Musings from a frantic mind

Sir, yes sir!

2010-07-14T09:07:00.000-05:00

When you grow up with someone, it's hard to imagine that they will ever be anything other than the annoying little boy who destroyed your Barbie dolls and terrorized your friends. Anyone who knows my family knows that my little brother, Ben was quite the handful when he was younger. It was always interesting, and sometimes even a little scary when he was around. However, people change as they get older, and even little brothers mature into grown men at some point. Oddly enough, mine is no exception.

This past weekend, Ben graduated from Drill Instructor School at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go, but my mom, sister, sister-in-law and grandparents all went. My sister took lots of pictures, but here are some of my favorites:

Congrats, Ben! We're super proud of your hard work and service to our country.

Yea me!

2010-06-30T09:26:00.000-05:00

Last night was a turning point in my battle with the Bell's Palsy. My very first symptom, almost two weeks ago, was the loss of my ability to taste with the left side of my tongue. It's been really annoying because unless the food I'm eating has very strong flavors, I can barely taste it. Well last night part of my world was righted!

As I was eating dinner, I suddenly realized that I could taste my food. I didn't believe it at first, so I took another bite and really concentrated. I was so excited! It probably seems like a dumb thing to be excited about, but it signals that I've turned the corner and can expect to see more improvements in my other symptoms. I don't expect to be cured tomorrow or anything, but it's encouraging to know that I'm moving in the right direction.

Dr. Seuss Madness

2010-06-29T09:50:00.001-05:00

This weekend my mom, sister and myself hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Renee. She and my brother will be welcoming little Ethan Benjamin in less than a month. As the first baby in the family, there is no doubt that he's going to be spoiled rotten!

Anyway, Ben & Renee have decided to decorate Ethan's nursery in a Dr. Seuss theme. The idea gave us a starting point for the baby shower, and let me tell you, we ran with it! I love books, and Dr. Seuss is a serious childhood favorite, so this was a really fun party to plan.

Instead of one big cake, we decided to do mini-themes at each table based off of a Dr. Seuss book. Each table had a diaper cake surrounded by cupcakes that matched that particular book.

Horton Hears a Who:

The cupcakes weren't quite finished. We topped them with pink cotton candy!

The Cat in the Hat:

These cupcakes had blue cotton candy so they looked like Thing 1 & Thing 2!

Green Eggs & Ham:

For the punch & gift table, the theme was One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. We made a colorless punch and floated red and blue fish shaped ice cubes in it.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. All the games had a Dr. Seuss twist to them and the prizes did too. Hopefully Renee had as much fun at her party as we did planning it!

Feeling a little two-faced

2010-06-22T09:48:00.000-05:00

I've had a very interesting week. It started pretty benign, but quickly got interesting.

On Wednesday I noticed that my lymph nodes were swollen and a little painful on the left side. I figured my body was fighting something off, so I just kept an eye on it. When it hadn't changed by Friday morning, I made an appointment to see the nurse practitioner at my doctor's office to get a round of antibiotics. Her exam showed nothing remarkable, so she said I was probably fighting something off and gave me the antibiotics to speed the process along.

That night, I noticed that I couldn't taste with the left side of my tongue. It was very strange, but not alarming. I was actually watching it in case the medicine was causing a case of thrush. Nothing changed Saturday, but I still couldn't taste.

Sunday morning, however, was a whole different story. While I was getting ready for church, I noticed that the left side of my face felt funny when I smiled. Then, when I was putting in my contacts, I noticed that my left eye wasn't closing. I immediately suspected that I had Bell's Palsy. I quickly pulled up a list of symptoms from the internet and saw that it fit perfectly. I managed to get through to my regular doctor and he said that he too thought my symptoms fit Bell's Palsy, so he sent me to the ER for an official diagnosis and some medicine.

In case you were wondering, Bell's Palsy is a very interesting medical condition in which the facial nerve becomes paralyzed. The cause is not always known, but it can be caused by the herpes virus or, in my case, an infection. Once the paralysis sets in, one side of the face loses muscle response leading to a droopy appearance on the affected side. When I smile, only the muscles on my right side work, so only on half of my mouth is turned up. It's actually a very weird feeling.

Since I caught the condition early on, I was given steroids to help ease the inflammation. I have a very good chance of complete recovery. In some cases, the patient will have some permanent damage to the facial responses, but I am expecting a full recovery. Unfortunately, the recovery is slow and can take up to several months. Not my idea of a good time, but I suppose it could be worse!

Vegas Baby (Part 1)

2010-06-16T08:50:00.012-05:00

Bob and I got back from Vegas a couple of days ago. It was a really fun, but exhausting, trip. Neither of us had ever been before, so there was lots of walking and lots of picture taking. We stayed at the Luxor, which is designed like a giant pyramid with Egyptian styling inside.

I loved Paris. The 1/2 scale Eiffel Tower was really cool. We were even able to ride up to the top.

I really liked the cool skyline of New York, New York. It was really detailed, which made it very neat to look at.

The architecture in Caesar's Palace was fantastic. It reminded me of being back in Italy. I could probably have spent days just in there!

Bob really liked seeing the flamingo habitat at, interestingly enough, The Flamingo. There was a lot of pink in that place!

My favorite place was probably the Venetian. It's designed like Venice, Italy with shops and canals. On our anniversary we took a gondola ride through the indoor canals. We had dinner on the indoor patio of a restaurant there, and it really seemed like we were in Italy. It was really cool!

5 Crazy Years

2010-06-15T14:50:00.000-05:00

On June 11, Bob and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. This post is a little late since we were in Vegas (more on that later!). It's sometimes hard to believe that it's been 5 years since I walked down the aisle on my Daddy's arm and promised my heart to my best friend.

Since that day, Bob and I have been through a lot of things together, but through the ups and downs, we've always been there for each other. Although it hasn't always been perfect, I can't imagine walking through this life with anyone else. It's been a wonderful 5 years, and I can't wait to see what's in store for us through the next 5!

Cool science pictures

2010-05-28T12:49:00.002-05:00

Part of my job involves trying to understand certain brain cells. We want to know how being in a particular area of the brain changes the characteristics of the cells. In order to get the answer, I stain the cells with different fluorescent antibodies to find out what markers are expressed in them. The results are often really stinking cool.

These are mouse astrocytes stained with vimentin (green) to show their cytoskeletal structures (nucleus is blue):

These are human astrocytes stained with GFAP (red), a marker for filament protein (nucleus is blue):

I know that not everyone will think this is cool, but it fascinates me! Oh well, we all know what a geek I am!

Science in dance form

2010-05-18T13:31:00.000-05:00

My friends are always telling me that I'm a huge geek. Truth is, I am. I own it. I used to love balancing equations, I was on the Math Team in high school, I think Star Wars is wicked cool and I love my research. You want to make something of it?

Anyway, I was browsing one of my favorite blogs and I came across this video. It absolutely made my day!

Isn't it so cute?!

2010-05-17T13:54:00.001-05:00

My friend's son just turned three a couple of weeks ago. For the last several months, if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he will answer "A Giraffe!" So in honor of my little buddy JoJo, I present this short video of a cute baby giraffe.

My new obsession

2010-05-14T10:07:00.000-05:00

I have loved Toni Braxton since her Secrets album came out. In fact, it's still on regular rotation in my MP3 collection. I was super excited to hear that she had a new album coming out, and I finally downloaded it. All I can say is AWESOME! The song Make My Heart just makes me wanna get up and dance!

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Take it to the Lord in prayer

2010-05-06T08:44:00.000-05:00

Today is the National Day of Prayer. It's a day when Christians of all stripes come together to pray in unison. Today I will be praying for a young family at our church. I don't know them well, but they are dealing with the kind of loss that nobody should have to face. The couple is in their early to mid-twenties with two kids. Sunday night, their six-month old baby boy died of apparent SIDS. I cannot imagine being in their position, nor do I want to. I don't know how you wake up the next day and take care of your three year old. I don't know how you remember that God is in control and loves you. I don't know how you live after that.

I will also be praying for the family of a friend of a friend. He killed himself yesterday. I will pray for his wife as she tries to cope with the situation. She is currently pregnant with twins, and must now figure out how to carry on with her life.

Today I will pray for the families in Tennessee who are dealing with the worst flooding they have seen in decades. Living near St. Louis, I have seen what damage flood waters can do. Those affected will have to rebuild their entire lives.

In addition, I will pray today that God makes me a better person who is more able to appreciate the blessings I have been given. The biggest problem I woke up to this morning was a dog that wanted to dig through my trash can. I didn't lose a precious child and the promise of what he could become. My husband didn't take his own life and leave me to provide for two unborn babies. My home is not filled with water, mud and destruction. It's days like this that I again remember my favorite Bible verse:

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will

for you in Christ Jesus. -I Thess 5:18

Vis Vobiscum

2010-05-04T08:55:00.001-05:00

That's a Latin phrase I learned in high school. It literally translates to "the force is with you." However, I used it today because I'm a huge geek. See, today is Star Wars day ... May the Fourth be with you!

FYI ... I'm not the only one who finds this funny. The dynamic duo over at Cake Wrecks is featuring Star Wars themed wrecks today! So hug your favorite ewok and give your wookie an extra scratch behind the ears while you embrace your inner geek!

Ha ... haha ... hahahahaha

2010-04-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Oh so true! I love Very Demotivational.

Woo to the Hoo!!

2010-04-22T10:34:00.004-05:00

June will mark a very important occasion in the Crousehold, our 5th wedding anniversary! It will also be the 5th anniversary of our last real vacation, and we intend to rectify the situation. We put the deposit down yesterday on a trip to Las Vegas! We are super excited because we've never been before. Bob might be a little more excited because he plans to just stay there and become a professional gambler. I think he would probably miss the dogs a little too much for that!

Anyway, now all the details have to be handled. I'm trying to find a good place to board the labs while we are gone. Since I have to board two of them, I don't want it to be too expensive, but I also want them to be taken care of. I mean, look at that face:

June is going to be busy, but lots of fun. I can't wait to share all the details! Stay tuned!

I bet this is how Schlafly feels

2010-04-21T14:00:00.003-05:00

Schlafly loves to chase the laser pointer. I'm pretty sure she's half cat! Sometimes when she's sleeping she starts chasing something in her dreams, and I'm sure this is what's going on!

Hanging with the little people

2010-04-16T08:43:00.001-05:00

Bob and I watched our friends' two kids the other night. They are three and four and tons of fun. Since the weather was nice and there was some daylight left we were able to play in the yard with the dogs. It was a wicked good time!

We threw the ball for Hunter:

We got Schlafly to chase us:
We gave out belly rubs:

We even tried to ride poor little Champ!

The kids had so much fun that they fell asleep watching Looney Tunes with Uncle Bob while we waited for their mom to come get them. The dogs were worn out too!

