Them old folks - they are 95.

So Dave sent me a link.
Here it is (not sure if it will remain valid).

http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/2013/04/06/home-the-week-waltham/6LHtQWMfeJfqpJM9POBv2J/pictures.html

It is a house with a turret. The master bedroom is on the 3rd floor. With the bedroom in the Turret.
I totally love this photo! Really I do!

Oh boy...
I want to design ~
our home ~
that we can live in with ease~
when we are both 95 years old.
(hiking to the 3rd floor to sleep? I should think not!)

You know those old people?
They can't drive worth a damn...
so put their garage facing the street. Back out of the garage, and plop... right there in the road you are!
And they can't shovel much, so keep the drive way short, small, and direct.

We have been looking at homes in this area ~ we have a huge variety of home styles. He seems to hate any house that has a garage you can see from the street. He is thinking "detached" and maybe "around back."

Make it energy efficient ~ because them old folks ~ they can't afford to heat their home with the rising heating costs.
(the price has gone up on all of it - electric, oil, whatever!)

When we lived in CT ~ for some reason ~ I drove around and took photos of homes I liked the "look" of. What if, we brought a print out of these photos to a designer that specializes in "sustainable architecture" and just asked him to tape them around his computer screen while he worked on our home. Drawing inspiration from the suggested theme to camouflage our "lab rat science experiment" design into a home of our liking? Could that work?

(the garble below is supposed to be the photos I tried to upload)

We lived next to a guy that was a fireman. He worked one day on then had two days off. Unlike most Firemen that work other jobs on those two days off,
this guy...
hung out by the pool,
cleaned the pool,
went to the gym to work out,
and PLAYED THE DRUMS.
He would play for over 2 hours at a spell.

You can pick your friends,
You can pick you nose,
You can't pick which annoying hobbies your neighbors take up!


Then there are the neighbors that put the dogs outside at 5am while they jump in the shower. And all the dogs do is bark for the entire 30 minutes. Not a welcome wake up call.



So, sound proofing.
Yes, some consideration to sound proofing.

not a lab rat

This will only make sense if you have read the blog post from earlier in the month of April 2013.


I want to live in a house.
A home.
Not feel like a lab rat living in an experiment. In that way,... There has to be compromise about the design. Passive / Green / Sustainable. Thats all well and good.
But it can't FEEL too funky.

From the onset,
we know a few things.
Moving around ~ living in a variety of homes ~ aging and all of the biological changes that come with that~
we know a few things about what we might like in a home.

This is a home we want to live in when we are 95 years old.
So it should have a Master Bedroom on the first floor.
None of that "sunken" living room type thing. The first floor will be ONE FLOOR.
There will be a front door, with a ramp up to it, not even one "little step" in the front door.

Attached Garages are a total dream come true.
One large enough to park two cars, 5 bikes, a lawn mower, a snow blower, and also enough room to store the Kayak Gear, Snow Shoe gear, Camping Gear, cross country ski gear, storage for tools, a spare freezer or fridge.

A place to sit in the sun, inside, and just sit quiet with a book.
And in addition to that a window seat that is truly designed to be sat in ~ big enough and stable enough to really hunker down in.

A screened in porch to enjoy on a warm summer eve - big enough for a table, chairs, and a foot rest or two.

A library / Music room / office / den. All in one?

A fire place - the kind that has one of those wood stoves. It looks like a fireplace but heats like a wood stove.

Heat in the floor ~ at least for the first floor. Tired of cold toes.

A few bedrooms upstairs - with a full bathroom - for the kids. Not too fancy. They will need to test their wings and fly one day.

A garden tub in the upstairs bathroom. I want a tub I can get into and not have to chose which part of me is going to be sticking out of the water feeling cold.

hum... maybe "on demand hot water heaters" - little units at each location (sinks/showers) that heats the water so there is none of that "running the water while waiting for it to get warm enough to wash my face." It only works when it needs to.

A GREAT BIG fridge!

A dishwasher - and located in a way that the door does not pin you to the sink when it is open like our current one.

I want to sleep in the dark ~ on the North side.
I want to LIVE in the sun on the South side. Living room. Dining room.

A stove that ... vents to the outdoors.
When I cook the kids know dinner is almost ready when the smoke alarm goes off.
I know.. it's sad!
But!
having a stove that vents out is rather handy!


