I should have read her blog

This morning I was frantically trying to reach my sister. Phone line was busy, but I didn't have time to get to the computer. I got to work and had "mock registration" training. We are testing different scenarios in the registrar's office to prepare for our data base conversion. We got done early, so I tried emailing Cheri. Nada.

I didn't have reception when I was back at the seminary, so when I got up out of the valley, I called again and left a message.

Still nothing.

This afternoon I got a response to my email. My sister had been out and about, as per usual.

I should have checked her blog. In it she explained what she would be doing this morning, and that travel plans to Minnesota might be altered. I had been hoping to talk to her early in the day to convince her to leave right away and beat the coming snowstorm.

Her current plans are to come on Friday, leave Friday, then come back on Tuesday. That is, if weather permits.

It's 8:20 pm and some flakes are starting to come down--more like flurry activity. We're supposed to get 3 inches or more overnight, then lots more during the day tomorrow.

And more on Friday.

I went to the grocery store again tonight--it wasn't too busy because I think everyone had already stocked up. If we get snowed in for the next couple of days, I believe we will be okay.

I'll let you know if we get The Snow Storm Of The Century.

Till next time,


Suzi

Tired

Yesterday was my long day at work. I got up early to go to the hospital for my lab work (I've got a doctor's check up next week). I was starting to feel really out of it around 7:30 or so at work. If I were at home I would have gone to bed, but fortunately I wasn't, so I checked my blood sugar instead. It was 69, which for me, is pretty low. Luckily there were some chocolate candies nearby, and even though I didn't really feel like eating them (I was feeling a bit queasy, too), I did. It is amazing what a little sugar boost can do when the glucose levels are low. My tiredness went away and I was feeling a lot better.

Today was rather emotionally draining at work, as I learned of family, health, and other struggles some coworkers are going through. At the end of the day, the Anth/Soc department had a prayer time, which was very meaningful. There is nothing quite like being prayed for by people who genuinely respect and care about you in a professional and personal way. After this, I was off to book club, which is always fun. Then home to Gilmore Girls, and after that off to spend $100+ on diabetes medication. Now I'm home, ready to crash and start all over again tomorrow.

We're supposed to get snow again. It's been a long time since we've had a snowfall like we did this weekend. In some parts of town people are still digging out. Bethel has its own snowplowing schedule--people have to move their cars to different lots so they can be properly plowed.

Cheri is supposed to come on Thursday to pick up Daniel on Friday. Please pray for safe travel and rest for them. We'll look forward to Cheri's visit--not sure if we'll get to see Daniel this time or not.

Till next time,


Suzi

We got the snow!

Well, we got the predicted snow. Amounts varied across the Twin Cities area, but I think we got close to a foot here. I spent Saturday getting ready for our out-of-town guests--around 6:30 Tim and I braved the snow to pick up father and son Thomas and Timothy on the U of M campus. Scotty McGregor (the Toyota Highlander) performed admirably in the snow, and after a nice dinner, dessert, conversation and a game of Blokus, we delivered the T's back to St. Paul in the blinding snowstorm, and made it safely home. Our children arrived safely home, too--and they were extremely busy at work at Papa John's. Mark had the easiest time, delivering in his 4-wheel drive truck. Luke had a bit tougher time with the Camry which has only front-wheel drive.

I heard a rumor that my sister may come later this week, but I haven't heard this directly from her, although I have tried to call (busy signal). She says that Tim and I communicate only on our blogs or email, but the same may be true for her and me. I have a meeting at work on Thursday afternoon, but I may see if I can talk her into coming on campus with me and perhaps hooking up with her friend's daughters who are students there. Then I want to show her off to all my colleagues.

We are thankful that the roads in our neighborhood are now plowed and traveling should be a lot better tomorrow for the start of the work week.

Till next time,

Suzi

No snow yet...

Well, it is 8:25 pm and there is no snow in sight. We are supposed to have at least a foot between now and Sunday at 6 pm.

We'll see.

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work, thinking I should a few last items before the storm hits.