Getting a nephew

2010-04-15T11:01:00.005-05:00

In just a couple months things are going to change. My brother and his wife are going to have a baby boy in July. It's a little bittersweet for me since I always figured I would have the first grandbaby, but apparently that is not meant to be. Little Ethan Benjamin is supposed to join our family around July 25, so it's getting close.

I guess I'll have to see if I can find the little guy a Blues jersey to wear. Of course, if he's anything like the other babies in our family, he'll come out half grown!

That date can't possibly be right!

2010-04-14T15:40:00.004-05:00

I probably fall into the category of the world's worst blogger ever! I seriously haven't blogged here since October?! Yowsa!
So that whole Pfizer thing didn't pan out at all. They closed the St. Louis site, so pretty much everyone there lost jobs. It was really bad for some people who had spent most of their careers at that company. Oddly enough, I wasn't too nervous through the whole thing. I knew God would open the right door for my family, and wouldn't you know it, he did!
My last day at Pfizer was December 23, and on January 4, I started as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Washington University School of Medicine. Although it's been slow getting the research going, the lab is wonderful. The people are great, and the project is extremely interesting. I do miss my friends at Pfizer, and the corporate atmosphere, but obviously this is where I'm supposed to be now.
Nothing too exciting has happened as far as Bob and I are concerned. We have done a few more home improvement projects and have some others planned for the near future. Our goal is to be able to put the house on the market this summer and move a little closer to work. Our commute currently sucks the big one! The dogs are still tormenting us on a regular basis.
Hopefully I will one day get the hang of posting here regularly. Probably not though! I have some fun things coming up, so I'll try to remember to share them.

I think I smell a sore loser

2009-10-16T10:43:00.007-05:00

Well, it happened. The Dodgers managed to bring out the brooms and sweep my Cardinals last week. It was pretty sad for me, but not for my dear hubby. Interestingly though, this was the least contentious our house has ever been during an LA-St. Louis series. He didn't gloat, and I was a gracious loser. Divorce court was easily avoided.

So now the Dodgers are facing the Philadelphia Phillies, and it's a pretty good match-up. Unfortunately that means there may be a few sour notes along the way. Last night was game one. We went to bed before the game was over, so Bob had to wait until this morning to get the final score ... it wasn't good. The Dodgers lost 8-6.
Anyone who knows my husband knows that he thinks he's funny, and if you laugh at him once, he'll keep going. It's actually one of his more endearing qualities (unless he's picking on me). Anyway, when he got the bad news, he began sharing with me information about the background of many of the Phillies players. Much of it was quite colorful involving the molestation of dogs and what not. I can't put it all here, or I'd probably get sued for libel!
I usually just roll my eyes at him and walk away. Sometimes it takes me a minute to realize that Bob's telling me a joke. We always have the news on while we are getting ready, and sometimes he tells me something that I missed. This morning, I came into the bathroom where he was shaving.

Bob: Apparently last night LA had a shortage of cocaine.

Me: Really?! That's weird.

Bob: Yeah they completely ran out of cocaine. The Phillies bought it all.

Me: You know you're an idiot, right?

I really don't know where he comes up with half of this stuff. I'm sure that I'll be treated to much more as this series progresses. There's never a dull moment with him!

This happens to me at least once a week

2009-10-11T14:58:00.004-05:00

FYI, if you ever need to kill time and are feeling particularly geeky, check out http://www.xkcd.com because it is seriously funny!!

The true test of my marriage

2009-10-09T13:10:00.005-05:00

It's that wonderful time of year when you can feel the bite of fall in the air. The weather is perfect for a bowl of hot chili and curling up with your favorite book (or your favorite four legged friend). One of my favorite things about this time of year is playoff baseball.

Most years my beloved Cardinals make it into the playoffs, and I get to watch them battle it out with other teams. There's just something magical about October baseball. The drama, the energy and the intensity. This year, however, we have a huge problem.

My husband comes from a long line of die hard LA Dodger fans. I know! It's crazy! Unfortunately, my Cards are facing Bob's stupid, stinky Dodgers in round one of the playoffs. Not only is my husband a Dodgers fan, he has an intense hatred for all things St. Louis Cardinals! I never claimed the man was normal!

It's hard for us to watch the games together because we both take it pretty seriously. He takes it personally if the Dodgers lose, but especially if they lose to the lowly Cardinals. Afterall, the Dodgers did have the best record in the league, and let's not worry about what Manny Ramirez may or may not have juiced himself with because Albert Pujols is probably on something too. I just don't get him sometimes!

Anyway, if my marriage survives this series, one of us will have a really fun post-season. Just be aware that if you hear of some sort of crazy domestic situation in Belleville that revolves around the MLB playoffs, it's probably us!

Oh yeah ... GO CARDS!!

The universe is out to get me

2009-10-07T08:41:00.002-05:00

Ever have one of those mornings where you get out of bed and promptly step in poop? Just me? Well I woke up this morning and started down the stairs from my bedroom to the kitchen. Just as I get to the bottom I find that one of my furry little children has left me a present. Rotten little buggers! I suppose it could have been worse, but it is one of the grodiest (I may have made that word up) feelings in the whole world. When you're already bleary eyed and just want to be back in bed anyway, it just doesn't set the day up well.

I'm just hoping that's the worst thing that happens today. It's going to be another insane day at work with experiments lined up back-to-back. It's so much fun to learn all these new techniques and I really do enjoy being busy.

Things are a little tense here at work because we are waiting for word that the Pfizer takeover of Wyeth has been completed. Once that happens, everyone is waiting to find out whether or not they still have jobs. People are on edge and nervous because a new rumor comes down the pike every day. My contract is scheduled to end sometime between March and June, but I am really hopeful that once the takeover occurs, I will get picked up as a regular colleague. I love the work that I'm doing, and I am working with amazing people. I have heard that Pfizer doesn't hire their contractors, but I have also heard that they are considering making exceptions because of the merger. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Anyway, I'm hoping that my day picks up from here. I figure when you are standing in poop within a minute of waking up, there's nowhere to go but up ... right?

Time for sharing

2009-09-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

I went on an ice cream making binge a couple of weeks ago. A friend loaned me her ice cream maker attachment for the KitchenAid mixer, so I made really good use of it. I was posting on Twitter and Facebook about all the goodies coming out of my kitchen, and several people were interested in my recipes. I figured this was a good place to post them, so here are a few of my favorites.

Cheesecake Ice Cream

1/2 pint heavy cream
1/2 pint sour cream
6 oz cream cheese
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the cream cheese into a mixing bowl and beat until soft and smooth. Slowly add the sugar and then beat in the sour cream followed by the heavy cream. Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice and mix until thick and smooth. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before freezing in your ice cream maker.

This is sooooo tasty! Bob went crazy for it, and it will certainly be on the permanent list. It would be really awesome with some graham cracker crumbs on top!

Rocky Road

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup miniature marshmallows

In a medium sauce pan over low heat, cook and stir condensed milk and cocoa until smooth and slightly thickened, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Stir in heavy cream, half-and-half and vanilla. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours and freeze in your ice cream maker. Add the nuts and marshmallows to the freezer about 5 minutes before the ice cream is finished.

The condensed milk and cocoa powder make a really nice chocolate base, so I have plans to use it with different add ins at a later time. I did put my marshmallows and pecans in the fridge while my base was chilling so they were already cold when I added them to the mixer.
I hope these work out for you as well as they did for me! Happy ice creaming!

Just sayin' ...

2009-09-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

Neglected much?

2009-09-16T12:43:00.004-05:00

So it seems that I have neglected my poor little blog recently. I have a bad habit of doing that! I guess that means it's time for a giant catch-up post.

Let's see ...

At the beginning of June I started working a contract position at Pfizer in St. Louis. They are a leading player in the pharmaceutical industry, and a great company to work for. I am being exposed to lots of new techniques and experiences, and it's been a lot of fun to figure out how things work in industry versus academia. Unfortunately, I am not a regular employee, but rather a contracted resource, which means lower pay and no benefits. My contract is scheduled for 9-12 months, so sometime between March and June, I'll be moving on. If I'm lucky, I'll get picked up off of the contract into a regular position. As a back-up, I'm making some overtures in a different direction, but it's kind of a secret for now.

Bob is trucking along. He's still working at Chartis Insurance (formerly AIG). Since I don't have benefits right now, he has to stay there and put off seminary for a while. I feel bad for him, because I know that he is ready to move forward, but there is no way we can be without insurance. We are just going to hang in there and wait for the next door to open.

My brother got married in July. Our summer was incredibly mild, temperature-wise, except for the weekend of his wedding, of course! He has finished his contract with the Army, and is now in school. I'll be sure to post some pictures later on.

My sister was re-hired at the factory where she used to work. The economy shut them down for a while, but now things are up and going again. Afton is happy because she has her insurance back. She also just moved into her first apartment. It's so weird to think of her as being a grown-up with her own place. It sure makes me feel old!

I will definately try to be better about updating my site from now on.

My poor baby

2009-05-28T06:15:00.002-05:00

So my Memorial Day weekend did not go as planned. Friday afternoon, after Bob got off work we went to buy a new lawnmower. Our old one died and our yard looked like something from deep in the heart of Arkansas. We managed to find a nice mower which, I'm told, is a "man's mower". We spent Friday evening breaking in the new mower. I've never seen my husband happier to do yard work!

Anyway, we finished up around 6:15 and I took the dogs in the house while Bob put his new toy away. As I'm getting a drink I notice a bunch of spots on the kitchen floor, which I soon realize is blood. I called Bob in and we started checking the dogs. It turns out Hunter's foot is bleeding a bit, but he wouldn't let us touch it. Bob called the vet and they said to bring him in.

I loaded Hunter in the car and we sped out to Banfield. The doctor took one look at his paw and said he needed stitches. The problem was that it was almost 7:00 and they couldn't fully anesthetize him because he would have to be monitored for several hours afterwards, something they weren't set up to do at night. She decided to partially sedate him, put a tournequit on his leg and inject a local nerve blocker so they could stitch him up. She sent me away and told me to come back at 8:00.

I ran a couple of errands, and when I came back they weren't done with Hunter. Finally, around 8:30, the nurse came out. Apparently my dog has the constitution of a water buffalo. They gave him three times the normal amount of sedative and he still managed to fight them. He needed to be fully sedated, which means I had to take him to the only 24 hour clinic in the area, about 20 minutes away. The doctor helped me get Hunter to the car because he was drunk from all the meds. It was pretty funny!

I picked up Bob and we drove Hunter to the clinic. He looked so pathetic laying on the floor of the examining room.