How about we build on a crawl space?
The water table isn't so low there. Plenty of homes have basements.
and plenty of them have to pump them out.
So you can't use them to really "live" in much.
Just when you get everything settled, a new wet season comes through and you scramble again.
So then you just use it for storage.
of what?!
A bunch of stuff you should have thrown out the day you took it to the basement! That's what!

So maybe just a crawl space.

Hey, if we are going to do the crawl space thing...
How about a thing... a potato and onion storage thing?
It can be lowered into the crawl space, or brought up to the kitchen when you need to pull something out of the root cellar / crawl space.

Humm...
Up there at Good Old Unity College...
They have been working on some new stuff.
They built a home for the College President.
It is a "net zero" home. Which means they sometimes run the electric meter BACKWARDS.
It produced more electricity than it can use ... some parts of some days. The excess at those times is sent out to "the grid" / the power company.
And other times it draws electricity from the power company.

They are also building some dorms, to hold 10 people each. They are doing a lot with solar panels, special windows, orientation. They have blogged about it: It was a quick read. www.terrahaus.wordpress.com

If you could build a home, ... any home...
why NOT build one that has you less dependent on "the grid?"
When we are 95, we can't change our income. We cannot accommodate a spike in oil costs or the cost of electricity going through the roof. But we can build a home that needs those things less. It would cost more to build... certainly. But you have a fixed cost. The mortgage won't go up. It will someday be paid off. Incorporating "Green" architecture into our lives... would give us a stable quality of life. Well... maybe not in every aspect. But certainly we can be warm, and not cost us every penny when we are "on a fixed income."

Agh...
and the grid.
Hurricanes. Blizzards. Down there on the peninsula... power can go out for 3 days at a time.. easy. This happens every few years. Fridge/freezers have food in them that needs to be tossed. Showers are cold or somewhere else. Heat (if in late fall or winter) can be effected.
It would be nice to ride out those storms without that interruption in life styles. Our home could be where folks come to store their valuable frozen moose meat / frozen blueberries, or take a shower.

The biggest obstacle to using solar is that we don't have control of ALL of the treeline that will effect our home. Its kind of a postage stamp sized property compared to the land I have seen such things accomplished on.

You can use the water that leaves the shower or sink. I don't mean "re-use" I just mean you can use it to pre-heat your incoming water. The water that goes down the drain is hot. The heat from that can warm pipes, warm an outdoor water feature as water circulates through the pump area, warm your driveway. Heat Recovery that is called. That's a neat idea.

Water. This is not an area where water use is a concern like out west. But it would be great to see some "rainwater recovery" where in the water is collected from the roof and used in the yard, or to wash cars.

A new use for the blog

I don't actually think anyone ever reads this blog any more. It was at one point a blog address that was given out to perhaps 100 people. I am going to guess that less than 5 people will ever read this. So, as far as audiences go.. I am mostly writing this for me. Feel free to enjoy the journey of the story that follows.


This blog was created in a dark time.
Dave had cancer.
Everyone said "keep me posted!"
But I had a family to take care of, a medical system to weed through, a move (or 4) to co-ordinate, a sick husband to nurture, a sweet little boy to try to maintain a normal life for.
This blog was my way of keeping people posted,... but also a way for me to "scream at the universe" for all of the frustrations.

Years have passed.
Life has changed SOOOOO MUCH since then.

Dave has been given the golden "cured."
We now live in Alaska - with two amazing smart healthy children by our side as we hike, kayak, bike, snow shoe... and this weekend we are taking them to the symphony.

My Dad passed away. October 16th 2011. It was so sudden and so very unexpected. And so heart wrenching.
I wrote a book about him. Its mostly photos with a few short stories tucked in. Most of it could have been better. A dozen or so folks wrote in stories for me to include and I hope I did them justice. I appreciate their input more than words can say. Getting the book created, and 8 copies printed and distributed, was like letting the demons of grief out of the box... so they could fly away. Yes, it still hurts, but not as deep, not as often. I just miss him. Alan Clarke is working on "re-working" my simple book into a PDF file to be shared with the entire "world of Charlie." I think he is a far better writer than I am, so I look forward to seeing what he is able to create.