The place was packed. I couldn't get a cart or even a little basket. Lines to the cashiers snaked around each other.

Fortunately, I was able to get my items and sway around with them in my arms. The under 10 items lane wasn't too long, so I was able to get in and out of the store in just 10-15 minutes.

Glad I got the bulk of my stuff yesterday.

Tomorrow I'll devote to touching up around the house (I actually got quite a bit done yesterday, and tonight I'm exhausted) and baking/cooking. Hopefully Tim will be able to pick up a birthday cake for Mark. He doesn't seem to mind driving in the snow.

That is, if it comes.

I am tired, so I think I'll take Raven out for a quick tinkle and head to bed. Then I can get an early start to get ready for company tomorrow night and then again on Sunday.

Enjoy the snow, if you get it!

Till next time,


Suzi

Getting ready for the weekend

Today I went to the grocery store and stocked up like I haven't in quite a while.

Part of the reason is that we're having company this weekend. An old friend from grad school days is coming to town to see attend a conference his college son is putting on, and he and perhaps his son and friends are coming to dinner Saturday.

Sunday at 1 pm we are celebrating Mark's birthday with the Nelsons.

Saturday's menu--roast in the crockpot. I'm hoping to get ambitious and even make a cherry pie.

Mark's menu--tacos. Ok, I just remembered that I didn't buy tomatoes. I'll have to try to pick them up tomorrow night.

Cause we're supposed to have a snow storm.

Winter weather watch Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. Hopefully our party guests can still get here. In any event, I should have plenty of food for anyone who is stranded here.

We watched the rest of the country get hit by the Valentine's Day storm. We've had less than an inch of snow all month. It's been cold, but we really haven't had a significant snowfall yet this season.

This may be our moment.

Or not. Weather prognosticators have been wrong before.

Whatever happens, we will eat well this weekend.

Till next time,

Suzi

Web stuff tech stuff

I spent most of the afternoon on our faculty home page, working with Lucie, our techie, on adding links and uploading web pages.

Most of the morning was spent on the computer entering registrations on the Bethel database. This database, by the way, will soon be obsolete. Next week a good portion of my time will be spent learning the new data base we'll use for registration.

I'm spending the evening trying to re-post the picture I thought had posted a couple of days ago. Hopefully now it is up.

I'm also trying to figure out how to re-install Tivo. Tim ordered a new phone system, cable internet, and a new fax machine. All or one of these things is now interrupting my Tivo service on the TV, so I can't pre-record my favorite shows. Sad, isn't it?

I should just crawl in bed with a book and forget about computers and other technology for awhile. I'll have to be back to it soon enough.

Till next time,


Suzi

Presents from my Sweetie

Here are the balloon and flowers Tim gave me for Valentine;s Day. The chocolates are long gone. Thanks again, honey!

"Church Basement Ladies" last night was a real stitch. I could almost see myself on stage with the women and their white cotton towels. I could hear the echo of my voice and my sisters' from my childhood when one woman said to another: "I'll wash, you dry." I'm not quite sure why the washer is the queen of the kitchen--maybe because it is more fun to play in soap bubbles then wipe wet dishes and end up with a soggy white rag.

The musical was complete with songs of the pale hotdish, and near the end the jello molds with Miracle Whip topping appeared. The church basement kitchen ladies served a Christmas Lutefisk dinner (these are Lutheran ladies from up north in Minnesota, doncha know), a funeral, a Hawaiian Easter Bunny fundraiser (to raise money to replace the old furnace) and at the end, a wedding.

Come on up to the Northland and we'll see the play together. Just be prepared to hold your sides, cause they just might split open from all the belly laughs.

Till next time,

Suzi

Church Basement Ladies

Church Basement Ladies was wonderful!

Till next time,


Suzi

Warm Up?

Well, it's above zero, but it's still cold outside.

The wind is what really goes through you. I'm not complaining, however. We missed the big Valentine's Day snowstorm that socked a good part of the midwest and went on through to hit New England.