The clinic had to keep him overnight for observation after they stitched him up. They told us that because the cut was on the pad of his foot, they would put him in a splint to keep pressure off of it. I did not expect the splint to be so big though:

It's more like a cast all the way up past his elbow! Poor Hunter doesn't quite understand what's going on. We have to put rugs on the kitchen floor because he can't get any traction on the tile to hobble along! When we go outside we have to cover the cast, and of course it's monsoon season here in the St. Louis area. Ugh!

I'm using pain meds to keep him mellow. He is supposed to stay calm and not bounce around too much or he'll bust the stitches. I don't know if the vet realizes that he's a labrador and bouncing around is kind of his thing. We've made it this far, but we still have to keep him in the cast for a little over a week. Hopefully we can keep him calm. He is however, enjoying all the extra attention.

What a fun weekend!

2009-05-27T07:44:00.010-05:00

Last weekend was graduation weekend for me. The conclusion to a long, hard five years of grad school. It was amazing. Graduation was Saturday, and my whole family, including a lot of my in-laws, came. Dad was in from Fargo, Mom came from Metropolis, Bob's grandparents were in from Springfield. It was awesome.

Graduation itself was pretty cool. The doctoral candidates sat in the front row, and were the first to receive our degrees. We each individually walked on stage and our advisor put our doctoral hood on us.

After the graduation ceremony I met up with my friends and family outside for pictures. I couldn't find Bob because he got lost in the crowd, but he turned up eventually! This is my advisor, my labmate Geeta and of course me:

And this is Charu, Geeta, Me and Rashmi. They've been amazing friends.

Sunday was my graduation party. Bob did most of the work (with help from his mom, grandma and aunt). We had an open house after church with a tasty pasta lunch, of which I managed to find time to take 2 bites! My mom made my graduation cake, which I loved:

My aunts handled the decorations for the party. It was simple, but very pretty. So many people came to help me celebrate. Everyone was so nice and really made me feel special. I was a wonderful party.

Thanks everyone for all your hard work! You made my special weekend a wonderful experience. Everyone's clothes stayed on, there was no Realtree, and best of all, drama was absent! You all rock my world!

Curious George gets Alzheimer's

2009-05-04T09:46:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I want to throttle my youth group kids. They can be loud, obnoxious, rude and just plain weird. However, yesterday reminded me why I started this mission.

There are three brothers in our group who Bob and I love dearly. In fact, Bob regularly tries to talk me into adopting the youngest one. These three are quite the handful. The oldest is graduating high school this year, and is going through some growing pains. He's funny and a really cool kid, but he has the attention span of a gnat, and so doesn't excell at school. The middle boy is 15 and has his learner's permit. Of the three boys he's the quietest and most introspective. Now don't get me wrong, he can still drive me up a wall sometimes, but he is a really sweet kid. Because he is a really good student, he gets some cool opportunities like spending this coming summer in Europe. The youngest of the three is quite a trip. He's in the 7th grade and is full of energy (I've contemplated drugging him a time or two!). He is in constant motion and has tons of questions about really random things. He thought the title of my dissertation was too complicated, so he decided I should change it to "Curious George gets Alzheimer's". When you get the three boys in a room together, they immediately begin picking at each other, but when push comes to shove, they would do anything for the others.

Yesterday morning, the three boys wander into my Sunday School class with gifts to congratulate me on my PhD. The oldest hands me an orchid (which I really do hope to keep alive), the middle one hands me a warm loaf of banana bread that he baked me that morning, and the youngest hands me a card from the three of them that he picked out. Of course I was touched by the gesture.

When I opened the card, they had each written me a short message. The youngest wrote: "Congrats on Curious George gets Alzheimer's. Good luck on getting the job in St. Louis so you don't have to move and you can be youth group leader." The middle one wrote: "Congrats on getting your PhD (If at all possible pleeeeease get a job in Belleville). The oldest wrote: "Awesome job! You're the cat's pajamas".

Later on, I told another of our youth group kids that I was going to be speaking in her 6th grade science class on Wednesday and that I would be at her school all day. Her first words to me were "Cool! Will you eat lunch with me!?"

I know that God has a plan in mind for me. I know he has the perfect job waiting for me, and I just need to be patient and wait for the door to open. I will go wherever he calls me, but I just can't imagine leaving these kids. It's days like yesterday that remind me how important our work is, and how much I really do love each one of them.

I have letters after my name!

2009-04-24T09:39:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the culmination of the last 5 years of my life. I successfully defended my PhD dissertation, and am now officially a doctor. Wow!

Everyone keeps telling me what a great accomplishment this is, and they are right. However, I don't deserve all the credit. Without my support system, I could never have made it through this whole process.

In 2004 when this process began, six other people joined the Chemistry department as well. Most of us have been pretty close through this whole process, and without their encouragement I probably would have given up long ago. I can talk to my husband about anything, but there are somethings he will never understand. The frustration of failed experiments, the joy of one working on the 996th attempt, the disappointment of a rejected manuscript and the butterflies before that first big conference presentation are all a part of grad school that only certain people can truly empathize with. This group of people, although they were under no obligation to do so, chose to come listen to my presentation yesterday even though they had heard it just a month ago. It truly did mean a lot to me to see them sitting in the audience.

My family has of course been there through everything. Sometimes it was a quiet word of encouragement, other times it was a joke at just the right time, but I know that the constant prayers were always lifting me up and smoothing my path. I won't name you all, but you know who you are and how you have helped me. All I can say is thank you.

Recently I have made some new friends that just rock my world. Melissa, Kimberly and Tammy, you guys are too much fun. Thanks for helping me de-stress and let loose a little bit. You probably saved my sanity (and maybe my marriage!).

All of these people have been integral to my success, but there is one person who has had to deal with me on a daily basis the whole time. My husband, Bob, has been my rock when it sometimes felt like I was sinking in quicksand. He's been there to cheer me up, help me celebrate and sometimes to just listen to me rant and rave. I don't know how he managed to put up with all of my craziness the last few months, but he has. He even suffered through my talks just to provide moral support. Sometimes he's the devil on my shoulder and other times he's that really annoying voice of logic and reason (I hate those times!). Most of all, he's my best friend and I don't know where I would be without him.

So as I celebrate this accomplishment in my life, I just want you to all know how much you mean to me and how much I appreciate all of your love and support.

That was quick

2009-04-21T09:47:00.002-05:00

Have you ever noticed how quickly self-doubt can sneak up on you? One day you are giddy with excitement because your future is laying in front of you waiting for you to grab it. The next day you are riddled with fear about your abilities.

This is a big week for me. I defend my PhD dissertation on Thursday afternoon. One of my professors told me it was really just a formality, but that stupid little voice in my head has decided that's not the case. Now I'm worried about the defense, I still don't have a job, and I am starting to question whether or not I've done the right thing.

I know that this whole thing is probably silly, but it's really weighing on me. Bob really wants to head off to seminary to be a minister, but is waiting until we know where I will be working. Our dryer died last week, but we don't want to buy a new one until we know I have a job. I feel like our lives are in limbo, and it's all my fault. I don't know what to do about it though.

I've had a few nibbles from companies, but nothing firm. I am waiting to hear about one specific job, but nothing yet. I'm sure that the waiting is probably a huge part of my stress, but I hate feeling like this!!!!

Please just pray for me. I know that God has a plan for Bob and me, I just don't know what that plan is at this moment. I am trying hard to have faith and be trusting, but it isn't easy.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." ~I Thessalonians 5:19

Oh look ... a tree

2009-04-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

My little sister has always been very artistic. She has a talent for seeing things in a way that I never could. She was out on a walk one day and snapped these pictures.

I would never have thought to take a picture of a moss covered tree. I'm not sure what it is, but I absolutely love these pictures. There's something beautiful about them but not in a traditional way.

Announcement? Invitation? Waste of money!

2009-04-09T21:20:00.007-05:00

It's a pretty exciting time in the Crousehold. I'm gearing up for my last graduation ever! I got an advertisement in the mail last week for graduation announcements from a company that is not used by my school. They sent a sample announcement, and it was really nice. The prices they were quoting were cheaper than the company that my college has a contract with, so I went to their website. I started to order my announcements only to find out that the standard $9 shipping is for 2-3 week delivery. Now normally that wouldn't be a problem, except that graduation is about 4 weeks away. If I wanted them in 10 days the shipping jumps to $24!

So being me, I thought that I would see what the deal is with the school's company the next day during the Grad Fair. Would you believe that it was the same thing?? I asked the lady representing the company how that even made sense. Her response was "They are only announcements. You should send your invitations out now." Did I miss something? The announcements have a date, time and location on them, so as far as I'm concerned, they serve as invitations.

Now, I'm one smart cookie (if I do say so myself), especially when it comes to spending my hard earned money. I remembered that I made the invitations for my wedding and I ordered the cardstock from InvitationPaper.com which absolutely rocks. I found these super cool annoucements which I ordered.

I was able to customize the colors, so it will look just like the one in the picture except the sheer ribbon will be gold since UMSL's colors are red and gold. The standard shipping is 1-3 days and the total cost with shipping was less than the cost of the cheaper announcements without shipping! Even more awesome is that they already shipped! Sometimes I amaze myself!

Hysteria in cake form

2009-04-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

So my friend Tammy started reading this blog and was tweeting the whole time. Of course Melissa and I had to check it out. It is a blog dedicated to really funny cakes. Sometimes the subject of the cakes is the funny part, but often the humor is found in the poor attempts to make a cake look like something. The author is seriously funny.

If you need a laugh or are just a little bored today, click on over to www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com and I promise you won't be disappointed. Just to warn you though, you may need a lot of time because once you start looking, you won't be able to stop! Let me know what you think!

Did you miss me?

2009-04-06T12:55:00.006-05:00

I noticed when I logged in that I haven't posted anything since the end of January. As I'm sure you can imagine, I've had a few reasons.

My PhD dissertation was due last week. I've spent a lot of time buried in papers, old experiments and formatting requirements. I realize that a dissertation isn't supposed to be easy, but I think I may have had a few more distractions going on than most people do (I'll explain later). Anyway, I finished with the writing a couple weeks ago, and spent the last two weeks making the changes that my advisor suggested. The last few days were spent formatting the 194 page behemoth in the way that my advisor wanted. I seriously was having dreams about formatting the stupid thing! My dissertation was officially submitted last Thursday, and I am scheduled to defend it on Thursday, April 23. If all goes well, I will be Dr. Crouse that night ... if it doesn't then you will find me in a tear-filled drunken stupor somewhere (but I don't forsee that).

While I was working on my dissertation, the rest of my life kept getting a little crazier. My dad moved to Fargo, ND with his fiance just in time for massive flooding. Luckily he's ok and hasn't had any major troubles.

One of my 15 year old girls in youth group is pregnant. That has been beyond stressful for me. I have to walk a very fine line between my disapproval for the overall situation and being supportive of her decision to not have an abortion. It's a very complicated situation with an odd family dynamic at the root of it. I've cried many a tear over this girl.