In 1996, when I met Dave one night at the movies, we were both living in Narragansett Rhode Island.
In 1999, we married and I joined him in Virginia. Then to Florida. Then CT. Then moved out of our house in CT ~ and then moved back to CT. Then Wisconsin. Now Alaska. 7 homes. 6 states. 15 years.
One starts to wonder about the definition of "home." Where is "home?" How is home defined? Is it
"Home is where you hang your hat?"
"Home is where your heart is?"
"Home is where your heart sings?"
Through the introspection of my Dad's passing,
I started to realize that "home" meant all of those things to me. All at once.
"Home is where you hang your hat:"
Juneau Alaska is where we hang our hats (and mitten, and gloves, and snow shoes.... [to dry]). It is the place we look forward to getting back to ...at the end of a vacation.
"Home is where your heart is:"
I am at peace, and at home, to some extent, in every single place we have lived. Because we are a family together. I know that all too soon I won't be tripping on crayons that are ~ for some odd reason ~ on our bedroom floor. But my home is by my loving husband's side. I could probably create a niche where ever he gets a job. It is because of our love, and commitment, that we can call any housing structure ~ in any location ~ a home.
"Home is where your heart sings."
Dave has 21 years in the Coast Guard. This summer his file will go before a board, and they will decide if he is to advance to the next rank. If he does NOT get advanced, he will finish his job here (summer 2014) and the Coast Guard will pay for one last move. We would probably go where-ever the job offers come from. If he DOES get advanced, the Coast Guard would move us to a new home, where he would get a new job as a Coast Guard Captain (its a term for the rank, no boats involved).
We certainly would like to continue to see his Coast Guard career grow. It is our sincerest hope that he does get "picked up". If he does, or does not, our next home will be where ever his work takes us. This will be our 8th home in 16 years.
Does it ever end? Do we get to sit in rocking chairs someplace with a garden that has asparagus?
(Asparagus is something that takes years to start before you can harvest)
Will I ever get to plant my favorite ornamental and wildlife attracting plants and trees? And GET TO BE THERE when they are mature, filled in, and doing the very thing they were planted to do?
Where will this HOME be? This for-ever home...
Over the past year and a half I realized that when I am in Rhode Island, on the little section I grew up in, I am in the area where my heart sings.
Dave and I talked about this. He does not have a place that calls to him in that way. There is no pull on his compass. But he can understand that there is one on mine. And since we are linked, then he is willing to be pulled that way also.

I tend to do things "loud." I process things "out there for the world to see." I Facebook post, I blog, ...
I say what I am thinking without editing (this has resulted in opening my mouth and inserting my foot at very regular intervals ~ I never seem to be able to learn how to avoid).

But .. this time I did something rather quietly. Well... quietly for me anyways... ha ha!
I was online watching real-estate. For well over a year. I saw a few homes come up for sale in the general vicinity of where I was looking,.. and I waited. Watching the market. Watching the treds. Waiting for the right one.
In the neighborhood I was looking at, you don't get to buy a home unless someone dies. The people that live there are financially stable so there are not a bunch of homes up for foreclosure. Folks seldom "just decide to live somewhere else." There is a strong sense of community feeling. You know your neighbors. You help out, watch out, and gather in the streets to talk. There is a park, a boat ramp, a beach, and ponds for ice skating. It wasn't the richest neighborhood. But its the neighborhood that the "good kids" came from. Five Generations of my family have lived on that peninsula. Other families have kids and grandkids that are returning to the area also. It is the place my heart sings. Its my "Cheers."

A rare opportunity came up. There was a piece of land for sale. We put in an offer, then another, then another. Then they said "we are going with someone else." It was not about the price on the offer it seemed. It was maybe someone they knew. 12 hours later, our agent called back. That other deal had fallen through and it was ours if we wanted it still! We are not the proud owners.. of a vacant house lot!
And
It
Feels
SOOO
Good!

Sometime in the next 4 to 10 years we will build on that lot.
I am going to keep a list of what we are looking for in a home.
In the 4 years of planning, "THE LIST" will probably evolve dramatically.
I was going to keep a note book - dating each entry.
Instead, I am going to blog about it. Here. For me, (and for the approximately 5 people that still look here,) to see.
So, Life progresses.
The purpose of the blog progresses.
Roots are going to be put down. Someday. and now we know where.

This too shall pass...

