Spring Break rocks...so far

Spring Break 2K11 is off to a great start. It could be because of all the sleep I have been getting. On Saturday morning I slept until 9:30 which is record for me. Jack said he kept checking to see if I was still breathing. And I slept late on Sunday as well. Today I got up at the usual time, 5 am,  for my walk with Jean. She is not on break this week. It was good to stay on my usual schedule and I got so much done for work. I spent most of the day on work and then went over to our main offices to print out a bunch of paperwork.
Sally and Matt are in Spain for break and it sounds like they have been having a great time. They began their trip in Sevilla and saw a flamenco show. They are also going to Granada, where Sally lived during her study abroad semester, and Madrid.
Wayne has been out of town since last Wednesday, in Arizona for a fraternity brother's wedding. While in Arizona he went to the Sox-Cubs spring training game as well as an NBA game, Phoenix Suns vs someone (Heat maybe?). He will be back in town later tonight and hopefully we will see him later this week.
It's interesting to me how much I thrive on a routine and having a place to be at certain time. I often feel like I am not in the right place and feel guilty about not being where I should be, if that makes sense. I almost have to give myself permission to just be wherever it is that I am. Right now I am giving myself permission to be watching Dancing with the Stars :)

It's almost Spring Break!

Spring Break 11 begins tomorrow right about 3:10 pm. I have a super busy day at work, with two 3 year re-evals (a little special ed talk) in addition to some of my usual Friday fun. I am so looking forward to some time off next week, to catch up on my blogging, my housekeeping, and overall getting myself a little more organized.
Today at work we had to say farewell to Michelle, the new speech pathologist who has been with us since January. That's her on the left in the picture above. She has been such a good sport,having to eat lunch  with us oldsters and we have so enjoyed her. Michelle was hired this past January after she graduated from Northwestern with her graduate degree in speech pathology. Michelle's position was greatly impacted by the water damage at our building as well as some other issues that have come up with SLPs needing to take short term leaves. Michelle has been so flexible and willing to do whatever has been asked of her. After Spring Break, she will be at a different location and I am going to miss her. Her birthday is next week (she is the same age as Wayne!) and so we did a little coffee and Kirschbaum's donut holes in her honor. I feel so good about the future of my profession when I see folks like Michelle as well as Andrea and Kristin W( two other young speechies who I have mentioned before), carrying on the mission.

Tom

It's a beautiful almost-spring day here, reminiscent of March 19th four years ago. That was the day that my brother Tom died. Here is what I posted last year  If you click on the highlighted text, it will take you to the post on this blog about Tom from last year. You will have to scroll down a bit, but it is there about half way down  the page.
Jack and I were saying this morning that March 19th (anniversary of Tom's death) does not have the sting of February 25th ( anniversary of Dane's death). I think it is because Dane's death was such a shock (that is putting it mildly) and Tom's was the end to an incredibly brave battle. Around Thanksgiving is when we are so poignantly reminded of Tom's loss, for a host of different reasons.
I thank God every day for the wonderful people He has put in my life. And I miss terribly those that are home with Him now.

Abbie Sleeps Over

We had the pleasure of having Abbie (age 4 1/2) for a sleep over on Friday. We invited Nina (age 2) as well, but Arne and Beth (their parents, my nephew and his wife) thought it not wise for Nina to sleep over. They were concerned about anyone getting any sleep because Nina only sleeps well in her own bed. So we decided to have Nina hang out with us Friday night and then go home to sleep and then Arne and Beth brought her back to our house in the morning. We had a ball! On Friday night, Jack, Abbie, Nina and I went to McDonald's for dinner. We went to one that has a treehouse to climb up and then some tubes to crawl through and then a slide. The girls loved it. They must have gone up and down that thing at least 75 times and I am not exaggerating. We were there for almost an hour and a half. It was nice to not have to rush them out. They were so cute and so good.

Then we took Nina back home and on the way back to our house made a stop at Toys R Us. Abbie was thrilled! It brought back memories of when my sister Sue used to take the niece and nephews to TRU often. What fun! Abbie picked out a Little Mermaid whose tail lights up and got some Toy Story 3 stickers for Nina. We went back to our house and built a fort in the living room with a table and some blankets. We put a little TV/VCR combo in there with Abbie and she watched some movies til Sally got home from her water polo tournament. Abbie slept with Sally in her bed and they were so cute.

The flaps went down for added privacy!

In the morning, Sally left for day 2 of the tournament and Arne and Beth dropped off Nina. We took a trip to Kirschbaum's Bakery and Nina was excited that we were by the train tracks. She wanted to see a train so badly, but of course wouldn't you know that not one went by.

Jack and the girls heading to the bakery

After that, we took a ride out to see Marmar and Susie. The girls bring such joy to our family and my mom and Susie were excited to see them. The girls love Brooke, Sue's dog.

The girls were bringing Brooke toys and trying to cover her with a blanket!

The sleep over ended about 2:00 and we cannot wait for the next one!

Matt's Housewarming

Matt, Sally's boyfriend, bought a house a month or two ago and had a housewarming party recently. It was really mostly for their friends, but Jack and I invited ourselves and went for a little while. Mary, Matt's mom, was there; his dad was on call and so couldn't come. Arne, Beth and the girls stopped by for a little while since they only live about 2 miles away. Matt's house is awesome and we are so happy for him.

Nina helps Matt open his present

Matt and his mom

A Star is Born

Last week Jack and I went to see two of our friends perform in a community revue in our town. This event is held every two years or so and its purpose is to entertain while raising money for a local organization that provides a variety of worthwhile services.  We had never attended before and so we were looking forward to it. It did not disappoint. Check out the tap dancer in the bottom left corner of the screen. That's our Teri! Our friend Brad also had a few walk on parts but I didn't get a tape of him.

A toast to Dane

We had an awesome time last Friday, celebrating and remembering Dane. We had a gathering at Muldoon's and it was a great turn out. I find it so comforting to be surrounded by people who loved Dane so much. It is like there is a bit of Dane in each one of us. Dane's legacy will always live on. These are just a few pictures from the night.