Unfortunately, she isn't my only youth group problem. I have an 18 year old boy who is spending his weekends drinking. His parents don't trust him, and he's setting a bad example for his siblings. I've tried to counsel him, but it goes nowhere. The sad thing is that he's such a good, sweet kid. I think he's gotten caught up in playing a part to fit in and I don't think he knows a way out. Add in the typical 18 year old, ready to leave home angst and it's a powder keg waiting to explode!

My biggest stressor, by far, has been my grandma. She met with a surgeon to have a hernia repaired in February. Turns out it wasn't a hernia, but a massive tumor. She has breast cancer that has metastasized and caused the inside of her abdominal wall to be lined with tumors of varying size. She tried one chemo treatment, but she was too weak to deal with it. She's officially off of the chemo for good now. Her goal is to see my graduation in May and my brother's wedding in July. After seeing her yesterday, I'll be surprised if she makes July. It's going to be a bumpy few months.

In all of this turmoil that's been swirling around me lately, there have been a few bright spots. I have made some wonderful new friends that have given me something happier to focus on just when I needed it most. I'm sure I'll be mentioning them now and then in the future, but all I can say is they have been a Godsend during what has been the most stressful time of my life. Thanks guys! You rock!

Possibly the two greatest words ever ...

2009-01-28T16:28:00.005-06:00

... SNOW DAY!!!

Over the last two days we've had about 8 inches of snow here in Belleville. I know it isn't much for a lot of people, but around here, it's huge. Of course we took advantage of the snow to spend a little time outside with the dogs.

This was only Schlafly's second snow. She loves it. She ran around in circles trying to get one of the others to chase her. Bob hid a few treats in the snow for her to dig out, which was tons of fun for her.

Hunter doesn't hate the snow, but he doesn't love it either. He does love it when Bob throws snowballs in the air for him to catch. Like a true retriever, he could play that game for hours, but we get bored of it before too long!

Then there is poor little Champ. He is little, so he has to wear his coat, but the snow still comes up to his belly in most places. He's not interested in playing any games. He wants to do his business and get his butt back in the nice warm house.

Here's hoping you had some fun in the snow too!

Spider squirrel

2009-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

I was sitting at the table trying to accomplish something the other day when Bob starts calling for me from the kitchen. "Hurry! Get in here!" With great dread I head in that direction wondering what the heck the dogs destroyed this time.

Turns out, the dogs had been barking like crazy at the kitchen window. When Bob went to see what the problem was, he found a little squirrel on our neighbor's back porch. It was climbing the walls of the house like it was freaking Spiderman or something!

When it got bored with the climbing and what not, it apparently decided that it was hungry. We watched it chew through the bag of trash the neighbor left on the porch and just start going to town.

Bob and I thought it was funny. Our dogs, not so much. They just wanted out of the house to go eat the tasty looking squirrel.

It's Naked Thursday!

2009-01-22T07:42:00.002-06:00

Due to circumstances that are beyond my control, I have to teach this semester. It's a little disappointing since this will be the eighth time in ten semesters of graduate school that I have to teach. During a normal semester, teaching is a lot of work, but I don't usually mind too much since I feel like I am making a difference for some of my students. This semester is different though.

I am scheduled to graduate in May (W00t!!!). Practically, that means that this semester I have to give an exit seminar to my department, which is no big deal. It's just a 45 minute talk on my research, and I'm not really worried about it. Then I have to finish writing and, no doubt, revising my thesis. So far I've finished 3 of the 5 chapters and am about halfway through another chapter. Unfortunately, my advisor hasn't looked at it yet, which means there will likely be an overwhelming number of revisions and rewrites. After those two things are done, I have to meet with my dissertation committee and defend my thesis (SCARY!!!). I will meet with a group of 5 professors who each have a copy of my thesis. They will take turns asking me anything they want about my paper, my research or anything else that pops into their heads. They usually try to keep the brutality to within an hour.

I honestly don't know how I'm going to get everything done and still keep my sanity. There isn't really a way to prepare for the defense, so you just go in praying that Dr. Dupureur had her yoga class that morning so she's in a nice mood.

In any event, I have to do all of this while teaching. It sucks. Luckily, both of the sections I'm teaching are on the same day, so I can just count Tuesdays as a wasted day. I have obligations on campus on Mondays and Fridays, and some Wednesdays I will be doing experiment stuff. This leaves us with Thursdays.

My advisor has agreed to let me work from home on my thesis whenever possible. The only day that will work is Thursday. So here I am, sitting at my table with my lab notebooks spread out, wearing my pajamas and slippers. I have deemed these days Naked Thursdays, mostly because I think it's funny.

Luckily for me, Bob has to work, so I can stay in my PJs. It's one of his pet peeves. He always tells me that only sick people and mental patients wear pajamas all day. I am neither, just a very busy woman who is excited about being comfy while she works. Besides, what does he know? He's a boy, and it is a well-known fact that boys are dumb!

Well, I'm going to get going on compiling this data so I can get some writing done. Keep me in your prayers, I'm going to need them!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T00:00:00.001-06:00

We will be spending today with lots of friends and family, giving gifts, sharing stories and eating lots of food. However, this year's celebration will be a little bit quieter (and probably calmer!) because my brother Ben won't be home from Afghanistan.

We were lucky to have him back on leave last year, but his tour will be ending in May. So today, as you unwrap your gifts and spend time with your loved ones, please take a minute to remember those who won't be doing the same because they are doing a job that many of us can't or won't do.

Thanks, Ben. We love you and we will see you soon!

I'm going into hiding

2008-12-23T09:54:00.002-06:00

I love Christmas. I love everything about it. I can't wait to pull out my tree and get it decorated. I get a little thrill every time I get a Christmas card in the mail. I love Christmas shopping and baking Christmas cookies. It's all great for me.
This year, however, I think the Grinch is out to ruin my Christmas. It all started yesterday when Bob and I got home from work. As is our routine, we set down our bags and start letting the dogs out of their respective rooms. Champ comes toddling down the stairs and goes in search of a present to give us (usually a dirty sock). Schlafly cries until we let her out of the kennel so she can jump all over us while soaking us in loving slobber. Then there is Hunter.
Hunter used to be allowed out in the house while we were gone, but he started peeing on things. To fix this problem we started locking him in the kitchen. It worked fine until he started peeing on the stove, right in the drawer where my baking pans are. The final straw was when he got into the cabinet and ate most of a giant bag of egg noodles. Hunter is now kept in the bathroom when we are gone. We have to pull out the magazine rack, toilet paper, rugs, laundry baskets and towels lest they be pulled out and peed on or shredded. It's annoying, but livable.
Last night, however, Hunter took it up a notch. We came home to find that he had chewed up a tube of toothpaste which was all over his back and butt. Schlafly found it rather enjoyable, but that's another issue entirely. He also jumped onto the sink, opened the medicine cabinet and pulled everything out. He managed to open a bottle of antihistimine and spread them all over the floor. Luckily he didn't eat any.
So anyway ... last night started out rough, and it only got worse from there. I was planning on making toasted ravioli for dinner, so I started the oven when we got home. I pulled out my bag of ravioli and put them on the tray and baked them. I was surprised when I pulled them out of the oven because they never browned like they usually do. This would be, of course, because I bought the kind you are supposed to fry. GENIOUS!! Needless to say, dinner was less than delicious.
Later on I went into the bathroom to get some lotion for my hands. They appear to belong to a 65 year old woman, so I thought a little moisture was in order. I proceeded to take off my wedding rings and as I reached for my lotion, my engagement ring fell. CLINK! My heart about stopped when I realized it fell down the vent. I called Bob and we looked and looked and looked for it. We had to take the ductwork apart to get to it. Wouldn’t you know that the only thing stopping my ring from falling all the way to no man’s land was the giant pile of lab hair that was built up in the duct (I’m an awesome housekeeper!). I was so thankful that Bob didn’t get all screamy or stabby at me. He just helped me find my ring like the awesome husband he is!
So anyway, I’m now trying to regain my Christmas spirit with a little Josh Groban action. His version of O Holy Night is one of my all time favorites.

Whenever I listen to Josh Groban, I can never forget his performance at the Emmy’s. He sang a medley of TV show theme songs that always makes me laugh.

Well, I’m feeling better. Merry Christmas!

How to open a beer with a piece of paper

2008-11-11T13:07:00.003-06:00

I thought someone might find this useful, so I'm posting it here. I'm going to make Bob try it tonight to see if it really works. Enjoy!

ATTENTION: Today is cancelled!

2008-11-07T10:09:00.004-06:00

For fear of something terrible going wrong, I am cancelling today. Why you ask? Well, let me tell you.

First of all, when I woke up this morning I couldn't move because an interesting assortment of dogs was sleeping on top of me. Believe it or not, the little maltese takes up much more space than either of the labs! No big deal though, I was nice and toasty.

As per our normal morning routine, I go downstairs, leash the dogs and get ready to take them out. As I open the door, the two labs begin to bolt because they see the neighbor's cat dashing down the street. This is a problem because two nights ago the same thing happened and they pulled me down and dragged me across the yard. I managed to hold them back this morning until Bob could come take one of them and help me out.

We come back in, I get ready for work and then feed the labs their breakfast in an effort to quell the bouncing. Afterall, they were starving since we never feed them. Little Champ was out of food, so I was making him a concoction of leftover rice and carrots. Since I was feeling generous, I thought I would share the carrots with the other dogs too. Hunter laid down and took his carrot very nicely. Then there was Schlafly. I held it up and was giving her a command, which she promptly ignored in favor of just taking the carrot. She jumped up and bit down, right into my cuticle which, of course, started bleeding and throbbing. I had to take the time to clean it and bandage it before I could make coffee and get breakfast together.

Wouldn't you know it, we were running late. No time for coffee, and cold Poptarts constituted breakfast. Luckily traffic was ok.

I dropped Bob off at work and headed to Starbuck's for a Venti Americano. Mmm mmm. I pull out my wallet to get the gift card Bob gave me, but it wasn't there. Oh well ... such is life.

At this point in my morning, I'm still ok. I get my coffee, head to work and start walking to campus with Deepa ... and then it happened.

A freaking bird pooped on the lid of my coffee!!! What the heck is going on here???? For this reason I am officially cancelling the rest of the day in favor of going home and hiding under the covers until tomorrow. You are welcome to join me in this endeavor (but at your own house ... unless you want to clean mine!).

