In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lamb!

It is March 31 and we have had nice weather for over a week.  Best off, today is Matthew's baseball season opener double header and we are expecting 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies!  I will be there with our camera. I didn't have to wake Matt up this morning, it is game day! Yay!

I spent several hours with Sarah at Hope College yesterday.  She has a lot on her plate and I went down to treat her to dinner and a needed break from the stress of catching up after travelling with the basketball team and missing a few classes.  Today she has two tests, class all day and work in the afternoon.

Mary woke up yesterday with a migraine and missed first hour of school.  Meds worked and then she was off to college class, high school, play practice and then work at Jimmy's restaurant.  She gets her McDonald's schedule today.  Being the worrier that I am, I wonder if she will miss service tomorrow or eat burgers for Easter dinner. I have been giving it all up to the Lord to handle, because there are somethings that I can't control.  Mary is anxious to start sewing her prom dress.

Today I am going to try and catch up on things that I put off. Laundry, paperwork for work, fixing up the sewing area, practicing piano music for holy week and Easter, and working on theatre booster activities. Of course,  I will be at the baseball game later today.  Better get working!

Have a Great April 1st and that is No Fools!

Grace

New Beginnings

This week marks new beginnings for Mary and Matthew.  Mary has started working on her prom dress.  It will be beautiful. Emerald green material with a full skirt. Last night she sewed a mock bodice to check for size and then cut and marked the pattern.  I have decided to follow her process with photos. 

Matthew's baseball season starts this week Wednesday.  He has a double-header in Belding and hopes that he will get to pitch one game.  I washed his uniform, #9, and purple socks and he is ready to go!  I will be there for the season opener.  Looks like the weather will be favorable as well.

I worked on chime music for rehearsal and did some shopping.  Rehearsal for kids choir and chimes went well. I really need to be starting the laundry.  I don't have my work schedule for April yet, but I think I am working early Maunday Thursday.  Still looking for a new venue to work.  Sometimes, I just want to quit nursing and stay at home. I would most likely get bored after a while. Not sure what other work I would want to do...Music?? Not a lot of jobs for nurses who like music. GO back to school? I don't think I have the motivation for that right now.  I'll keep searching.

Palm Sunday was very busy for me.  Teaching Sunday School, directing the combined choir, played for church, directed the chime team and then got Sarah ready to go back to college. Sniff Sniff...I didn't like that.  Sarah got back to Hope safe and sound and we watched the rest of the MSU v Tennessee game with her.  Go Spartans.  We won a point in bowling last night and had a fun time.  My bowling was pretty good, over average all three games! I even bowled a 153~yay!

Well, that is all for now. We keep you posted about our activities during this holy week.

Grace

State Solo and Ensemble

The whole family and a friend drove up to Central Michigan University with Mary to listen to her play for State Solo and Ensemble.  Mary played her solo the best ever! Then she played 5 scales and sightread a very bizarre piece of music.  The judge was complimentary.  He is the husband of Mary's private cello teacher from several years ago.  He told her, "Mrs Tenney would be very proud of you!"  In the end she scored a 90 which is a superior or level one rating. Mr. Clements, her accompanist, is very talented and funny too!  He is also the new accompanist for the GHS Choirs.  He is a wonderful addition to our school's music program.   Mary and Matthew think he is awesome too! This was Mary's last solo and ensemble (mine too), and she has gotten all superiors at the district level and 3 superiors and one excellent (Freshman Year) at the state level.

After we got her rating and medal, we went shopping at the JCPenney in Mt Pleasant.  It is a bigger store,  so we were more successful at finding clothes. To celebrate Mary's success, we ate at Buffalo Wild Wings. I have never eaten there before.  I had chicken slammers that were just ok. I tried several different sauces and the garlic ranch was pretty spicy!  Next time I would get a burger. They do have a pretty fun trivia game there.  The questions are on a TV screen and you punch in your answer on a portable game board.

