Move is almost done.

Well we have survived the move to Peru. This is a move we have been looking forward to for awhile. DH and I both were driving the 20 miles each way for far too long. Gas prices and wear & tear on the cars helped the decision along. This move has to be by far the hardest we have ever had. Having just under a month to pack and go thru 3 years worth of accumulation didn't help. The basement was one of those things we constantly put off going thru and has ended up being the main nightmare. I swear things multiply when you aren't looking! I still had boxes we had never unpacked from the last move. DH has been going back and forth everyday this week to get the "last minute" crap. We hope to go and do a final clean tomorrow night. We need the deposit back!! Our new landlord needs to take lessons from our old landlord. He is cool with us taking a bit longer than we thought to get everything cleaned up. She (the new one) on the other hand, had things unfinished and far from clean when we took possession. Oh well. We know it will be much cleaner when we leave then when we arrived.

This home is only temporary. We plan to buy a house in the next year or so. I'm getting rid of as much "junk" now as I can. The rest is in storage. If I need it, I can go dig it out. There are many things I can't bear to part with but have no room for in this home.

Thank goodness for the support and help of my family. Everyone came out to give us a hand. My brother got us a truck from work - no charge and he paid for the gas. DH helped him move in July so he was "paying us back". He laughed at the realization that I still haven't seen his new home. I couldn't get around too good at the time of his move due to the ankle ordeal. I wasn't used to the crutches yet at that point. I will get there someday. My dad was wonderful. He was the only one (other than us) to make more than one trip. Mom was a great help with everything moms are supposed to help with. My sister and her hubby also were big helps. I ordered a tray of food from their Peru location and they ended up picking it up for me, and then not taking payment for it! Stinkers. I think the whole family was just happy we didn't have to drive everyday anymore. Oh it was also my other brothers birthday so we had pie and sang to him. His daughter helped organize my kitchen while I was out getting pop and beer to go along with the food.

My DH doesn't understand that my family helping like this is rather new to me. They never helped when I was married to my ex. They never really cared for him. I think they just didn't want to be around him. Oh well. A big thanks goes out to everyone for the much appreciated help. No matter what way you helped us.

We aren't thrilled with some of the things we have "learned" about this house but my dad is sure we will make it our home as best as we can. Lesson learned on being hasty in moving. I'm still unpacking and already preparing for "next time".

It's a BOY!

As I noted on Sara Smiles Blog - my sister is going to have a boy. I went to my local Hobby Lobby at lunch and was hoping to find the "perfect" yarn to start a baby project. Nothing thrilled me. I walked out disappointed. I'm also torn on just what to make her?!? You'd think having the chance to make something new for this unexpected bundle of Joy that is going to change the family I would have a clue. Nothing - zip - nada. Maybe it's because I'm distracted with moving next week. I will chalk it up to that. I think I may just put it on the back burner for now. Maybe after going shopping or finding out a bit more on what colors she plans to use for the nursery. I'm hoping that will get me going. I do know that the baby crocs pattern I got a few months ago will probably be first.. something quick I maybe able to whip up in time to go under the tree.

I remember mom getting presents for the baby (now my son Kyle) back when I was pregnant. My ex hubby thought it was weird.. I enjoyed it. So I will hope to do the same for yet un-named baby :) She only had girls names picked out. Oh well she is ready just in case there is another one down the road. They were Sara's favorite girls names. So I'm sure they won't be forgotten anytime soon.

Scratch Utica - It's Peru for sure!

Well things fell thru on the Utica house but we have since found a place in Peru. Peru is where we wanted to be in the beginning anyway so it is for the best. Lil dude is thrilled he's always wanted to live in Peru (he likes his dentist and the McDonalds - just wait until he see's the YMCA waterpark!) We still will be moving the end of the month. My house is full of boxes - my hubby has been packing like crazy. It sucks to move but having a new place less than a mile from work will be wonderful! I'm not looking forward to the work moving causes but the outcome is going to be worth the work! We will be walking distance to a park and the Y so no more excuses to not workout!

Watch out Utica we are moving to town!

Yes, my daily commute has been reduced by more than half. We are moving to the booming metropolis of Utica. For those unfamiliar with the area it is the town across the river from Starved Rock State Park. Lil dude is ready to go. He thinks we are moving tomorrow. 3 weeks is still soon enough. So I won't be on here much until probably November unless I sneek on from work (like I'm doing at the moment) Keep everyone posted as I can. :)

It's starting to feel like fall.

