Back to the floods

I knew after the record amounts of snow there would be problems in the Red River valley again, as they predicted. A few weeks ago they announced that National Guard units would be sent in to help. But honestly, we just kind of put it out of our minds. But then yesterday, David's section leader called, and the unit was put "On Notice". This basically indicates they will be sent in the next 72 hours. So now we just wait. It's hard to believe the last time the Duluth unit did flood duty in East Grand Forks, it was 12 years ago. We also only had one child then, which is strange to remember! Anyway, it was sobering to hear David's stories about things that happened while he was there. This included him and his best friend almost literally, floating away in a three-ton truck when a levy broke. I just take the days they'e gone one day at a time. Hope for no rain!

Playdate

A few weeks back, since I knew there was no school, we had planned a playdate with my sister Krista & her kids. The little girls and I drove down to their house and they played while Sydney was still sleeping. Then once the princess woke up, we decided to head to the mall food court for lunch. After we ate, we went to the play area in the mall and let them burn off some energy. The kids were all very well behaved, and even earned the frozen yogurt treat Krista promised them. Yummy! The only slight injury happened when Abby and Nathan were hugging, and they knocked each other over onto the tile floor. They are just too cute together!!!

January update

I have no idea where the month has gone! All of a sudden, it's January 31. But no weather complaints from me today, as it was a wonderful 46 degrees today! Yea for snow melting! Although, when I was standing in the garage, I felt a drip on my head. When I looked up, there was wetness showing on the ceiling boards of the garage... Being new to this house, I don't know if this is normal or not...

This month my "baby" turned 16 years old, and now is the owner of a savings account with an ATM card. I wasn't quite ready to go beyond that yet. :)

Otherwise, the main thing keeping me busy is keeping up with my homework. In Dec, I started college on-line to finish my associate's degree in business. We're now halfway through the first block of two classes, and I love it. I enjoy the challenges involved; those of time and hard work. I don't yet know what I want to specifically do once Abby goes to Kindergarten in Fall 2011. But, I mainly want to go back to the workforce more marketable. Another possibility weighing on why I want to wait until Abby's in school is a Spring 2010 deployment for David. Luckily, these are lasting (only) 12 months... Now, we just wait.

Christmas, etc.

This year we planned to stay in town to celebrate our first Christmas in our new house. David took X-mas Eve off, but ended up working from home for about 4 hours. Then we enjoyed a nice meal of Shrimp Alfredo with yummy garlic bread sticks. For what ever reason, after dinner David was craving something sweet, and decided to make a deep-dish apple pie, from scratch! Including the crust! It was really good! I showed him my mom's trick about dusting the top crust with cinnamon sugar; it just adds something special to it. I think my husband could honestly be a chef! Christmas Day was quiet and relaxing, and everyone pretty much hung out in their pj's most of the day. Amanda & I watched a marathon of Hallmark channel Christmas movies, it was fun. For dinner we made a scrumptious ham, cheesy potatoes and green bean casserole. We had apple pie and cheesecake for dessert.

The Tuesday before Christmas we received sad news that one of David's former army medic colleagues had passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. We made our way up to Duluth on Friday, as the funeral was Sat. morning. It was a touching service, it always brings tears to my eyes when the honor guard does the flag ceremony. It was very hard for all of the fellow medics to see a man so full of life pass away so suddenly. He was a mentor to so many of them. After the service we enjoyed visiting at the fellowship lunch, and then went down the road to the Sunset lounge. Evidently the boys had many-a Captain Morgan occasions with our friend during fishing trips in Babbitt, MN, so they had to toast to him with a shot. It was very nice to see our extended guard families, although during a difficult time.

We also managed to spend time with both of our families, which was very nice, especially for the girls. They enjoyed as did we, having some quality time with them.

"A Million Thanks"

Here is a way to thank U.S. service members for their service and sacrifice. It only takes a few minutes of your time and effort to lift someone's spirits.

http:amillionthanks.org/How_To_Mail.asp

Back from the stone ages...

This past Saturday our home modem decided to unexpectedly die. After many failed attempts of re-configuring it, our internet provider deemed it as faulty. Great... No replacement can be received until Tuesday, 4 WHOLE days away. Of course, this had to happen on a weekend, and while my computer guru (David) was out of town. I even tried having my dad help over the phone, with no luck. A few short years back this would have not been a problem; and goes to show how much we rely on the internet/e-mail, etc. UGH! Thankfully we live within a half mile of the local library, which has internet access and Wi-Fi available. So once a day, I would trek over there and try to remain "connected" to the world. Nothing earth shattering happened during our hiatis, luckily! I know it could have been a whole lot worse...

The morning after

All I can say (still,18 hours later) is UGH, and full! But I think our day(after many years of going elsewhere) went pretty well; although I should ask our guests?! We had pre-big meal h'ordervs of cheese & crackers, veggies & dip, shrimp cocktail and deviled eggs. We enjoyed the big meal even a little ahead of schedule, because Mr. Turkey was done earlier than we anticipated. This was good, after I spent Wednesday wondering (and freaking a little) if he would be thawed safely in time. Thankfully a friend talked me through it over the phone. Ok, so tragedy was diverted and the turkey was SUPER moist! David used what he called the "Liz" method (my mom) of stuffing the cavity with apples and celery. Worked like a charm. Although mom was unable to attend, we still had her famous homemade cranberry sauce, pumpkin and apple pies. Yummy! I know my girls thoughly enjoyed doting on their cousin Sydney, and playing with cousin Nathan. They are all just too cute!