Pray Without Ceasing

Somehow Jamie came across this blog last evening and shared it with me. They are having a prayer vigil today for their unborn son who is having major cardiac issues. Although none of us know this family, I would ask on their behalf that you say a prayer for little Stellan, mom and family.

Appreciated

Today Jamie put flowers in church in honor of her parents; because of her and Jonathan's allergies, she opted to bring the flowers to our house and give them to Mom to enjoy. Aren't they purty?!!?

Something's Fishy

Jack was temporarily relocated this afternoon as he got clean water in his tank. He didn't seem too happy in his disposable ziploc container!

Rearranged

We now have a bed in our living room, and a recliner chair in our kitchen! This is all on a temporary basis, however, while mom is hanging out with us as she recuperates from her hip surgery.

(I think Frodo thinks we put that futon there for him...LOL!!)

Buds

Nani Update

So, Nani spent all of three days in the hospital, then was threatened yesterday with discharge to home! I nearly flipped! She barely had any physical therapy over the weekend, not to mention that she felt miserable from just having had major surgery. Til it was all said and done, they got approval from her insurance (it's always about the insurance) for four days at TSU at 17th Street for rehab.

As it stands now, she'll be discharged either Friday evening (when I can get her after work) or Saturday morning. But then again, they'll have to get approval from the insurance company for her to stay that extra day. She'll be coming here for at least three weeks until her first post-op appointment. I'm sure she'd appreciate any visitors!

She's doing well overall, except for some back pain which is bothering her most. It is being attributed to her positioning in the OR on Friday.

Resting Comfortably

Nani had her right hip replaced today, and did well. She was resting (and snoring) comfortably when we left this evening. This was the second replacement for this hip. The first one was done in 1994. The other hip was done about 18 months ago. She's had one done now at each of the three LVH hospitals. I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers while she recovers. (Thanks, Martha, for hanging out with me this afternoon for a couple hours..it made the time go by much faster. Love ya!!)

Creative

Our office manager's daughter made these as little favors for everyone at her recent graduation party. I was really impressed at her creativity, and what a nice job she had done making them.

One More!

One More

Best Buy

Alyssa and I went to Kohl's today to buy two new shower curtain liners. You can't walk into Kohl's without looking at their purses....it's kind of an unwritten rule. Well, today I got the deal of a lifetime:

"Borrowed" BCC Pics

Oops, that's not from camp :)

Another One Bites The Dust (Literally)

Note the lovely dust (car wash, here we come...LOL!!)

Kids in his group (turns out four of those kids are from Northampton!)

See you next year (which will be the last year Adam can attend Bear Creek camp....BOO!)

Mid-Week Update Pics

Portulaca flower #1 (First hanging basket)

Portulaca flower #2 (Second hanging basket)

Retired hanging basket :)

Relaxin'

Macy watching the birdies out the window

My new cup

Mid-Week Update

So, Adam's at camp, hopefully having a terrific week! It's been kinda hot and humid, which may have made the week a little yucky, but he is up in the Poconos, so maybe it's not quite so bad up there. We haven't heard from him at all, so don't have much to say about his week.

Alyssa started her new job on Monday. She started the week out working four hours per day, but as the week has gone on, she has worked her way up a few extra hours beyond that. Next week, I think she'll be working more full time hours. She seems to be really excited about the job; she's been learning all kinds of new and interesting things. In addition to the new job, she's been helping Uncle Chris out with the kids so he can get some work done around their house. So she leaves her 'real' job, and heads off to help him.

I'm trying a new recipe tonite, one that Jamie and I found on the internet at work the other day (shhh, don't tell anyone...LOL!). It's an easy beef stroganoff dish. She made it last night and said it was delish; I knew then that I needed to try it! I'll let you know how it is. As I sit here blogging, I'm listening to a news story on the TV about how cold the water is at the beach this summer thus far. The reporter is standing on the beach at Beach Haven (which is on Long Beach Island....our favorite place to go!!) where the water temp is only 55 degrees on the 10th of July!! She explained that the winds have been blowing from the southwest, which in turn moves the warmer water out to sea, allowing the cool water to move up from the ocean floor. I can't even imagine swimming in water in the 50's!