We may get temps as high as 40 degrees next week. Woo hoo!

Meanwhile, it's not bad to stay indoors. Tim is working a lot--he had drywall jobs today and now that it's Saturday evening, he's at his mom's doing tax work.

I suppose I should get busy at home instead of whining about not having my husband home or out with me on a Saturday night.

We are doing some entertaining in the next week, so it would be good to lift the vacuum a bit. Let's see, where did it hide? :)

Tomorrow night, though, will be really fun. I'm going with some gals from work to see "Church Basement Ladies." I'm going to bring lots of Kleenex. Not because I'll be sad and teary, but because I'll be laughing so hard I may start crying and coughing.

"A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)

I think I'll choose laughter over moping.

Till next time,


Suzi

Back to the old grind...

Well, Valentine's Day was wonderful, as I mentioned in yesterday's post. Today I am back to the old grind. Even though it is my day off work, I'm trying to help Tim with some business stuff at home. It's really not bad and I hope I can help him a little because he works so hard and then comes home to paperwork and then runs off to his mom's to help her with tax stuff.

I don't have any meetings today, so I've got the day to work in Tim's office, clean, cook, bake (?), read, nap, catch a Gilmore Girls episode (?), run errands, and then off to Bible study tonight.

I love Thursdays.

Till next time,


Suzi

The Best Valentine In The World

Tim is getting The Best Husband of the Year Award for Valentine's Day. Even though we don't see each other that much during tax season (evenings he's working at his mom's, inputting tax returns for her at the computer), he still remembered his undeserving wife on Valentine's Day. Last night he stopped at the store and bought a dozen roses. Today he left early for work, and stopped by my office before I got there to drop off a box of chocolate covered cherries (I shared them with others) and a huge balloon that says "I Love You." I'll have to get a picture of the balloon to post it--the flowers as well. The male faculty that I work with were moaning that now their wives would expect equal treatment. I promised not to tell their wives.

Lunch at work was fun, too--our lead TA (teaching assistant) had a birthday today, and one of the profs bought her a cake. I had invited my friend Pam to join us for lunch, and she had a lighter in her office to light the candles she has. She brought it to lunch and I brought my chocolates. Maren (the TA) was surprised when two profs snuck out to light the cake and came in singing "Happy Birthday" in front of dozens of college students in the Dining Center.

I told Maren, who is single, that I hope her some-day husband (I don't think she has a boyfriend right now) is at least half as terrific as mine, since he will have double duty to perform on her birthday/Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! May you know the love and peace of God and friends today. And here's a cyber hug from me!

Till next time (with love),

Suzi

Catching up at home?

It's Saturday, so I should be doing some work around the house. There is laundry, general picking-up, vacuuming to do, etc. etc.

I do have some events coming up that should give me incentive. A friend from grad school is coming to visit in a couple of weeks, and about a week later we'll have Mark's un-birthday party (what can I say, he was born on Feb. 29). So, I could use this time to get a move on.

I've also been looking at my Sunday school lesson. We're using some new curriculum which is not as comprehensive as before, but a little more age appropriate (we have preschoolers). It requires use with other curriculum, however, which means a little more research time. It is always good to be prepared, because we never know for sure how long the Sunday service is going to last. (Sunday school is held after the music/worship time. We don't have a separate time for Sunday school apart from the church service.)

So, we'll see how things go. Our Sunday school supervisor just had a baby yesterday (a boy!), but before she went in she gave us some online resources to use, too. I'll investigate these after blogging. And, then, I guess I'll try to get to some household duties as well. I've procrastinated long enough.

Till next time,


Suzi

Still sub-zero

This morning Raven and I had a very pleasant walk. It was below zero, but the sun was shining and there was no wind. I've been thinking about how our friends in the southern US are suffering with colder temps lately. At least in the north, we are a bit more prepared for colder weather. We own warm (even down) coats, we usually have a generous supply of hats, mittens, gloves and scarves (although our teenagers may refuse to wear them....especially the girl gender...). If we are layered enough, the wind doesn't blow, and we and keep active outside, the cold usually isn't too bad.

