Surprise, Surprise....

...I'm in beautiful and warm California! I flew in on Christmas day to Ontario, where Danielle and Luthor picked me up. They promptly dropped me off at my brother's house for Christmas brunch, where I thought we were going to have to mop my mother off the floor. "You're here! You're real!" She kept pinching me to make sure I was really here, until I reminded her that she was supposed to pinch herself to wake up from a dream. Dad had happy tears all over the place. There was just a lot of general excitement, since I hadn't told any of the rest of my extended family, except my brother and sister-in-love. I'm here for a while (until January 13th), but even a long time like that doesn't mean I can meet with each person I'd like to see for a personal lunch. Make sure to give me a holler if you're interested in getting together - maybe a group of us can meet!

So far, I've enjoyed the sun, the blue sky, the mountains, the warmth, a wedding (where I enjoyed the fact that I was outside without a coat on, and silently laughed at all the people huddled around the outdoor heaters), my mom preaching (yay, Mom!), meeting the new "niece dog", a Mary Kay party, Mexican food and In-N-Out. I plan on repeating several of them as often as possible while I'm here! Tonight I'll get pure girl time with Jenn and Danielle, and then tomorrow, I'm off to Wes and Nancy's for "friend family" time. Whew!

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy New Year!

I Smelt

It sounds like it's raining outside. It's not. The ice from the storm last night is melting off the trees, and it's dripping everywhere because..... well, you know, it's a whopping 35 degrees outside.

Snow Day in Madison

Got this from a friend who loves to see what we think of all things Madison. This is what happens when all school is canceled, and college students at the UW are let loose:

(you might want to click on the picture to see this one enlarged)

Yup. That's dead center in the intersection of University Avenue and Park Street. (Normally a VERY busy intersection...)

You're Giving Me What?

Last Saturday, good friends of ours stopped by for an early Christmas time together with the kids. Our 2 1/2 year old god-daughter, Hannah, came tottering over to us, arm outstretched, glass jar in hand.

"Here. It's sauce."

"What kind of sauce, Hannah?"

"Brown."

There you have it.
Caramel, in all its simplicity. Brown is good!

14 Degrees

Today it was 14 degrees. I wore long underwear and a bubble coat, a pair of wool mittens. No wind. I thought to myself, "It's not too bad out here." That's kinda funny - and a little sad...

My Day

Decorating Christmas cookies with friend and her 2 year-old daughter: Good.
Eating Christmas cookies for lunch: probably not-so-good, but OH! So good!
MRI to check latest polka-dots on brain: Bad.
Non-claustrophobic MRI machine: Good.
Trip across town on ice-skating rink to MRI office: Bad.
Husband willing to take the afternoon off to drive his chicken wife: Very good.
Culvers for a real lunch after MRI: Good.
Long underwear: Good.
Long underwear: Ugly.
High of 9 today. Nine. One number. Nine. : Bad.
Long underwear: VERY good.

Snow Day!

When I woke this morning, I thought,
"Yay! Snow day! Oh, wait - I'm an adult. Shoveling. Crap."


That didn't stop us from enjoying the beauty,
laughing at the humor in things, or playing a little!

Enjoy these photos of our day:

Believe it or not, this photo was taken at 1am - no lights! The reflection of the moon through the clouds and onto the snow is actually enough to let you see all the way down the block without any lights!

Quesa really loves playing in the snow!

Our backyard

Yes, they really DO plow the bike path before the streets!

Front of the house

Discovery of a new tool: the roof rake! Look out, below!

Blizzard

So I took this photo last night, intending to say something cute like, "Extra points for anyone who can figure out what this is."

Here was the answer.

Now I dare you to try to find:


...the roof...

...the trash can...
(...or the fence from last night...)



...the car...



...the driveway...



...the birdhouse...



...the Adirondack chair...



...or the picnic table...




Here's the view from the guest room window.
Now, who wants to come visit?

White Stuff

It's our first official snowfall in our new backyard! Although I'm not a fan of the icy stuff, the white stuff is gorgeous. I can't wait to see it tomorrow in the daylight! Looks like we'll have a white Chrsitmas, after all! :)

Wisconsin Health Care

So, for all my Californian friends, here's yet another reason why I REALLY love my health insurance company: (Direct from the company website...)

COUPLE'S MASSAGE WORKSHOP

Learn to give and receive full-body, nurturing touch with your partner in this hands-on class. Lecture is kept to a minimum with an emphasis on the massage techniques.

Develop confidence and skill in giving massage
Explore new ways to communicate through touch
Learn pain and stress relief techniques

Class size is limited to ensure that each couple receives ample personal attention and private room instruction.

Yes, really! And, it was oh, so fun! ;)

Oops.

While pouring some ranch dressing, I somehow poured about a 1/2 cup into my lap. I thought, "Well, it's not paint..."

