Living

I would just like to report that after 24 hours in the tank we still have a live fish!!!! Woohoo! He's in the bottom right of the picture. The left side is reflecting our backyard. Because this was our second try at putting fish in the tank and because the ph didn't want to cooperate, I decided to only buy one fish. He really needs a buddy.

New Pediatrician and H1N1 Vaccine

We have a new pediatrician and he or she is Air Force!!! Woohoo! I haven't enjoyed our visits to the Army hospital. And now Kaitlyn will be seen at the base down the road from our house. It's a much smaller clinic that I don't have to fight to park at. At BAMC the hospital is under construction so they have taken up much of the parking to put in trailers (as clinics) and fenced off some areas for the big equipment like three cranes. I always had to go there an hour before the appointment so I could circle the parking lot waiting on someone to leave. Not cool.

So this is a bit odd... I had taken to immunizations at BAMC. They went off on me about the doctor approving Kaitlyn to have the Hib and H1N1 vaccine yet I didn't have her shot record with me. The lady kept telling me she needed the seasonal flu shot. I told them she already had it. They said she needs the second one then. The lady stressed that they get two unless they are over eight years old. I told her Kaitlyn has had two in the past and I didn't think she would ever have to do that again. The lady kept talking to me like I was an idiot that had no idea what shots Kaitlyn has had. Sorry lady, I don't just stick my child in the vaccine line with all the other little robot children and say, "whatever shall be, shall be." I actually take her in just for the MMR. I make a special trip for the seasonal flu shot. Anyway, once she calmed down and stopped being a 100% jerk to me (then only a 50%) she listened when I said at one year old Kaitlyn had two rounds of the seasonal flu so she never needed to do that again. I hated it, but that lady ended up being the one to give her the H1N1 and Hib vaccine. I really wanted someone different. Once she was done she read me the riot act on how her shot record needed to be kept with her birth certificate. In my defence... at RAF Lakenheath, where we came from, they give you a new shot record ever time you take your child in for shots. They NEVER asked me for a shot record. We spread out her one year shots so we were getting a new shot record every other week. Because they always gave us a new one and they never asked for one, we didn't treat them like gold. When we flew back to the US on Dec 26, 2008 I believe we had a shot record on hand. When we searched our files before her appointment last week all we could find were two older ones. Okay, here's what I find to be the odd part of all their fighting with me on having the shot record and not knowing what she has had... I learned yesterday they can only print off the shot record at immunizations; which is where I was when the lady was fighting with me. Idiot!

I have an H1N1 question... Did your children get the vaccine (shot or mist) and if so did they complain about their legs hurting. Kaitlyn cried about it for maybe a week. I was talking with a lady yesterday whose daughter had the mist. When I first asked about her leg hurting the lady blew the question off. Suddenly she stopped, looked at her daughter for a moment, then turned back to me and said yes, since having it her daughter's legs have been hurting. I don't know what the link is, but now that's two people.

Craft Hope for Haiti

Have you been wanting to help the people in Haiti some way, but your not sure which direction to turn? It seems everywhere I look someone has a fund set up. Well Craft Hope has set up an Etsy shop and has asked crafters around the world to contribute. All proceeds minus the small Etsy insertion fee go to Doctors Without Borders. Crafters from around the world have stepped up and contributed to the shop. They say items are pouring in so fast they can hardly keep up with posting them to Etsy. On their last update over $7,000 has been raised in 48 hours, to send doctors with Doctors Without Borders to Haiti. If you want to be apart of the relief effort and get an awesome item out of the deal go check out Craft Hope for Haiti's Etsy shop. The price for each item also includes shipping. So if an item seems a little high just remember your shipping is included.

If you see an item you like, don't hesitate in buying it. There's an excellent chance it will not be there when you come back. Also, if you don't see something you would like hit the refresh button (two little green arrows by the address bar) and new things have probably been added. If nothing new has been added then come back in a couple hours and check out the new items. Just remember things aren't staying around long. Several items I looked at last night were gone this morning. And even items I saw this morning were gone when I just went and check out the site.

Awesome Annie Giveaway

You have to check out this Annie giveaway. In honor of her 200th post Cathron Country Designs is giving away an Annie doll. Now she's not your typical red head with simple eyes. Cathron is really talented in both her painting and stitchery.
Here's an example of what she will be fashioning the giveaway Annie after.

I told you she isn't your typical redhead with simple eyes. Don't you wish you could create dolls like this?! I sure do. Anyway, just pop on over to her blog and join the giveaway.

In Need of a New Pediatrician

I took Kaitlyn for her three year check up today. I'm not a fan of her "pediatrician". She has been assigned to a nurse practitioner. Not to downplay the wisdom she and others in her field may have, I just don't feel well with her overseeing Kaitlyn's care. We saw a NP many times throughout Kaitlyn's first couple years and she missed Kaitlyn's hip being out of socket. It was a nurse with EDIS (Early Developmental Intervention Services) who checked Kaitlyn's legs, ankles, and tendons out, finally declaring she just had a quirky walk; not CDH. For her appointment today the lady did nothing more then listen to her heart and feel her belly. She didn't even check out Kaitlyn's hips and legs. Besides noting she had three surgeries she didn't ask a question about it all. If you are assigned the care of a child wouldn't you want all the info on them you could get? Especially something so recent? Anyway, the lady is lousy. Besides the fact Kaitlyn is assigned to an Army hospital rather then Air Force. The big deal about this is the two don't share info. They couldn't pull up Kaitlyn's shot record because Neal's in the USAF; this was a real pain in the rear today. We don't have a choice what base they send her to, but we can at least ask for another pediatrician. A real one this time.