I've been trying to get my pumpkin and candy corn preemie hats finished. I wasn't in the pumpkin hat making mood this year. I think the candy corn ones are just adorable! These were sent out the other day to The Preemie Project for the newly reformed Michigan Chapter. Some lovely ladies have taken on the duty and have been running away with it. Jan was just getting too busy.


Last weekend the boys and I took a hike out at Starved Rock. My ankle was finally feeling "up" to it. Also the trails have finally dried enough to hike and not get covered in mud from the rains and area flooding. We hiked a bluff trail so we were way up high. This is Kyle and Michael at Aurora Canyon bridge. Kyle and I had stopped to pick up promotional materials (work stuff) and the marketing director told us it ws the first time she had seen water in that Canyon in years and if we wanted to see it we better get out there this week. (Main reason we went hiking) Kyle likes to get me up out of my chair.... he has a future in being a personal trainer. He is the big one in the picture. Michael is the youngest of my 5 boys. It was only the three of us.



This is the boys overlooking Sac Canyon. The bridges are at the top of the waterfalls. Thy are looking down at the water. I love that picture of them.


Both boys were fascinated by this fallen tree. It fell onto another tree that is supporting it at this angle. Not shown in this picture is we are up about 200 feet above the ground. We had a great hike even with the mosquitos that were swarming around us. The mosquitos are bad due to the flooding that was below in the lower parts of the park.

We enjoyed our day while dad was away. Dad went to his first Notre Dame footbal game with a good friend. I spent the day with my boys. We finished off our trip to McD's (Michael's choice) and then went to the mall to play Lunar mini golf. Everything was glow in the dark, even the balls!

FLOOD!!

This is a view looking south where the Fox and Illinois Rivers meet.

View from the North bank of the Illinois River to the South bank. (Allen Park)

The playground at Central School.

Central school, Lil dude doesn't go here, this is for 4-6 grades. My 2 oldest boys went here before they split up the schools by grade.

This is the Fox River flowing thru the center east side of town.

The end of Superior St where it meets up with the Fox River. (end of my old street)

Our local YMCA is also underwater. I get out of working out for another week!

This is the entrance to Allen Park that is 2 blocks from my house. We also live along the river but we are up and away from the bank.


We are all ok. No one in my family is in harms way we all live up high. We are enjoying taking pictures of this once in a lifetime event. This is a record breaking flood. I will put more pictures on here from LaSalle/Peru area (by my office)as soon as I can.

New Addition to the Household.

This sleeping ball of fur is our new puppy Zoe. We aren't "supposed" to have pets but we are planning to move next summer and I thought why not - our neighbors have had a dog for 3 years and I gave up my Lab/Sheperd mix Diamond to move in here!!

She is my anniversary present from my honey. He wasn't as crazy about her after our first night. (She had us up every 2 hours) She has completely stolen his heart since then. Her wagging tail and big kisses did him in. We also know he likes blonds :) She also slept thru the night last night, WOOHOO from me on that one!!

I'm working on a pattern for a "bone" that is perfect for puppy teeth. I hope to have that on here later.

DMB was great.

I had a nice quiet weekend planned. Get the bills & such caught up with DH worked then relax and watch the Olympics with him and enjoy no lil dude. But NOOOO The phone rings and it's my brother looking for DH and I asked if he wanted me to call DH and ask him to call my brother. My brother tells me he is looking for someone to go to the Dave Matthews concert with him. I call DH and he is too busy working and won't get home in time to go.....he tells me to go. I thought yeah right.. with a bum ankle?!?! In lawn seats at Alpine?!?! Long story short I got ready and I went, trooper that I am!! I even got a shoe on for the first time since June! I did alot better than I thought and we had a blast! I sat when I got tired and stood when I could.... enjoyed the night and the time with my brother. DH told me to get a shirt and I got one he probably won't wear since the last two are more male looking :) I got him a sticker for his van. The cool part about going to the concert with my brother is he somehow gets the download of the actual concert and burns me a cd, so I can relive the evening's music anytime! Wish the cd was finished - I have a long drive to Chicago ahead of me tonight for a meeting tomorrow morning. Looking forward to a nice quiet bubblebath in the hotel and the king sized bed all to myself. I finished knitting a pillow for my ankle as now I'm in Physical Therapy 3 times a week and I have to keep it up or at least level at work. The footstool gets hard after awhile so I needed a cushion. It works!!