Folks say this.
But.. it is true.
The drama of our lives, that caused this blog to be created, is behind us.

The biggest thing going on right now, is the book I wrote about my Dad.
I have had 8 copies sent to Rhode Island.
One copy sent to Maine.
And finally, this week, I will get my copy.
The Fed Ex truck came today and I got chills!
False alarm! It was a box from Old Navy ~ socks for "Little Lion"

Other than that ~ Life is good.
It snowed today. Hoping it keep snowing.
Looking forward to Cross Country Skiing at the local Camp ground while "Little Lion" is at preschool.

Cured!

Dave saw his Doctor in Boston - the Oncologist that was is primary contact through all of this. Yeah.. Bit of news. DAVE IS CURED! Cured! did I mention - CURED!? The neuropathy has subsided. We did some cross country skiing and snow shoeing this winter without pain! The kids are growing, days are busy, Alaska is beautiful, ... life... is... good____.

Kerri's Dad

My dad died on October 14th. It was rather unexpected. They were putting dye into his heart to look at the blockages so they could make an appropriate plan for how best to proceed. When they injected the dye, he said "That hurts" and passed out. His heart discontinued beating on its own at that point. A team of 25 doctors and others that worked at the hospital - worked on him for 2 hours. I was on a plane before I knew he had died. I thought perhaps I was going home to help out as he recovered from what would become open heart surgery perhaps. Perhaps I knew? I packed some black clothing. I was home for a week. We had a wake / calling hours on Tuesday ~ nearly 1000 people came through the line. The burial was Wednesday. Then the really long trip home Friday. Totally exhausted, running on combination of shock and emotion, trying to go through the motions of everyday life. I didn't talk to him every day. But just knowing I can't ask his advice, or talk about the kids... its rough. Ugly rough. My mind knows that he is not in pain, that quick is better, ... but my heart is that of a little girl that misses her Daddy ~ and no thoughts can convince it otherwise. My Birthday is in November. I always got a phone call from him on my Birthday. He was up at "the farm" in Maine hunting. Not sure if I will be able to handle even hearing the phone ring on my birthday this year.

all clear

All scans and tests are giving us good news! No issues! Dave is 18 months away from the golden goal of "cured"

ALASKA!!!!

Yes! We are moving to ALASKA!!! It was our 17th choice (out of 18) and we had 5 Boston jobs on the request list. Ya get what ya get and you eventually learn to breathe again. We are now looking forward to it! Juneau is one of the cities closest to Seattle. It is the capital of Alaska. The town has 30,000 people and a very low crime rate. They get 277 days of rain per year. It is a sub-arctic temperate rain forest. When it does snow it melts off fairly quickly. So, technically that makes it WARMER than Wisconsin! lol! In the winter they have a few hours of daylight ~ not that 24 hr darkness folks speak of. And in the summer the sun does ~ eventually ~ set. They have a Walmart, Costco (like a Sam's Club), and a Home Depot. And yes, there is always online shopping. I am going to try to figure out how to deduct all "shipping and handling" costs from our taxes!!! I have a list of "family" building ~ folks we know and love that are there, or folks that are really good family friends of those we know and love. So it will be ~ hopefully ~ like being embraced by family when we arrive! We will have to have a housewarming party! Speaking of houses, there are not enough! The Coast Guard is aware of the shortage of suitable housing. They are willing to pay for temporary housing until we land something. So as soon as we have our arrival date hammered out we will be booking that. Like an "Extended Stay" hotel. I expect we will be living in that (with just what we take in the trunk of our car) for up to 2 months. I heard of one family that ~ as a way of getting out of temporary housing ~ wrote letters to people that had their house on the market and begged them to consider renting to a sweet Coastie family. I think, and Dave is not yet "sold" on this idea that our "emergency escape plan" is to buy a house with a VA loan (zero down) and... since the housing market is so challenging, we would be able to rent it out easy-peezie ~ just pay a management company to deal with it. Liam might miss a day or two of school ~ his last day is June 13th I think (not sure how they are making up two cancelled days). At this point we are thinking of having the the movers finish up with getting us out of here (the house itself) June 3rd. His last week of school will be a commute from a hotel. Then Dave would work here through June 10th. Then we head out ~ either that afternoon or the next morning. Our first choice is to drive to Bellingham Washington and take the ferry (thats how we can get the car to Juneau) from Bellingham to Juneau. It is... ha ha!... get this! .... a 2.5 day ferry ride!!!! I hear they have a naturalist on board and they make announcements when a whale or something like that has been spotted. The second choice is to take the Ferry out of Prince Rupert BC Canada. I have to work on getting the kids their passports. We may not be able to take the Bellingham ferry because it may be already booked solid. The only way in and out of Juneau is by Ferry or Boat. Its "land locked." Juneau is part of the mainland but there are no roads up over the mountain out of Juneau. Or tunnels. (can climb over it, can't go through it, can't go around it) Once we get to Juneau we are going to boogie to Kodiak (airplane ride) for the change of command. Then return to Juneau for beginning our life there! I have heard from a number of folks up there, and they all ADORE it there. Dave will be in Boston this upcoming weekend for a colonoscopy and scans. He seems fine and I don't think we can expect any problems. That being said, we have had, more than once, some spot being found that upon further inspection is deemed to be nothing. So, we call that "spot scares" and I feel that I brace for them each time. About mid-way through his treatment year we were told that, although they were 96 % sure they could get rid of it all, if it comes back they have a 4% chance of figuring out how to kill it the second time. So ... yeah... the "spot scares" are frightening. Not sure anyone checks the blog anymore. But if you do check back after March 16th for ~ what we expect to be ~ an excellent report. Okay, thats all I have for now, gotta run! Kerri