We got home after 6 pm and Mary then went to the symphony in Grand Rapids with the same friend. She just got home and said it was a nice concert. Matthew is at his buddy's house tonight. Tomorrow his mom is driving them to the church they will be travelling with to the National Youth Gathering in July.  I am excited for them.  There is a meeting after their service and Jeff and I can't go.  I am playing for church and participating with two choirs and teaching sunday school. Sarah will need to go back to Hope tomorrow, so we need to pack her up and get her there before bowling. Craziness!

Looking back over the past few days, Sarah and I had a nice time together this week.  We played some Wii games, shopped, had lunch together a couple times and watched March Madness. She and Jeff got her taxes done!  The week has gone by way too fast and I am dreading taking her back already.

Thursday night was the HS Collage Concert. It was very nice. Mary was the Master of Ceremonies and did a great job!  Matthew and Mary both sang with the Village Green and Mary played cello with the string orchestra, symphonic orchestra and two ensemble groups.  I ordered a DVD, so next time you visit you can experience the good music.

How about that March Madness?  Only Duke remains as a #1 seeded team.  How crazy is that?  Who will win?  I picked Butler for the first game and Kentucky for the second. Won the first and Lost the second.  Tomorrow I am hoping the Spartans will crush Tennessee Vols and Duke to beat Baylor.

I have prepared my Sunday School lesson and practiced the hymns for Palm Sunday! I hope all goes well! I will do my best.

Goodnight!

Grace

So Much to Report!

I left off in the early early morning of Jeff's birthday.   Sleep time went quickly and the alarm clock said, "Time to get up!"  Jeff and I got to church at 0830 for orchestra practice. Mary wasn't too far behind with Matthew.  Rehearsal was a little scary...I was having trouble with the hymns.  I had to bank on "bad rehearsal, good performance" mentality.  Sunday School went well. I only had two kids, but I think they learned the story of Jesus being annointed by the woman washing his feet with perfume and and drying it with her hair. Then I ran up to practice with the choir..I was the accompanist. Church started and thank goodness the hymns came together and orchestra held me up!  The choir anthem went well and our orchestra anthem "How Beautiful" came together after stopping and restarting after just a few measures.  Sometimes you just have to do that.  My biggest booboo came just before communion.  I forgot I had to play more than just the Create in Me portion of the liturgy.  When I heard Jeff say "praising God and singing", I thought, uh oh, better find the music quick!  I sightread it and did just fine.  Whew! I got through without any other problems.  The congregation sang Happy Birthday to Jeff.  It was very nice.

When we arrived home there was a message on our phone. Wouldn't you know it, Mary was offered a job at McDonald's on a message.  She starts tomorrow for a one hour orientation.  They know that she works every Friday at Jim's restaurant.

The afternoon was filled with travelling to Grand Rapids to get Matthew some cleats for baseball. Matthew found some nice cleats and Jeff and I each got a pair too for church softball season.  I threw my old ones away at the end of the last season.  In the meantime, we got texts from Sarah about her trip home from Illinois.  The team bus overheated and they sat for an hour waiting for a new one.  Luckily there was a McDonald's nearby for them to have a snack and just get out of the bus for awhile.  She got back while we were shopping and waited for us to pick her up.  Dinner was at Texas Roadhouse where we had a good steak dinner and a waitress that liked to call Mary, "Honey".  That drove Sarah and me crazy!  Needless to say with all the driving, shopping and eating we got to bowling pretty late. We expected to bowl our first game after our last, but it took so long for everyone to figure out how to set up the scoreboard we actually bowled the whole first game.  Sadly we lost all four again.  Spotting another 100 pins in handicap and some good bowling on both sides, we just couldn't catch up. I didn't get a Happy Meal afterward, but instead we had birthday cake!  It was delicious if I do say so myself!

Monday I got a lot done on the computer and then Sarah and I did some errands before Mary got home from school.  She didn't get to go material shopping on Sunday, so I promised her we would go on Monday.  Green was the color we were on the lookout for and did we find a beautiful one!  Emerald Green!  This is a big undertaking, but she is excited about doing it.  Joann Fabrics is having a prom dress competition. Mary can win scholarship money for a winning dress photo entry.  Good luck Mary! The night wasn't over yet!