On a sad note I also got news that my BFF lost her dad over the weekend. They finally got him moved up here from Arkansas last month and his health was a lot worse then they were led to believe. I will be heading up to the Chicago burbs again on Thursday to pay respect to a man that most of my young life I was afraid of! He had a VERY dry sense of humor that as a kid I didn't understand. He was a great family man and I know he will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

What a weekend!

I left work at noon on Thursday. DH and I were heading to his first Jimmy Buffett concert. We checked into our hotel and were very happy with the room! We spent more on the room than we did the concert tickets so it was great that our room was so nice. We headed out to go and get some dinner on our way to the concert. Not one restaurant was to be found. Lucklly they had plenty of food at the Park. We parked and DH went to see what they had to eat. He came back and we realized we forgot to bring lawnchairs to "tailgate" before the concert. So I sat on the open trunk and he stood most of the time as we talked to a nice couple parked next to us. DH hubby enjoyed his first Parrothead experience and now is ready to go again next year!

The rest of the weekend was the usual watching Cubs games and Nascar. Sunday was my sisters birthday party. DH and boys went to work I picked up lil dude from his mom and we headed to the afternoon swim party. Before the food was ready my sister had eveyone head outside.... she had something to say. She said that if anyone had told her last year on her birthday everything that was to happen in the next year she would've thought they were on drugs! She said we had all been invited to for a reason. But the reason won't be here until MARCH! SHE IS PREGNANT!! I about fell out of my chair. My brother in law had a vasectomy when Sara was little....I guess he had it reversed in April and they had been trying ever since. Didn't take them long!!! Everyone in the family is thrilled. After all the heartache they have gone thru losing Sara this was a wonderful surprise. I'm sure Sara is looking down and thrilled for her mom and dad. She always wanted to be a big sister! Our family really needed this kind of news. I'm thrilled this is possibly the best gift we all could be given. Happy birthday lil sis!

Summer break is over.

My lovely Frankenstein boot is now a thing of the past! My new air cast (below) is the replacement.

I started getting used to having the afternoon off - sit in the recliner and knit. I went to the doctor today and she wants me to slowly start walking without the crutches and with the air cast I can actually wear shoes! I just hope my walking is good enough for the Jimmy Buffet concert next week. I survived both of my feet swelling to twice normal size last year at Daytona!! I think I can make this one...slowly. I will just have a margarita and I won't think about it :)

Finished objects and ankle photos

The following are pictures of the baby blankets I finished while being stuck in the recliner for the last week. The red, white and blue one is for the Yahoo group Angels4Preemies. The other is for a neighbor expecting her first baby.

The others are pictures of my ankle. Lovely isn't it??

I'm going to try to go to work on Monday. Not sure how it will go. Today it hurts almost as much as it did on Monday, yesterday was the best so far. But I lived it up and went and got my hair done. Highlights are back and it's chin length.

Not Broken!!

I waited to post this. I was in alot of pain after arriving home yesterday. I had 3 doctors poking and prodding and I had to try to put weight on my foot.

I started off at my doctor. She unwrapped my foot and didn't like the way it looked so she called the Ortho doctor who's office was right upstairs. We got in a couple of hours later and they determined it wasn't broken just a bad sprain. So I got a lovely boot. I feel like frankenstein. Yes, they are that fashionable. I will hopefully be able to post photos soon. The boot is very cushioned and I am to try to bear some weight on it. If it is really painful I don't need to but I need to gradually try to walk with it without the crutches.

I'm off work the rest of this week. I go back on Monday if I'm able to get up stairs comfortably. Yes, I sit on my butt most of the day at a desk but we have 5 stairs leading into the office that I will need to get up. I'm glad I have time to get used to all of this. I have yet to figure out how to take a shower. I have also decided to take a major portion of my hair off! I know it took me a long time to grow it out but the length and the inability to do anything with it is really getting old. Miss having a style to it. I want to go with something that will work with my curl, so I don't have to fight it. Then ends need to be cut off they are getting fried looking.

Well going to get back to my knitting. Hope to post pictures later today.

Baseball is over thank goodness!

I realize how busy I've really been when seeing the date on my last post. Thursday night was our last game of the instructional season. The 8 year olds are going to play in another town. It ws an exciting evening!

