The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

We all have good days and not-so-good (bad) days. But very few people in the western world experience ugly days. I guess lately John and I have been having our share of trials again, lately of course is relative. As much as I can justify feeling down due to all the crap that Chelsey is going through, I know that I should not use that as an excuse. There are so many people in the world that suffer far greater trials than I, or Chelsey for that matter. To be totally honest however, sometimes it helps for John and I to just cry together and talk. We try not to dwell on circumstances too long as we may fall into depression ourselves. Besides, Chelsey needs us to lift her up, encourage her, motivate her. But, sometimes we feel so helpless as parents.

I'm afraid that one of the aspects of my life that has been most affected by my daughter's illness is my lack of willingness to work on friendships with others. I don't like small talk, life is too serious. I don't want to talk about what is serious, too depressing. So, the easiest thing to do is just let those relationships slide. It is too hard to explain to others what you are going through. And it seems they always feel a need to suggest they understand when there is no way they could. Or worse they feel a need to share Christian cliches. I've heard them all and used them all on myself and others. I'm realizing that people would be better off not saying ANYTHING! Anyway, sometimes I do miss hanging with our former friends.

With all that said, we appreciate those who pray for healing for our Chelsey. Specifically please pray to give the doctors wisdom in knowing how to treat the decease so that she can be stabilized, for her to not have those horrible side effects from all the drugs, to encourage her to keep keeping on with her job, and for new friends to come along side her that have a heart for people who are suffering. And, pray for anything else the Lord put on your heart!

Sometimes I vent in my blog but then don't publish it. I think I will this time. Sorry for the downer!

The Halfway Mark

January 23rd, 2009. End of the first semester of school. Hurray! It seems like the first half of this school year has gone by pretty slowly but then it probably always does. The second half will fly-bye no doubt.

The high school is on a shortened day schedule during finals and each class lasts about two hours. What to do with my students.... The last thing they needed was another test to stress out about so I went to plan "B." I decided it would be fun to take each class out to lunch (on separate days of course) to an ethnic restaurant where they would than have to order themselves and speak English with me. Not such a good idea as it turned out. On the first day we had all agreed to eat at the Thai restaurant. As we were getting ready to load into my car, three of the four student let me know that they do not like Asian food. I thought, okay we'll do Mexican instead. The only problem was that the one Hmong student in the crowd, and I use that term loosely, did not like Mexican or anything else for that matter, except for of course Thai food. So now what. Crescent City has MANY restaurants, BUT they are all Asian or Mexican or so it seemed. WE ended up going to a sandwich/salad place where at least three of the four students found something palatable. Sigh!

The second day was deemed Mexican lunch day. This time I was prepared! Before leaving for the car I sat my all Hmong students down to discuss their prior agreement with me again. This time the plans were changed to Chinese cuisine. At least they were all okay with that. Boy am I glad I like just about anything. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be doing this again for a final. From now on I may need to stick with a pot-luck of sorts on school campus. That way everyone will bring something that at least he or she will like.

John is my little boy in the candy store. We just received our new 52" LCD television. He has been wanting one of those for years and our time has finally come. It gets hooked up tomorrow morning in plenty of time for the Super Bowl next weekend.

I know, no pictures. We have been too busy to take any because we've been busy with all the wiring for the TV. Maybe next time.

A Learning Experience

I so often sit back and let John do all the "tech" stuff. Well, enough of that. It is time I get off my tush and become proactive. Just to show you I DO KNOW what I'm doing, I'm going to include some pictures that we took this past vacation. I have also included a link to our Picasa site (on the right) where John will hopefully upload the rest of the pictures... this next weekend! Of course, now that we have a camera we should be able to keep your eyes busy with more pictures regularly as well. We'll see. Christmas Day 2008 Chelsey, John, Anna, Nolan, Anneliese John getting kissed AGAIN! What a female magnet! It's a good thing I'm NOT the jealous kind! And... they are always sooo much younger.

Now the best for last... Anneliese and her Wii Fit Hula Hoop she got from her parents for Chrismas. Keep and eye on Barb. Her neck is getting a HUGE workout! And, yes I know, I KNOW! I was holding the camera side ways. I figured that out towards the end. This was my first video recording with our new camera!!!!

Que Sera Sera

Another year down in memory lane! Wow how time flies. At this rate I'll be ninety-nine before you know it. LOL We spent New Year's Eve at some friends and then got together with some more friends the day after to discuss "cruising." Tim & Cheryl are veterans. We got so stoked that the very next day John booked passage on the Amsterdam (Holland-American line of course)June 13th through 20th. Can you believe that? I've never been a real enthusiast when it comes to cruise ships (floating hotels) but what make this one so exsiting are the day excursions offered at each port. One of the two side trips we are definitly signing up for as soon as possible is a 3 hour dog sledding tour. I CAN'T wait. This is definitely on my bucket list! The tour starts with a 30 minute chopper ride inland and then, after instructions I'm sure, we get to go on a 30 minute mini Iditarod. The other tour we are signing up for is the ocean kayaking among the whales. How fun is that? WE CAN'T WAIT!!!