Mt Calvary preschool had a fundraiser at a local pizza place.  We got there and ordered, but I had to leave before it was finished for kids choir and chimes. There is a sickness going around and had several missing from both groups.  We still managed to have a good rehearsal and will be ready for chimes on Sunday. Luckily when I got home, there was pizza waiting for me! Mmmmm!

Today I got a haircut and then Sarah and I went to Applebees for lunch with my golf buddies. Pretty soon we will have nice enough weather to golf before lunch.   We did some shopping together and then I got an appointment with an orthopedist to get a second opinion about my painful feet.  Today ended up with a home made taco dinner, TV and OU women's basketball.   I am blogging!  

Tomorrow Sarah and I have another day together and who knows what we will decide to do.  She does need to do her taxes while she is home, laundry and I think even some homework! Can you imagine that! Soup supper, church and choir for some of us and Mary and Matthew will be performing at the first of two Collage Concerts at the High School.  We will attend on Thursday. 

That is probably enough for now...I am tired of typing! 

Gracie

PS: Mary is feeling a lot better!

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

What better way to start off a weatherman's birthday weekend than with a day of snow!  Yes it snowed most of the day on Saturday with just accumulation on the grass and cars.  Welcome spring!  I hope that this was winter's final hurrah for the year! We need to see more of those flowers.

Hope played in the championship game Saturday afternoon and ended up losing to Wash-U from St. Louis. The girls played hard, but the balls just weren't  through the hoops.  The referee's were less than stellar.  There should have been better officiating for a championship game.  Even the announcers called the game expecting Hope to lose.  It made me pretty mad. Kind of like the doctor we saw later in the afternoon.......

.....Mary has had a a sore throat on and off since last Monday. Saturday afternoon it became almost unbearable. I took her to urgernt care at a nearby hospital, not Greenville.  After checking in with nursing and registration, the doctor waltzed in with a preconceived idea of strep throat.  Mary said she felt like she was in a sitcom.  He talked fast, "forgot" his pen and had to go by memory, and pretty much dismissed any other potential problems that could cause her symptoms. What a clown. He gave us a prescription for Penicillin and told us to see our own doctor this week.  The story doesn't end there.  We got back to Greenville and get the meds, but all the pharmacies close by 7 pm on Saturday.  It was 7 pm....no prescription. So, after dinner Mary and I drove into Grand Rapids to fill the prescription at a 24 hour Walgreens.  Got home around 10:30 pm.

Since then, I have practiced the piano, readied myself for sunday school and baked a birthday cake.  Thought I had better blog because tomorrow will be family day!  Sarah travels home from Illinois and we plan on picking her up for  Spring Break in the afternoon.  We will also be having lunch out and getting Matthew some cleats for baseball.  Mary wants to look for material for a prom dress that she plans to sew.. Hmmm. One month until prom. Guess we will wait and see how she feels tomorrow.  I hope she feels good, I 'd like to have her playing cello in the orchestra in the morning.  Her health comes first.  Can't forget bowling in the evening.  Matthew is going to the movies while we bowl.  I think he is going to see ALice in Wonderland.

Amazed at the March Madness results!  Kansas is gone along with other top seeded teams! What will happen next?  Stay tuned!

Gracie

Hope Wins Again!

Lady Dutch played another great game tonight.  They stayed in the lead most of the game and won by 9 points. They will play tomorrow at 3pm for the championship!  I bet Sarah is soooo excited!   Can't wait to hear from her. I know I will.  She comes home this weekend for spring break.

Greenville High School Village Green Singers did well at the choir festival today. Their director was very happy with their performance. Next week is collage concert and they will be working hard to get ready for that show.  I have tickets for the Thursday show. I might have to sell tickets on Wednesday if there isn't enough people.  However, Easter isn't far away, I really need to be at church and choir rehearsals.

Excitements builds!  More tomorrow!

Gracie~ Hope College Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!

Pretty Flowers!

The flowers at the top of this blog were photographed by me in our side yard.  I even got some bees in the picture!  Can you see him?  I am not as afraid of bees as I used to be.  I can't wait until the trees are blooming. The dogwood in our front yard is beautiful in the spring.