I'm actually more of a whiner during spring or fall when we have cold driving rains and nippy windy days. At those times you're not usually ready to put on the winter gear again or yet. The dry cold of January or February is easier to take than wet, wild and chilly days.

Still, it will be nice to have temps closer to the actual freezing point (32 F). And it will be nice to just throw on a jacket and not worry about hats, gloves, etc. when Raven and I walk. But those days will be here soon enough.

Till next time,


Suzi

Good little Scotty McGregor

I love my Scotty McGregor. That's the name of my Toyota Highlander. I left him outside for almost 12 long hours today in the frigid weather, and he started right up when I left from work at 8:10 pm.

Last night the weatherman was comparing Minnesota to the North Pole. Today one of the professor's cars didn't start, and at least two others have bad colds.

I am thankful to have a warm house, warm reliable car, and pretty good health.

I'm not quite sure when we'll see above zero. Or at least above zero for any length of time. But before we know it we'll be complaining of the heat and humidity of July.

Speaking of which (although it's in June, not July this year)--I reserved a campsite for Cornerstone. B-15--the spacious one on the end (but with the tricky tree to park around). Anybody gonna join us? Can you say sun, beach, swimming, dust and heat? (Oh, and really good, loud music?)

Till next time,


Suzi

Suzi

It's really freezing

This morning when I got up to walk the dog, the temperature said ten below on the outdoor thermometer. Since I knew my sister was probably taking her walk this morning under worse conditions, I bundled up. Raven stood patiently, not even adorning the red light I've been putting around his neck in our pre-dawn walks. (This morning's walk was more pre-noon--actually around 8:45 am).

I got all my layers on and ventured out. Hey, this isn't bad, I thought. I had put my contact lenses in so I wouldn't have to deal with my glasses fogging up. The wind chill was minus 30, I think, but the wind didn't seem too bad.

We only took one short cut on the way home--and that was more to avoid another dog than it was to avoid the cold. However, on the last block home, I felt the wind whipping up into my face. My watery eyes were freezing into droplets on my lashes. However, I bravely stopped at the mailbox before dashing up into the house.

Mark was up and commented on my red face. I started unwrapping layers and noted my pink cheeks. But then, I usually have a bit of a "ruddy" complexion.

I reminded Mark of how he'd commented one morning last summer how my face looked pretty pale. That was when I found out how low my hemoglobin was, and then had four blood transfusions and a hysterectomy.

I'll take rosy cheeks and a little nippy weather over low hemoglobin any day.

And Cheri, I can't believe you didn't walk today! However, you outwalk me every day, and I know it is even colder in the Northwoods than here in the big city of Minneapolis...

Stay warm--it's even cold in the southern US!

Till next time,


Suzi

Babies vs. teenagers

Today I've been with moms of new babies. I've seen their tired faces, but also peeked at the cuteness of the newborns. I can't help but remember the days my boys were tiny like that and how now, it seems life was so much simpler then...

Teenagers bring on their own kind of tiredness. I'm up late at night for different reasons now. They have their own minds, and don't always agree with how you want them to pursue life goals. You begin to wonder, did the values I tried to instill in these kids over the course of almost two decades (more with the oldest) take hold in any kind of way?

Then they clean their room, or the kitchen, or say thanks for something you did for them, or take the dog out without being asked, and you think, maybe something good rubbed off.

And then you think about your own life and your many imperfections, and you think, maybe something good rubbed off in spite of yourself. And maybe, in spite of all the frustrations and disagreements and wringing of hands, maybe things will turn out all right.

And you're thankful that you're not God and that your children are in God's capable hands. It's time, or almost time, to release them. We still give direction, we still pray, but they are God's children and he loves them even more than we do.

And I take great comfort in that. Because I can't rock them and feed them and change them like I could when they were babies. (Well, I can still feed them.) But I entrust them to the Rock who is the only one who can ultimately mold them and change them into His image.

Till next time,

Suzi