My most painful day!

So, my plan was to sleep in this morning so I could drive most of the night on our way to Kansas. I did sleep in and got up about 9:00 a.m. As I headed downstairs with Andrew's cousin my foot twisted on the very last step of the stairs. I have never really had blinding pain like that before. The whole left foot completely twisted to one side and I heard several big cracks and pops. Luckily I was able to set Andrew's cousin down before I fell over. The pain was so intense I can't even describe it. I realized that I was screaming but I couldn't really help it. After Andrew's family helped me up and got me whatever my hearts desire was . . . the utter humiliation set in. That was the worst part of the day!! I am so embarrassed that this happened around other people and I am embarrassed that I screamed, but like I said it was like I couldn't stop it. I realized once that I was screaming and so I stopped but then the pain got worse. Andrew tells me it is nothing to worry about. I decided to go and have it x-ray'd because of the popping. It wasn't broken. I was embarrassed that I had to be wheeled around the Liberty Urgent Care! Anyway, I was able to figure out a way to hobble around and I have a pretty badly sprained ankle. That will be enjoyable in Kansas, right?! So, that was my adventure. I must say that I was waited on hand and foot by Andrew's wonderful loving family (aunt and uncles from both sides of the family), and Andrew's grandma took me to Urgent Care (and wheeled me around). Anyway, I must go. We still have packing to do for our trip.

The Second Day of Christmas

Happy second day of Christmas to all. Christmas sort of snuck up on me this year. I had everything done but I guess most of my holiday's are marked by vacations from school or whatnot so it was strange to just keep on going with everyday life and then Christmas came. Maybe that made sense. More later . . . I am going on a trip to Lebanon right now.

Christmas Eve Post

I cannot believe it is already Christmas Eve. It was just a few days ago that we were still living in Kansas. We have had a lot of activity in these past few days and I don't think it will slow down anytime soon. I have been reading a lot these past few weeks and I have a stack of several library books yet to read. It has been nice not to have a TV in our bedroom. I have been doing a lot more reading because of it.

I received a call yesterday from the Cincinnati Symphony Chorus. I had emailed them about possibly getting an audition. They called me back and asked about my musical history and then we set up an audition time for January 3rd . . . . also the day I start my job. I am going to have to spend the rest of the holiday time working on my song.

Sorry this is a bit boring but I don't have much to say! Merry Christmas!

Two days until Christmas

It has been a while since I wrote a post. I really don't have much to say. Christmas time is approaching fast and I am pleased to say that all my shopping is done and everything is wrapped. I really don't know yet when things are going on as far as Christmas celebrations so I am just going with the flow and being prepared for anything. We are taking the dogs (Dewey and Hope) to get washed and nails clipped today, so that should be fun. I am also having tea this afternoon with A's aunts and grandma. Susan gave me a manicure for Christmas and so I believe we are going to try and have those done this afternoon. I guess that is all for now.

Chicago Update

I got back about 2:30 p.m. from my trip to Chicago. I had so much fun and the drive really didn't seem bad. I had a book on tape to keep me occupied. The first night I was up there, I went mystic tanning with my sister and her friend, Neysa. In case you all don't know what mystic tanning is, it is getting sprayed with a tanning solution, no UV rays involved. That was a lot of fun. After that we visited with my sister's roommate and enjoyed a quiet evening. On Friday, we met Sasha downtown to see another SC grad in a Radio play of "It's a wonderful life." It was very good! We all enjoyed it a great deal. During the middle of the show, the performers read off "radiograms" that people in the audience could send to other people. I wrote one to my sister that said, "Dear Jenny, Thanks for being a great host and thanks for encouraging me to go mystic tanning." :)

After the show we went to Geja's for some fondue. Now, I am not a consumer of fondue but that was the best food I have ever had. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I tasted my first bite of the chocolate fondue. Geja's has been named the 3rd most romantic restaurant in the USA. I am so glad I got to experience that with Jenny and Sasha. After we got done having the time of our lives indulging in food and laughter, Jenny and I dropped Sasha off at her apartment and headed back out to Wheaton.

On Saturday, we went to go get facials at a skin institute near where Jenny lives. That was a very relaxing experience as well. Besides the lamp falling on my face once, the experience was wonderful. Much better than the last time I was there! Also in the evening, I attended a wedding of one of my sister's friends. It was an Anglican wedding so it was neat to experience something different. Despite my tooth getting banged on the communion cup and the poor quality of mints (the Fairchild's are wedding mint connoisseur), the wedding was beautiful.

A good time was had by all!

I have a job!

I can't write long because I am in Chicago visiting Jenny. I just wanted to update all of you that I accepted the job offer at the Lutheran church in Mason yesterday. Their offer was very close to what I thought it would be and I really enjoy the people there. I am having fun here in Chicago. We have already been Mystic Tanning and we are going to go into the city tonight to watch a friend of ours (Ben Dicke) perform in "It's a wonderful life." More details on the trip when I return to Ohio.