Work was uneventful this morning and then I checked my computer and took a little nap. Got to church for lunch and quilting and planned music with Jeff for Sunday since the orchestra is playing. Rehearsal went well tonight and I think that our songs will sound very nice.  I took Mary shopping at Meijer, Penney's and Maurices.  We both found tops but Mary didn't find pants like she needed.

Tonight's highlight was seeing the International Space Station fly overhead.  It was really cool!  It came from the northwest travelling southeast.  It started out very dim and then got brighter as it moved quickly over Greenville. Within a few minutes it turned dim again and was gone. Mary took a video of it, but it is hard to tell just how fast it is moving because there is nothing next to it, just black sky.

Getting some laundry done, will work on more music tonight before going to bed.  Don't have to be to work until 0830 and I get off at 5 pm.  Need to be home by 6 pm since that is when the Hope Basketball game is on.  Yay!  Go Dutch! Win!

That is all for now.. Have a great Friday...and just a little early....Happy Birthday to my brother Dan!

Gracie

Wee Bit O' Good News!

Matthew officially made the Jr Varsity Baseball team.  Congratulations Matt!  He is doing well in school too, all A's and one B+.  We are very proud of him.

Today was a beautiful day!  Blue sky and wonderful temperatures. I didn't need to wear a coat! What a nice change. There are little flowers opening up in the flower beds, purple and white, crocus and some other little ones. A couple even found their way into the grass!  I got a lot done today and will finish up my house chores tomorrow after work and quilting.  I work on Friday all day...12 hours!  Then the Hope basketball game will be on in the evening at 7pm CDT and 6pm EDT.  I hope that I can stay awake for the whole game!

For now I am going to watch sometime TV with my sweetheart and then get to bed for 5 hours of sleep before my 3 hour shift tomorrow.

Gracie

Top O' the Morning to You!

Just a quick note to wish everyone out there a Happy St. Patty's Day!  Don't forget to wear something green, or you might get pinched!  Matthew didn't have green on and he said if someone piched them, he would punch them! I hope not! He is smarter than that..just a lot of talk.

Talked to Sarah this morning already.  She got weighed underwater as part of her project in a physiology class.  Guess she only weighed over 4 pounds.  That is my kind of scale!  She leaves for Illinois this afternoon at 1:30pm with the Lady Dutch Basketball team!  First game is Friday.  Then Saturday they will either play for the championship or 3rd place. She is very excited and so am I! Can't wait to watch it on the computer.

I am getting some work done at home on the computer and will be off to run errands hopefully by noon!  Mary has play practice, Matthew has tryouts and I have a "poopy" job to attend to, LOL!

Better go, Lot to do! May you find that pot o' gold at the end of your rainbow!

Grace

It is a Birthday Kind of a Day

Today a friend of mine became a grandma for the first time.  We are so excited for the whole family.  What a great day to be born..March 16th! Today was my Grandma Heumann's birthday.  She was a wonderful person and I have so many wonderful memories.  Sure wish I could have posted a picture of her.  I was her "little dolly". Some of my memories are:

• She and Grandpa would babysit us a lot and cook us dinner.  
• We bonked heads once when she sat on the piano bench with me! We laughed!
• Made the best chocolate chip cookies.
• Gave us lots of love! 

My shift at work went by quickly and then took a much needed nap.  Had Chinese lunch with my golf buddies. It was almost warm enough to start golfing again! Yay!  Got some work done for church music and practiced the piano a couple times. I will be playing for church tomorrow night and Sunday.  I will also be playing with the choir both services.  Orchestra plays too, so I need to practice that song as well.  All the songs are very nice and I hope I can do them justice.

I am off tomorrow and will continue to practice the piano.  Need to take the Prius to the place where we bought it to get a part ordered.  Think I will finish the laundry and do some banking/bill paying too.  Guess I should finish the "dog yard" job now that all the snow is melted and the rain is over. I am not looking forward to that at all.

That should do it! Have a good Wednesday!