In march is a big round of re- checks.Preparing to move to juneau AK.If you know anyone moving to milwaukee our land lord would like to fi

All is still well. Sometime in the next 6 to 8 weeks we should know where the CG is moving us to next summer. Dave has scans again in febr

home sweet home!

I got Dave home at about 4:45 today. Then went round and collected Liam from where he had been "on a play date." Its good to have everyone home together!

General doc was just in. He gets to have ice chips. Slow progression to food. If all goes well - heading home sunday afternoon. Dave looks

a "complete thought" version

Finally got a chance to sit down and write a real post in full sentences. Most of the other's today came from my cell phone.

Last night Dave started to feel "yucky". Although it seemed like a bowel obstruction from the burping and such, there was very little nausea grossness like there was 18 months ago. But this time he was in HORRID pain. There have been times in the past year that things just worked themselves out in a few hours and all we can do is sit and wait. So I got dishes done, paid bills, and prepared for a possible need to be busy away from home over the next few days.

At about 10 pm I went to get my 18 year old baby sitter so I would have coverage if we needed to leave in the middle of the night. I got home, walked in with her, and Dave came around the corner saying "Lets go." I knew he was in bad shape to be subjecting himself to that misery of 18 months ago again. { the treatment is less fun than the condition }

The ER was busy but the wait was not too bad. [funny side note, as the night went on, just about every patient that came in was in hand cuffs and escorted by police... kind of creepy! The staff was ever so nice to us because we were "normal people"]

They got him in, did lab work to rule out any other causes, and gave him a good stiff IV of Morphine and ran a CT scan. Then we waiting a loooonnnngggg time for the scan to be read. It indicated an obstruction build up was underway. [back story for anyone new to this blog - major surgery, causes scar tissue, scar tissue adheres to stuff - including intestines, and that can cause the "pipes" to back up = bowel obstruction] The doctor decided that since he was not having to deal with the vomiting, they would hold off on running the NG tube (we call it the "nasty-gross" tube.) unless that situation changed. But they did want to keep him for observation.

Today, I was with him from 9 until 2 with both kids in the room.

He was tired and resting. But he was not as bad off as last time. He ended up playing video games on a cell phone, and watching TV with his glasses on, and asking me to bring his book in tomorrow. Clearly, I have seen much worse than his current state! He is not in pain, or taking pain meds. But he is not hungry and I think that is one indication that his body still has some work to do on this subject! He is on IV fluids so that nothing needs to go through his digestive system yet. The general treatment plan on these things is "lets just give that system a break, help you loose weight, and give it time."