The game was going ok.. nothing really exciting... then I decided to go to the bathroom before our lil dude was up to bat. I go to get off the bleachers and was higher up than I thought... my foot hit the ground and my ankle gave way.. I fell on my butt and couldn't get up. My ankle swelled up almost instantly. My hubby and another friend tried to start taking me to the car. I made it about 10feet and almost passed out! My sister walked up at this point saw how pale I was and said I wasn't going to move until I looked better. Lil dudes mom was at the game - she ran to get our car to pull it up as close as they could get it to me. Here I am.. sitting trying not to pass out, as my ankle grows ever larger. They finally got my butt to the car. For those of you who don't know me...I'm not a small person I weigh a smidge over 200 something I'm very self consceince about and I do this on the most attended game of the year. I was so embarrassed! I'm so glad I won't see most of these people for another year! My sister took me to the ER. She tells me on the way - she's oncall and hopes it's slow there. She in oncall in a different department. Things went quickly. The doctor can't tell me 100% if it is broken or not. I have to wait until I can get into the Orthopedic doctors office. That won't be until monday or tuesday! Thank goodness I haven't used much of my sick time! I can't go to work until I know what's up. I also am having a heck of a time with the crutches! Being in your 40's and overweight is not a good match for handling crutches!

My hubby has been awesome. He teases that I need a bell. He has been out to the store a couple of times and has yet to bring one home. He normally does alot for me around the house. Alot more than a great majority of husbands. Ironically I sent him an appreciation letter from my Dale Carnegie Class monday night. He got it today. I don't think I will be able to finish that class. Which sucks. I really liked going to the class. I just couldn't make it as far as I have to go on the crutches. The class is in the room that is the far back corner of the school.

Oh well things happen for a reason. I know one big thing is I have to get really serious about losing weight. My son is coming home on July 12th. I know he will be a big cheerleader to me getting in shape. The sweetheart that he is he gave me his old ipod so I could listen to music while I went for a walk or got on the elliptical trainer which ironically was put in my bedroom the after noon of my accident.

Things for me to ponder while I'm sitting watching too much tv and knitting as much as I can. Funny how I don't really feel like doing that much.. I find that very strange. I know that will pass. :)

Baseball time is here!

Things have been nuts the last few weeks. We are all getting used to baseball season. We had to wait soo long for it to get here. I'm thrilled lil dude is thrilled to be playing finally and he is doing very well. His first game was monday night but I had to miss it due to my class. I was happy to hear my sister & dad showed up of course my hubby and lil dude's mom. She has been much better about making it to his activities. I'm amazed at how many she has come to she lives 40 miles away and with the cost of gas!! I know he is happy to have his own cheering section in the bleachers. ( We cheer on everyone's kid tho!) I will be at Saturday morning's game until I have to leave to work the concession stand. Please remember this is all new to me. My boys were never sports minded and still aren't and that is ok :) I am really enjoying it and will miss it come the end of June when our season ends.

On the knitting front:

These are the hats I quickly got done to send to The Preemie Project Michigan for the April donation.



I'm currently working on a couple of things for Mom for Mothers Day so I will post those after she has recieved them. Can't be too sure she may find this :)

Baseball has begun!

My older children never got into sports. Sure they rode bikes and skateboarded and rollerbladed but not organized sports. We signed them up the year we moved to Ottawa and had to pull them out once we realized we were moving in the middle of the season. No more - lil dude has officially started in Little League. DH and I looked at the schedule and thought that is all we are going to do for the next 2 months! I really don't mind. It gets us out of the house...away from the TV and doing something. I met some really nice moms who were very welcoming to me - they all know each other from school and last year. Their boys are a year older than lil dude and he goes to the one school that is split. Most of the kids live on the norht side of the river we are some of the rare ones from the southside. So naturally most of the kids on his team go to the southside school that we are about 6 blocks away from going to. I was nervous going thinking I would be the "Old Lady". Come to find out I fit right in. It seems that they are about my age. That was a great surprise. We also talked about walking the circle at the park where practice is held. I guess my knitting time is going to be interrupted. Oh well maybe at the games?!? Keep you posted and hoping to have pictures soon.

Which Fiber are You?