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T10:36:00.004-05:00

Wow. So it has been a long time since I've made a post! Life has been a little crazy around here.
I'm currently working on my dissertation with the hope of graduating in May. Unfortunately I don't feel like I'm making much progress. Part of the reason is that I keep getting interrupted to work on other things. I was helping Geeta with her research proposal, and now I am working on my poster for the Neuroscience 2008 Conference in two weeks.
In addition to my work stuff, Bob has been doing some soul searching. He recently decided that he should goto Seminary to be a minister. For anyone who really knows him, it didn't come as much of a surprise. What they all did find interesting was the fact that I will be a pastor's wife! Anyway ... now we are trying to find a seminary for him in an area where I have a good chance of finding a job. It's not been terribly easy, but we are working on it.
Aside from all of that, we have just been keeping on with all our other duties. The Sunday School class that we teach is going well, but we have had some struggles with the youth group. It can be very frustrating for us sometimes, but we just pray that we do our best to serve the Lord in spite of everything.
So on a lighter note, we dressed Schlafly up for Halloween this morning. She is former L.A. Dodger's pitcher Hideo Nomo. Champ is running around in his Mark Bulger jersey, and Hunter is fancy in his white bowtie.

The most wonderful time of the year ... sorta

2008-09-19T10:35:00.004-05:00

All year, every year, my darling husband waits. He sits and plans and ponders, and he waits. For what you ask? Why nothing but one of his favorite days of the calendar year ... International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Once this wonderful occasion finally rolls around, he starts to use the lines that he's been thinking of all year. "Avast ye wench! Bring me mateys beer!" Often these lines are followed with a quick thump upside his head from me, but that's a whole other issue entirely!

Anyway ... enjoy your chance to release you inner pirate before it disappears for another whole year!

A moment frozen in time

2008-09-11T08:53:00.004-05:00

On September 11, 2001, I was a sophomore at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI. That morning I had a 7 a.m. Heritage class. We had been reading the book "Rape of Nanking" and discussing World War II. For some reason, that morning's discussion turned to the attitudes of the people left at home during the war and how they responded to the situations they were facing.

We threw back and forth ideas about what makes the generations before us seem so different from our own. I was a little bored, so I looked up the clock just as someone commented "I think that the problem with our generation is that we have never been involved in a war and had to make sacrifices for our country." The clock read 7:45 a.m.

When my class ended a little later, I walked back to my dorm to take a shower. It struck me as odd that the bathroom was totally empty and the hall was silent. When I went into the shower room, I turned on the radio because the quiet was a little unnerving. It wasn't until I was actually in the shower that I realized there wasn't any music. The DJ was saying something about the Twin Towers being attacked. I didn't understand what was going on. I thought that he was doing some sort of weird skit or joke that I didn't get.

I went back to my room and turned on the TV to see this:

I sat staring at the tv in my bathrobe unable to move. How do you process something like that?

I finally got myself dressed and went outside. Carthage is a beautiful campus, and as I looked out over Lake Michigan, the world was different. I couldn't wrap my brain around this beautiful sight ...

... and know that just across the lake the sky was very different. How could anyone do this to other people?

As the next few days unfolded, more details came out about the situation. The campus became a flurry of activity, but the one event I remember the most was the candle light vigil held around kissing rock. There were so many students praying, crying, hugging and just being apart of something bigger than themselves.

This event will forever live in my mind. I will never forget the events of that day, and as my brother fights in Afghanistan to defend his country, I say a prayer of thanks for people like him who are willing and able to put the good of others above their own self interests.

It's finally over!

2008-09-05T21:22:00.003-05:00

The renovations on our house seem like they have dragged on and on and on and ... ok you get the point. We finally finished the last of it this week and we go next week to sign the final mortgage package.

Our last two weeks have been spent repairing the nast oozing out of our walls. Our house is 121 years old. At the time it was built, houses were built out of brick, and the interior walls were plaster. Since the house wasn't properly maintained before we bought it, water managed to penetrated into the brick and get the lower layers of plaster wet. It was so horrible. All of a sudden we noticed that the paint in our living and dining rooms looked like they were bubbling off. When we went over to touch them, powdered plaster fell off the wall.

Being the brave do-it-yourselfers (read: morons) that we are, Bob and I decided we could handle it. We pushed all of the furniture into the middle of the rooms and started pulling the bad spots off the wall not thinking that it was damaged all the way down to the brick. It was. It was so bad in there, we set up dehumidifiers near the walls for a week to dry things out. I was thisclose to losing my mind tripping over all my furniture that whole time!

Finally things were dry enough to patch up with plaster. Once that set up we had to try and match the texture that was already on the wall. I spent several hours mudding and texturing ... what a nightmare! Finally we were able to repaint the sections we fixed, and now our walls aren't freaky anymore. Our house looks like big people live in it! Yea!

Lazy summer weekend

2008-08-14T11:21:00.004-05:00

Bob and I spent the weekend at his Grandparent's house. They live in the middle of nowhere about an hour away from Springfield right on a lake. It is one of the prettiest houses I've ever seen. Grandpa is constantly doing some sort of landscaping project!

It was such a nice weekend. We were completely out of contact with the outside world since Grandma and Grandpa don't have the internet and our cell phones have no reception. It was creepy to not know what was happening, but relaxing too. The weather was absolutely AMAZING! Despite it being the middle of August, the temperature never got over 85 and there was very low humidity.

We spent some time picking peaches off of the trees in the backyard. I made Bob reach the high ones! We got several bags full to take home and freeze. I love peaches!

We also had a big Saturday night, which we spent at the Wal-Mart. Let me tell you, it was old school. It may have been the smallest Wal-Mart I have ever seen! We went so that we could show Grandpa how to print pictures off of his digital camera. One problem, he hadn't done it in over two years. Seriously! There were 154 pictures that he wanted printed. We started to get them printing on the machine, and wouldn't you know it the darn thing breaks! It took an hour to get them all printed! Good times.

Anyway, Bob and I left early Sunday morning, and since it was so beautiful, we decided to stop at the State Fair before we went home. It was the perfect day to go because the weather was just unbelievable. We had a great time watching the DockDogs play around in their big pool. I'm pretty sure that Schlafly would love to do that, so we may look into it.

We also saw the Butter Cow. If you have never been to a State Fair in the midwest, it may seem strange, but it is what it is. Every year someone sculpts a huge cow out of butter. It's really cool looking because it's very detailed, but I know, I know, it's weird.

Bob got all excited when he saw an exhibit of WWII things. There were trucks and tents and guns and K Rations and lots of other stuff. Apparently a group of collectors get together and put on these displays at various events using their personal items. I think Bob has a new goal in life!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful weekend. Bob and I don't get to have too much time to ourselves, so when we do, it is really special. I sometimes forget how nice it is to just talk with him about something that doesn't involve church or work or the random drama in our families. It really was a refreshing way to prepare ourselves for the onslaught that is about to begin.

What could have been

2008-07-24T09:54:00.003-05:00

It's been a long couple of months. On June 1, my Dad's parents celebrated their 50th anniversary, and two days later, we had to put grandpa in the hospital followed by the nursing home, and finally the ground.

It has been a really odd time for me emotionally. My grandfather, although he has always been around, was never a part of my life. Growing up, I have so many memories of Grandma. She has been one of the people that influenced my life in so many ways. She plays prominently in my childhood. However, looking back on my life, I can honestly say that I have no good memories of my grandfather. In fact, I have very few memories of him. Sadly, my father and siblings share this situation.

My grandpa believed that his job was to take care of his family. He worked hard all his life to provide for them, but that was all. When he came home from work, he was to be taken care of. My Grandma always worked to keep the house clean, food ready and the kids out of his way. As the years went on and grandpa's health started to fail, Grandma was forced to take care of him. She waited on him hand and foot because that's what he expected of her. She was repaid with temper tantrums and angry words because nothing was ever good enough.

Several years ago, the doctors told grandpa that he needed to have some tests and procedures done. He refused because he knew more than the doctors (who were only trying to take his money). It was this refusal that would lead to his death last week.

I was extremely sad as I watched him lie in the nursing home a few days before his death. Despite the medicines, he was in pain. He didn't recognize anyone. He couldn't eat or drink. What I found the strangest was that as I looked at him, the sadness I felt was more for the fact that he was a person suffering, but not someone I knew.

Over the years, I have accepted the fact that I never had a relationship with that grandfather. I also came to understand that it was his choice. When I was a kid, I had the ability to love him with all my heart, but that was refused. A short temper and the mistreatment of my beloved Grandmother made that choice.

I am sure that in his own way, grandpa loved me, but the tears that I spilled on Sunday were not for him, but for Grandma and for the relationship that never was.

Loves it!

2008-07-08T14:10:00.003-05:00

I am super excited! My favorite local singer has released a new album, and I can't wait to get my grubby little paws on it! Her name is Erin Bode, and she sings jazz. Her voice is amazing, especially live. Anyway, here is a clip of her, because I think it's awesome!

Independence Rocks!

2008-07-03T10:32:00.004-05:00

Happy Independence Day Weekend! This weekend we celebrate the anniversary of our nation's founding. To that end, I would like to thank all the men and women who put their lives on the line everyday to ensure that we, and others in this world, can have freedom. I would especially like to thank my brother, who is serving a tour in Afghanistan. Ben makes me crazy sometimes, but he is doing something that I could never do, and for that I am grateful.

I am also posting a copy of the article Bob wrote for our church's newsletter. I think that it really captures what America is about. Enjoy!

In just under a week, our nation will be 232 years old, and as nations go that is extremely young. In such a short time we have been through tremendous adversity. In less than 20 years citizen soldiers fought for and won our independence from the largest and most powerful military on earth then proceeded to invent a new kind of government that is now the pattern for all of the free peoples of the world. We have fought 10 major wars as well as dozens of smaller conflicts. Through force of arms we have freed not only ourselves but millions of people world wide from oppressive governments; in all costing millions of casualties including the death of over one and a half million American soldiers. We have been at the brink of economic ruin dozens of times and survived drought, depressions, major social upheaval and even civil war.
Although it is a stretch to say that all of our leaders were committed Christians, the case could easily be made that a significant number of our founding fathers, and subsequent presidents, have been influenced significantly by the teachings of the Bible. From theories on government to guidance in times of great trouble, the Bible’s influence has been very prevalent in the actions, words and writings of our leaders. With our nation’s anniversary right around the corner it seemed appropriate to reflect back on what some of our greatest leaders have said and written about how God and the Bible helped them to shape and sustain our nation.

Samuel Adams – “Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of public liberty and happiness.”

John Jay – “The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.”

John Adams –“Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all government and in all the combinations of human society.”

Ronald Regan -“Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.”
George Washington -“Your love of liberty - your respect for the laws - your habits of industry - and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, are the strongest claims to national and individual happiness.”