On a funny note we walked into the new temporary pediatric office (another fun thing about the Army base; major construction) and Kaitlyn yelled, "Hey guys!!!" while running up to the little table full of kids. All eyes turned to us. Yes, ladies and gentlemen I'm the parent of the loud child. I looked at everyone and smiled. In a volume much less then Kaitlyn's I said, "we're here." I was rewarded with a round of giggles and smiles.

It Keeps Going And Going...

The past few days didn't fly by fast enough. Do you ever feel like you are trapped in a never ending drama? For the love, we took the worlds longest car ride in the worst conditions. Let me back up. On Tuesday Neal, his older brother, and dad, worked ALL day in his parent's new garage to put up shelves and a long work table along one wall. Throughout the day I kept hearing reports that bad weather was headed for the south on Thursday. We had planned to leave out of Thursday. =( I kept Neal updated throughout the day. What I didn't know was the storm was sweeping the nation and Minnesota would be getting really bad too. Neal hated to leave a day early so convincing him it was going to be bad wasn't easy. I spent Tuesday washing our clothes and packing everything up. Sometime in the evening I read about everything freezing on the east coast. By that point Neal was on board. My compromise in leaving a day early was not pushing to be out by 5am like we normally would do. Bad move! We woke up and it was snowing; the storm had already hit. Neal finished loading the truck, we had breakfast, then at 10am we headed out. We kept hoping we would drive out of the snow, but it just wasn't happening.

We stopped in Sioux Falls, SD so Neal could spend the rest of his gift cards at a store that is only in the north. The weather was terrible. I kept telling Neal we could have been living in the middle of that nightmare. You see, before he joined the Air Force he had a line number with the Sioux Falls PD. He was somewhere in the top 25 when he had to pass up the first hire date because of a prior commitment. He was then in the top 15. When they pushed their next hire date from January to July he enlisted in the USAF. Thank God we aren't living in the middle of snow hell. I used to think snow was lovely, but not after this Christmas trip. I have ZERO desire to EVER live around in. It's a dangerous burden. If you don't believe me then just reflect back to the post labeled Christmas Road Trip. People like to say if you drive carefully you will be fine... not always the case.

After we hit the roads again the weather didn't get better. After a while I started asking Neal how he felt and if he wanted to stop. I told him I would rather us pay for a hotel then end up in the ditch. When we started seeing the bottoms of several cars, I really started asking if he felt we could go on. Our goal was to get out of Iowa. During the storm over Christmas Iowa was the nightmare we had to wait two days to drive through. The main chunk of road we needed to drive on was closed. Suddenly I spotted a sign for Offutt AFB (Air Force Base). I asked Neal if he wanted to stop there and get a room. I knew we could stay cheaper on base. He quickly agreed. It was only six miles to the base, but honestly it felt much farther. The roads were all covered in snow and ice making it a fun drive. Once on base it seemed to take forever to get to the billeting office. The whole time I kept thinking how we could get stationed there and was making a mental note to make sure Offutt AFB isn't on Neal's dream sheet.

To give you the short version we came down with the storm then it overtook us. We ended up spending two nights at Offutt AFB before the roads were clear enough for us to head south again. If we had stayed in MN until Thursday we most likely wouldn't have been able to leave out until Yesterday.

After spending the night at my parents house we returned the rental truck and did some car shopping. I hate how some car salesmen can be. It was terrible. I was ready to give up. I wasn't sure just what Neal wanted anyway. On our second to the last stop a Chevy Tahoe had Neal completely smitten. By all accounts it was just what he was looking for. The only problem was when the salesman went to get the keys for a test drive he learned it had just been sold. =( This was the first one he really liked so that was a bit frustrating. We ended up going to the dealership next door and buying one like it for $1,000 less. I don't think they had the same bells and whistles, but the important things like four wheel drive it did have. We immediately drove it back to my parents house, loaded it up, and drove home. It's good to be home even if it is a disaster. Next year I want a maid for Christmas.

Still Alive

I'm here I really am. Don't lose faith in me posting please. =) We are stuck in an ice land right now. Okay we aren't stuck, but it really is an ice land. Could I have a heat wave PLEASE?! Today is one of the few days it has been above 0*. I've given up talking about the weather. I told Kevin, my father-in-law, not to talk to me about it until it gets above zero. Seriously, it has been crazy cold. We are still in Minnesota. Now that we are firmly in 2010 we are finally done, as of last night, with all the Christmas gatherings.

Last week our Jeep was officially totalled. We have to get the rental truck back by Friday I believe. The good news is the insurance company is giving us $195 more then we paid for it. Now the race is on to find a replacement. I'm going to Craft-n-Camp February 19-21 and need my car to get there.

Because of bad weather I'm a bit worried about us leaving out on Thursday. I'm pushing to get all our laundry done and put away as well as picking up all our random bits today. Neal and I will have to decide tonight when we are leaving. I have a medical appointment at 5pm on the 8th so I really need to be back in San Antonio by then.