T'was the night Dewey ran away . . .

Last Thursday this area had quite a bit of snowfall. It was about 4:45 p.m. and I decided to go shovel the walk ways while I let Dewey outside to use the bathroom. I let the dog outside and then turned around to get my coat. I headed outside and started shoveling the sidewalks. I hollered ("called" is the appropriate word for you in Ohio) for Dewey but couldn't see him anyway. I just assumed he was around the other side of the house. I went to the other side and . . . no Dewey. So I calmly finished shoveling. Rosalie peeked her head out the door and I told her what was happening. She got me a flashlight and a hat. I search all around the farm yard looking for Dewey and calling his name while shaking his treat bag. He will usually come running when he hears that. It is getting pretty dark and it is snowing heavily.

I find some tracks in the snow over behind the house and so I decide to follow them. They looked like a dogs tracks. I followed them in circles in the yard and then they suddenly followed the fence out to the direction of the road. I followed the tracks (by now I am running and shouting). I continue to follow the tracks out the front gates around a tree and down the road a bit. The tracks then cross the road (which is fairly busy) and I think I have lost the tracks. I decided to cross the road anyway and there I find tracks again. They circled around a culvert (which I went slip and sliding around) up and into the subdivision that is across the road. I continue to follow the tracks around the subdivision sign (Yankee Estates) and through someone's backyard. I was hoping that they wouldn't see or hear this lunatic running through their back yard screaming "Dewey" and flashing a light around at the ground. The tracks circled back (must have made about 5 ot 6 circles through the whole thing) and went back out to the road. Just as I was turning around and calling his name, I saw him out on the road. What I also saw was a car coming. I bent down, rattled his treat bag and screamed his name all at the same and luckily he ran off the road and to me. He looked so scared. His ears were laid back and his hair was standing up on his neck. His ears were flapping and flying as he ran towards me. I began to run in the direction of the house so he would follow me, which he did. I had been running this whole time looking for him. He followed me without incident into the house and I could hardly breathe enough to get my story out to the eagerly waiting crowd inside.

As I was running around looking for him, I was thinking about all of the wonderful things I would miss about my puppy if he really ran away for good. Smiling, jumping into bed with me and snuggling for hours after a good lick in the ear, and sleeping in my lap. Fortunately, I still get to experience all of those good things because Dewey was found and escaped without incident. I have been wondering this whole time why he got away. I think he may have been a bit disoriented by the dark and his first big snow. Perhaps he lost his scent for a while or maybe was just chasing something. Anyway, now I don't let him out after dark without a leash and many times during the day I just tie him up outside to his doggie run! So, there is the story of Dewey's escape and recapture!

A little of this and a little of that!

Ok, I had too many ideas to have a post just about one thing, so I decided to just write down lots of things that are going on and that are on my mind.

First of all, the things I am currently missing: One of my favorite things about Sterling was the fun that we all could have together while not working. I loved having Christmas parties (yes, bringing my punch bowl) and going to Christmas parties, and just lots and lots of parties, girl parties, anytime parties, etc. So, I miss going to parties. I know we have only been here two weeks but I don't forsee any Christmas parties on our horizon and I don't have many girls (yet) to hang out with and have parties. Just one party would be nice! :( I wish I could join my former co-workers for their Christmas party which is this Thursday. I will be thinking of them on that day and will be rather sad. However, on Thursday:

I will be driving to Chicago to see Jenny if the weather forecast is good. It is so nice to be fairly close that I can drive it by myself. Andrew thinks it will take five hours and Jenny things a bit longer so I will have to time it. I already checked out my book on tape from the library this afternoon so that I won't be too bored! :) I am looking forward to my second visit to the windy city and hopefully more will follow in the future. I wanted to get a visit in before I potentially start my job. Speaking of my job:

I have a meeting Thursday at 1:00 p.m. with two of my interviewers to discuss more details about the job. I am leaving for Chicago after that meeting. I hope it goes well and that things work out. That is definitely the type of job I have been looking for. Well, I'd best be off to bed. Lots of reading to do before I fall asleep! It has been amazing how much more reading I have been doing since we don't have cable hook up in our room here (we did in Sterling). It has been great!

My First Ohio Job Offer

This afternoon while shopping for a new keyboard for Grandpa Myers, I got a call from Grandma Myers saying that I needed to call a guy back from the church I had an interview with on Friday. So, I called him back from the parking lot of the Microtel Center. He said that they would like to offer me the job of Administrative Assistant at their church! Yeah! I really liked them in the interview. Anyway, we are going to meet this next week to talk about salary and benefits. I haven't officially accepted it yet but if the offer is right then I will. This is the job that I really wanted out of all that I applied to. I applied to many (probably over 70 when all was said and done)!! It may not be over yet. We will just wait and see next week. If I take the job, I would not start until January. That is good because it would leave me to enjoy friends and family over the Christmas holiday without bothering about work. So, that's the latest update!