In some of the darkest hours in our history presidents have often turned to their faith and the faith of the American people for guidance and solace. In his address on the evening of September 11, 2001 President Bush asked the nation to pray “for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.”
While allied forces were establishing the beachhead at Normandy on the evening of June 6, 1944 President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the nation by radio and asked the country to pray with him. Roosevelt’s prayer that evening captured not only the essence of the allies’ struggle, but also the fundamental nature of our nation’s goal since declaring independence in 1776; a people, with the help of God, struggling to be a bastion of justice, freedom and hope to the world.

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity … They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph … For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home … Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom … And for us at home help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice … But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts … O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose … With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom… Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.

TGIF

2008-06-27T11:50:00.002-05:00

I am sooooooo glad that it is finally the weekend! I have had a heck of a week!

In the summer, our lab has group meeting twice a week. The first meeting is a research presentation and the second is a discussion of a recent journal article. Unfortunately it was my week to present, so I had to put together and deliver talks on Tuesday and Thursday. It isn't really hard to do, but it does take a lot of time. Luckily those went well.

I've had the group meeting schedule since the beginning of the summer, but wouldn't you know I would just totally ignore it! I managed to schedule the summer church newsletter to come out this week. I spent hours writing and working on the layout between my work obligations. I annoyed my husband because I believe that if you are going to put the effort out to do something, you might as well do it right. I have designed a really visually pleasing newsletter layout with shading in some places for contrast. Unfortunately, when the copies are made the shading becomes disruptive to the older members of the church who can't read the words then. It is completely legible in the copy I send to the church secretary, but the church's copier sucks. It absolutely kills me to have to mess up my beautiful design because the problem isn't really on my end. Bob thinks I'm just too picky, but I take pride in my work!

On top of all of this, I had to head down to Evansville on Wednesday. Grandpa Joiner isn't doing well at all. He has no control over his bodily functions, he hit a nurse the other day and he doesn't even recognize my Grandma anymore. In the two weeks that he has been in the nursing home, he has gotten really bad. It's sad because he isn't really a person anymore. He is living in the past and not able to participate in the current. His regression has been very quick, but we are at the point where he is completely incapacitated. Hopefully he doesn't languish like this. It's painful to watch, but he has no concept of what is happening to him.

Now that the weekend is here, I'm hoping to relax a little bit. I'm getting tired of running at full speed all the time. Unfortunately, I think that's going to be my life for a while now.

Disappointment reigns supreme

2008-06-18T09:37:00.003-05:00

I have been so excited about my house being renovated. I picked out a grey color for the main paint, the facia are white and then a nice colonial blue for the trim. I just love the colors together! The contractor told me that he was going to get the siding to match the grey of the paint. He brought this beautiful, rich medium grey that looks striking against the white trim. In my head I have been visualizing for weeks how the house will look finished.

When we came home from work last night, the contractor had finished painting all but a little of the blue trim, and I can honestly say that I absolutely hate it. No seriously! The paint is about two whole shades lighter than the siding. It's so light, in fact, that when I came around the corner and onto our street last night, I thought they had primed the house with white paint! I looks awful.

Bob doesn't think it's that bad, but I know better. It is not at all what I thought I was getting. We checked with the contractor about changing the color, but it would cost another $1000, which we don't have since the roof was already an extra $4000.

All this time I have been waiting for the house to be finished so that I can proudly show off all the time that we spent making it perfect, but now I'm just embarassed to have spent all that money on such an ugly result. Oh well. I guess I'm stuck with it. I'll just have to learn not to cry every time I look at it.

I will eat your face

2008-06-17T09:48:00.003-05:00

I don't know why, but this morning I woke up with the overwhelming desire to beat the tar out of something. I snapped at my husband for locking the bathroom door. I yelled at the dog because he wouldn't poo. I have just been plain old mean today (Stop nodding, Bob)!

I have been under a lot of stress lately, and I guess it may be finally catching up with me. The construction in just dragging on, and we can't officially finish until I get my new floors laid. Unfortunately, my cousin is going to lay them in his free time, so I am at his mercy. I can't really make any progress in the kitchen until the floors are down, so we are in a holding pattern. It's just really frustrating.

We also found out last week that Bob's cousin and his wife are expecting a baby, which just threw me into a depression. This couple are 19 and 20 and have been married less than a year, in fact, they have been a couple for a total of 2 years. They are both preacher's kids (nothing wrong with that), who were both homeschooled, and not in a good way, so neither of them have much of an education. They have very low-paying jobs comisurate with their levels of education (which they apparently have no desire to rectify). I am worried for them and the baby. I am also, and I hate to admit it, a jealous as I could possibly be. Bob and I have been together for 7 years, married for 3. We have decided to wait until I am finished with school before trying for kids. I know all the logic and reasons we should wait. I need to write a thesis, I don't make a lot of money, we don't have much free time right now. I get it ... I really do. However, everytime someone we know gets pregnant, it is PAINFULLY obvious that I have had to put some dreams on hold for others. I knew all this going in, but I just didn't know how hard it would be. I'm such a whiner sometimes.

We put my grandpa in a nursing home on Friday. I spent a lot of last week on the phone arranging the transfer and explaining to Grandma what would be happening. There was, of course, lots of family drama to add to it.

I am just really hoping that things ease up a bit before I lose my mind! I think Bob would probably die without me around. He always said that he would have to get married right out of college because he needed somebody to take care of him!

Here's to us

2008-06-11T11:15:00.003-05:00

Wow! Three years ago I was getting ready to walk down the aisle to marry my best friend. It seems like a lifetime ago! Over these last few years we have fought for each other and fought with each other. I've been chased by dinosaurs and pirates, and threatened to sell the Wii a few times.

When I look back over everything that has happened since we have been married, I am amazed by how much we have accomplished. We have worked hard, and made it through some challenges that neither of us anticipated. We bought a house, and are almost finished renovating it. We took over the church youth group and increased the membership from 3 to 20! We have survived (sort of) having 2 labs in our house; the same cannot be said for our carpet or furniture!

Bob has always been there for me. When my parents divorced, he helped me through. While I was working on my Dissertation Proposal he tried to keep things on track at home. He goes to work everyday at a job I know he dislikes so that I can finish chasing my dreams. Whether it be through a movie line or the emergence of one of his alternate personalities, he can always make me laugh.

I'm a very lucky woman, and today is just another chance to count my blessings. "In all things give thanks for this is the will of the Lord concerning you" I Thessalonians 5:18

Ummm ... ok then

2008-06-07T08:59:00.002-05:00

I was surfing the net and came across this interesting story. Apparently there is a husband and wife that live in Arizona who have a unique relationship. They are Buddhist, and in order to achieve a higher level of consciousness within their relationship, they are NEVER more than 15 feet from each other. I'm not kidding!

They share a bowl for eating, they read together from the same book, if the husband wakes up and wants to work in the middle of the night, the wife goes along. It is truly the craziest thing I think I have ever seen!

Anyway, another couple, both journalists, heard about the situation and decided to give it a try. They had a mini-documentary made about their experience, and it's pretty interesting.

It appears that things went rather well for them, but I can assure you that would not be the case if Bob and I tried this!

First of all, I don't love the smells my husband leaves for me in the bathroom, and I have no desire to be anywhere near him while they are being produced! It's just wrong!

For anyone who doesn't know my husband, he has a tendency to rant. Sometimes it involves politics, sometimes religion, other times the finer points of South Park or Metallica and once it was a very painful exploration of the true purposes and events of the Crusades (seriously, ask Ryan!). It is just plain scary to think that I wouldn't be able to leave the room once one of those "informative pontifications" begins.

Also, who wants to share their food? Sometimes having another person to help you finish a dish you didn't like is good, but you better step off my ice cream!

I love my husband with all of my heart, but I am pretty sure we are much better off having some personal space at times. I don't always like me, so I'm sure that I wouldn't be a cake-walk in the whole thing either!

The end is near

2008-06-06T11:05:00.002-05:00

I'm super jazzed today! The contractor has my roof almost finished, even with all the other complications. They finished putting the siding on my addition and are planning on installing the outside light and ceiling fan today. All that's left is to repaint the house next week. I just can't wait to see it finished.

Now I have to get my cousin to come over and get my new floors put in so that we can have the final appraisal done and get our new mortgage finalized. Hopefully the weather cooperates with the contractors!

On a side note, my Grandpa on my dad's side is in the hospital. He has some major gout & arthritis, fluid around his lungs and built up in his legs, blood clots in his legs and is severely anemic. He isn't eating well and is extremely weak.

I don't have a stellar relationship with this grandpa because of the way he has treated my Grandma over the years. However, I do not enjoy the idea of him suffering. I am praying that God takes control of the situation and helps the family in dealing with whatever comes up.

At least I have my health

2008-06-04T10:19:00.002-05:00

It's been a rough several days. It all started last week when the contractors were starting to work on the roof. They called Bob to let him know that they ran into some serious problems. First of all, there were three layers of shingles on the roof as opposed to the two layers that are allowed to be there. The extra set of shingles required more man hours to remove than originally budgeted for.

After they scraped the shingles off, the contractors found another, more serious problem. When the roof was originally put on the house, plywood was not placed over the 2 x 4 beams. This meant that we had to pay to have new plywood put over the whole roof. Several of the beams were damaged as well, so those had to be repaired.

All-in-all, the overages came out to $3860 that we had not planned for. Yea for home ownership! It's not the end of the world, but it is extremely frustrating.

Then today I received my annual update from the Chemistry Department about my progress within the PhD program. Apparently I am scheduled to graduate next August. Although it's nice to have a date, I was really hoping for May graduation. I am ready to be out of here and get on with my life. I am tired of playing office politics all the time and monitoring everything that I say and do.

Bob is taking the news pretty hard. He hates his job and was hoping to be able to quit in less than a year, but now that isn't likely.

It's just been one thing after another lately. I am frustrated with it all, but hey, what's new!

What's right with America

2008-06-02T15:00:00.003-05:00

Too many kids today have no limits. They feel that they are owed anything that they want and should not have to work for things. It's quite a sad commentary on our society. Parents are able to provide more for their kids today than many were years ago. They do so out of love, but unfortunately often require little in return.

I have always worked. I baby-sat as a kid, and when I was old enough took a job at Taco Bell. It wasn't glamorous, but it was money. I bought my own clothes because I felt guilty about asking my parents for money. I would never consider asking them to buy me a car like many teenagers do.

Kids need more accountability for their actions. They need to realize that you must earn the things you want, and if you try and take them you will be punished. This mom has it absolutely right. Check it out!

Foxy lady

2008-05-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

My grandma is crazy. She is so funny sometimes, and I just hope that I can still have this much fun when I'm her age. Grandma is a random concoction of things. She is the world's biggest pack rat ... no really. She loves to collect anything and everything. If there was ever a story in any newspaper within a 100 mile radius that mentioned the name of a family member or anyone they might know, it was clipped out and put in a photo album. Anything one of us grandkids ever did any sort of paper or project in school, no matter how unimportant, it was tucked away. She has a massive collection of porcelain dolls that are all still in their packaging stuffed into a closet. At last count there were over 120. She's always picking up some weird piece of plastic that she finds, or begs a doctor to let her have, so she can make a new thing for her miniature dollhouses. At one point she had 3 organs in her garage, even though she has never been able to play them.

