Has Anyone Seen Sherwood Forest??

Michael and I took a over-the-road trip to Mason City, Iowa to watch his uncle Charlie and son Scott compete in a bow and arrow shoot. They are from Indiana and make the trip each year to compete. Charlie's son has gotten so good he is sponsored by companies that make the products for the sport. In fact I got a real deal on a very good pair of binoculars because he is sponsored by the company that sells them. It was a really good time. Like any tournament they had venders along one wall selling products for the sport as well as a snack stand with hotdogs, drinks, and various other food items. There are different competitions with prize money and trophys and it goes from Friday through Sunday. It is open to men, women, and children alike. You compete depending on your level of ability. I never knew that bows and arrows came in so many different styles and colors. Robin Hood would have been envious!

The 3 Good Samaritans

Daniel and I went down to the Caboose, a popular club near the west bank featuring local and national bands. We went to see the 27th Annual Battle of the Jug Bands. A little background would be helpful here. Karen is doing an internship at University Good Samaritan Center, a residential rehabilitation nursing home facility for her degree in Music Therapy. There are 3 Good Samaritan facilities. The three facilities all have music therapists as part of their nursing staff and they all get together and form "The 3 Good Samaritans", a very good (I might add) jug band. They enjoy competing every year at The Caboose in their annual Battle of the Jug Bands. This was Karen's first year and very much a highlight for the band because they didn't have an accordianist so she fit right in. They even had her do a solo during one of the numbers. Cover charge was great too; a free will donation to the Food Shelf of Minneapolis.

A Fill-in Cancer Story

While I'm waiting for Michael's uncle to send me some pictures he took at a bow hunting competition that we went to I thought I would add a blog about something I started doing almost 3 years ago. I have always been a follower of Caringbridge. those of you that don't know what that is it is a site where families that are experiencing a life-threatening illness or injury can share their progress with friends and families through a type of blog site called Caringbridge. I accidentally fell into following a young boy of 12 who was going through a serious cancer diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He had experienced 2 relapses and on the third relapse he was given the gift of life from an unknown donor through a bone-marrow transplant. He just passed his one year mark and is cancer free. Through his webpage I got to journey with him, his parents and his 4 siblings on the incredible ups and down of their life fighting this awful disease. When they had a fund-raiser I sent for the cookbook which I still enjoy. He also asked people to send their picture and a note about themselves making sure to give the city and state which I did. He received mail and pictures from most of the European countries and the USA. I finally saw my picture one day when his mom posted some snapshots from his hospital room in Cincinatti, Ohio where he lives. It's been fun following his journey. Can you find me? It was my passport photo so it's kind of bad.

Thank God for milestone birthdays

The other day at work (I work at a local clinic as a CMA) I roomed someone that was born on the same day and same year as myself. Sometimes I mention the coincidence to lighten the mood especially if they are coming in for a stressful procedure, etc. unless they have a ton of health problems and their gene pool has not been very kind to them as mine has. Most times, however, I don't say anything. My birthday has never been something I have ever gotten very excited about. My husband on the other hand loves his birthday as well as surprises of any kind. This has caused alot of stress over the years, about 29 since we have been married that long. I never know what to get him, I dislike surprises so I'm not very good at it, I stink at cooking so I invariably burn the burnt sugar cake that I have to make from scratch because there is no box mix for that particular flavor and it calls for cake flour which I never have on hand. It always gets him down. This year I decided to take the bull by the horns and give him a surprise party esp. since it was his 60th. I had him concentrate on "the party" while I planned a surprise party the night before. He gave me a list of invitees and I went with it. It was incredibly stressful as in years before but this time it all came through and the blessing we both received from it was worth every moment of worry. We all had a wonderful time, guests included and the party was my gift so I didn't have to wring my hands thinking of something. It really gave me a new perspective on how fun birthdays can be.

It's about 11:30 p.m. and I'm listening to a song by Hillside called "I Will Never Be the Same Again" as I wait for 2009 to become a reality (watching the ball drop isn't something that I normally do to bring in the new year). 2009 will hopefully bring events and people into my life that will change me for the better just like 2008 did. Looking back I think this year went pretty well. I accomplished some educational goals for myself, "grew up" a little bit more (we're always evolving), and learned a bit about how people can love as well as hurt you and how we as Christians should respond. Life for certain of my loved ones got better and no one died this past year like in 2006 when my dad dropped dead before I ever got to say goodbye. Even though I wrote a creative non-fiction piece about it that my writing teacher loved, I may never get over the finality of that, however, I'll try not to limit the Limitless one. I think I've moved beyond caring about things that I have no control over and hopefully can leave those things in God's hands. Probably the best thing that happened this year for me personally was receiving a deep blessing of God's love for me that I hadn't experienced for a number of years. Those of you that understand the depth of group prayer within the evangelical community will understand what I am sharing. If you don't catch my drift listen to the song (you can download it through YouTube). 2009 will be great because He's in it with me.

"You go girl!"

Up until yesterday I was the only college graduate in my family including seven cousins, one sibling and six adult family members. Karen just made it two by graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from U of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. It doesn't mean our family lacks in "smarts" but if you want it, go for it. Her major was Music Therapy which ironically was mine as well even though I changed mine by my sophomore year. Most people don't know what M.T. is and I won't go into what it all involves (check the WWW if interested) except to say that you need the knowledge and ability to play a multiple amount of instruments which is usually required if not encouraged. Needless to say we are very proud of her accomplishment and wish her the best in whatever area of expertise she endeavors.

It's a dog's Christmas (I mean life)

We are starting to get excited about Christmas since we are now past Thanksgiving. I'm not much for holidays since the order of my life becomes disrupted and there are SO many dishes to wash but things are settling down, there's snow on the ground, and the Christmas letter has been written and critiqued and is ready to send out. Fortunately we are all employed so there is enough overhead to buy something nice for each of my family members and the midnight mass will be celebrated soon which is one of my favorite services of the year outside of Easter Vigil. Tons of Christmas cheer and candy canes to all!