About Being Tie-dy

So the house has a bunch of blond-colored tumbleweeds floating around, and I decide the house needs a vacuum. I swoop around the upstairs, suck up all the offending fur balls, and head downstairs. I notice the closet really hasn't had much attention in a while, so I pull out the hand tool to do some detail work. There's a few pieces of stuff on the floor that really shouldn't be vacuumed up. So, I bend down to pick up the things, being careful not to bop my head on anything, but not noticing the hand tool is pointing up. THWOOOOOP! I have very successfully sucked up one of Jonathan's silk ties off its hanger. I'm thinking that, after my last few blogs, none of you are going to be asking me to come and do any work around your house.

Arrrrgh!

The neighbors are fencing. Not the picket, chain link, or even barbed wire type. Fencing - the "en garde!" type. Fencing - complete with body protection, facemask, gloves, and swords. Clank, clank! We thought that fencing was kind of odd. I mean, Frisbee, kicking around a soccer ball, but fencing? Really?

On almost any given Sunday, there are anywhere from 5-8 cars parked in front of our house and theirs. They're not really a rowdy bunch - the sound of metal against metal is usually all we hear. The first time, we weren't sure what to think, but now, it's just one of the sounds in the neighborhood - until they pull out their accordion. Or have a pirate party, complete with grown men wearing balloon-sleeved shirts, but there's not a child in sight. And here I thought it was interesting when we had neighbors in California who regularly had Fiestas...

Hello, My Name is Lucy Ricardo

...at least, this week it sure seems to be! Let me start at the beginning - I've been painting - a lot. I've been working on a mural in one of the children's rooms at church, re-painting the faded and peeling sign in front of the church, and painting my living room. Yes, all of them this week.

Paint is always an iffy undertaking with me. I'm not always aware of my surroundings when I've got a paintbrush in my hand. I'm also not the most coordinated of all people. Put those things together, and you've got the makings of an "I Love Lucy" episode. Let me just start with Wednesday.

Wednesday, I not only managed to get paint in my hair, but I also forgot the fact that I was wearing an apron to wipe off paint, and wiped it on my non-paining jeans. At least, they were my non-painting jeans. That afternoon, I went home and started on the living room walls, still wearing my painting apron, but also now wearing the real painting pants. In the evening, Jonathan came home, and like we always do, we greeted each other with a hug and kiss. Now, Jonathan has a good pair of painting Dockers.

We won't even discuss every time the paint decided to drip anywhere that the dropcloth was not, including the area rug. Moving on to yesterday...

Yesterday, I was determined not to have a repeat of the day before. Well, it wasn't. It gets better. Yesterday, I started out with the primer. This primer is said to stick to anything and everything, and doesn't come off, which is why I got it - I was tired of sanding the previously un-painted window frames. Realizing what kind of a day I'd had the day before, I thought it would be best if I didn't work out of the open gallon can. I could already visualize the white primer oozing all over my hardwood floor... So, I decided to pour a little bit into a small can with a handle. All was going well, until right at the end, when my hands seemingly went rogue, and decided to flip the gallon can over, landing the primer on me, the counter, the sink, the cabinets, and the tiled floor. I'm freaking out, trying to figure out how to get it all up, as it's practically drying on contact, and even a razor blade won't even scrape it up. In a sheer stroke of brilliance, I grab the acetone I use to remove my nailpolish, and am able to clean up pretty much everything. Moving on, I carefully begin to prime and paint...

As I'm painting, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go ahead and work out of the gallon can, leaving the paint-covered lid on the dropcloth. You can guess the rest - I take a step, pivot to my next position, and realize, as I have my sock-covered foot on the wood floor, that it is also now a paint-covered foot. You have GOT to be kidding me! As I stand on one foot, I reach down and grab the paint-covered sock, flip it inside-out, find a dry spot, and quickly wipe off the paint from the floor. Clean. Whew! Oh, but it gets better...

I've managed not to make any huge mistakes for a couple hours, so I'm happily painting around the top on the walls, standing on my ladder. I step off the ladder to go get something, and promptly immerse my entire foot - RIGHT IN THE PAINT CAN!! MY WHOLE FOOT!! I begin to squeegee my foot against the inner rim, all the while muttering to myself, "This can't really be getting worse..." I throw away my second sock of the day, wipe off the bottom part of my now VERY painted pants, clean up around my ankle, and go search for another sock. Upon his arrival home, I tell Jonathan of the latest adventures, and he calmly replies, "Did it ever occur to you that maybe you shouldn't be painting today?" I don't think I'll tell him about the big white brush stroke I found this morning on the back of the couch....

Painting...

I was out painting the sign at church yesterday, when the sun started to set. It was a great experience - God and I painting together. He won. (Best in Color and Originality...) :)

...I can't help but wonder what the other drivers thought as they saw my Mary Kay bumper sticker, and then passed me and saw the driver!






Keep going...

It's Official...

...they have finally turned me to the cold side. Today, I thought, "It's so nice outside. I'm going to open up the house and let it air out." It's 55 degrees.

Fall, Part 2

Yeah, I raked my whole yard yesterday... so?



Update: That was so nothing. The day before Halloween, the trees out front threw up. Completely bare in one day.

Fall

Fall came today. All at once. One minute the leaves are green and beautiful and on the trees, the sun's shining, the birds are chirping... Today the leaves all got blown off, the wind's whippin' around, we had a hailstorm last night, and it's downright chilly! Yup, it's here.