By 2:00, Aylin had dropped every toy I had with me, and there was no way I was giving them back after they hit a hospital room floor. If nothing else, all this time in hospitals is turning me into a germ phobe! We had lunch in the cafeteria. It struck me as odd how much Liam was so at ease with the idea of the adventure of trying to find the cafeteria and selecting food from it. I guess he has been eating in hospital cafeterias (off and on) for half his life. Its totally normal to him! At 2 we had all reached the end of our ropes, and we (Aylin, Liam, and myself) headed home. It was right after this that a colo-rectal surgeon doctor stopped in. (darn! missed him!) and said that they would be keeping him until Sunday or Monday.

We had a dear friend and her two mature children come by today and take care of / distract /play with the kids while I grabbed some much needed sleep. (got only about 3 hours of it last night). Tomorrow Liam is heading up the road to play with a boy he goes to school with. And then back to the friends on Sunday. ( I might attempt church...) So Liam is excited to suddenly have people to talk to other than me and is comfortable being shuffled to fun play dates. Aylin will stick with me and get to learn all about the wonders of the cafeteria....

darn Bowels

I am home. Will be finally getting some sleep soon. Lots of help so I am okay. I pawned off my work shifts for the weekend. Dave is pulling through this one okay. He is no longer in pain, or on pain meds. I would not be surprised to see him start a clear diet tonight and come home Saturday with "soft foods" diet for a bit.

Note to self: raw carrot sticks, chunks of fresh pineapple, and steak all in one day - not good! Too un-digestable for the big guy!

This is a fast moving storm. He has his glasses on, playing games on phone, watching TV. Not on pain meds. Not in pain.

Dave is in the hospital w a bowel obstruction. He had stomach pain. Very little vomiting so no NG TUBE so far. Good pain meds and keeping an eye on him for 24 to 48 hours

What a memorable Christmas!

Liam cracked me up !

Christmas morning he woke up at 2 am,

(We continue a tradition Dave had as a kid of Santa puts the stocking at the end of the bed - he woke up at 2 and found it there.)

5 am we opened stockings in bed,

and finally we gave in and went down to open presents at 5:45 am.

Aylin was not ready for so much excitement so early either.

I dashed ahead to turn the tree lights on while Dave held Aylin and Liam was waiting along side in the back hall. I have my butt in the air, and I am trying to reach the damn switch on the floor, as I lean over the back of the couch and I am hearing yelling from the back hall.

Keep in mind - its 5:45 am. I am barely awake enough to make sense of any of it.

I come back for them. Aylin has thrown up - projectile style - gotten milk all over Dave, some on Liam,

....

Liam is now in the bathroom Dry Heaving/Gagging from the thought of being vomited on!

All through the opening of gifts I kept laughing. Dave asked a few times what I was grinning so much about or what was so funny. It just totally cracked me up that we were basically done opening presents before the sun was even up! I had signed up to work a partial shift that day - I could have been to work by 8 without having missed anything!

It was just fun to be that caught up by his excitement. And to think, By the time Liam is ready to sleep in, his sister will be ready for a pre-dawn party.

Speaking of his excitement, he has asked to see mount rushmore. We are about 12 hours away. I figure this summer is the time to go. We will be moving in the summer of 2011 so this is the summer to see stuff out this way while we can. How cool is that - a k-5 kid knows enough about the world to ask us to take him to see that!

Loving life!

-Kerri

If they could just stay little for a bit longer...

Aylin is 7 weeks old and some of her 3-6mo outfits are getting too small! She now makes eye contact and smiles. She has a funny sense of humor! She is generally happy - except for SOME diaper changes, and she hates it when bath time is over! But generally an easy going baby. Here are some photos to enjoy.

getting a round to the blog

All is well. On the cancer front his next scans are in Boston in January. But that's peanuts compared to what else is up! On 9-29-09 Aylin Grace was born at 8lbs 4oz 21 inches! Life with such a long awaited child is awesome!

Stolen car returned

We got the car back. We got a call to meet the officer where the car was parked. They had found where the guys were staying. The "bad guys" ran out of the back of the house, but... one of them said to the other, "don't forget to grab the keys" (the keys to our car) they said as they ran out the door in their underwear. They know who the guy is and know some of the places he hangs out. So... they value our keys more than they value pants. a bit disconcerting! Needless to say, the locks on Dave's car will be getting changed out. (a key to his car is on my key chain) The Subaru was used as a "get away" vehicle to break into someone else's home. They stripped the guy's house clean and loaded it all into our car. Our car is missing the kayak rack, tie down straps, car seat, speakers, radio, .... and they slashed the dash board, put graffiti on the steering wheel, .... They got frustrated with the sun roof. Its been broken for years. It will open, sort of, then not close. It looks like they ripped it apart trying to close it. In the mean time, the "cow horn necklace" that Liam just got, the necklace he made for me, and the special rosary I keep in the car have all been recovered. (they actually hung the rosary from the rear view mirror!) The car smells bad so in addition to all of the repairs, it would need to be detailed before any of us drive it! We hope to have a claims adjuster here soon.