Gracie

Lots O' News

What a busy Monday! Here is the latest~

• The sink in our downstairs bathroom now drains normally.  They had to remove pieces of pipe and replace with new. Unfortunately, they had to cut into the basement ceiling and in the back closet wall.  No idea what the bill will be.  I did get to see the old pipe. It rusted right through. 
• Jeff took the Prius to have it checked.  It needed a new wheel hub and bearings. Good thing we have a warranty on it.  We did pay for the diagnosis and an alignment.
• Mom called and told me that the Village Green Singers will be singing at the Lutheran Haven while they are in Florida.  I am sure that the "havenites" will love the show.  Village Green is still singing at Downtown Disney too at 1100 on Friday, April 30th at the Waterside Stage in the Marketplace.
• Sarah called and texted me today that both student athletic trainers will be travelling with the Hope College Ladies basketball team this weekend for the Final Four!  Hooray! I am so excited for her.
• Matthew's baseball tryouts conflicted with driving class.  So we pulled out of driving class until after baseball.  Next set of lessons would be during the Village Green Florida trip.  So it looks like June before he can take the class he needs.  No hurry. 
• Quite a few kids from choir and chimes sick today, so I have cancelled music for tonight.  Hard to play chimes with 4-5 missing. Our family may take advantage of the time and go out to eat using a coupon the expires. We will have to see when Matthew gets home from practice and if Mary feels better. She came home from play practice feeling under the weather. The weather though, is really quite nice today. Sunshine and milder temperatures.

Guess that is all the news for now....that a lot!

Grace

Somebody Has to Lose

Our bowling team lost all four points again tonight. Oddly enough I wasn't as depressed about it. I bowled below average all three games, but over one hundred which is always my goal. Jeff did better, but not the average that he left before military duty.  The most exciting time tonight was when our opponent, who is a nice guy too, bowled a 299!  Eleven strikes in a row!  Wow, I was holding my breath. Then he threw the ball and all but the stupid 10 pin fell. Most the house gasped and sighed.  Still it was great. I was really pulling for him.  We have bowled this team for as long as we belonged to the league.  His wife is bowling at state with Norma and my team.   I am bringing a great handicap!

Sarah made it back to Hope safe and is back to doing homework.  Mary is home from Ann Arbor and had a fun time. She said the U of M/Hardvard/U of Va Glee Clubs concert was amazing.  I guess the combined number was Ave Maria by Chanticlear (sp??).  She did get soaked walking to the church for the concert.  I guess the umbrellas were blowing inside out.  Matthew went you youth, watched part of a movie and had pizza, ritz bits and chocolate milk.

Tomorrow we are going to have the Prius checked tomorrow and a plumber is coming to check our sink drain in the bathroom. Chimes and Kids choir in the evening. 

That is all..

Grace

Happy Baptism Birthday Matthew!

Today was Matthew's baptism birthday, so in our family's tradition, he picked dessert.  The cheesecake was very sweet.  Good thing Jeff cut small pieces.  Matt had a nice day, fun playing paintball with his buddy, TV and good dessert.

We were able to watch the Lady Dutch win their game tonight. It was a close game again. They advance to the Final Four next weekend, back in Illinois. Go Hope! Go Dutch! Win! No word from Sarah yet. Not sure if they are travelling back to Hope tonight or tomorrow. My guess is that I will get a text later tonight. She looked so nice on the computer screen during the game. I am so proud of her!

Mary said the concert was amazing and is having a great time with her friend too. I will hear more about it tomorrow.  For now, I had better get the lesson finished and then off to bed...we need to Spring forward~!

Grace

Hope College Wins!

Had a full day of work yesterday.  Five in the morning till five in the afternoon.  Seems I always have a headache at the end of a day at work.?  Work wise it was fine and now I am off until Tuesday.  I was pretty excited most of the day awaiting the next round of play in the NCAA- Div III tournament-Sweet Sixteen.