My grandma loves nothing more than a hamburger and fries. McDonald's is good and Sonic is better, but the best is, by far, Rally's. If I ever have enough money while she's still alive, I will build a Rally's next door to her house so she can have it whenever she wants! She is the most crafty person I have ever met. She can crochet these amazingly delicate doileys with fantastic, intricate patterns, and make awesome things out of plastic canvas. She decorates big straw hats with flowers so that she can wear them.

Grandma's favorite tv show is Orange County Choppers because she loves that Paul Jr. One of her favorite gifts was an OCC t-shirt which she wears for special occasions. She pulls no punches, and is unrepentently cheap. She has a genetic condition which requires her to pull the car over if she sees signs saying "Free" or "Yard Sale."

I hope that one day I can have a grandchild that feels about me the way I feel about her. She's been a great friend, teacher and confidant all these years. Happy birthday Grandma!

There's no freezing in baseball!

2008-05-29T09:14:00.001-05:00

Bob and I skipped church on Sunday (I know, I know) because we had an out of town wedding to attend (Congrats Laura & Joe!). We were on our way to the big event when Bob's mom called to let us know that Pastor Dennis had two Cardinals tickets that he couldn't use for Tuesday night. We, of course, jumped at the opportunity to see a game for free because we're cheap like that!

Wouldn't you know it, Hunter got sick Tuesday morning so Bob took the day off to get him to the vet. Since I drove in to work, Bob just took the train and met me at the stadium.

It was warm and muggy when I left the house Tuesday morning, so I wore my cute new capris and ballet flats. By the time I left the lab, it had rained and the temperature plummeted. I had Bob bring me a sweatshirt to put over my top, and figured that would be ok.

What I should have realized is that I live in the St. Louis area. The weather here is like nothing else on earth. At the end of May, it should not be a measly 53 degrees! It's just not right! I was freezing! Luckily a nice couple sitting next to us had a blanket they weren't using that they let me borrow.

We only stayed through the 5th inning because not only was it freezing, the Cards were getting routed. Of course that only bothered me. My darling husband is a Dodger fan and hate my beloved Cardinals. He laughed at every error (and there were many) and rolled his eyes at every boo for a bad call. Boys!

Mmmm strawberries!

2008-05-28T08:54:00.005-05:00

Eckert's is a wonderful family orchard near my house. They grow all sorts of fruits and vegetables to sell in their store, but they also have Pick-Your-Own Fruit. This past weekend was the first weekend of the year for picking strawberries.

One of my co-workers, Geeta, is from India, and has never experienced the fun of plucking berries straight from the bush, and really wanted to try it. She and our other co-worker, Deepa, and Deepa's two kids, Aditi and Tejaz, came over to the Illinois side of the river so I could take them picking. It was so much fun!

The morning was a little cool and very cloudy, but definitely better than some years when I've picked. Eckert's opened at 8 a.m., and we got there about 10:20 a.m. I was shocked to see a huge line of people waiting to be taken out to the strawberry fields. I've never seen anything like it! The orchard was running three different tractors and a shuttle bus, but we still waited over half an hour to get out to the fields.

Geeta was so excited. She told me that she had never seen a strawberry tree before because they don't really grow in India. She was pretty surprised when I told her how small the bushes actually are!

When we finally managed to get out to the fields, there were tons of people everywhere. There weren't a lot of berries left that were good for picking, but we managed to get several flats worth before we left.

We had to ride the shuttle bus out to the field, so Geeta insisted that we ride on one of the wagons that were being pulled by tractor. She and I sat on the edge with our feet hanging over. She giggled as we drove past the tall grasses that grow along the path, and snapped several pictures of the apple and peach trees as we drove by.

By the time we got into the store to pay for our berries, Eckert's had to close the fields for picking because there weren't any ripe berries left! I did feel bad for Deepa though. Tejaz had managed to come away with mud and strawberry juice all over his clothes! I would definitely not want to try and get those stains out.

Everyone had so much fun picking the strawberries. Geeta has been making herself smoothies with her batch. She was very excited to tell her mom all about her experience. I'm just glad that I got to share it with her.

Plotting my revenge

2008-05-22T12:46:00.006-05:00

Bob and I have the most amazing bed. It's a sleep number, and it has saved us so many fights. Bob prefers his side of the bed to be set at a bone-jarring morgue slab level, while mine is more along the lines of a squishy marshmallow cloud. No other single bed was going to satisfy us. The only downside to our lovely queen-sized bed is that it comes complete with two labradors and a maltese. This slight engineering (dog parenting?) malfunction was exceptionally evident last night.

I woke up around 2am feeling like a mummy. Bob was sleeping at an angle in the bed with his top half on my side right against me and then bent at the waist with his legs on his side (freak!). Where he disconnected with me, Hunter, our 65 pound oaf, had filled in on top of my blanket down the length of me. Stretched out on my other side was Schlafly, our 45 pound money pit. Not only was she stretched out on top of my blankets on my other side, she was using my neck as her pillow. So here I am, laying in my bed, trapped on all sides by crazies (love you honey) and sweating to death with no room to move or breathe. For those who don't know, when labs (and husbands) sleep, they become immovable dead weight. It was not a fun experience.

The only member of my household that will be spared my coming revenge is my sweet little maltese, Champ. He was sleeping like a good boy in his little bed on the floor. The rest of you better watch out though ... paybacks are a bitch!

Aliens perhaps?

2008-05-14T10:54:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I wonder if the people that I know are strange or if it is really just me. I look at something they are doing and think, "Am I the only one who doesn't know that's the normal thing to do?" Then I wonder if I'm just completely out of touch. I mention this to lead into my story from work on yesterday.

My boss is a neat freak. He can't stand it if our lab gets the slightest bit disarrayed, so about twice a year we have lab clean-up day. Everyone has to come in & we wash shelves and benches. I run maintanence on all the computers and get the dust out of them. The whole process is annoying, but I get the point and help out.

This particular clean-up day, however, makes me question the sanity of some of my colleagues. One of them was dusting the lab notebooks that are sitting on a shelf. They aren't dusty since they get used regularly, but they met the Swiffer anyway. Another organized the reagent bottles ... by size! It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Our little shelf has bottles lined up in a row from smallest to largest.

It makes me wonder what makes a person like things that ordered. I'm all for organization, but there is something to be said for a little bit of variation. I think life would be totally boring if everything were put in neat little rows that were perfectly straight. I think if people who enjoy that would take a look at my life, they would think I'm an absolute wreck! My life is jam packed, but it's fun, and I never know what to expect next. Sometimes I get good surprises and sometimes I get bad ones. It's all part of the experience, and I learn a little bit more each time.

Phew!

2008-05-12T10:20:00.006-05:00

It was another long weekend for Bob and me. It started Friday night with his cousin Beth's graduation from nursing school. Her striping and capping ceremony was that evening, so we had to rush to get there in time after work. I'm glad we did though, because she seemed so excited that we were able to be there.

Saturday was busy, but in a fun way. I had to drop Hunter off at the vet for a check-up and some shots, and then I did a little shopping. I bought the paint for the shutters and picked out the shingles for the roof. I'm super excited!! Then Bob met me at Camp Bow Wow for a carnival that was to benefit Belleville Area Rescue of K-9s (B.A.R.K.). A co-worker of Bob's mom is very involved with the organization and invited us. It was fun. There were other dogs for Champ and Schlafly to sniff, and some games for Bob and I. We entered some raffles and won a cool gift basket with some movies and movie passes in it! Go us!

After we left, I went to Pottery Hollow to paint a cookie jar for my Grandparent's 50th anniversary later this month.

Sunday was a sprint also. After church we had lunch at my Grandma's with my dad and then went to Bob's Grandma's for dessert. After that we took Bob's Mom to supper at our favorite Chinese restaraunt. Good times were had by all.

Creepy crawly

2008-05-08T09:36:00.005-05:00

I'm a wuss. I'll admit it. I hate scary movies because even the least scary among them do indeed scare me. Monsters are gross and freaky, but they are nothing compared to ghosts. I am terrifired of ghosts and demons and the like. Unfortunately for me, my husband is all to aware of these things.

Bob really loves paranormal stuff. He has several Troy Taylor books, and one of his favorite shows is Ghosthunters. I do watch the show with him, but it always creeps me out. There was this one episode in particular where they searched a toy store for the ghost of Jean, a former employee. The hunters managed to catch several really, really clear EVP samples that give me chills just thinking about it. One said "There is no Jean here" and the other was "Leave us alone".

My husband now thinks it's funny to email me or call me just to let me know that there is no Jean here. Ugh ... I have goosebumps right now!! I have yet to convince him he is not funny, the big jerk. One day I will find his weakness and shamelessly exploit it!

The creepy starts around 2:15!!

It makes my tummy feel all funny

2008-05-06T13:05:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was such a long day. Bob and I were still recovering from the weekend, and he wasn't feeling well. We were both sluggish all day, and work was torture. However, everything was about to change!

When we pulled up to our house that night, it was quickly apparent that the contractors had started their work. We had anticipated that they would get started, but we had no idea that this is what we should expect! I think the pictures say it all.

Bob and I both knew that the porch was in dire straits, but we had no idea how bad it really was. We were shocked to see the brick foundation literally crumbling out from under the floor area. The roof was being propped up by an unsecured post standing on a piece of concrete! We were both terrified that the whole thing was going to collapse!

There were still smoldering coals in our fire pit in the back yard. The contractor had burned a lot of the wood that he removed. Later when Bob tossed another piece on it burst into flames almost immediately!
We realized that the entrance to the basement was now exposed, so to prevent the possiblity of someone breaking in, Bob nailed boards across the door. I helped hold them (gold star for me!).

After I got over the shock of seeing my house in insane disarray, I pulled out the camera to document it all. I'm so excited that things are officially moving forward. We've reached the point of no return, and I can't wait to see how things turn out! This whole process is absolutely fascinating to me. I've never been involved in a major renovation project before.

The only problem we have now is that we have to use the front door, and Hunter likes to run out of it. If that happens, Bob and I spent 45 minutes chasing a labrador around town. For those who haven't tried it ... not recommended!

Weekend redux

2008-05-05T11:13:00.005-05:00

We had the youth group lock-in this weekend, as well as company in town. Nothing like overextending yourself I always say!