I'm Angora - Soft & Warm

"Angora has a warmth that rivals cashmere and softness that rivals qiviut. Best of all, it comes from cute little bunnies that look for all the world like furry footstools with ears". The Knitter's Book of Yarn

Angoras are eager to please and are highly sensitive. Flexibility and adaptability are your strengths and sometimes your weakness, as well. You are essentially a warm and feeling person, and little escapes your impressionable mind. You are generous with others and strive for harmony in your relationships.

Big Surprise here!!

You Should Spend Your Summer at the Beach

You're a free spirit who is always thinking of new ways to have fun. And you don't just love summer... you live for it. So, you really should blow off your responsibilities and head to the beach!

http://www.blogthings.com/whereshouldyouspendyoursummerquiz/">Where Should You Spend Your Summer?

Back to reality!

Here we are at the Mirage in Las Vegas. We had a girls getaway weekend. We hadn't had one of those in almost (in November) it would've been 10 years! We planned this after the holidays. My sister who is on the right needed to get away after it would've been Sara's 13th birthday. Very emotional day for everyone in the family. Mom is in the middle and I am on the left. We are all wearing our "Born Lucky" Four leaf clover shirts (I forgot to tuck in my shirt!! on the last potty break) oh well we only had 2 pictures of all 3 of us in the whole trip. Would you believe by the same girls!?!? These nice young ladies first took our picture in the Ventitian, then we happened to run into them again when we wanted a picture at the Mirage.. strange huh..especially in Vegas when it was St. Patrick's Day and spring break. Crazy time to be there. We had fun, laughed and cried together and took home great memories and hundreds of pictures. While we were there we saw Bette Midler's show (fabulous) and went to Margaritaville for dinner then followed up that with the band "Whiskey Galore" who were playing Celtic Music outside of Fitzgerald's hotel and casino on Fremont St. We saw almost more kilts and met more people from Scotland than if we were in Scotland! (My dad is from Greenock Scotland)

I did get some knitting done on the trip on the plane...4 hours of uninterrupted knitting was great. I was testing a pattern for the yahoo socknitting group I belong to but screwed it up the night before we left so I took another pattern from that group they are Lilac socks and I'm using the purple sock yarn I dyed at Pennies! I thought it was a perfect pattern for that yarn! I will post a photo soon of those.

It's always nice to get away but it also is great to get back home. Makes me appreciate everything my husband does for me! (came home to a spotless house!) NO I don't rent him out :)

Baby Car #2

This is our new car. We picked it up at my lunch hour today. Lil Dude used to call my Neon Mommy Sue's Baby Car. ( I called it that so he just thought that was the name) We have been debating for a while moving closer to my office. Unfortunately with the mortgage situation and we still have 1 1/2 years till DSS gets out of high school, moving just isn't in the cards for awhile. Also DH business may be expanding east of where we live so moving just isn't a good option at this point. So we started looking for a more economical car (like the old Neon) The old Taurus wasn't very good on gas and was starting to require more frequent trips to be serviced. So we opted for the new car :). I'm thrilled and can't wait to get out of work to drive it home.

Great Weekend.

First off, I was asked to write up something about myself to be a Michigan Chapter Preemie Project Volunteer Spotlight for the upcoming newsletter. So when Mike and I went to my Winter Party (dinner) for work I asked him to take a couple pictures of me when we got home. I chose the one on here. I hate having my picture taken but for this I will do it. I enjoy putting a face with the names of people who you converse with by email and blogs. The hard part is going to be writing about me. I have a hard time just blogging.

Yesterday I was cleaning up the desk which has a new home in a different part of the living room. (My idea to better bunny proof the living room, so Foo Fo can get "out" more often.) I was in the kitchen and the phone rang, I don't worry about the phone as it is 98% of the time not for me! Mike looked at the caller id on the tv and said the name, then asked if I heard of that name I shouted yes that is Sharon! It was a old friend from High School. We were practically attached together most of junior and senior year. We went thru beauty school together. After graduation we got busy with families and occassionally talked. It has been 13 years since we spoke last and had fun "catching up". With all that has gone on the past 2 months I totally forgot I sent her my phone numbers and email. She chose to call, I'm so glad she did. I hated to have to hang up with her but we had to leave to get lil dude.

OTN I have been busy trying to my first "lapghan" finished. I will post a picture on the project blog. I still have a hat to finish up for my brother and some preemie hats to make but now the main focus is getting Sara Smiles Project going.