Jeff and I finally accessed a live stream of the game, and watched the Flying Dutch Women's Basketball win and advance to the the Elite Eight round of play.  We saw Sarah on the sidelines several times.  She looked very professional and of course beautiful as always. The Dutch play again tonight against Steven's Point-Wisconsin at 8pm. Go Dutch!  The listening link from my previous entry works just fine. However the video stream one didn't work. Jeff found a good one on the Hope site.

http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/

Once you get there, click on watch live video stream.  Look for Sarah, she stands at the end of the bleachers of the Hope Team.  Let's hope we can get to the Final Four!

Matthew is playing paintball this afternoon, with his buddy Mitch and  the "regular" group out at a member's home.  It is a rainy, cloudy day. Maybe that is good for paintball.  Matthew starts his segment II driver's course next week.  Then we  decide when we will let him take the road test. He wants to test right away, but he needs to have a car.  Still saving and waiting to hear from potential employers.  No job yet.  Baseball tryouts next week after school.  He is going to be busy.

Mary left this morning for Ann Arbor. Tonight the University of Michigan and Harvard University Glee Clubs will present a joint concert. I would love to hear that!  Our whole family is going to the spring concert next month.  Her trips to Ann Arbor are funded by her job at Jimmy's Pub and Grub on Friday evenings, three cello students and an English student. Mary did get a role in the spring play "Bleacher Bums".   Her role is Rose. She is also getting excited about finishing senior year.  There are lots of projects going on for the open house.  Which by the way will be June 12, 1-5 pm.  Time is really flying by now.

Jeff and I are going to go for lunch an shopping.  Tonight we will celebrate Matthew's baptism birthday.  We are having cheesecake!  He loves it.  Better get going.  Need to get ready for Sunday School as always on saturday.

Gracie

PS:  I have created a group for March Madness competition.  If  you'd like to play...let me know.  I have sent out invites to those who have played before.

Back to Normal?

I picked Jeff up at the airport last night at 10:30pm and met him just as he was coming down to the baggage area.  It was so wonderful to see him again!  Lots of hugs.  We got home before midnight and he was able to say good night to the kids.  Our family is all back to normal.

Sarah isn't home obviously, but she isn't at Hope either.  The ladies basketball team is heading to Illinois for the next round of play in the NCAA Division III tournament.  Sarah went along as the student trainer.  Here are some links in case you want to watch or listen to the game.  The Lady Dutch are an excellent team and play great ball.  I have watched a couple games live! Fun!!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iwu_basketball     (watch)

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/collegebroadcast/teams/hop (listen)


Today was a two hour delay day for school. Too foggy for safe travel.  Mary had to be at the community college anyway.  Matthew started at 9:30 am.  Today is call backs for theatre. Mary had a talk with the director yesterday and will meet again at lunch today about the play and what her desires are. It is pretty complicated and better for me to explain the final decision. Just bear with us.

I have to get going now, supposed to have salad for quilters lunch today and orchestra tonight.  In the meantime Jeff wants the Prius looked at. He thinks the engine sounds really loud.

Gracie

Tonight is the Night!

Barring any bad weather from Miami to Grand Rapids, I will pick Jeff us tonight at 1030 pm. In some ways the six weeks have gone by fast and in other ways not fast enough.  We are expecting some rain to move into the area soon. The skies have changed from sunny and clear yesterday to cloudy and threatening this afternoon. 

A lot has been acomplished since my last blog.  The house is getting cleaned, the cars got washed, laundry has been started (Jeff is bringing home clean clothes! KUDOS!), bank accounts balanced, floors swept and swiffered and even the p**p yard is cleaned up!  I am baking brownies and cake now for soup supper tonight.  I am playing for church and have some fine hymns to play, Eternal Father Stong to Save, What a Friend We Have in Jesus and Abide With Me.

I took the kids to Big Boy for dinner last night and ended up supporting a fundraiser for St Charles Catholic Church.  Eventhough there were lots of people there, service was pretty good and the food was too.  I hurried over to the Theatre booster meeting. We talked about a lot of stuff and in the end I am now the coordinator for Bleacher Bums pre-show activities.  Lots of ideas were brainstormed and if we can get even half of them done, wow watch out Greenville, it will be a blast. Auditions are still  taking place. We won't know anything for a few days.  After the meeting I came home and watched some television and then helped Matthew complete a project due this morning.