Surgery - Again

So yesterday, I had a new surgery, this time kidney stones. I had a ureteroscopy - a fancy term for a camera to go through my bladder, up my ureter, and into my kidney to take a look around and then lazer-blast the stupid things that keep causing me pain, because they wouldn't pass on their own. They also put a stent in that goes from my kidney into my bladder to allow the pieces to pass through, without doing further damage to my ureter.

Basically, the docs say that I've had at least a couple of stones for a few months. My newest specialist (a specialist specialist) - a urologist who specializes in kidney stones, says that the UTIs that I was experiencing almost constantly the last couple of years back in California could have been caused by kidney stones. Evidently, the little buggers are pretty porous, and can harbor bacteria, even when given antibiotics, making a UTI very hard to really get rid of. I just keep thinking, "Why did my CA docs never bother to try to figure out why I kept getting UTIs almost every week?" Once again, I am praising God for sending us to the Great White North, for the healthcare I have received. Have I mentioned I'm VERY grateful for my healthcare here?

On the upside, today I am recovering from the invasive procedure fairly well. Last night, Jonathan had choir rehearsal, and since he runs it, he couldn't get out of it. So, my very kind and wonderful friend/sister Emily offered to come over and "babysit" me while he was out, since I wasn't allowed to be by myself! Have I mentioned that I am VERY grateful for the friends that we've made here?

Between this surgery and the laparoscopy, I've had almost more pictures taken of my insides these days than of my outsides! Someone said to me I should put those on our next Christmas cards: "Greetings and Merry Christmas from Lindsay's internal organs (oh, and Jonathan says hi, too)!"

Mom and Dad were able to come out again a few weeks ago. I think they've decided to make this their summer home! :) With the lake a few blocks away for Mom's fishing, and the golf course at the end of the street for Dad's golfing, we're like a summer camp for my folks! Mom even got herself a fishing pole and is storing it in our garage! I guess maybe we should track down some clubs for Dad! We had a great time, and best of all, our friends have gotten to know them. It's so nice to say something about friends here to Mom on the phone, and she not only knows who I'm talking about, but asks about how that person and their family is doing! Likewise, our friends get a kick out of something we'll tell them that Dad said, because they can visualize him telling one of his funny stories! Now that they've all met each other, it's really made our new friends here seem even more like family. It will be exactly 2 years that we've been here on Sunday, but life finally seems to be getting to a place that feels normal and more like home.

Maui, Sweet Maui

Yeah, I know this blog is supposed to be about Wisconsin, but a girl's gotta take a trip every once in a while, right? We celebrated our anniversary last month, and decided to visit our favorite place - Maui! Since we were celebrating ten years, we decided ten days would be an appropriate amount of time. It was wonderful! We stayed at the place we always stay, which made it extra-relaxing. No surprises, great beach, great location, and quiet for the most part. (Don't get me started on the noises that are a part of renovations...)

Anyway, we always try to do at least one new thing when we visit, and this time was no exception. Jonathan really wanted to bike down the volcano, Haleakala (a 24-mile ride at super-speeds...), and I wanted to try a zipline for the first time! We decided to do both. I thought the zipline would be the thing that scared the bejeebers out of me, but the super-sonic bike ride past cliffs on the 10,000 foot volcano is what just about did me in! I could go on and on about the trip, but suffice to say it was a wonderful time, and gave us the renewal we needed after these past few tumultuous years. Coming home to OUR house was just the icing on the cake...










So content... So relaxed...

Quick Update

So I've got blisters and I'm tired, but I'm happy. I got to go work on a Habitat for Humanity house today! Last week, I was proud of myself for making curtains. Curtains, nothing - today I built a HOUSE!

I'll write more soon, and include pics from our vacation!

You Know You're in Wisconsin...

...when you go to your doctor at the hospital, and in telling you how to get to the clinic within the hospital, the receptionist ends with, "...and then turn left at the cow."

I kid you not.

Hmmm...

Now, I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure that maple trees aren't supposed to grow on your roof...

Last Day Of...

So last Thursday was the last day of school for a number of the middle and elementary schools around here. On Friday morning, I was getting ready for work, and I had the bathroom window open to allow fresh air into the house. The bathroom faces out toward the bike path that goes behind out house, so it's not unusual for us to hear bits and pieces of conversations as people go by. That morning, however, I think I heard my favorite piece, and it came from a laughing group of boys, probably in middle school or so: "Freeeeeeeedom!!! FRRRRREEEEEEEDOMMMMMMMM!!!!" I feel ya, kid!

Flowers

These were in my new backyard - I didn't have to do a thing to make them grow! These are completely God-made! Aren't they gorgeous?! (For those of you not familiar with this kind of flower - I wasn't - they are peonies!) We also had a bush with magenta ones and a bush with white ones! Jonathan took all these photos.



Enjoy a few of the other beauteous things that God and the previous owner planted for us:


Of course, the only downside to the flowers is the rest of nature that comes with them - like the giant earthquake-creating ants that tromped through my house the other night. They were enormous! Zoe just thought they were fun.

Here's a few more pix for you to enjoy:



Quesa and I both enjoy the yard!