My big excitement for the week was my Wendy's cup that I got yesterday! I have been waiting for them to come out for weeks!! The cup benefits the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. It is plastic, re-usable and this year they come in blue or purple. Last year they were orange. I love to make iced tea in it in the morning before work, add lots of ice, then take it to work and sip on it all day long! Check 'em out...maybe you'll decide to get one, too!

Finally, I do not have a green thumb...mine's more like black! I have a spot to hang one hanging basket right outside the main door we go in and out of the house. I learned a few years ago, to go to the nursery and ask for a plant that tolerates the morning/afternoon sun and doesn't need a lot of water (when I forget to water it all the time...LOL!!). The last two years they directed me towards a portulaca plant. This year when I went, a young woman helped me and showed me a different hanging basket (I have no clue what the plant is/was...hint, hint...LOL!) and assured me it was exactly what I was looking for. It was pretty with purple flowers; I figured I'd give it a try. Well....let me tell you....if it didn't get watered every day, it was not happy!! I finally gave up! Today I went back to the nursery and talked to the guy that owns the place, explained what I was looking for....and lo and behold, what does he recommend?!!? A portulaca! He then proceeded to tell me that the first hanging basket was $14.99 and second one was $.01. Well, heck, I didn't want TWO!! But I couldn't not get two, when the second one was only a penny! Geesh.....now there's TWO to keep alive!

Oh, and BTW, I passed my CPR on Wednesday...that's done for another two years! Man, I hate doing that...I've been doing CPR recertifications since 1980 and I still get nervous!

Oh, yeah, and then there's Kurt.....Kurt, who?!!?!?

Buds?

Be patient watching this video...it's kinda cute if you are into kitties!

BCC

We took Adam to Bear Creek Camp today, which is our Lutheran church camp. He looks forward to this week every year, even more so than boy scout camp. Bear Creek is known for their red soil; we don't look so forward to that! The car ends up full of red dust til we get in and out of the camp; there's a three mile dirt road to get in to the actual camp itself.

When Adam first began going to camp, they ran a yearly competition to come up with snappy slogans to post on the road into the camp. They stopped doing that several years ago and for a few years there were no signs posted. This year I don't believe they had the contest, but instead the counselors painted some new signs. I took pictures of some of them.

Adam's counselor this year is from England, apparently about an hour north of London. His name is Sam (that's him in the pic with Adam).

Earth, Wind & Fire

We have had this pile in the field that Kurt has been accumulating dead branches, leaves, etc. over the past year. Adam has been chomping at the bit to burn it. This is about the only week he's home this summer between going to his own camps and then working at the boy scout camp the other weeks. He asked if he could have some friends over to burn the pile, and then turn it into a campfire. The middle pic is just some cloud I thought was neat!

Thanks Auntie Fifi!

So Alyssa hasn't been all that enthralled with her job at Dorney Park. (Who is, I might ask?!?!?!) There's a bunch of reasons, but there's no sense in going into them here. We were visiting the relatives a few weeks ago, and Alyssa was telling her Aunt Fiona how she was starting at Dorney and not all that excited about the prospect. Fiona mentioned that she might be able to have some influence on getting Alyssa an internship at the company she works for. Well, it's been about a three week process, but Fiona managed to get an internship position approved, Alyssa applied, interviewed (there were several applicants and Aunt Fiona stayed out of the interview process) and was offered the Project Manager Internship yesterday!! She's psyched!! She handed in her resignation at Dorney last evening, giving them a week's notice (yes, we know that 2 week's notice is typical, but we had our reasons for just giving one week), and expects to start her new job on Monday. Responsibilities of the position include filing, data entry and mailings, but may change as she becomes more experienced.

The nice part about this job is that she can stay on the rolls even after going back to school next month; when she comes home on breaks she will most likely be able to go in and work. Dorney would have just been a summer job. An even nicer perk is that this will look a whole lot nicer on a resume than merchandise sales associate at Dorney Park!!

Thanks, Aunt Fiona!!