As mentioned earlier, I am baking for church supper now and then need to go get Matthew from school.  Finish up the housework, church, choir rehearsal then off to the airport.  It will be SO WONDERFUL to have Jeff home.

Grace

He's Coming Home!

Jeff comes home tomorrow night!  We are excited about his return.  I think Jeff is excited too!  In the meantime, I want to get some laundry done, clean up the house, maybe dust and get to that lovely job in Sammy's yard!  You never know what other project I might start. 

Tonight I have a theatre booster meeting. Planning for the next show and the next season!  Speaking of the next play, Mary has auditions today and/or tomorrow. Call backs are on Thursday.  Matthew is taking a break from crew and trying out for baseball next week.  Plan B for Mary is to apply for stage manager if she doesn't get a part and I suppose Matthew would be back on crew if he doesn't make the baseball team. Seems crazy to evevn think that way!

I had a pretty good day at work yesterday and then took the kids to Pizza Hut for dinner before I had to be at church for kids choir and chimes.  Rehearsals went pretty well. Our chime team was asked to be part of a "bell concert" this spring. It is exciting, but we have our work cut out for us too! My next day of work is Friday, a 12 hour 5a-5p shift. Haven't done one of those in a long time!

Better get going and get some things done. 

Grace Wilhelm, USAF dependant

A Fun, Busy Weekend

Saturday morning everyone was getting ready for the day. My work shift was 1130-1630, Matthew was going to go with me so we had to get him to the Dairy Barn so he could apply for a summer job. Meanwhile Mary left for the Detroit airport to pick up her friend, Brandon. Work went well and Mary made it the airport and Ann Arbor safely.

As soon as we got home from work, we had a bite to eat and then headed off to Holland, Mi to watch the Lady Dutch play in the NCAA-III tournament. Matthew took some pictures of the beautiful sunset during our drive. The game was spectacular! The Lady Dutch team is really good. They ran really good plays and kept the ball moving. They won and now advance to the next round in Illinois. Sarah is supposed to be travelling with the team! Sarah looked very professional at the game and we got to see her "patch up" a bleeding leg. We took Sarah to Red Robin for dinner and then to Meijer to get pop and mac and cheese. We got home just after midnight. It was a full day, but a lot of fun.

Church went pretty well, the kids choir did a good job and my sunday school lesson was fun, Feeding of the 5,000 is a fun story to teach. I was pretty tired afterward, so I took an afternoon nap, and got a few glimpses of Red Wing hockey, Gator basketball and a creepy movie on WGN. Matthew and I did some Wii bowling and then headed off to the bowling alley where I had a less than stellar night at bowling. Each game got a little better, but all were below average. Mary made it home safe and sound. Brandon brought her a very nice masquerade mask from New Orleans. We all had a Mc Donald's meal as usual after bowling.

Now that we are back home, I finished a job application for an Obstetrics position and then knew an update was in order. Tomorrow starts a new week. Mary has play auditions and Jeff comes home! Hooray! Choirs meet as usual and I need to get a few other things done.

Gracie

Guess Who is Grilling?

Yesterday was such a nice day with sunshine and blue sky, that I decided we would grill hamburgers and dogs for dinner. That was a welcomed menu by all. Mary was the cook and did a great job! The burgers were juicy and the my hot dog was black! Mmm! Today was just as nice, there is a bit of a chill in the air, but we had frozen pizza instead...yum. Lots of the snow is gone and I am going to have to go clean Sammy's yard pretty soon. Oh the joy of spring in the dog yard!


I guess I need to backtrack a few days. Wednesday's choir concert was very nice. There was one solo in particular that just knocked everyone's socks off. I was recruited as an usher and had an interesting time seating people after the show started. Several had to locate their families and there were a few that wanted to stand with me the whole show. I explained that the fire law requires everyone to be seated, so the left!!! How crazy is that?