The subaru has been stolen but the nursery only needs one thing - just a baby. 4wks to go till the due date.

Utter shock! The only Dunkin Donuts in town does not have decaf ice coffee! Only hot decaf or reg iced! Oh am i glad i got a big one when

Yay! We are home!

Left MA on sunday. Really enjoyed seeing all the rocks and hills as we left MA. Didnt realize how much we missed the north east geology. (

all clear

The results of the scans are great. What a relief. Next scans in January.

Back to Bean town

We are back in New England for a few days. Dave has another set of scans in Boston on Friday the 10th. I am fully prepared, I think, for another "spot scare" where they find some mysterious spot to scare us with and it turns out to be nothing. We have been through that a few times already. We get the results on Tuesday at 4pm or so. We can get more scans that night if needed. In the mean time, we have a special wedding to attend (two people I introduced are getting married), some time with Grammy and Pop pop, some time with Grammy and Grandpa, then off to home. It takes us awhile to drive from here to Milwaukee. Although it is technically only 17 hours of driving, we tend to stop a lot.

"A near miss"

In February, about a week before Dave went to the hospital, he had an evening where he did not feel well (vomiting and general ucky). At the time we just assumed it was a short lived bug. He felt fine the very next day! Once he was hospitalized (a week later) we realized that maybe what he had the week prior was actually some early symptoms we just didn't know enough to realize. Last week Dave had another "ucky" evening. We called some local Doctors that we had gotten to know back in February. He ended up seeing his general physician who took some X-rays. The x-ray seemed to show some build up with a potential for a larger event brewing. 2 days on a liquid diet, some things to help the build-up move along, and all (crossing fingers) seems well again. Maybe if we can catch these warnings, we can prevent another trip to the hospital. In the mean time, my pregnancy is doing well. At 22 weeks. The ultra-sound showed a healthy baby ______ (if you really want to know the gender you will just have to contact me at this point). The belly is very in front and ball-like! I have only put on 5 lbs. When I was pregnant with Liam I could not wear my rings at 12 weeks. The pregnancy ended with some ugly pre-clampsia . I am still able to spin my rings so I think I can hope to avoid the pre-clampsia this time around! I had to work on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. The weather was wonderful which made it an easy couple of shifts. I had asked for either Mothers Day weekend or Memorial Day weekend off. We hope to have some fun family time together on Monday / Memorial Day. Kayaking maybe? -K

not much to say...

I have heard there is someone, that has complained a few times that I have not updated the blog. Okay, JM, here ya go! Dave eats, works, and has all functions up and running. He is back to his usual routine with no changes in life style. Liam is smart, busy with Swimming, indoor preseason baseball, Irish Dance, and occasionally attends Fencing on Saturdays. It looks like, per his request, he will be taking violin lessons this summer. When school starts he will have to chose only 3 activities to carry over into the school year. They stock the local park's ponds with full grown edible fish in March and only kids are allowed to fish for a month. He will probably get dragged to the edge of the pond a few times later this month due to his mom's excitement over it all... not because he wants to exactly! Kerri is pregnant, 11 weeks, less tired, less nausea, but kind of cranky and withdrawn. Although I have a provider for my pre-natal care - the place is a factory and about as personal as a brick wall. So I am still looking for the OB that I would want for to attend the birth (and maybe I will get lucky and find one that Tricare health insurance actually will cover!). I have secured a Doula that is prior military. Liam knows about the baby, is still convinced it is going to be a "sister", and is very excited. I have an ultrasound scheduled for May 11th. At this point Tricare is saying they won't cover it. So "the factory" is working on figuring out what to do about that. If they do the ultrasound, at that point, we would know, and tell ya-all the gender. is that better? Sincerely The pregnant cranky pants!