An important thing I learned from my mother . . .

Early on in life my mother taught us a very valuable lesson. You should say 10 positive things for every 1 negative thing you say to someone. Hey, you did such a good job . . . thanks for doing this . . . I appreciate that . . . I sure like hanging out with you . . . your hair looks so good that way . . . I think it is wonderful how you . . . dinner was great. . . you did a wonderful job at that. . . I think you would do wonderfully with that . . . thanks for . . . Oh, and by the way, I wish you would pick up your socks! (I will admit it took me a while to think of those 10 things and the 1 came very easily). How much better would this make our lives if we were to just follow this simple rule? The bad stuff would be so much easier to take. Our defenses would drop and we would be ready to possibly change ourselves when a kind suggestion was made. When we are constantly battered with criticism it becomes hard to take. I know that I am one of the worst people at following this rule. This has been sticking out a lot to me lately as I think about people's love languages and as I think about how I treat my husband and family. If you haven't read that book by Gary Smalley, it is a good one. My top love language is encouraging words. I tend to forget them if they are spoken to me but if you rifle down far enough in my purse you will find a bunch of printed things people have emailed to me that mean a lot. This was just a thought I had lately that I would share. If you hear me failing at this, which I will, I encourage you to hold me accountable. Yes, that means you too, Andrew. (Yikes, what am I getting myself into)! :) Thanks, Mom, for your wonderful wisdom!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Every day I think of things that I need to get accomplished and I seem to never finish that list, even though I'm not working! Today I spent most of the morning out Christmas shopping and seemed to be on a roll for getting people Christmas presents. I still have several more things to buy. I also got to go to Andrew's work and meet several of his co-workers and see his office. It was nice. After I returned to Snug Harbor from my shopping trip, Rosalie, Anne, (Andrew's Grandma and Aunt) and I went to Sam's for some food. We were back by about 4:00 p.m. and I worked on cleaning out some more of our stuff. I found a wonderful unique music stand in the barn here and asked Rosalie if I could use it for voice lessons. She said, yes. We had supper here with the Schechter family (Wayne and Susan, Richard and Joann) and after that I attended a cookie swap with Susan.

I got a call this evening from a person at Grace Chapel, the church we have decided to attend, and was asked to teach Sunday school this coming Sunday with 4-year old kids. I know this may seem early but I really want to get involved and so well . . . why wait?! Anyway, I plan to send out some more resume's tomorrow as well as do a little bit of baking for Rosalie. I also need to put together an organized book in case I get any calls for voice lessons. The add will run in tomorrow's paper! We'll see! This post seems a bit sporatic to me but I wanted to fit everything in that I had been doing.

Oh yes, the interview went well on Monday, except that the interviewer was a bit biased towards me because I told her that Andrew and I would like to start a family in a few years. She wanted someone long term (like 2o years, she said). So, I learned my lesson there. I will have to come up with some better life goal that to have a family!!! :)

Well, I think that is about all. I have another project I am going to work a bit on now!

Ah, Interviews!

So, I was mistaken. I got a call from a lady last week and she asked me to come in for an interview this morning. I didn't want to ask her where she was calling from (although I should have) and I just assumed she was from a church I had spoken to earlier since it was in the same general area. Wrong! I have an interview with a doctor's office this morning and the church on Friday at 2:30 p.m. I can't keep them all straight!

Pictures

It snowed a bit today (not sticking much as you can see in the picture) and this is Dewey experiencing his first snow. He liked it about as much as he likes rain (which isn't much).


Grandma Myers is enjoying a relaxing moment with Dewey. Dewey was asleep until I got up to get the camera. Dewey has also spent a considerable amount of time cuddling with Grandpa Myers.

Interviews

Well, this morning I had an interview with a job search agency in West Chester. They tested my skills in Microsoft Products, and then we had an interview just to chat about what jobs I was looking for. While I was taking the tests, I felt so incredibly stupid, and I couldn't believe I was getting so many wrong! When I got the results back, I scored higher than average on all four microsoft products (access, excel, word, and power point) and scored in the advanced level for Word. I could NOT believe it. My typing skills also scored very high. The man I interviewed with seemed to think that they would be able to find me work fairly quickly.

This afternoon I went to Monroe Presbyterian to watch a musical program put on by some middle school kids. It was good. We served cookies and tea and I helped do a little bit of getting ready for that.

It is snowing here now and it is just beautiful. It is actually fairly warm outside with a gentle snow so it is just perfect. I took pictures of Dewey in the snow so I will try to put some of those on later!