Anyway ... Bob and I left work at 2:30 on Friday, went home to gather some stuff up and headed down to church. We managed to get all the prizes set out and the gift baskets put together pretty quickly. We had let the kids pick the menu for the night, and they settled on an Italian buffet for dinner. I made meat ravioli, cheese tortolini and some funky shaped pasta that Bob picked out, as well as red sauce with & without meat and some alfredo. We rounded everything out with garlic bread and Caesar salad.

Bob and I finished the set-up and had dinner ready at 6:10. We told the kids to come between 6:15 and 6:30. We waited. Then we waited some more. Finally, at about 6:45 two of our kids come in. Then we see one more. Then things began to fall apart.

One of our girls showed up pushing a stroller with another kid in tow. She came to let us know that she had to babysit on short notice that night. That meant neither her or her friend would be coming. Then another girl shows up with a friend, but her sister was home sick (2 more kids out). We knew that one of our girls had a basketball tournament and may not make it, but we counted her & her guest in the anticipated total anyway to be safe. At this point we are down 6 kids. Then we find out that one of our boys and his friend weren't coming because they were getting ready for a camp-out (8). The real kick in the teeth came when we learn that one of our other boys wasn't coming because he had to go see Ironman (9). All-in-all, we ended up with 7 kids when we had planned for 18.

Bob and I were really frustrated because we had put so much effort into the weekend. I've been shopping and planning for months! Bob had a great trivia game planned that he even made buzzers for. We were definitely feeling unappreciated again!

Anyway ... the night went pretty smoothly after the initial disappointments. All the kids that came were Junior High, and they got along really well. They made up games to play, they shared the Wii well and they even helped clean-up with no problems.

The only hitch was the service project. We painted coffee mugs to be given out at the Father's Day Breakfast in June. I bought special paint, and lots of stamps and brushes for them to use. The results ... well ... I'll let the picture speak for itself! Interestingly, the boys chose to paint with hot pink quite frequently ... random!

Once everything wound down Saturday morning, Bob and I headed home. My college roommate and her husband were in town for the Cardinals game Saturday. They live in Moline, so we don't get to see them very often. Unfortunately, I scheduled the lock-in for the weekend they were in town, so things were a bit complicated.

Jess & Brian had stayed at our house Friday night, and were waiting for us when we got in Saturday. Apparently Brian really enjoyed our Sleep Number Bed, and now they plan to get one. We played MarioKart for the Wii (which Jess & Brian brought with them) and hung out a little bit. Then they left for the ball game. While they were gone, Bob and I passed out on the couches! Eventually we got up, took showers and made dinner (mmm ... kabobs!) for when they got back. Jess & Brian decided to take us out for dessert, and had never been to Coldstone Creamery, so we had to go! It was awesome!

We did hang out a little more Sunday morning before Jess & Brian left, but once they were gone, Bob and I passed out again. Bob left the house once to go pick up our Chinese food for dinner, but other than that, we were total slugs!

Jess & Brian- Sorry we weren't more fun! I'll totally make it up to you in September!

All good things must end

2008-04-30T13:51:00.004-05:00

Almost 5 years ago, I needed a job for the summer before I started grad school. Since I didn't need many hours, I took a position at a small, high-end toy store. The job was awesome, and the people were even better. I met L there.

She was a couple years younger than me, and tons of fun. We hit it off right away. Whenever possible, we worked together and spent most of the time having fun (between customers of course!). Soon, we decided that our respective boyfriends should meet. From our conversations we could tell that they were almost identical, and we figured we could double date.

Although he was reluctant about the meeting, Bob hit it off with G right away. They had this way of feeding off each other. One would start a rant about something and before long the other was chiming right in.

The four of us were together frequently. We went to dinner, movies, hung out at each other's houses ... all the normal things friends do. L sang in our wedding & G was an usher. I was L's matron of honor and Bob was an usher. Things were great.

Late last summer, we all went to the comedy club, and L & G told us that they were pregnant. I was so excited to be an auntie and throw L a baby shower. I went out the next day to get all the makings of a huge baby quilt and spent hours working on it. We all got busy, and it was September before we could get together again. I couldn't wait for the latest update on the baby.

L & G canceled at the last minute, and that was the last time we heard from them. Bob and I both tried to contact them, but nothing. I sent them a Christmas card, but no response. I sent them an anniversary card in middle March, and again nothing. By the first of April, I knew the baby should have been born, but I hadn't heard anything, so I Googled them. It turns out that L & G had their baby almost a week after their anniversary, which also happened to be Bob's birthday.

Needless to say, I was crushed. Not only had we been shut out of this amazing event, I had to find out about it online. I have been just broken hearted over this whole situation, so I decided to send them a card. I congratulated them on the birth of the baby and apologized if we did anything to upset or offend them. I told them that we love them and wish them the best. I kept it simple, but hopefully made it clear that I was hurt, but leaving the door open. That was almost 3 weeks ago. I have heard nothing from them.

It's always hard when a friendship ends, but I think it's worse when it seemingly ends for no reason.

There's no place like home ...

2008-04-28T13:00:00.006-05:00

About two years ago, Bob and I bought this cute little house in an old part of town. The house is about 120 years old, and is sort of small, but it has character. I know that Bob doesn't love it all the time, but when I look at it I see the house that I want to make it into, not all the bad stuff.
The house is brick, and at some point in the past it was painted, but the paint is chipped off in places and the mortar is starting to fall out. The roof is in bad shape too. Both of these things have combined to do some damage to the plaster walls inside the house. Unfortunately we can't fix the walls until we fix the roof and the brick.
It's been a long process, but we are finally ready to sign the papers this week to begin the renovations that we want to do! I am so excited. This means that we will get the house repainted and a new roof, plus we are putting in a small addition which will give us more space. But I think the thing I'm most excited about is reworking the kitchen. There isn't a lot of usable counter space, so it is really hard for me to cook and bake when I want to. I just can't wait to see how this all turns out!
We did get a jump start this weekend. Bob had his cousins come over and they did some planting (wouldn't you know that it's gonna frost tonight! WTG StL) and fixed the entrance to the yard. I feel like we are starting to make some progress on things. Yea!

Sigh of Relief

2008-04-25T15:02:00.004-05:00

So it's finally Friday!!! I am so glad to be done with this week. It feels like it's gone on forever. It's going to be another jam-packed weekend for us (as usual).

We are probably going to be doing some much needed yard work tomorrow. We also need to finish up some details for the lock-in, especially buying the food. Teenagers get really mad if you expect them to go more than 15 minutes without eating (little known fact). I also need to finish my lesson for Sunday School sometime. On the up side, I get to pamper myself with a visit to my favorite salon!

Sunday we are going to have lunch with my mom, who is in town for the weekend. Bob agreed to trade her our unused desktop computer for a bottle of good whiskey. I hope he isn't disappointed, because she doesn't really drink, and especially not hard liquor, so his version of good and hers may not meet up.

Stop the ride! I wanna get off!

2008-04-24T13:21:00.007-05:00

I'm 26 years old. I know it may not seem that old to most people, but sometimes I feel ancient. I think that a good part of that is because of the fact that I am STILL in school.
I am finishing up my fourth year of my PhD studies which I started right out of college which I started right out of high school. I feel like I have been in school forever. In truth, I've been in school for about 21 years. That's nearly 81% of my life!

Sometimes I feel like my life is on hold until I finish. I don't know where I will be able to get a job after grad school, so there is no way to plan much further than a year. Heck, I don't even know when I will actually graduate!

It's been really hard on Bob. I know that he doesn't like his job, but since I don't get paid very much right now, we need the money. He doesn't feel comfortable looking for a new job since we don't know if we will even be in the area after next year. He has been such a good sport, but I feel really horrible about the position he is in.

Don't even get me started on kids (yes, Mom, we would like to have them. No, Mom, it will not be tomorrow!).

Maybe I'm just stressed out right now. Maybe everyone feels burnout by this point in their graduate work. I don't know. All I know is that I'm a very lucky woman who is very much ready to join the real world!

Ready for a nap

2008-04-23T09:17:00.003-05:00

Besides working daily, my husband and I lead our church's youth group. We currently have about 20 kids involved, which is amazing since there were only 3 when we took over 3 years ago. The problem is, there is a ton of work associated with being leaders. Every week we each have to prepare a lesson, one for high school, the other for junior high. In addition we are constantly trying to plan service projects, games and fundraisers. This year we noticed that several of our students were doing poorly in some of their classes, so we started a Wednesday night tutoring session. Every week, Bob and I run out of work as soon as we can, grab dinner in the car and drive the 30 minutes home, pick up our dogs, drive the 30 minutes to Bob's mom's house, drop the dogs off and drive the 10 minutes to church. We tutor for at least an hour and then get the dogs and head home. We work really hard to try and make a difference in these kids' lives, but sometimes it's a thankless job. Occassionally we hear a "thank-you" from some member of the church, but usually it's more about being thankful they don't have to do it. By the end of the school year, I am exhausted.

Thankfully, after next weekend we are done for the summer. Unfortunately that also means that next weekend is the end of the year lock-in. As soon as I can get out of work next Friday, I will fly down to the church and start setting up. Between now and then, I have to finish getting the prizes, fix the scavenger hunt, buy the food and get the rest of the stuff I need for the service project.

I just hope I can get everything done & survive the lock-in! Luckily when it's over, my college roommate and her husband will be waiting for me at my house! What a great reward for surviving another year with some crazy kids!!

Evil kitty of doom

2008-04-22T09:26:00.001-05:00

So my mother-in-law's cat, Fender Catacaster (my husband named her) bit my husband on Sunday afternoon. I didn't even know about it until that night when he showed me his knuckles. They were swollen and hard all around the bites. I was a little concerned, but it was Sunday night, and there was nothing we could do about it.
When we got up Monday morning, Bob's hand was swollen and he couldn't make a fist. We decided to have it checked out, so once the doctor's office opened, we scheduled the first available appointment.
While we were in the exam room waiting for the doctor, my husband proceeded to diagnose himself. First it was tetnus because his jaw was locking up. Then he was pretty sure he detected the faint scent of almonds, which of course indicates gangrene. Finally, just before the doctor came in, he decided that since his finger joint hurt, he probably had Lupus. I swear I thought he was sane when I married him!
Anyway, it turns out that, according to our doctor, 90% of cat bites (but only 10% of dog bites) get infected. The doctor was concerned about the location of the bite because if the cat went too deep, she may have hit a bursa in the joint which could require surgery to fix. They gave Bob a tetnus shot and some high dose antibiotics with a wait and see directive.
Thankfully, this morning the swelling has gone down and the pain has subsided. I think we dodged a bullet on this one! What we did not dodge, however was the barrage of cat related diseases that my hypocondriac was pretty sure he had. Kitty pox and Cat Scratch Fever (thanks Lisa) could possibly induce a Cat-atonic state. He really is special.