Thursday was a very busy one for me. I had PT first thing in the morning and then I went grocery shopping. The one hour I had for shopping flew by quickly and I needed to be at the foot doctor's at nine thirty. Physical Therapy did it's job and increased my mobility and strength and even reduced my pain for many days. But my pain persists. I told the doctor the same thing and he ordered xrays (finally) and discovered that both my feet have heel spurs and my right heel bone is parallel to the floor. I guess that is a structural defect, probably congenital. That would make sense, since Sarah seems to lack good range of motion in her ankle too due to tight calf muscles. The doctor said my pain is the result of a shortened or tight achillies tendon. The doctor suggested a freezing procedure that may kill the pain in my feet. The doctor says the success rate is 75%, but in his practice it is less. Doesn't sound so good to me. Otherwise he could lengthen the achilles tendon which is more invasive with a longer recovery. The last is just learn to live with it and pain out of pocket for custom orthotics. Lots to think about.

My next event was to prepare a main dish for our quilters lunch. I made spagetti and meatballs and I think they turned out pretty well. I finally decided on a new quilt design, thanks to my quilting buddies. Thursday night Mary and Matthew sang the National Anthem with the Village Green singers before the last home basketball game. They did a fine job. A video is posted on my facebook. We stayed for the game too. Matthew did the video taping for the team and Mary and I cheered on the team. It was an exciting game, went into overtime! We ended up with a loss. Tried to get to bed early since I had to be at work this morning at 0500.

I received a generic rejection email concering the job I interviewed for last week. So much for the personal call I was promised. I have applied for a few more jobs and will wait and see if I can get an interview for one of them.

Although I woke up several times in the night, I felt well rested and couldn't go back to sleep after 3 am. I got up at 4 am and did some bank work. Work was fine and I got home in time to throw on a pair of jeans and head off to the high school for orchestra festival. They played well and received straight 1's! We all headed to church to prepare for a new Sunday School quarter. Mary went to work at the festival in the afternoon and I took a nap. Mary is working at Jimmy's Pub and Grub tonight for three hours. I guess Brandon's dad wants her to work every Friday. Matthew has applied for a job at a hardware store and supermarket. Tomorrow he is going to apply at the Dairy Barn for a summer job.

Tomorrow Mary is going to Ann Arbor "Via Detroit" to pick up Brandon at the airport after his spring break. They are looking forward to spending time together. I am supposed to work for 5 hours tomorrow. Sunday the kids choir is singing and I will need to play and direct them. It is a favorite song, You are my All in All. It should go well. I will need to Wii bowl too before league at 6:30 pm.

Jeff is visiting his parents this weekend with his brother Andy. They are going to try and see my mom too. I am glad that he got to travel a little down there since he has worked so many hours and was without a car most of the time. We are looking forward to his return home on Wednesday! Hooray!


That is all...Gracie

In Like a Lamb..Out Like A Lion?

March has come in like a lamb in Michigan. No snow since last Friday and none in the immediate forecast. It is a sunny day and we can hear the birds in the morning. Today it was a woodpecker. I don't think he was pecking our house! Matthew and I think we heard a bat again too in the wall near the computer area. Here we go again!

Great Scores! I had a wonderful night of bowling, 152..148...137! I guess that Wii bowling really helps me, as I Wii bowled a few games before I left for "real" bowling. Unfortunately we lost all four points. The first two games were very close. We did have to spot them nearly 100 pins and then their players were bowling well too! We still had fun and enjoyed McDonald's together afterward.

Today I picked up the house, worked on the computer, banking and bill paying and of course blogging. Have to keep my reader's up to date! Mary has a job interview this afternoon at McDonalds. She has mixed feelings I think about the interview. She needs and wants to make money, but she also has a lot of things planned for the last months of her senior year. Prom, concerts, and Village Green trip. How will that affect her chances for getting hired? Matthew has a baseball meeting today for the upcoming season. I think tryouts are next week.

I have kids choir and chimes tonight and I have a few other things I want to get done in the next week. I will be playing for church quite a bit, so I need to practice the piano a lot this week. PT 3 times this week and a High School Choir concert on Wednesday after I work. I see the foot doctor on Thursday. Think I will ask for xrays.

Guess that is all for now...Have a great Monday!